Finally Ready For a New System

Beer_MonsterUK · 20 Sep 2010 at 16:08

Hey guys,

I've recently moved house and after a hectic few months I'm finally ready for the new gaming system I've been promising myself. I'm upgrading from a self built AMD3800+ that is 5 years old at least.

Anyhow, I'm completely out of the loop and just wondering peoples opinions on the following for a primarily gaming rig/ home entertainment (HD playback & encoding etc).

Radon Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz @ 4.00GHz Overclocked Bundle £370.00
(£314.89) £370.00
(£314.89)
Options applied to the above product:
Titan Fenrir Evo CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1156/LGA1366/AMD K8/AM2/AM2+/AM3) £35.99
(£30.63) £35.99
(£30.63)
HIS ATI Radeon HD 5870 iCooler V 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £274.99
(£234.03) £274.99
(£234.03)
BenQ G2420HDBL 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £170.36
(£144.99) £170.36
(£144.99)
Intel X25-M Mainstream 80GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (SSDSA2MH080G2R5) with FREE EZ Upgrade Kit & FREE Game - Retail £159.99
(£136.16) £159.99
(£136.16)
Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case - Titanium Grey £88.99
(£75.74) £88.99
(£75.74)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £82.99
(£70.63) £82.99
(£70.63)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £76.36
(£64.99) £76.36
(£64.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £48.16
(£40.99) £48.16
(£40.99)
Samsung SH-B083L/RSBP 8x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black (Retail) £44.99
(£38.29) £44.99
(£38.29)
Sub Total : £1,151.34
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £203.67
Total : £1,367.51

I used to know where everything on a motherboard went and hopefully will have no problems botching this lot together. I have no clue on overclocking/bios side of this hence i got the pre-overclocked bundle.

Can anyone offer any opinion's/advice on the above. I guess i have a budget around the £1500 mark, and want the best bang/buck system that i can afford.

stulid · 20 Sep 2010 at 16:13

nothing to add, maybe a nvidia card(GTX470,480) thats about it.

Marine-RX179 · 20 Sep 2010 at 16:26

How about investing in a soundcard?

Beer_MonsterUK · 20 Sep 2010 at 16:29

thanks guys,

How do the 470's hold up against the 5870's?

The games I'll be playing are the battlefield series, TF2, COD and MOH type things.

stulid · 20 Sep 2010 at 16:33

considering the GTX470 is cheaper, http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gigabyte-gf-gtx400_8.html#sect1 it does very well in the games you play.

another- http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/160?vs=162

Beer_MonsterUK · 23 Sep 2010 at 17:34

I know I've left this a bit late, but if i order this lot tonight online will I be able to order a Saturday delivery, or alternatively collect the system Saturday afternoon from OCuk HQ.

I was just looking at the bit where it say's they'd like 24-48hr's to test the OC bundle.

I know I've left it late, but my weekend has just become free after my scuba diving trip looks like it's getting blown out by the weather. Alternatively I'll have to wait a few week's until I get a free window to build it :rolleyes:

Beer_MonsterUK · 23 Sep 2010 at 18:09

Sod it, ordered it on a wing and a prayer.

Here's keeping my fingers crossed on Saturday.

Heres what i ended up ordering.

Radon Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz @ 4.00GHz Overclocked Bundle £304.89 1 £304.89
Corsair H50-1 High-Performance CPU Watercooler (Socket LGA775/1156/1366/AM2/AM3) £53.61 1 £53.61
HIS ATI Radeon HD 5870 iCooler V 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £238.29 1 £238.29
BenQ G2420HDBL 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £144.99 1 £144.99
Intel X25-M Mainstream 80GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (SSDSA2MH080G2R5) with FREE EZ Upgrade Kit - Retail £134.46 1 £134.46
Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case - Titanium Grey £75.74 1 £75.74
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £68.99 1 £68.99
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £56.16 1 £56.16
Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BD-ROM / 16x DVD Writer Drive - Black (Retail) £46.80 1 £46.80
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard (920-000375) £46.80 1 £46.80
Plantronics GameCom 777 USB 5.1 Surround Sound Headset (79733-05) £39.99 1 £39.99
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £38.29 1 £38.29
Razer Abyssus 3500dpi Optical Gaming Mouse £27.22 1 £27.22

Hopefully should make a tidy rig.

Doughnut007 · 23 Sep 2010 at 18:18

Looks like a good spec.

Beer_MonsterUK · 23 Sep 2010 at 18:21

Yeah, now need to keep the missus off the scent of how much it really cost. I'm not sure how long "ooooo around a grand ish" is gonna work

stulid · 23 Sep 2010 at 18:22

that'll do the job.

Doughnut007 · 23 Sep 2010 at 19:05

You should just keep the same case and not tell her lol

jakesnake · 23 Sep 2010 at 19:14

show her a prebuilt £350 system in the argos book and say u spent £50 extra to get a different case and monitor.

enjoy popping heads m8

Beer_MonsterUK · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:36

Sooooooo.

I managed to get the above parts this morning, thanks to the outstanding service by Overclockers. It was a late order to get out by Saturday.

Anyhow, I've taken my time this afternoon, inbetween sorting out screaming kids and hopefully put everything where it need to be.

I think the PSU is "upside down" with the fan at the bottom, but the cables would have needed a connector in them to route them around the back of the mobo. They "just" make it as it is.

Also, I put a fan in the top of the case, thinking it will cool better, but i think it might look a bit pony. Will it actually improve air?

The big switch on will come this evening when i can get my old monitor i lent to my old man back. The BenQ i ordered didn't come in as expected on Friday, and OC had to put it on a back order.

Any comments, Is there anything I've made a glaring gaff with?

Beer_MonsterUK · 25 Sep 2010 at 21:19

ok, the time came to turn the power on.......absolutely dead. No post's, no LED's on the motherboard.....nada. I've obviously done something silly. I'm checking all the power connections and headers, but in the meantime, any tips where i should start 1st?

stulid · 25 Sep 2010 at 21:25

psu power switch on the back?

power switch button from the case connected correctly to the motherboard?

Beer_MonsterUK · 25 Sep 2010 at 21:27

yeah ,that was one of the 1st things i tried, shorting the PWR SW header out. Still nothing, i guess i need to go hunting in the shed for my multimeter to see whats coming out of the PSU .....:/

sturmtruppe · 25 Sep 2010 at 21:27

stulid said:
psu power switch on the back?

^This

Beer_MonsterUK · 25 Sep 2010 at 21:31

ok, of course I've tried this, even tried it in another socket, even tried it with another IEC lead........

Beer_MonsterUK · 25 Sep 2010 at 23:24

ok, looks like i had the 24 pin connector not connected correctly. It now fires up, the the monitor i was given hasn't any signal. The GPU fan is spinning, i have both GPU PCI-e power connecters in, just no signal. It's possible the monitor is borked, my dad mentioned he might have buggered it.

Damn, this is more frustrating than i remember.

hp7909 · 26 Sep 2010 at 07:39

Beer_MonsterUK said:
ok, looks like i had the 24 pin connector not connected correctly. It now fires up, the the monitor i was given hasn't any signal. The GPU fan is spinning, i have both GPU PCI-e power connecters in, just no signal. It's possible the monitor is borked, my dad mentioned he might have buggered it

Do you hear a beep to signify its booting-up?

When you say no signal is the monitor screen blank or does it give a message e.g. Monitor Self Test, etc? Most monitors I've dealt with give this message when the cable is not plugged-in or not in properly.

Could also try a different kettle lead.