New build, Ish any cheaper?

feck199

feck199

feck199

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YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £64.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £31.99
Total : £404.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Looking for ways to knock the price down. The main factor is cpu price, if i drop it to an i3 everything becomes possible.

Currently torn between the idea of letting my friend buy a 6850, or letting him push his budget as much as he can to get a better card.

Or I sell him my 6950, and I take a 7850 for half price. It wouldnt be much of an upgrade for me, but it would still be an upgrade if i got it overlclocked right? Also the main point is, i'm wanting my case to be quieter so thats a big selling point of this idea to me.

Also dont want my 6950 to die in his computer in 6months, but only time will tell on that one. Card was run at 6970 bios 6/months no problems until i tryed eyefinity. Then went 6950 bios / unlocked / modify volts. Now its stock 6950 bios/unlocked runs stable at 850, and seems stable at 880 if i let the card warm up.. from a cold boot it'll hang on 880 :/
 
Sorry I'm a bit confused as to what you need exactly?

That spec won't work though, as the CPU is OEM it has no stock cooler [and shorter warranty] so get the retail version instead.

If this is for a friend who might get a 6850, an i3 would be fine for that :)
 
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random comments are normally useful.

There was a few questions in there, first one about it been cheaper was looking at other cases and psu's trying to save a bit there.

Other than that, was looking for people to either say good idea or call me stupid for thinking of spending 100quid on switching from a 6950 to 7850. Although i'd guess most would say well you want the computer to be more quiet, so go for it.

Saying that spec wont work because it doesnt have a cooler is a bit meh, as it will work just not for very long. For that reason i'd suggest it also doesn't have a harddrive so wont be going very far.

Money is a problem, And the pc is for bf3. Getting ordered in a couple of weeks so things could change.

I'm already supplying cooler, keyboard/mouse, harddrive, mointer and windows.
 
Budget was 400, and anything after that i've taken on the mission of convincing his other half that its a good idea i'm spending more than they have.

So far i've come up with around 570+/- inc 7850.

re beejjacobs
That was kinda what I was looking for, the GPU would be either 6850, 6950, 7850. (6850 is the last option really, so power hungry ones are more likely)
 
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****199 said:
random comments are normally useful.

There was a few questions in there, first one about it been cheaper was looking at other cases and psu's trying to save a bit there.

Other than that, was looking for people to either say good idea or call me stupid for thinking of spending 100quid on switching from a 6950 to 7850. Although i'd guess most would say well you want the computer to be more quiet, so go for it.

Saying that spec wont work because it doesnt have a cooler is a bit meh, as it will work just not for very long. For that reason i'd suggest it also doesn't have a harddrive so wont be going very far.

Money is a problem, And the pc is for bf3. Getting ordered in a couple of weeks so things could change.

I'm already supplying cooler, keyboard/mouse, harddrive, mointer and windows.
Click to expand...

Don't knock Beej for pointing out the obvious. There are plenty of people who accidently spec/order the wrong part. How was he supposed to know you had a spare heatsink?

650W is what you need minimum to dual card the 6950. The mobo you are spec'ing wont do SLI or Xfire properly so you might as well order a cheaper PSU like Beej suggested.
 
Sorry I should have read it through more thoroughly.

Either a 6950 or a 7850 would only require 500W or so:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-radeon-hd-7850-and-7870-review/7
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-6950-6970-review/11

So I'd get the OCZ ZS 550W PSU

Wouldn't be a bad idea to get a 7850, as then your friend has to spend less and you get something new. It's not really an upgrade but like you say they do overclock very well, see this thread:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18389760

For BF3 I'd try and stick with the i5 as it does use 4 cores and in larger maps an i3 might struggle a bit.

Soon Ivy Bridge will be out so it's worth waiting to see how that affects prices of SB

EDIT: Cheers Hono :)
 
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honosuseri said:
Don't knock Beej for pointing out the obvious. There are plenty of people who accidently spec/order the wrong part. How was he supposed to know you had a spare heatsink?
.
Click to expand...

