Help with new PC build

PixelChef

PixelChef

PixelChef

Soldato
Joined
8 Oct 2007
Posts
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Hi,

Looking at building a whole new PC and I need some advice on which parts to get. It will be a gaming and work PC and I'd like it to last a long time. That said, I don't have all the money in the world so price is important, don't really have a budget but nothing too steep.

This is what I've chosen so far:

31507716.jpg


It's been a long time since I built a new PC / installed hardware so I'm not sure about it. I'm not sure about any of the parts, but especially the motherboard (which I don't really have a clue about), the PSU, the RAM (the 6gb DDR3 Tripple Channel didn't seem too expensive), and the Hard Drive.

Can anyone recommend any changes for these parts? Is it overkill? Not powerful enough for my needs?
 
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I would get a Core i5 760 instead of the Core i5 650 as the latter is a dual core CPU. Also you should go for a dual channel RAM kit as the Core i5 runs the RAM in dual channel and not in triple channel(you have chosen a triple channel RAM kit). A better motherboard would also be worth considering too.

Especially with a GTX470 you should get a better PSU too.

If you are really on a tight budget then you should consider a Phenom II X6 955BE and an 870 motherboard or perhaps a Core i3 with a slightly better H55 motherboard.

A GTX460,HD6850 and HD6870 would also need a lower wattage PSU to run than a GTX470.
 
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you need some guidance it seems.

a i5 650 is just a dual core with hyperthreading, where as a i5 760 is a quad core cpu.

6gb ram kit is for i7 systems, you need a 4gb kit.

hows this look?

its cheaper but also includes a better PSU, and you dont need a sound card, the onboard audio is decent.

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 470 OC 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with MAFIA 2 £174.99
(£148.93) £174.99
(£148.93)
Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £144.98
(£123.39) £144.98
(£123.39)
Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £99.99
(£85.10) £99.99
(£85.10)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £62.99
(£53.61) £62.99
(£53.61)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £61.09
(£51.99) £61.09
(£51.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £33.98
(£28.92) £33.98
(£28.92)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.91
(£10.99) £12.91
(£10.99)
Sub Total : £502.93
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £89.85
Total : £603.28
 
Thanks for the replies.

Very good call on the CPU I defiantly wanted a quad one didn't realise.

So you can't use 6gb RAM with an i5? Even if it's not tripple channel? Not sure I even need 6gb but :p I could even get x2 of those 4gb kits to make 8gb total? But again not sure I would need / want to.

stulid, I've made some changes to my basket from your list. Thanks for the advice about not getting a soundcard, but sound is important to me especially when gaming and I've noticed a good improvement with the xi fi over on-board audio with my previous PC.

Also about the case, I currently have a Antec P182 which I really like, I choose the P183 again this time because of it. How does the Coolermaster Elite case you chose compare?

The Elite does look like good value considering it includes a power supply. Is 500w sufficient though?

This is the new basket I have:

pc2f.jpg


Price 666.61. lol :)
 
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Onboard sound is pretty good quality nowadays. You'll only notice the improved quality of a dedicated card if you're outputting to very decent quality hi-fi or headphones.

For a few quid more get the Gigabyte UD3 (or asus P7P55D-E) as they both have SATA3 6Gb/s and USB3, whereas the USB3 only has USB3. SATA3 will be handy if you add a fast SSD later (which you should) :)
 
stulid said:
the 500w psu will be enough for a single GTX470.
Click to expand...

ok thanks.

Jony27 said:
i thought you need some decent speakers/headphones to get the best out of a soundcard.
Click to expand...

I'll be looking into getting good speakers later, but that's seperate from this thread. And I already have good headphones that I'll be using with this PC, Goldring NS-1000's.

Liampope said:
Onboard sound is pretty good quality nowadays. You'll only notice the improved quality of a dedicated card if you're outputting to very decent quality hi-fi or headphones.

For a few quid more get the Gigabyte UD3 (or asus P7P55D-E) as they both have SATA3 6Gb/s and USB3, whereas the USB3 only has USB3. SATA3 will be handy if you add a fast SSD later (which you should)
Click to expand...

Yeah thanks that's a good idea about the motherboard. SATA3 is for SSD's I presume? I was thinking about getting a SSD but can't justify the price yet. I'll get one sometime in the future though for sure.
 
I was reading reviews about GTX470 and I've heard from multiple places that 500w PSU is not enough. Even on the Nvidia site they recommend 550w at least. Can anyone confirm if I really need more than 500w for this system?

If so that means I probably need to choose a new case >.<
 
Well I've had an idea.

Pretty sure my current PC has a 700w OCZ PSU in it. So it would probably be a good idea to buy the Coolermaster Elite case with the 500w PSU and then put my current 700w in the new PC and the 500w in the old PC.

The current PC is: Q6600, GTX 260, 4GB RAM, 500w PSU should be enough for that right?
 
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