Help with new PC configuration

I'd highly recommend going for a single GPU (6950 and then flash it) and go for a slightly cheaper PSU. Replace GPU in future, rather than adding a second card.
XFX ATI Radeon 6950 XXX 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £179.99
(£149.99) £179.99
(£149.99)
Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
Asus P8P67 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £114.98
(£95.82) £114.98
(£95.82)
Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £69.98
(£58.32) £69.98
(£58.32)
Coolermaster Storm Scout Gaming Case - Black £60.98
(£50.82) £60.98
(£50.82)
Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Triple Channel (CMX6GX3M3A1600C9) £53.99
(£44.99) £53.99
(£44.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £39.98
(£33.32) £79.96
(£66.64)
Sub Total : £608.24
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £124.40
Total : £746.39
Click to expand...
 
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chrisvb said:
thanks for the reply, i'm thinking just a cpu loop for now, as those gpus seem to run cool with the uprated cooling.

EDIT: if i was planning on getting one gfx card, for around £300, and then upgrade to sli later, what would be the best gfx card?
Click to expand...

triggerthat said:
I'd highly recommend going for a single GPU (6950 and then flash it) and go for a slightly cheaper PSU. Replace GPU in future, rather than adding a second card.
Click to expand...

the price is nice, i've heard bad things about xfx, is this true? and will that psu support the watercooling i'm using? (just cpu). i'd like a gfx card which will play most things on high if not maximum.

EDIT: if i wasn't to go watercooling what would be the best air cooler to get the most out of my i5 ?
 
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chrisvb said:
the price is nice, i've heard bad things about xfx, is this true? and will that psu support the watercooling i'm using? (just cpu). i'd like a gfx card which will play most things on high if not maximum.

EDIT: if i wasn't to go watercooling what would be the best air cooler to get the most out of my i5 ?
Click to expand...

XFX are fine. If you're concerned, then just spend £20 more and get the MSI version (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS&tool=3)

PSU is more than enough. You don't need to spend much to get something decent. Anything more than £1000 and you're just wasting your money, unless you want to get the very best (even though its not very cost effective).

You could spend £1300 now and not upgrade for enough 2 years. Or you could spend £750 (which will get you something very decent) and upgrade 12 months later :-)
 
this is what i've got now then;

bpDlV.png



I've heard great things about the gtx480 soc, which is better though the 6950 2gb msi or the gtx480?

Also is the thermatake frio any good if i want to OC the i5?

Cheers, Chrisvb.

edit: also just realised the ram you spec'd was triple channel, is that correct?
 
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much better and sensible :) SLI is overkill if you gonna use a single display.

You don't need triple channel, but dual channel. Either 4 GB or 8GB. Low profile memory sticks would be my choice if you gonna go for a big cooler.

The Frio is ok-ish, although reviews are a bit mixed. If you want another option for the cooler, you have the Antec Kulher H2O 620, Titan Fenrir Evo, Akasa Venom, Scythe Ninja, and the big daddies like the Prolimatech Megahalem.

The PSU will work, but not if you go SLI later (which I think will not be ideal anyway).

The 480 is a good card for £200, £240 seems excessive.

Case is good. Should fit a 480 OK.

here's my contribution.

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK Motherboard Bundle - Intel Core i5 2500K & Asus P8P67 Intel P67 Mainboard **B3 Revision** £263.99
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 480 "Special Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £224.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1) £99.98
1 x Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K62 Mid Tower Case with Window - Black £87.82
1 x G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM) £77.99
1 x Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £69.98
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £50.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £39.98
1 x Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £946.21 (includes shipping : £13.75).



Can replace the Antec Cooler a good air cooler, and the case with the CM 690 and whatnot. Can use a bluray drive as well. since you have a good budget.

- No point going i7 for gaming.
- 580 is nice, but I don't think it's worth almost £200 over a 480.
- A SSD as a boot / system / application drive is awesome. No need to go over 60GB.
- 4 Gigs is enough. 8 Gigs is great for the price.
- If you need Win 7, OcUK does a deal with WD Blue drives. Although the drive is not the fastest, will still work fine and you save about £20 iirc.
 
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olivier renault said:
much better and sensible :) SLI is overkill if you gonna use a single display.

You don't need triple channel, but dual channel. Either 4 GB or 8GB. Low profile memory sticks would be my choice if you gonna go for a big cooler.

The Frio is ok-ish, although reviews are a bit mixed. If you want another option for the cooler, you have the Antec Kulher H2O 620, Titan Fenrir Evo, Akasa Venom, Scythe Ninja, and the big daddies like the Prolimatech Megahalem.

The PSU will work, but not if you go SLI later (which I think will not be ideal anyway).

The 480 is a good card for £200, £240 seems excessive.

Case is good. Should fit a 480 OK.

here's my contribution.

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK Motherboard Bundle - Intel Core i5 2500K & Asus P8P67 Intel P67 Mainboard **B3 Revision** £263.99
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 480 "Special Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £224.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1) £99.98
1 x Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K62 Mid Tower Case with Window - Black £87.82
1 x G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM) £77.99
1 x Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £69.98
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £50.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £39.98
1 x Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £946.21 (includes shipping : £13.75).



