Give me some pointers towards my build

[R.C.Anderson]

I'm wanting to build a high end gaming PC in the next couple of months when I go back to Uni, I've been looking at what's available etc, and that I've come up with so far is:

Although I'll be waiting for the new Intel SSDs, see how they pair up with the crucials, and also see how the 6xxx series of cards fair out (I know crossfire doesn't scale well, but I put those in, as a price marker, as that's the maximum budget for gfx cards (might choose a single 6xxx series card))

The budget is about at it's maximum, but would like some pointers. I used to be on top of all the new PC tech, but I've been out of the loop for a couple of years, so I've been trying to get back into it, but not sure if I have or not yet.

Thanks for the help in advance

 

[R.C.Anderson]

What you planning on using PC for? cos unless its some serious editing then the RAM is overkill, if its just gaming then 6 gig is plenty
Do you need all the features of the UD7? or would a lower spec one suffice?
Whilst its high end you seem to be spending for spending sakes tbh, you could get 95% performance for 50% cost

It'll be used for mainly gaming. The main reason I'm buying it, is I've always wanted a very high end PC, and as I'm working over the summer (got a sponsorship with Jaguar LandRover) I've got the expendable income to buy it, so I'm taking advantage.

The UD7, was actually the wrong basket, nearly all is the same, except the Rampage III Extreme instead of UD7, and the i7 950 rather than i7 930.

What components would you recommend if I would get 95% performance for 50% cost?

 

[R.C.Anderson]

do you plan on doing some serious overclocking? if not get rid of that mobo and get a cheaper alternative.

Going to do whatever I can, how much difference in OC will the difference in mobo make?

 

[R.C.Anderson]

Cheers for that Don't need a optical drive, as I can use the one from my current PC, as it is only about a year old, and as for cooling, I was wanting to go watercooling, which I forgot to mention in my original post

Unfortunatly I'm not going to be gaming on a 30"+ monitor but I'll be on a 26" 1920*1200, with a pair of 19" 1280*1024 on the sides (although at most only one of the 19" will be used in addition for gaming)

One of the reasons I wanted an i7, is that one of the games I like playing the most is very CPU intensive (Supreme Commander 1&expansion&2)

I chose 2 SSDs for a RAID0 formation, which will store OS, game files & program files, so I decided I would probably need more than the 64GB, and that way, it should be faster than a single 128GB drive. I also have a 1.5TB mechanical drive (about a year old) which I will be using for documents etc (might get another one, but I'll decide that closer to the time)

 

[R.C.Anderson]

Well its upto you(obv, its your money, lol), I was just giving you alternative option

Yea, thanks for the input, I'm not completely ignoring you Just mentioning he reasons why I chose what I did, to see what you think.

After a quick tinkering with my basket, I have something that should perform as well at about 3/4 of the price, what do you think?

I know I'm twisting my rules here with choosing actual gfx cards rather than a price marker, but what are rules if you don't bend/break them?

 

[R.C.Anderson]

I do love how PC components perfectly illustrate the law of diminishing returns. Despite being aware of that it's still hard not to get drawn in

Yea, it's strange that... I've known that from the time I built my first PC when I was about 8 (in 99), but it still doesn't seem to stop me

 

[R.C.Anderson]

If you're feeling lazy, I'd opt for one of the H20 builds OcUK offer. Only if you don't feel like doing it yourself. You can also of course ring them up and make tweaks (I think).

Half the point is so I can make it it's only the making the component choice part that I'm not as good at

 

[R.C.Anderson]

It will save about 100 quid, and you won't notice the difference.

GFX - changing the gfx cards would save about £100, but from some reviews I've seen, SLI 460s are roughly the same as a 470, so it would be quite a performance hit.

CPU - the 930 will be discontinued by the time I come to buy, so no point arguing over that.

RAM - prefer the look & performance of the dominators, and the price difference is minimal.

PSU - price difference is minimal, I will also be running a couple of watercooling pumps off it (either 2 seperate loops, or 2 pumps in series, still to be decided) and the reduced power usage will improve the efficency, and decrease the noise produced by the fan.

 

[R.C.Anderson]

I'll have a look a some reviews for that mobo, see what I think about spending that little on a mobo for this build.

I will be watercooling the gfx card(s), and I was wanting to SLI/crossfire rather than get a single card at my max budget, as that would mean I get 3 usable DVI connections, so I can use all 3 of my monitors (I currently use a USB->DVI converter, but it's a little flakey)

 

[R.C.Anderson]

yeah tbh if youre going WC straight away, given your budget, Id be tempted to look at the 480 with water block fitted link has advantages of making system quiet and using single card instead of dual

I would probably rather put the waterblock on myself, especially with the extra that ocuk seem to charge for it, unlike them £355 for card + £65 for the Acetal cover (total £420) verses £478 for pre-applied, I mean £58 for them to put a waterblock onto a gfx card for you? what's that about? I would probably be happy spending £10 for it, but that's about it. And it's not even OCed to hell and back either...