General Build Help.

[QuagmireUK]

I have had my current PC now for around 3 years and its starting to show signs of wear and tear. I was thinking that I would definately need to upgrade before BF3 comes out because, for instance, im currently on XP.

I would like to stick with Intel as I have had trouble with AMD in the past. I would also like a solid state hard drive as my primary.

Im not really fussed about graphics as I have had good and bad experiences with ATI and nVidia, so either will do.

This is what I have come up with so far. I knocked this up in like 20 mins so I have done little or no research for each part.

I think I am going to replace the CPU cooler with this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-002-CS&groupid=962&catid=1532&subcat=
As I have heard great things.

Any help appreciated. Cheers

 

[RJC]

Thought about a Sandy Bridge build:

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE Shogun 2 Game £257.99
(£214.99) £257.99
(£214.99)
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £209.99
(£174.99) £209.99
(£174.99)
Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £149.99
(£124.99) £149.99
(£124.99)
Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1) £101.99
(£84.99) £101.99
(£84.99)
Antec TruePower New Modular 750W Power Supply - With FREE 3D Mark 2011 Advance £87.98
(£73.32) £87.98
(£73.32)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Titan Fenrir Evo CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1156//LGA1366/AMD K8/AM2/AM2+/AM3) £36.76
(£30.63) £36.76
(£30.63)
Sub Total : £805.56
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £163.11
Total : £978.67

Comparison between the two cpu's:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/287?vs=100

You can save a little by looking at the 2500k:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=100

 

[olivier renault]

I'd go with a Sandy P67 and a rev 3 board. Even with a i5 if budget too tight.

I would go with at least 60 GB SSD, 40GB is a bit tight in my experience (that's my usage right now).

The H50 is all right (I have one), I don't use it to its maximum ability, I need to have a poke in the case and sort out a few rattles and re-sit the pump (temps are a bit high but I fiddled with the compound too much). There's a faint pump noise, so it's not completely silent. A air cooler at idle would probably be less noticeable. I'd probably go with air if I did a complete new build. Something like the Akasa Venom, not top of the range, but something sensible. The H50 a decent alternative.

 

[QuagmireUK]

Thanks for the help. I will definately look more into the Sandybridge.

Do you think it would be a little wiser to wait a few months till I purchase? Will the prices fall by much or is there anything on the horizon that is worth watitng for?

My current rig is a little shakey but it does everything I ask of it, even though its a little slow.

 

[mufcmark]

The longest you should wait is around june when bulldozer (a new amd cpu) is coming out. This may lower the costs of processors.

 

[olivier renault]

I'd go ahead with the build now, Sandybridge is a nice upgrade, and the prices are not crazy. You'll always save a bit of money the longer you wait, but I don't think it's a bad time for upgrades right now, as long as you get a B3 board.

If you do want a simple watercooler, the Antec Kuhler looks good (although it's new tech, reliability, ect...). The problem with all third part coolers are usually related to the case, although I have a monster Lian Li PC-A71b, a standard midi case maybe a little tricky with a massive cooler, or a cooler with the radiator going at the back.

Roughly, you'll need to clear the space for two back to back 120mm fans with a little bit of extra room around, and about 1/2 inch above or below the fan emplacement. For air coolers, you need to clear the ram slots if your ram is tall (at least two dual channel slots), and the left side of the case if the cooler is tall and the case isn't wide enough or has a side fan.

It's worth scouting the internets with what type of cooler fits in the case you are using, or you might get a surprise.

8 gigs means you can run without virtual memory, which is always nice. If you can push to a i7-2600K, and you want POWER! that's a nice addition, but potentially overkill. a SSD would probably give more in the way of 'satisfaction' if you don't actually need all that power. a i5-2500K is really quick anyway.
here's my take for your budget.

Your Basket
1 x XFX ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.98
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £173.99
1 x Asus P8P67 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £124.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1) £101.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £89.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 750W Power Supply - With FREE 3D Mark 2011 Advance £87.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £79.99
1 x Titan Fenrir Evo CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1156//LGA1366/AMD K8/AM2/AM2+/AM3) £36.76
Total : £907.66 (includes shipping : £10.00).



EDIT : 6950 or 560ti, it's really up to you, imo neither are a bad choice. This particular 6950 has 2GB ram. Not sure about the size of the cards, but that can be another contributing factor depending on the case you have. These cards are pretty massive.