New £800ish build

Keoje

Keoje

Keoje

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Joined
19 Feb 2011
Posts
30
Hi I'm looking to build a new computer with a budget of £800. I just need the tower unit only. I've put together a build myself but would like some opinions as I haven't been fully caught up on the new technology available.
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So yeah opinions please - any changes you'd make. I think I need a few more fans? I will be gaming on 1080p but would like the option to one day upgrade to SLI mode for 1440p or so gaming possibly.

Also, how do you link baskets? :confused:
 
 
Yeah, the 290 is much better than the 770.

I would suggest getting an aftermarket cooler in there though.

Maybe drop the 290 to a 280X and add the Themis. :) That'll put it under/about £800 then too. :)
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (VXR9 290 4GBD5-DHX) £275.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £253.54
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £44.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £41.98
Total : £817.46 (includes shipping : £12.50).




(Missing an aftermarket cooler at the moment)
Thanks for the reply guys. I've amended my basket after your opinions. Just a few questions.

1. Is VTX3D a decent brand and will it's aftermarket coolers be sufficient for the 290?
2. I've been recommended the Themis aftermarket cooler. Is the Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler enough or should I pay extra £8 for the professional version?
3. I'm not gonna be missing out much by taking a 256GB Crucial MX100 over a 128GB Samsung 840 EVO in terms of speed will I? £2 for double the size :D
4. I realize that my original bundle was a Micro ATX mobo and the updated one is a ATX. This will fit in the case fine?
5. Do I need any extra fans in there? My only other build was a Antec 900 which comes already with tons of fans
 
Keoje said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (VXR9 290 4GBD5-DHX) £275.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £253.54
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £44.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £41.98
Total : £817.46 (includes shipping : £12.50).




(Missing an aftermarket cooler at the moment)
Thanks for the reply guys. I've amended my basket after your opinions. Just a few questions.

1. Is VTX3D a decent brand and will it's aftermarket coolers be sufficient for the 290?
2. I've been recommended the Themis aftermarket cooler. Is the Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler enough or should I pay extra £8 for the professional version?
3. I'm not gonna be missing out much by taking a 256GB Crucial MX100 over a 128GB Samsung 840 EVO in terms of speed will I? £2 for double the size :D
4. I realize that my original bundle was a Micro ATX mobo and the updated one is a ATX. This will fit in the case fine?
5. Do I need any extra fans in there? My only other build was a Antec 900 which comes already with tons of fans
Click to expand...

1. Yes, the VTX3D cooler is decent - well priced too
2. How much do you intend to overclock?
3. Get the MX100, it's amazing value :D
4. Yes, it will still fit though I'd go for a full ATX board
5. Can you take fans out of that (which fans are they?)

I suggest you save the extra and get the Seagate Barracuda :)

Here's a revised spec

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (VXR9 290 4GBD5-DHX) £275.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £253.54
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £42.98
1 x BitFenix Neos ATX Tower Black/Blue £29.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x OcUK Tech Labs Zaward OEM 120mm Golf Ball Fan £2.59
Total : £820.66 (includes shipping : £8.00).





Dropped the case and only a 1TB drive (still enough) but got a themis in there with an R9 290 still :D
 
1) Herd no major complaints with this brand.
2)The Themis is a good cooler and will be fine
3) You wont notice anything and enjoy the extra space :p
4) The motherboard will fit fine :)
5) You shouldn't need any extra fans, but you can always add later.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (VXR9 290 4GBD5-DHX) £275.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £161.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £68.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 550W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £43.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £41.98
1 x BitFenix Neos ATX Tower Black/Black £29.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
1 x OcUK Tech Labs Zaward OEM 120mm Golf Ball Fan £2.59
Total : £814.90 (includes shipping : £17.85).

 
Shivy011 said:
1. Yes, the VTX3D cooler is decent - well priced too
2. How much do you intend to overclock?
3. Get the MX100, it's amazing value :D
4. Yes, it will still fit though I'd go for a full ATX board
5. Can you take fans out of that (which fans are they?)

I suggest you save the extra and get the Seagate Barracuda :)

Dropped the case and only a 1TB drive (still enough) but got a themis in there with an R9 290 still :D
Click to expand...
YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (VXR9 290 4GBD5-DHX) £275.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £253.54
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £44.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £42.98
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
Total : £838.46 (includes shipping : £12.50).



