My dads new build to be (all threads into 1)

has to be GTX 460 OC HAWK

i have £620 and no longer need DVD drive as ive managed to test his current one fully on a non original DVD MOVIE disc (encryption prevents testing) - it max speed is 16x , 133ms random access and 41MB/s burst

going to spec up now and purchase... the case he wants is on another site but im gunna have a look on here and see if i can see anything he might like... no spare bays - its Fugly.. door prefered or tower with just two bays

thanks for the help :)
 
well this is what i spec'd up but its £10 over due to case I need elsewhere so may have to drop the XFX PSU for the BeQuiet which I would have preferred not too.. also prices seem to change by large amounts on daily basis on here - GFX card has gone up £10 and Processor £5 (Retail 2500k is now £169.99)

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £155.99
(£129.99) £155.99
(£129.99)
MSI GeForce GTX 460 HAWK "Super-OC" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £134.99
(£112.49) £134.99
(£112.49)
Asus P8P67 LE Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** *LOWEST UK PRICE* £72.98
(£60.82) £72.98
(£60.82)
OCZ Vertex 2 50GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-2VTX50G) £71.99
(£59.99) £71.99
(£59.99)
XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
(£45.82) £54.98
(£45.82)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
(£21.66) £25.99
(£21.66)

Sub Total : £480.75
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £98.15
Total : £588.90

they also add VAT to the Delivery which is wrong I think - cost+P&P then add the VAT to that total... so paying £12 instead of the £10 that it states... bit sneaky I think
 
Prices go up/down due to either TODAY ONLY offers which last for a day and WEEKLY OFFERS which ends on Wednesday mornings. So it's better to ask for a spec a day or two before purchasing.
You can get a HD6850 which is cheaper and on par with the GTX 460 if you look around.
And the Corsair CX430w V2 should have not probably with that setup, and it could save you a few £ as its also on TODAY ONLY offer.
 
we have ordered

this what we got

GTX 460 OC (336 cores @ 725Mhz)
Core-i5 2500K Retail (for the 3 year warranty)
Gigabyte GA-P67A-D3-B3 (wanted UD3 but just couldnt afford it)
4Gb Corsair 1600Mhz XMS3 (2x2Gb)
Gellid Tranquillo Cooler
XFX Pro 550 Watt with EasyRail (5 Year Warranty)
60Gb OCZ Vertex 2E SSD (for OS and Apps)
500Gb Seagate HDD 7200.12 (for FSX + Addons)
Asus TA-9L1 Black Midi Tower Case (ATX / mATX)

the motherboard doesnt support SLi I know (only Crossfire) but he wont be using SLi at any point

stuff comes tomorrow ...cant wait
 
perhaps aye... I just like Gigabyte boards..maybe im misled but ive been told they are the better quality MB Manufacturer? perhaps not but i feel happier with a good brand.

will post up pics..its not getting built until Sunday when my dad is here, iam showing him how to do it and he gunna build it hehe ...cant wait! ive read somewhere that the motherboard has issues (for some people) and few reviews said to upgrade BIOS to F4 immediatley using qflash on USB stick.. so will have to do that, i will check now for any other possible problems that might require immediate updates like SSD/HDD/GPU firmware

thanks for all the help everyone - I couldnt have done it without this forum... I had a last minute heart attack when I realised I couldnt remember if the Midi tower took ATX boards..but i checked and it did...phew! panic over!! haha

thanks again
 
what is best method of testing the stuff out of case? ive never done it yet as ive been scared something happens to it hehe - just sit motherboard on table with GPU/RAM/CPU/HSF on and cables & monitor wired in and then touch the ON/OFF pins with a screw driver? and if you get into BIOS its working fine..yeah? Ive always just built them and hoped for the best....never had one not turn on yet.
 
That should work, haven't done it in years now though. I just tend to build em and try them in the case.
 
my dads stuff came this morning... :)

dying to get stuck into it... he coming over tomoz tea-time so will start then... the case doesnt have 2 x 120mm fans I read that it would have on a different site.. it has 1 x 92mm on the back.. it probs be noisey as hell and have to order a decent cheap 120mm fan to suck warm air out back...anyone suggest a cheap one thats quiet?
 
it took us much longer than normal, about 2 hours just taking our time (normally 40 minutes) - the HSF (Gellid Tranquillo) was extremely fiddly and the instructions were in very small print and werent fully informative but you could work out what to do from some of the pics.. i will deduct a star for that when I review it.

Everything else was quite smooth install apart from some of the pins like front panel audio etc and the huge GPU and HSF just got in the way - infact i had to remove the GPU to get FP AUDIO in - was the fiddliest build ive done, think it was just orientantion of it all - perhaps next time i will install GPU last after pins

the comp is DEAD SILENT, it hums under 100% load on Prime95 but nothing annoying - whether its the CPU fan or GPU fan or BOTH i heard I dont know.

the SSD is lightening fast... windows takes 15 seconds to load after post to desktop - apps flick up as if already loaded and my internet is blazing fast... people with 800Mhz and less Ram just dont realise what they are missing as ive noticed over few comps and laptops with DDR3 Ram the internet is lightening fast on my connection.. quick pages flick up instantly..where as our laptop (DDR2 667Mhz) and my dads XP PC (DDR2 800Mhz) quick pages take 1+ seconds ...faster memory defo makes a difference.

Im still in mid-setup with software, ive got it OC'd to 4Ghz which Prime95'd @ 74'c max temp , 69'c avg. which is normal I believe ... im gunna finish of installing everything and play with afterwards...

very impressive and so glad we got the SSD and the 500Gb Seagate
 
no not even installed it yet, still updating win7

i have an issue with the Gigabyte USB3.0 controller - it hasnt and wont install - USB3.0 ports are dead - trying to sort that now... all the windows updates and SP1 have totally eaten the 60Gb SSD aswell.. down to 31Gb with just windows updates, chrome, avast, drivers installed

sorted it, got driver from other website
 
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no not even installed it yet, still updating win7

i have an issue with the Gigabyte USB3.0 controller - it hasnt and wont install - USB3.0 ports are dead - trying to sort that now... all the windows updates and SP1 have totally eaten the 60Gb SSD aswell.. down to 31Gb with just windows updates, chrome, avast, drivers installed

Disable hibernation and reduce the amount of space allocated to system restore.
 
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