New £500 Rig

Telltale Boy · 19 May 2010 at 15:22

OK, I think i've got my final build. Could you guys just check it over?

Core i3 530
Gigabyte GA H55M UD2H
Crucial 4GB DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit
Titan Fenrir V2
MSI HD 5770 1GB Hawk
Xigmatek Utgard Case

Total comes to just under £500.

So do you guys reckon this is a good build? Will I have any problems with it?

Redmint · 19 May 2010 at 15:23

Links to competitor sites aren't allowed, build looks fine but personally I'd go for the 955 black edition instead of the i3.

Ordokai · 19 May 2010 at 15:24

You should really get rid of them links to competitor sites lest you get scolded by our mods here. Naughty, naughty.

Also, I concur with the above, stretching to the 955BE is well worth it mate.

- Ordokai

Cookeh · 19 May 2010 at 15:29

Ordokai said:
You should really get rid of them links to competitor sites lest you get scolded by our mods here. Naughty, naughty

Also, I concur with the above, stretching to the 955BE is well worth it.

- Ordokai

+1

(yes, Im lazy - which is why Im not going to type it out again

)

Telltale Boy · 19 May 2010 at 15:31

Ok, taken out the quotes

I'm pretty happy with the i3 530, the 955 costs an extra £40 & I probably won't be using many multi-threaded programs.

I mainly want to know wether these components are compatible.

I'd also like your views on the Xigmatek Red Scorpion (thinking of going for the Titan Fenrir instead).

Ordokai · 19 May 2010 at 15:34

Telltale Boy said:
Ok, taken out the quotes

I'm pretty happy with the i3 530, the 955 costs an extra £40 & I probably won't be using many multi-threaded programs.

I mainly want to know wether these components are compatible.

I'd also like your views on the Xigmatek Red Scorpion (thinking of going for the Titan Fenrir instead).

What are you planning to use the rig for ?

Also, while the scorpion is debatable, the Titan is well documented to be an excellent cooler given the price.

- Ordokai

Telltale Boy · 19 May 2010 at 15:39

Ordokai said:
What are you planning to use the rig for ?

Also, while the scorpion is debatable, the Titan is well documented to be an excellent cooler given the price.

- Ordokai

I'll be using it mainly for gaming, watching movies & some undemanding programs such as word processors.

I'm definitely going for the Titan Fenrir now (I'll just edit my build now)

Ordokai · 19 May 2010 at 15:47

Telltale Boy said:
I'll be using it mainly for gaming, watching movies & some undemanding programs such as word processors.

I'm definitely going for the Titan Fenrir now (I'll just edit my build now)

You are correct in arguing that conventionally games have not been that great at utilizing multiple CPU threads, however that being said the jump from 2 to 4 cores is quite substantial, especially given the CPU dependant console-port dominated market at present. Newer games do indeed benefit from 4 cores substantially. 6 however is much more debatable, hence the reason behind the recent popularity of said argument.

I urge you to reconsider, if your looking for any future compatibility at all, a lower-tier 4 core AMD is the way to go, games will only make more use of extra threads as time passes and the AM3 socket has more longevity left, giving you the option to simply drop in a better chip sometime in the future without forking out for a new mobo/ram etc.

- Ordokai

Telltale Boy · 19 May 2010 at 15:56

Ordokai said:
While you are correct in arguing that conventionally games aren't that great at utilizing multiple CPU threads, however that being said the jump from 2 to 4 cores is quite substantial, especially given the CPU dependant console-port dominated market at present. Newer games do indeed benefit from 4 cores substantially. 6 however is much more debatable, hence the reason behind the recent popularity of said argument.

I urge you to reconsider, if your looking for any future compatibility at all, a lower-tier 4 core AMD is the way to go, games will only make more use of extra threads as time passes and the AM3 socket will live for a reasonable while, given you the option to drop in a better chip in the future without forking out for a new mobo/ram etc.

- Ordokai

Do you mean forking out the extra £40 for a Phenom x4 or going for an Athlon x4 instead?

griffo_001 · 19 May 2010 at 15:58

Just ordered a similar rig for a friend, I await with interest to see the internal graphics performance - Just as well he's not gaming on it yet

Fenrir's are awesome for what they cost - They manage to keep my 4.2GHz i7 at something approaching sensible temps all year round

Ordokai · 19 May 2010 at 16:01

Telltale Boy said:
Do you mean forking out the extra £40 for a Phenom x4 or going for an Athlon x4 instead?

Sorry, I didn't make it clear enough, I meant stretching for a quad-core Phenom II. Putting althlons in the picture makes it all wonky again when compared with the i3. Phenoms are better in pretty much every way. Go for the 955 BE, you will not regret it, a 3.8 Ghz clock under the fenrir with reasonable temps is conceivable. On the other hand althlons are -hot-, will perform worse and will probably not clock as high. Its a no-brainer.

If I was to do this build myself, I would go for something like this

Sure, it's a little over your budget at 538 quid + delivery, but imo it's a better rig overall, apart from the -slight- GPU downgrade, a necessary compromise if you want the case. Still, I own a CUcore myself and its a little beat of a card, most clock very well. The fan is a little bit lauder though, if that sort of thing bothers you.

- Ordokai