First build for a noobie! should i be scared??

shadow_boxer

shadow_boxer

shadow_boxer

Soldato
Joined
9 Oct 2009
Posts
9,282
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United Kingdom
Hi guys, this is my first ever post on here. :) Just wondering if you guys wouldn't mind casting an eye over this build and giving your opinions on anything I could change and experiences of components used. It'll be my first build and am going to try my hand at a mild overclock. I've done a fair amount of research and have come up with this but i'm no expert when it comes to computers and have just learnt from reading on the net and great forums like this.

The budget is ~£1000, (I dont need monitor, keyboard, peripherals, etc). The main uses will be gaming (currently low res. monitor but looking to upgrade at a later date) and amateur photo / video editing. I probably wouldn't be looking to upgrade for 4-5 years but some degree of "future proofing" is obviously desired (?? i9 compatabilty with socket 1366).

(ps. I do play MS flight simulator X, but not sure how this gfx card will do as i've heard Nvidia cards are better (eg. 9800gtx+/GTS250 i've heard are pretty good but not sure they'll do too well in current / new releases).

(Prices from OCUK)

Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ)..........£211.99
EVGA X58 SLI LE DDR3 Motherboard............£187.99
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB...............£149.99
OCZ Gold 6GB DDR3 PC3-12800..................£106.98
Cooler Master Storm Scout Case................£79.99
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w PSU................ £65.99
WD Caviar Black 500GB 32MB Cache OEM.....£42.99
Xigmatek Red Scorpion CPU cooler..............£27.99
Sony Optiarc DVD±RW Dual Layer...............£23.99
(Windows 7 Home Premium when relesed ?price)

Total £897.90 + (£100 for cables, extra fans + controller, thermal paste etc)

Many thanks in advance.
 
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - OEM + Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Game £148.99
(£129.56) £148.99
(£129.56)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £125.98
(£109.55) £251.96
(£219.10)
Asus P7P55D LE Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £99.99
(£86.95) £99.99
(£86.95)
Corsair HX 650W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650HXUK) £96.99
(£84.34) £96.99
(£84.34)
Patriot Sector 5 Viper II 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz Dual Channel + 3D Mark Vantage (PVV34G1600LLKB) £80.99
(£70.43) £80.99
(£70.43)
Coolermaster Storm 'Scout' Gaming Case - (No PSU) £79.99
(£69.56) £79.99
(£69.56)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £36.98
(£32.16) £73.96
(£64.32)
Alpenföhn Brocken CPU Cooler (Socket 775/1156/1366/754/939/940/AM2/AM2+) £36.98
(£32.16) £36.98
(£32.16)
Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£14.77) £16.99
(£14.77)
Sub Total : £771.19
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 15% VAT : £117.55
Total : £901.24

An alternative, i would change the motherboard to something from AsRock, great value P55 boards. Raid those drives, they're faster anyway.
 
Thanks Superewza,

is the change to an i5 over i7 only price (to get the 5770) or is there anything else in particular because budget is "flexible" to stretch to the 5770 instead of the 4980??
 
The build what wise guy gave you is good. But I would stick was the asus motherboard. Also, change the seg 500gb hard drive to a samsung 500gb f3 hard drive as its the faster 500gb you can get. The 4890 is faster than the 5770, but the 5770 is dx11 etc. To preorder windows 7 premium its £65 but after release date is going to be around £80.
 
I'm not into hardcore professional video editing but I imagine several years down the line software and games will be able to utilise 6 cores, but I certainly wouldnt be looking to upgrade before this period. Still torn between the two...For my needs over the next several years I reckon either i5 or i7 will be suffice but which???
 
Maybe Am3, You could get a Phenom II 955 which has comparable frame rates but is more future proof than 1156 and i believe that amds 6 core cpus are going to be AM3 like i9s are 1366.
Heres one for you
2z4eph0.jpg

Total:£906.87
plus your thermal paste e.t.c
i am not sure on compatibilty of 5850 with coolermaster scout but if it doesnt fit get the Coolermaster HAF 932
With that motherboard it can Overclock for you and then when you learn more about overclocking you can push it further :)
 
Last edited:
shadow_boxer said:
I'm not into hardcore professional video editing but I imagine several years down the line software and games will be able to utilise 6 cores, but I certainly wouldnt be looking to upgrade before this period. Still torn between the two...For my needs over the next several years I reckon either i5 or i7 will be suffice but which???
Click to expand...

I'm having the same indecision :) i7 860 running stock or i7 920 and overclock it a bit.

I've had machines for years but never overclocked them, but the 920 seems to need it to deliver the same performance as the i7's on the 1156 socket.

Tbh I'm now leaning towards the 920, it looks to have the stronger architecture and future-proofing (memory setup, 2 pci-e cards at 16x where as the 1156 socket reduces them to 8x).

That said, i've not ordered yet and will probably change my mind another 20 times ;)
 
inverseSquare said:
I'm having the same indecision :) i7 860 running stock or i7 920 and overclock it a bit.

I've had machines for years but never overclocked them, but the 920 seems to need it to deliver the same performance as the i7's on the 1156 socket.

Tbh I'm now leaning towards the 920, it looks to have the stronger architecture and future-proofing (memory setup, 2 pci-e cards at 16x where as the 1156 socket reduces them to 8x).

That said, i've not ordered yet and will probably change my mind another 20 times ;)
Click to expand...

The i7 920 only needs to be overclocked to achieve the same performance as the i7s on the 1156 sockets, because the i7-800 series have higher stock clocks, and a slightly more aggressive Turbo mode. That is all. It's effectively the same chip. Just a different socket. And supporting dual-channel instead of tri-channel RAM.

Where has this idea come from, the 920 isn't as good as the 870?
 
That's alright mate, I know your leaning towards i7 but do you really need that much power? Because if your just gaming and a bit of editing then you will probably be best off with the 965 because it means you can get a powerful dx11 card which is what will make the differences in games. If you feel that you do need an i7 though then by all means get one because it's a great CPU :)
 
Stay with the i7 920 and get an HD 5850 (any brand will do, non instock atm)

If you can, pre order windows 7 now a save money whatever you decide to do.

basket1.jpg
 
madindehead said:
The i7 920 only needs to be overclocked to achieve the same performance as the i7s on the 1156 sockets, because the i7-800 series have higher stock clocks, and a slightly more aggressive Turbo mode. That is all. It's effectively the same chip. Just a different socket. And supporting dual-channel instead of tri-channel RAM.

Where has this idea come from, the 920 isn't as good as the 870?
Click to expand...


I thought I read some reviews where the 860 outperformed the 920. Just meant that in terms of performance-per-£, the 920 seems to need to be overclocked a little to compare to the 860. I'm no expert, is that a fair statement? :)
 
While I cant say what drive is better (although I'd assume the F3, it's new), I do have two WD blacks (2x1tb). They're not the most silent drives, but performance is great, and they have a 5yr warranty vs. three for the samsung. Take a look at some benchmarks (real world, not the theoretical ones). If performance is close, I'd say the 5year warranty tips the scale, as from my experience, the HDD is what stays constant from build to build!
 
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