First Build help please.

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Joined
2 Aug 2010
Posts
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Location
Egypt/ Surrey
I am looking at creating my first build and I intend to use it at 1920x1080 mainly for gaming.

The budget is £750-800. I have a keyboard and mouse (later upgrades) and I already have a HDMI monitor. I would like to try overclocking and would like to keep crossfire option open for the future.

I am open to either AMD or intel.


My current basket is:

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 Vapor-X 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £148.04
(£125.99) £148.04
(£125.99)
Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £124.98
(£106.37) £124.98
(£106.37)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £111.61
(£94.99) £111.61
(£94.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £86.94
(£73.99) £86.94
(£73.99)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £77.54
(£65.99) £77.54
(£65.99)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £64.61
(£54.99) £64.61
(£54.99)
Corsair H50-1 High-Performance CPU Watercooler (Socket LGA775/1156/1366/AM2/AM3) £59.98
(£51.05) £59.98
(£51.05)
Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £46.99
(£39.99) £46.99
(£39.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £34.99
(£29.78) £34.99
(£29.78)
Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe Optical Drive (Black) - OEM £19.99
(£17.01) £19.99
(£17.01)
Sub Total : £660.15
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.75
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £117.93
Total : £791.83

Any help is fully appreciated

Thanks in advance
 
single very fast nvidia alternative

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line
Total
OcUK Value GeForce GTX 470 1280MB
GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £223.24
(£189.99)
£223.24
(£189.99)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black
Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket
AM3) - Retail £111.61
(£94.99)
£111.61
(£94.99)
G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3
PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
(F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) £88.11
(£74.99)
£88.11
(£74.99)
Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 AMD 870 (Socket
AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £84.99
(£72.33)
£84.99
(£72.33)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit -
OEM (GFC-00599) £77.54
(£65.99)
£77.54
(£65.99)
Be Quiet! Straight Power E7 600W Power
Supply £58.99
(£50.20)
£58.99
(£50.20)
Silverstone SST-PS03B Precision Midi Tower
Case - Black £42.99
(£36.59)
£42.99
(£36.59)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB
Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £34.99
(£29.78)
£34.99
(£29.78)
Sony Optiarc AD-7260S 24x DVD±RW SATA
ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.99
(£13.61)
£15.99
(£13.61)
Sub
Total : £628.47
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland
with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout)
Shipping : £11.75
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £112.04
Total : £752.26

the board having the new chipset also does SATA and USB3.0, but ditches crossfire which isn't needed with a nvidia card as no dual nvidia card setup can be done with a AMD motherboard chipset.
 
Last edited:
^ worth spending the extra for the retail version of win 7 in case you need to change your motherboard at some point.
 
I like the look of the GTX 470 :) To be honest I always saw the Crosshair III as an indulgence really and claiming back some money on other future proof features and receiving a graphical boost makes a lot of sense.

Thanks for the help the input is appreciated.
 
Palit GeForce GTX 460 Sonic 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £174.99
(£148.93) £174.99
(£148.93)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £111.61
(£94.99) £111.61
(£94.99)
Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H AMD 890GX (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £104.99
(£89.35) £104.99
(£89.35)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - Retail (Full Version)(GFC-00025) £99.86
(£84.99) £99.86
(£84.99)
G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) £88.11
(£74.99) £88.11
(£74.99)
Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £59.98
(£51.05) £59.98
(£51.05)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Case - Black £41.99
(£35.74) £41.99
(£35.74)
Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3) £37.99
(£32.33) £37.99
(£32.33)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £34.99
(£29.78) £34.99
(£29.78)
Samsung SH-S223L/RSMN 22x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Beige/Black/Silver) - Retail £12.98
(£11.05) £12.98
(£11.05

Total £780 including P&P
 
Actually, thinking about it, it doesnt seem to matter. I'm fairly sure I had an OEM version of Win7 home and have just changed my mobo and cpu. I had to reactivate it via the phone but all is good now.

Is there a way to check if you have the retail or OEM version?
 
I am looking at creating my first build and I intend to use it at 1920x1080 mainly for gaming.

The budget is £750-800. I have a keyboard and mouse (later upgrades) and I already have a HDMI monitor. I would like to try overclocking and would like to keep crossfire option open for the future.

I am open to either AMD or intel.


My current basket is:

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 Vapor-X 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £148.04
(£125.99) £148.04
(£125.99)
Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £124.98
(£106.37) £124.98
(£106.37)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £111.61
(£94.99) £111.61
(£94.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £86.94
(£73.99) £86.94
(£73.99)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £77.54
(£65.99) £77.54
(£65.99)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £64.61
(£54.99) £64.61
(£54.99)
Corsair H50-1 High-Performance CPU Watercooler (Socket LGA775/1156/1366/AM2/AM3) £59.98
(£51.05) £59.98
(£51.05)
Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £46.99
(£39.99) £46.99
(£39.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £34.99
(£29.78) £34.99
(£29.78)
Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe Optical Drive (Black) - OEM £19.99
(£17.01) £19.99
(£17.01)
Sub Total : £660.15
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.75
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £117.93
Total : £791.83

Any help is fully appreciated

Thanks in advance

dont you think an ssd would make all the difference,,,hdds are way to slow these days...
 
I like the look of the GTX 470 :) To be honest I always saw the Crosshair III as an indulgence really and claiming back some money on other future proof features and receiving a graphical boost makes a lot of sense.

Thanks for the help the input is appreciated.

i really dont agree...corsair are out of the question
 
I think you did a pretty good job for your first spec. I do like the asus crosshair mobos too, even though they are a lil dear. I've seen people opt for the GB mobos and then add a soundcard, seems silly as the crosshairs come with an xfi card.

I like the features of the GB mobos and price but they have a nasty habit of putting the sata ports where they will get blocked by a large gfx card (please note with the mobo stulid spec'd this is only an issue if you xfire).

Now is a funny time to build a system. I think i read that the new ati cards are due to land in october and new cpus are on the horizon as well. I know we cant wait forever as new tech is always coming along but waiting a month and saving a bit more cash wouldnt hurt.

The nvidia 460 or 470 cards are good but you wont be able to run a second card. The price difference between the 5770 and 5830 is so small you may aswell go with the 5830. The 5770 in xfire is equal (sometimes can top) a 5870 so a 5830 should be better still.

What no-one has mentioned yet (stulid knows this as has posted it before) is that the 955 cpu you want can be essentially made into a 965 by upping the multiplier by one. Since these cpus are black editions they are multiplier unlocked.

Good luck with the build, stulids spec is very good btw (choice of gfx is personal preference) if you cant wait. I just think you may have more options if you wait just a short while.
 
got for a simple high perfomarmance fan cooler...maybe the multiples ones, they are on sale at the moment

Any in particular that you would recommend to fit in the case suggested by Stulid? From reviews I have gathered the stock Phenom II fans are loud and a bit naff particularly for OCing which is why originally put a H50 in the spec.

dont you think an ssd would make all the difference,,,hdds are way to slow these days...

I would love to go ssd but my aim at this stage is to get my computer up and running and then add an ssd at a later stage as I feel they are pushing my budget at the moment (with regard to reviews/price/performance etc).

i really dont agree...corsair are out of the question

Could you explain this for me I don't see what you mean, maybe because I'm a newbie?

Thanks for the feedback.
 
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