Can replace the Antec Cooler a good air cooler, and the case with the CM 690 and whatnot. Can use a bluray drive as well. since you have a good budget.

- No point going i7 for gaming.
- 580 is nice, but I don't think it's worth almost £200 over a 480.
- A SSD as a boot / system / application drive is awesome. No need to go over 60GB.
- 4 Gigs is enough. 8 Gigs is great for the price.
Click to expand...

thanks a lot for this, going to order this except for the SSD, i'm waiting for the ocz vertex 3. Thanks.

EDIT: will the gtx480 run two 24" monitors.
 
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chrisvb said:
thanks a lot for this, going to order this except for the SSD, i'm waiting for the ocz vertex 3. Thanks.

EDIT: will the gtx480 run two 24" monitors.
Click to expand...

Yes, should have two DVI-I connectors, as well as HDMI.

I don't think the Antec Kuhler is in stock yet. But you can always install it later. The mobo + CPU combo comes with retail cooler, which is fine for stock speeds, and the i5 is real quick at stock. So can get a special cooler later when you are ready to overclock. All the other components seem to be in stock.

Note that the next generation of SSDs will be a bit more expensive. At £100, the C300 is a good deal, and I'm not sure how better real-world performance a Vertex 3 would have over the current generation. But fair enough :)

EDIT : There is a slight niggle with that case concerning routing to the 8 pin motherboard socket, but the TX650 has a splittable 4+4 connector, so no worries.

Lancool PC-K62 review.

CM 690 II review.

another awesome case, the Fractal XL / R3 case.
 
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olivier renault said:
Yes, should have two DVI-I connectors, as well as HDMI.

I don't think the Antec Kuhler is in stock yet. But you can always install it later. The mobo + CPU combo comes with retail cooler, which is fine for stock speeds, and the i5 is real quick at stock. So can get a special cooler later when you are ready to overclock. All the other components seem to be in stock.

Note that the next generation of SSDs will be a bit more expensive. At £100, the C300 is a good deal, and I'm not sure how better real-world performance a Vertex 3 would have over the current generation. But fair enough :)
Click to expand...

thanks a lot, again. I think i'll wait till the antec kuhler is in stock then, which thermal paste do you reccomend?
 
okay, i'm ready to order but i keep seeing bad things about the gtx480s, is it a good idea or can i get something similar in preformance for the same money? i'd really like the fastest gfx card for under £230 ish.
 
The GTX 480 has a history of massive power consumption and excessive heat production and noise, due to the old Fermi design of the card. I believe the Super OC has significant improvements in terms of cooling, which would make the heat and noise issues slightly less of a worry.

Check out the 5870 (20% off offer on at the moment), 6950 2GB and GTX 560/570 for similar performance cards in your price range.
 
I'd use the Twin Frozr II, their cooling systems really are great if you're a bit of an overclocking monkey. If you're not planning on overclocking it yourself though, the Super OC will be a bit faster, so I'd go for that one.

If you move up to gaming on two screens, you may find you need a second one to keep frame rates high, but I wouldn't bother buying a second 560 until you need it- prices will go down.
 
hybrid572 said:
I'd use the Twin Frozr II, their cooling systems really are great if you're a bit of an overclocking monkey. If you're not planning on overclocking it yourself though, the Super OC will be a bit faster, so I'd go for that one.

If you move up to gaming on two screens, you may find you need a second one to keep frame rates high, but I wouldn't bother buying a second 560 until you need it- prices will go down.
Click to expand...

how hard is it to OC the gpu? only ever done cpu.

edit: just saw this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-259-SP would it be better to wait and get 2x these in cf? seems to beat quite a few things for £220.
 
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hybrid572 said:
Two 5850s in CF easily trounce even the GTX 580, so yeah, I'd go for that.

Bear in mind it's a pre order price only.
Click to expand...

so if i pay now for them i get them at that price? or do i have to pay more when i get them.

also for a case instead of the fractal what about this ? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-023-NX&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=35

EDIT: also will they ship all of it when all of the pre-order items are in stock or what? :)

EDIT: also what's the difference between:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-259-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1711

and

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-258-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1711

is the nzxt comparable to the fractal for cooling?
 
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more cores available, better performance. Is it worth the £20 / £40 XFire? Yes :)

Look up reviews on both cards. It's a nice deal for XFire, although I would rather have a single card personally.

There are plenty of reviews of the nzxt, both cases have their fans, and not much wrong with either.
 
olivier renault said:
more cores available, better performance. Is it worth the £20 / £40 XFire? Yes :)

Look up reviews on both cards. It's a nice deal for XFire, although I would rather have a single card personally.

There are plenty of reviews of the nzxt, both cases have their fans, and not much wrong with either.
Click to expand...


EDIT: Spec i've decided on, was gonna get the soc version, but heard some are faulty and my friend from the forums will help me OC the se version;

YNPlc.png


going to use the stock intel cooler until the kuhler arrives :cool: can anyone reccomend a cheap gaming keyboard/mouse ( or a non gaming keyboard/mouse if that's not possible )
 
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