Give me some pointers towards my build

R.C.Anderson

R.C.Anderson

R.C.Anderson

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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:

basketi.png


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 :)
 
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
 
95thrifles said:
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
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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?
 
This is just as good for gaming, could be even cheaper if you lowered case and psu spec but I left them as is
i5 is just as good as i7 for gaming, 4 gig of RAM is fine for gaming, 1 SSD should be enough, with another mechanical for storage, 470 is more than enough unless youre using 30" screen?
Ive also included an aftermarket cpu cooler so you can OC and get even more performance, and an optical drive, they come in handy (lol, only joking Im sure you'd of ordered one)

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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 :rolleyes:

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)
 
The video card seems to be what's up for debate. I have a vapor-x 5870 which is good but I've had some problems with the driver crashing - so I have to advise you to go nvidia for that reason. Most nvidia cards are too hot and too loud, but I've heard the gigabyte 460 is the exception to the rule.
 
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 ;)
 
95thrifles said:
Well its upto you(obv, its your money, lol), I was just giving you alternative option
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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?

newbasket.png


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? :p
 
Troezar said:
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 ;)
Click to expand...

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:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
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).
 
billysielu said:
You're overspending slightly.

950 -> 930
470 -> 460
Dominator -> XMS3
850W -> 750W
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tbh, changing those wont make a huge difference to the price, but will make more of a difference to performance

i would stick the higher performance ones, especially if you have the money.
 
FabienO said:
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).
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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 :p
 
2x470 will certaintly be quicker than 2x460, so yes, u will notice a difference.

also the dominator ram and 950 will help slightly with overclocking as well
 
billysielu said:
It will save about 100 quid, and you won't notice the difference.
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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.
 
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