Help Specing an all-rounder

[Chris_Hebden]

Hay all,

I have roughley £800 for a new build (my first )! I am looking for something to run 24hrs a day, pretty quietly, as a media server running server software, something that can run CAD and above all, run high quality games (this one is quite important)!

I don't need keyboard, mouse or screens. I do need an operating system and would like a blu ray player

I have an external hard drive (Seagate) but its not very good to watch films off as it keeps "seeking" during the film causing the film to stop playing, this is a 1TB. I could do with a hard drive this size that's suitable to watch films off, or a SSD and a smaller hard drive so that film watching over the network isn't an issue.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Cheers Chris

 

[Chris_Hebden]

I was thinking of going AMD processor route, is there a reason why you've suggested the Intel?

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Whats the main differences between Sandybridge and Ivybridge? Is it worth me going to the Ivybridge?

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £185.99
(£154.99) £185.99
(£154.99)
AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4170 Black Edition 4.20Ghz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail with FREE Dirt Showdown PC Game **£10 Cashback** £104.99
(£87.49) £104.99
(£87.49)
Gigabyte 990FXA-D3 AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard ** FREE NEXUIZ GAME ** £89.99
(£74.99) £89.99
(£74.99)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
(£69.99) £83.99
(£69.99)
Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £80.99
(£67.49) £80.99
(£67.49)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £61.99
(£51.66) £61.99
(£51.66)
LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £56.99
(£47.49) £56.99
(£47.49)
Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
(£45.82) £54.98
(£45.82)
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)
Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939/AM2/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366) £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £672.39
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £136.98
Total : £821.87

What's peoples thoughts on the above spec? I completely take on board what you say about intel and AMD, but the price difference is quite important to me. Do you think the above spec will handle what I need?

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Hay don't get me wrong I value every bit of advice that is given, I've just been recommended the AMD on here for gaming previously, that was a while ago and pre ivybridge.

The blu-ray is on the list because this system will be plugged into my home tv, I see it as cheaper alternative to buying a standalone blu-ray player? Is this not a good idea?

 

[Chris_Hebden]

What about knocking the ssd on the head for the minute? Will I loose much from this from a gaming point of view? Is it possible to use a hard drive from a laptop? This system will be replacing my old laptop, could I use the hard drive from this?

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Can anyone recommended a case that has outside dimensions which are equal to or less than 320 (w) * 340 (h) * 400 (d), which can fit in the above inc SSD

Cheers Chris

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Thank you, will make sure it is! Can anyone help with the case? Would like to order asap

 

[Chris_Hebden]

whats the difference between the spec'd 7850 card and this one? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-052-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

All I can see is it has an extra fan?

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Thank you for this

Can I swap out the spec'd motherboard for this one http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-401-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261 ?

Cheers Chris

 

[Chris_Hebden]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £71.99
1 x LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £62.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £35.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939/AM2/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366) £15.98
Total : £894.86 (includes shipping : FREE).

 

[Chris_Hebden]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £71.99
1 x LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £62.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £35.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
Total : £878.88 (includes shipping : FREE).



So is this everything I am going to need for what I want? I am about to press buy

 

[Chris_Hebden]

BOUGHT!!!! Holy crap!! Can a mod change the name of this thread to "how the hell am I going to put this together"

Thank you to everyone's help on this, its been very appreciated

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Yea will do!! I'm looking forward to the new challenge! I will no doubt be on here Tuesday evening asking loads of questions :-\

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Yipee!!! It's all here!! Can't put it all together tonight unfortunately but quick question about thermal paste. Neither cpu or motherboard came with any, is this correct?

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Wasted post

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Is the 3 grey pads on the bottom of the heatsink be ok? Or do I get some paste from a local retailer?

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Hay all! On my new PC!! Very happy with it. Before I post pics I have to do a lot of cable management AND I seem to have a hard drive error! My Seagate hard drive cant be found in My Computer, however it can be seen in device manager, any ideas?

 

[Chris_Hebden]

Here are the install pics ! Ive got to buy some extenders for the wires running across the mother board, but apart from that, i am quite happy with it!

PC is amazing! I have never used anything like this before! Runs FSX with everything on and REX in a built up environment at 30-40 fps which i am very happy with!

Thank you to everyone who helped spec it for me, very appreciated

 

[Chris_Hebden]

LOL its a bit late to question that now ! It was what was recommended to me to use, and I put the external hard drive failures down to the lack of reading capability of it. I am not sure on the spec of it to tell you what the read/write figures are