New Build: Graphics/3d/Occasional Gamer

atomicrobokid · 26 May 2011 at 19:23

Hi guys and girls,

Hopefully someone can give me a bit of advise,

A bit of background: I have a full tower Alienware pc that is loud, old and just too damn big, so i've been using my laptop really,

So i thought ok, project idea, buy a smaller case for it and then you can actually put it on your desk,

So i bought myself a nice Dell XPS 8100 case, i love the look of them, they seem well ventilated, and they're a hell of a lot smaller!
Dell XPS Case

Silly me didn't even think to look at the size of the Alienware motherboard, came to swap it, and my my that is one big motherboard! No chance it'll go in the XPS case.

Ok so here's where i'm at, the Alienware pc is about 6-7 years old now, so it's pretty much useless for what i'll be using it for.

I want to build myself a good system in stages, spending roughly £600 that i can use for both occasional gaming, and quite a lot of photoshop/web development work and occasional 3d hobby work in 3dsmax.

So my requirements would be a system that can handle:

64 bit windows 7
a good amount of ram for lots of photoshop/3d things running simultaneously
Fits in the XPS case
COST COST COST of around £600, that i can buy in 3 stages, ideally £200 per month (slightly flexible!)
Can run my nice new Hazro HZ27WC 8-Bit 27" LED Widescreen Professional Glass Monitor at 2560x1440 resolution no problem (not necessarily at that res for gaming, just photoshop work etc)
Stupid little things like fast wireless, as quiet and cool as possible, bluetooth, usb 3.0 or whatever we're up to nowadays!

So my thoughts are a Core i7 2600K, they seem to be brilliant with photoshop. Something along the lines of Krypton MAXIMUM OC Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz @ 4.60GHz Plus Bundlewhich takes care of my motherboard, processor and memory (which i can upgrade)

So that leaves me needing a graphics card and a good quiet power supply?

Can anybody help?

Thanks!

sk82jack · 26 May 2011 at 19:38

That bundle won't fit in your case for the same reason the alienware one didnt. Too big. The case won't take a standard size ATX. From having a little look around I think it takes a microATX but I'm not 100% sure on this. I'll keep searching

lol

Predicament · 26 May 2011 at 19:39

atomicrobokid said:
So that leaves me needing a graphics card and a good quiet power supply?

Can anybody help?

In regards to GPU:
The GeForce GTX 480 1536MB
or MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB would give you the best bang for your buck... especially at that resolution.

Considering your PSU:
I wouldn't think you would need more than 600W
Cooler Master GX 650W Power Supply would be a good choice.

atomicrobokid · 26 May 2011 at 20:53

Would this combo work?

Intel Core i7 960 3.20Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366

with:

Asus P7H55-M/USB3 Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard

Any downsides to this?
Heat?

sk82jack · 26 May 2011 at 20:59

If it is microATX then I'd still go snadybridge woth something like this:

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £254.99

Asus P8P67-M PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £114.98

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £79.99

Total : £461.36 (includes shipping : £9.50)

I had a chat with one of the people on the Dell technical chat thing and they couldn't even tell me what size the motherboard is :rolleyes:

RJC · 26 May 2011 at 21:07

atomicrobokid said:
Would this combo work?

Intel Core i7 960 3.20Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366

with:

Asus P7H55-M/USB3 Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard

Any downsides to this?
Heat?

You have chosen a socket 1366 cpu with a socket 1156 motherboard, you need either a X58 chipset motherboard or change the cpu to the 1156 lynnfield cpus.

Also does the case use std connections for the power switch and screw holes to mount the board.

Predicament · 26 May 2011 at 21:09

You will definitely want to go Sandy Bridge.
SB eats the older i7's
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=191

sk82jack · 26 May 2011 at 21:16

RJC said:
Also does the case use std connections for the power switch and screw holes to mount the board.

From my research I have seen people swap the PSU successfully with a regular PSU so that aspect should be fine, I'm just having trouble with finding an official size for the motherboard.

RJC · 26 May 2011 at 21:22

sk82jack said:
I'm just having trouble with finding an official size for the motherboard.

Looking at some photos on the web it does seem to use M-ATX due to the amount of PCI expansion slots the case has, but I am not 100% convinced.

sk82jack said:
From my research I have seen people swap the PSU successfully with a regular PSU so that aspect should be fine.

I did mean the actual case connections from the power switch, LEDS and reset switch. As sometimes they use proprietary connections and mounts for use only with there own boards.

atomicrobokid · 26 May 2011 at 21:29

I'll dig it out of the box and have a look soon, but in the meantime here's a pic of the inside, it does look like a microATX

Internals

atomicrobokid · 26 May 2011 at 21:33

sk82jack said:
If it is microATX then I'd still go snadybridge woth something like this:

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £254.99

Asus P8P67-M PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £114.98

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £79.99

Total : £461.36 (includes shipping : £9.50)

I had a chat with one of the people on the Dell technical chat thing and they couldn't even tell me what size the motherboard is

They look great, adding them to my list!

I noticed the on board graphics got good reviews with that chipset, would that mean i wouldn't need a dedicated graphics card or would that still be a worthwhile purchase?

RJC · 26 May 2011 at 21:36

Does any of the software being used take advantage of CUDA from Nvidia, the onboard should be fine for general usage.

atomicrobokid · 26 May 2011 at 21:42

There is both a CUDA and PhysX plugin for 3dsmax, however as 3d is more of a hobby i don't know if i'd use/take advantage of those features. It's been that long since i've messed with desktop pc's that "onboard" is still a dirty word when it comes to graphics, my how things have come along!

sk82jack · 26 May 2011 at 22:03

You want a H67/61 board for onboard graphics, or Z68 but they're a bit more expensive.

James J · 26 May 2011 at 22:29

Just a heads up, be VERY careful with the size of the grapics card you get for that dell case. I recently upgraded my dads which has the same case (as its a dell machine obviously lol) and a 5870 card literally just fit. The HDD caddy is in the way for anything larger than that card and even then, its quite a snug fit.

atomicrobokid · 27 May 2011 at 11:24

Thanks for the replies guys, great help!

I'd love to get the ATI Radeon HD 6950 in my case, but i'm not sure if it would be too long or not :confused: