Help spec my new rig please

TechnoScream · 6 Jan 2010 at 11:08

Hi All,

Both my father and I are planning to get new PCs as our current rigs are struggling to play some of the games we got at xmas.

Nothing is set in stone yet, but I'd suggest a budget of £600 for the base unit (excluding monitor/keyboard & mouse/OS I'll sort those out later.)

Please spec me the best components I can get for £600 to build a complete base unit for gaming & general use. Also please note, I dont plan to overclock these, I've done plenty of that in the past and dont want to mess around too much this time.

Reading through a few of the posts here, I5 sounds good, but you may know better.

Thanks in advance

w1llyg · 6 Jan 2010 at 11:16

I suggest the AMD phenom ii x4 965 or 955, if your not planning to oc.

Showboat · 6 Jan 2010 at 11:43

What games are struggling to play and at what resolutions do you play them.

Do you need it solely for gaming or will you be doing video editing and processor intense stuff?

TechnoScream · 6 Jan 2010 at 11:57

Games like Dragon Age:Origins, Fallout 3, & Avatar.

I'll be upgrading my 19" CRT shortly but I think the current resolution is 1024x768

I'm not a huge video editor but I do some 3D modeling in sketchup which I assume is processor intensive.

Thanks for your help!

GinG · 6 Jan 2010 at 13:05

What are your current machine specs?

asoxedri · 6 Jan 2010 at 13:36

You can cut this down to 600 easy if you change a few things.
PSU to: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1098 = Saving £38.11
CPU to: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-245-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1328 = Saving £14.04
Ram to: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-224-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1516 = Saving £17.41
HD to: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-081-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=940 = Saving £31.00
= Total £100.56
although for 85 quid i think its worth to keep the below stats.

TechnoScream · 6 Jan 2010 at 15:13

GinG said:
What are your current machine specs?

My current machine is a core 2 duo machine, which isnt that old, but I built it from bits on the members market and there is something seriously wrong somewhere... maybe with the PSU maybe the Mobo - I'm not sure. The onboard network card on the mobo has died and its so far blown up 2 GFX cards and the current one is giving artifacts like no tomorrow. This is why I thought i'd go for new parts.

asoxedri said:
You can cut this down to 600 easy if you change a few things.
...

Thanks very much for the list, this is what I was hoping people would do.

I checked out the CPU and the reviews mention the heatsink/fan is loud, is there an alternative?
Also the Mobo & HDD are out of stock.

Anyone else up for having a go? Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

asoxedri · 6 Jan 2010 at 15:47

TechnoScream said:
Thanks very much for the list, this is what I was hoping people would do.

I checked out the CPU and the reviews mention the heatsink/fan is loud, is there an alternative?
Also the Mobo & HDD are out of stock.

Anyone else up for having a go? Thanks in advance

i personally prefer zalman cpu coolers as i find them quiet, but in this case heres a few options i can think of for AM3:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-028-CM&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-003-TQ&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-067-AK&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

give OCuk a call and ask for ETA on those two parts that are not in stock.

gave Intel a go as well. personally i'd choose the amd option.

TechnoScream · 7 Jan 2010 at 18:29

Thanks again asoxedri!

I like the look of most of the components for the AMD rig, i'd prob add the coolermaster cooler due to its low price (and since I'm not planning on overlocking). De we know it will definitely fit in this case?

Since the recomended mobo is not in stock, is there another I should go for a similar price that is currently in stock? I'm a bit behind on chipsets and dont know what to go for?

The corsair PSU is £100 while the OCZ one you mentioned is £60, which is quite a difference, is the corsair essential? would I regret going for the £60 one?

Thanks!