New revised spec after taking your opinions :p It has all minus additional fans right now.

I overclocked my old Q6600 2.4GHz to 3GHz on air. I'll probably attempt to do something similar for this new computer at some point later. Unfortunately the Antec900 computer is still being used by a family member :p

1. Any particular reason for the case change? If it's cost my budget is flexible. I quite like the look of the Corsair 200R. If I was to keep this case how many 120mm fans would I need?
2. Do I need any thermal paste for this aftermarket cooler? :confused:
3. I can install an OS without a disk drive right? USB can work?
 
Your absolutely going to hate me (I've pushed the budget a little more)...

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (VXR9 290 4GBD5-DHX) £275.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £253.54
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX21C11BRK2/8-OC) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £42.98
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
Total : £852.46 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Colour coded, Case with 3 fans... The case also matches the look of the Antec 900 (see I took it into consideration).

Keoje said:
1. Any particular reason for the case change? If it's cost my budget is flexible. I quite like the look of the Corsair 200R. If I was to keep this case how many 120mm fans would I need?
Click to expand...

I specced the Zalman Z9, its a great case for the price. Different styling to the 200r but closer to the antec 900. :)

There are a few other options in that price range but the 200r and z9 are my favourites. If you push upto £70 the 300R and Ronin swoop in. :)

Keoje said:
2. Do I need any thermal paste for this aftermarket cooler? :confused:
Click to expand...

Nope, it comes with thermal paste pre-applied. :)

Keoje said:
3. I can install an OS without a disk drive right? USB can work?
Click to expand...

You sure can, aslong as you have windows on a USB. :)
You just set your boot options to boot from external (in BIOS).

Hope this helps. :)
 
Keoje said:
Not too fond of the Zalman Z9 case :p

I prefer the 200R because it's slightly smaller. If I were to stick with that how many extra fans would I need to put in? :D
Click to expand...

Fair do's, wrth a try. :)

I'd say two extra.

Really you want 2 intake (front), 1 exhaust (rear) and 1 Exhaust (top), as a minimum.

If you find the GPU getting TOO hot, you can have a side intake too..
 
Did some more digging around and realised I should get a bigger PSU.
YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (VXR9 290 4GBD5-DHX) £275.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £253.54
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 650W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £65.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £44.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £42.98
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
2 x Arctic F12 Case Fan - 120mm £3.98 (£7.96)
Total : £862.43 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Pretty much ready to order unless someone sees a possible issue I'll have?
 
Last edited:
Why a bigger PSU? 550W is more than enough, but go for the 650 if you want :) Go for the PWM Arctic F12 fans
 
Shivy011 said:
Why a bigger PSU? 550W is more than enough, but go for the 650 if you want :) Go for the PWM Arctic F12 fans
Click to expand...
Just been looking around and saw that the R9 290 required 750W psu but after browsing around more 650W is sufficient. Is 550W really enough for this? :p I think the most I'll be doing is overclocking it. Doubt I'll get two graphics card later or anything.

What difference does the PWM version have
[edit] Ah variable speeds depending on system load. Nice :D
 
Last edited:
Keoje said:
Just been looking around and saw that the R9 290 required 750W psu but after browsing around more 650W is sufficient. Is 550W really enough for this? :p I think the most I'll be doing is overclocking it. Doubt I'll get two graphics card later or anything.

What difference does the PWM version have
[edit] Ah variable speeds depending on system load. Nice :D
Click to expand...

Most of these places that tell you how much power you need really have no clue, it is best to check good review, I like Guru3d.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_radeon_r9_290_directcuii_oc_review,9.html

Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:

AMD R9-290 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 550~600 Watt power supply unit.
AMD R9-290 Crossfire - On your average system the cards require you to have a 800 Watt power supply unit at a minimum.
Click to expand...
 
Alright guess I'm ready to order :D Thanks everyone for your help

Just noticed that the CPU/mobo bundle is now £20 more expensive :(
 
Wow yeah, that's weird...
The PWM fans allow for finer control, they change speed on signal instead of changing due to voltage
 
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