mATX, spec check

Smithy

Smithy

Smithy

Associate
Joined
9 Mar 2006
Posts
1,536
Location
East London
Hi. I made one of these threads a couple of months ago but now it's time to actually buy and so I just wanted to check my current spec is up to date and still the best I can get for my money.

This is what was proposed back in July;

Smithy said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £149.99
1 x BenQ GW2255 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £99.95
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Silverstone TemJin TJ08B-E Midi Tower Case - Black (SST-TJ08B-E USB 3.0) £83.99
1 x MSI B75MA-P45 Intel B75 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £53.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £43.99
Total : £624.88 (includes shipping : FREE).

Click to expand...

Some things have changed. I'll now not be needing a graphics card as I'm getting a hand-me-down GTX 560 for free. So this reduces my budget to ~£500 excluding graphics card - everything else is still required.

OcUK no longer stock the i3-3220 so that will need replacing. Some prices have also changed since July so this may not be the best I can get, and you guys seem a lot better than I at spotting the decent 'This Week Only' deals.

Thanks for your help.
 
Smithy,

Not tempted to try and squeeze an SSD in there at all as the OS drive? Makes a huge difference in boot and access times. Don't think i'd be able to go back to standard HDD's after getting one. It pains me every time i have to use a work computer without one heh
 
Bongomike said:
Smithy,

Not tempted to try and squeeze an SSD in there at all as the OS drive? Makes a huge difference in boot and access times. Don't think i'd be able to go back to standard HDD's after getting one. It pains me every time i have to use a work computer without one heh
Click to expand...
Do you think I could fit one in on my budget without a huge compromise elsewhere?
joeyjojo said:
FX 6300 is a better option at that price.

amd piledriver fx-6 six core 6300 black edition 3.50ghz (socket am3+) processor - retail £89.99



see http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1811883/6300-4130.html among others.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your input :)
 
 
Last edited:
For the 560 430w will be enough.

But you are leaving yourself very short on the upgrade path.

Id personally spend more and get a Z87 motherboard and a 520w psu.

Then at a later date you can add a 4670k (second hand) and a 7950/280x (secondhand). The z87 will allow you to over clock..

Im saying this as I wish id done it on my first build instead I had to replace everything bar the RAM.
 
 
Last edited:
Smithy said:
Is that PSU better than the OCZ I have in the above basket?

Why do these mATX boards seem to support Crossfire but not SLI? Is it something to do with crossfire only requiring a 4-lane PCI-E slot to operate whereas SLI requiring x16?
Click to expand...

Yes, that PSU si a better choice. Seasonic are the Top PSU maker, whereas OCZ PSU's are a little hit and miss..

Nail on head, Xfire requires x4 SLI requires x8. :)

That build looks very nice. :)
 
Perhaps a silly question; I assume the CPU comes with the stock cooler? Couldn't find anything in the description that said so. It's been a while since I dabbled in hardware but if I recall Retail cpus come with coolers, OEM packages don't...
 
Smithy said:
Perhaps a silly question; I assume the CPU comes with the stock cooler? Couldn't find anything in the description that said so. It's been a while since I dabbled in hardware but if I recall Retail cpus come with coolers, OEM packages don't...
Click to expand...

Your correct :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom