help spec me a pc

Scoped · 26 Sep 2011 at 01:19

hi guys, i've got a few questions that i need a little help with

so the budget is £500,
for a mobo, cpu, ram, hdd, monitor

I have a 9800gt green edition gpu and a Enermax Liberty 500W Modular PSU (will this be good enough to power a new set up?)

I want to make a reasonable gaming rig

so here are my questions:

should i go intel or amd?

depending which one, what processor model and mobo model should i be looking at?

and for windows, does the oem edition mean i cant upgrade the computer in future?

thanks for your time

mp260767 · 26 Sep 2011 at 10:17

the 500w should be ok for a 6850, above that and they recommend 500w+.

if your buying now intel would be the better bet at the moment, we're waiting on the new amd processors.

if you can save up a bit more then wait and get a 2500K processor.

fairly certain that windows oem is linked to the motherboard, thats why i recommended the z68 board, even tho you have a none overclockable processor, it will be of use if you upgrade to something like the 2500K.

Iiyama ProLite E2208HDD 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £114.98 (£95.82)

Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £109.99 (£91.66)

Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
(£83.32)

Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £30.98 (£25.82)

Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £26.99 (£22.49)

Sub Total : £319.11
Shipping : £11.25
VAT : £66.07
Total : £396.43

kain666 · 26 Sep 2011 at 10:42

recommend this monitor £100 hd 21.5" Contrast Ratio: 8,000,000:1 and a 3 year warranty

Scoped · 26 Sep 2011 at 13:52

thanks guys!

is the 2500k a good processor if you don't over clock it?
(would there be a big step up between the i3 you mentioned and the 2500k)

and if i buy one should i buy retail with the included hs or buy oem and buy a £20 heatsink?

for ram would this be an improvement Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) [CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B]

or a worthwhile improvement anyway?

also with that ram do the heatspreaders cause any problems in terms of fit?

for the monitors - I really don't know too much about them, but is the 8,000,000 to 1 ratio a true representation compared to the iiyama?

thanks so much for your time guys!

stulid · 26 Sep 2011 at 14:05

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £149.99
(£124.99) £149.99
(£124.99)
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
OcUK V-Line 221V2SB 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £94.99
(£79.16) £94.99
(£79.16)
Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) £43.99
(£36.66) £43.99
(£36.66)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £30.98
(£25.82) £30.98
(£25.82)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Sub Total : £369.94
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 : £75.99
Total : £455.93

The motherboard supports SLI/Crossfire at 8X/8X - http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/z68xp-ud3-dz68db,review-32228.html

You can overclock the i5 2500K to 4.5GHz easily too.

8GB of fast RAM.

One question is what case you have? as the height of the aftermarket cooler may interfere with the sidepanel.

mp260767 · 26 Sep 2011 at 14:06

main difference on the i3 and 2500K is the 2500K being quad core over the i3's dual core.

and with the 2500K being overclockable, you can get extra performance from it.

i'd go with retail over oem, it has 2 extra years warrenty and the retail cooler is good for an overclock of 4ghz, then maybe get a better cooler at a later date if needs be.

the new sandybridge overclocks arn't as reliant on memory as things used to be, and yes the heat spreaders can cause issues with cooler fitment, can't ever said i've seen a good reason for the big heat spreaders if i'm honest.

stulid · 26 Sep 2011 at 14:12

Scoped said:
thanks guys!

is the 2500k a good processor if you don't over clock it?
(would there be a big step up between the i3 you mentioned and the 2500k)

and if i buy one should i buy retail with the included hs or buy oem and buy a £20 heatsink?

for ram would this be an improvement Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) [CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B]

or a worthwhile improvement anyway?

also with that ram do the heatspreaders cause any problems in terms of fit?

for the monitors - I really don't know too much about them, but is the 8,000,000 to 1 ratio a true representation compared to the iiyama?

I would save the £20 and get a OEM today, your voiding the warranty by overclocking anyways.

That is good RAM, and luckily most motherboards will boot up with the RAM in the furthest second and fourth DIMM slot away from the socket. so tall heatspreaders cause less issue than you may think.

Scoped · 27 Sep 2011 at 19:58

thanks for all your help guys,
I'm going for the 2500k retail (in case i don't overclock)
the 2 * 4gb corsair and the gigabyte board

thanks very much for all your help, it should come tomorrow, i'll let you know how it goes!