Need geek-based build advice

Myranda · 19 Mar 2013 at 19:50

So, want a PC which will be both my main gaming rig, but also a learning/work machine which will be doing an awful lot of virtualisation.

So, either...

i7 3770k
Gigabyte Z77 mobo
32gb ddr3 1600mhz ram
xfx 7970 card
Samsung 840 128gb SSD
2x 3tb seagate baracudas
(insert appropriate case+PSU)
About £1300 ish...

Or

FX-8 8150
Gigabyte 970A mobo
32gb ddr3 1600mhz RAM
xfx 7979 card
Samsung 840 128gb SSD
2x 3tb seagate barracudas
(insert case + PSU)
About £1200

Which is idealist? Thanks

snips86x · 19 Mar 2013 at 19:57

What you think of this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £257.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7970 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
2 x Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVI316G186C0K) £89.99 (£179.98)
2 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99 (£159.98)
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £32.99
1 x Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24B5ST SATA ReWriter - Black (OEM) £18.95
Total : £1,277.78 (includes shipping : FREE).

Intel would be the way forward, hyperthreading would be an asset to use.

I've included the 7970 as you mentioned, but the 7950 is just as capable if overclocked. It then becomes as fast as a stock 7970. Motherboard allows for SLI/xFire but you'll need a 750w PSU if your looking to upgrade to dual cards.

Grade-B for recommendation here when in stock - HIS HD 7950

honosuseri · 19 Mar 2013 at 19:58

you forgot option 3.....socket 2011

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - OEM £235.99
1 x Gigabyte X79-UP4 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £209.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x XFX Pro Series 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £84.98
2 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99 (£159.98)
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black £69.98
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
2 x Kingston HyperX Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (KHX16C10B1BK2/16X) £59.99 (£119.98)
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.95
Total : £1,316.28 (includes shipping : £13.75).

Idleman · 19 Mar 2013 at 20:12

@snips, GB 7970, no longer available according to the link.

snips86x · 19 Mar 2013 at 20:15

Idleman said:
@snips, GB 7970, no longer available according to the link.

haha - I read it as 1 ready to dispatch! :confused:

I love the look of the 2011 build Hono

Myranda · 20 Mar 2013 at 14:47

I'd not thought of the 2011 socket stuff, I'd (wrongly it seems) thought that it would be significantly more expensive.

Live and learn.

Also, while I know that traditionally the AMD piledrivers are slower, with heavy virtualisation would the extra cores not make a difference? Or at least not enough of a difference to account for the i7s being faster and stuff?

Aaaand a final question

Its going to take a few months to save up for a proper beast of a machine, so I want something in the meantime, that's ultra-cheap that can play a couple of older games (up to Supreme Commander 2 and Dawn of War 2) ideally falling into a sub £300 (or less) price bracket. Afterwards I'm sure I can re-purpose it when its a second PC as some sort of server or whatever.

Thanks!
P.S. really liking that 2011 build.

Crisp89 · 20 Mar 2013 at 15:09

Defo go for the i7 if your funds can stretch for it.

DaleTheWhale · 20 Mar 2013 at 15:31

£300 can grab you something around the trinity side of things.
What do you need or everything fresh?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £59.99
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £55.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £49.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £318.00 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Or, with a quad core..

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £83.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £49.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) HDD £43.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £329.40 (includes shipping : £11.25).