Finalising my new build - Would appreciate some feedback

Jasong

Jasong

Jasong

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Joined
3 Jun 2010
Posts
10
Hi OcUK,

As my PC recently died while I was moving house, my original plans to upgrade in October have been brought forward to July. Now, I haven't really kept up with the hardware upgrades over the last few years (my last build was in ~'07) but I've spent the last few weeks researching the current hardware available, and trying to figure out whats hot and whats not.

Predominantly, the system will be used for gaming but I will also use it as a home workstation where I can work on my PhD thesis (lots of dataset analysis, lots of simulations etc.). I have a budget of £900+/-£50, could potentially stretch to around £1000 if deemed necessary (although I won't be informing the girlfriend! :D). I already have a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, a mouse, a keyboard and an optical drive. The monitors, which I intend will be 2x22'' (haven't decided on make/model), will be acquired from a separate budget so don't need to be included here. Obviously, I will dabble with some overclocking - who run's everything at stock these days anyway? :D

Given my current reading about, I've come up with the following:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 OR AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
Cooler: Corsair H50-1 OR Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard: Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 OR Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H
RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual-Channel Kit
PSU: Corsair HX 650W
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32mb Cache
GPU: Asus ATI Radeon HD 5850 DirectCU 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Case: Coolermaster CM-690 II Advanced OR Fractal Define R2

Note there are some uncertainties in whats best to go for, so I have listed both/all options where I am unsure. I'd appreciate any comments and suggestions on the build, In particular I'd like to know if there are any potential compatibility issues, and whether there is anything that could be changed to enhance performance vs price. If I come up with any further questions I'll drop then in this thread as and when I think of them!

Thanks in advance!
 
The CPU, you could upgrade next year to the new bulldozers so id go for a 955 right now :)
The Mobo, The GA-890GPA-UD3H is a wonderful board great for oc(i have one myself)
The Cooler, Cant go wrong with the h50 its wonderful (use some silver 5 paste tho :) )
The Case, is your preference you chose what you think will be pratical and easy and also looks the part :)

the Ram is nice but save your self £15 and get http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-180-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

very nice stuff (it says optimized for Intel but its marketing rubbish :) )

Have fun if you choose my options or not :)

EDIT: Wow i like using smileys
 
pretty much settled on this in the end, although I may change the GPU to an asus:

screenshot20100615at151.png


+ some additional fans to boost the case cooling. Hopefully it'll be ok! Have i missed anything?
 
hadn't thought of that, and probably! Can't say I've dabbled in the thermal paste department before, which ones come highly recommended?

Another thing I thought of: does anyone know if I'm likely to need any PSU extension cables for a hx640w in an R2? I think some similar questions were asked in the dedicated Define R2 thread but, as far as I'm aware, they didn't receive an explicit answer. I'd hate to get all that stuff delivered and have to compromise my cable management because the cables don't reach around the back!
 
Jasong said:
hadn't thought of that, and probably! Can't say I've dabbled in the thermal paste department before, which ones come highly recommended?

Another thing I thought of: does anyone know if I'm likely to need any PSU extension cables for a hx640w in an R2? I think some similar questions were asked in the dedicated Define R2 thread but, as far as I'm aware, they didn't receive an explicit answer. I'd hate to get all that stuff delivered and have to compromise my cable management because the cables don't reach around the back!
Click to expand...

I needed an 8pin extension for my build but that was with an ocz psu. Unsure on the length of the corsair cables.
 
So I've been playing with my budget and upped it to £1000. The build has changed a bit too... Heres my current basket:

screenshot20100626at195.png


That lot is 9p short of £1000. Anyone got any suggestions for getting a bit more into the budget? I'm pretty impressed at how bang on to budget I've got it! haha. In either case, I plan on putting an order in towards the end of next week.
 
 
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I did have a look at that antec psu, but the fact it had so many hardwired cables kind of defeated the point of buying modular. I'll have a look at the fenrir, from what I did read of reviews it was a little noisy under load.. but then I could replace the fan(s) and quieten it down.

Providing I did that, I could shave off £20-25 by getting RAM with looser timings. Is it worth it? I could probably stretch to a reference 5870 then.. But then again, It might just be worth me chipping up the extra £50-60 and getting one outright!
 
Quoting this original post
Jasong said:
I did have a look at that antec psu, but the fact it had so many hardwired cables kind of defeated the point of buying modular.
Click to expand...


stulid said:
This psu is quality(made by Seasonic, just like the corsair) and saves £30- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-116-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1088

review-

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Antec-TruePower-New-750-W-TP-750-Power-Supply-Review/766

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=140


Titan Fenrir cooler is very well regarded http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-009-TI&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395 so thats an additional £34 saved.


you could now afford a 5870?
Click to expand...

I have that 750 Watt PSU, it's practically silent and not had a problem with it since I've had it in my system. All the wired connectors are used, 1 for mobo, 1 graphics card , 1 hard drive , dvdrw drive, and thats it. The others are in the box ready if I need them.

I did a lot of research before choosing the PSU I wanted for the price I was prepared to pay.

All these independant reviews here show how well this PSU performs. Bonus points for a blue lit fan. :)

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=140

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=679&type=expert&pid=1

http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=748&pageid=1

http://www.futurelooks.com/antec-true-power-750-watt-tp-750-power-supply-review/1/
 
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