You have a point, but there is a lot more missing from that list than just a heatsink!

Just see the extra reply, Thanks. That is pretty much what i was looking for.

I've attempted to justify a cheaper build to myself, but knowing his main aim is bf3. I found it hard putting another cpu in the spec. Just wanted responses before i delve into the fun of talking to one that controls the money, and the good reasons behind the 50% increase in budget. That and I'd really be happy with my 6950 not dieing on him, as i'll be the one fixing it!
 
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****199 said:
You have a point, but there is a lot more missing from that list than just a heatsink!

Just see the extra reply, Thanks. That is pretty much what i was looking for.

I've attempted to justify a cheaper build to myself, but knowing his main aim is bf3. I found it hard putting another cpu in the spec. Just wanted responses before i delve into the fun of talking to one that controls the money, and the good reasons behind the 50% increase in budget. That and I'd really be happy with my 6950 not dieing on him, as i'll be the one fixing it!
Click to expand...

Acutally all you'd need is a hard drive and it would work :p

How old is your 6950? Guessing no warranty then? At least with a Z77 board he can use the PC if anything did happen to the GPU :)
 
Its an original reference 6950 2gb sapphire, dual bios. should have been bought march 2011.

*correction Order Date: 17 Jan, 11, 5:58 am
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 Game

I'm guessing its still in warranty, but it has been flashed a few times.(so its possible its void if ever proved) Never really caused any problems i could't fix, as i said i returned to stock bios / unlocked recently. Just to check how the card runs at minimal overclocks. So far so good, apart from the one cold boot issue at 880.
 
****199 said:
You have a point, but there is a lot more missing from that list than just a heatsink!
Click to expand...

Yes and he also pointed out the longer warranty on the retail CPU as well. It's your fault for not stating from the start exactly what you do need and already have! How about telling us the resolution of the screen as well? If it's a "Low res" screen he might well get away with a cheaper GPU.

If you want to sell your 6950 that's down to you. If it has 2GB of VRAM that would be helpful as BF3 is a VRAM hog.

I would personally use the nvidia 460 SC/FTW over a 6850. I use one in my HTPC running @900mhz and it runs BF3 on custom high-ultra settings just fine on my 40inch 3DTV.
 
****199 said:
Its an original reference 6950 2gb sapphire, dual bios. should have been bought march 2011.

*correction Order Date: 17 Jan, 11, 5:58 am
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 Game

I'm guessing its still in warranty, but it has been flashed a few times.(so its possible its void if ever proved) Never really caused any problems i could't fix, as i said i returned to stock bios / unlocked recently. Just to check how the card runs at minimal overclocks. So far so good, apart from the one cold boot issue at 880.
Click to expand...

I don't know if its like overclocking a CPU where they can't tell so warranty shouldn't be a problem? If its back with the stock BIOS I don't think they could know.
 
Fair enough,

It'll be either a Apple Cinema 20Inch @1680x1050 or Viewsonic 22inch @1680x1050. would have been the viewsonic for sure but its known to not want to come out of standby mode unless you unplug it for a week and try it again.

Still waiting to see how fun the loading times will be running off some old sata 2 500gb hdd.

Yes sellin the 6950 is my choice, tbh this is more of a favor to keep the price down with the idea of small improvement for me and my case been more quiet.
 
beejjacobs said:
I don't know if its like overclocking a CPU where they can't tell so warranty shouldn't be a problem? If its back with the stock BIOS I don't think they could know.
Click to expand...

I'll check if it was two or three years, then hope its never needed. But atm the bios is a modified stock bios.

Again thanks for the advice.

With how the build will be used, seems to make little difference between z68 and z77, although the price difference is also next to nothing.

I'll have to see over the next couple of days. I might get to order this sooner and just get it done.
 
****199 said:
Fair enough,

It'll be either a Apple Cinema 20Inch @1680x1050 or Viewsonic 22inch @1680x1050. would have been the viewsonic for sure but its known to not want to come out of standby mode unless you unplug it for a week and try it again.

Still waiting to see how fun the loading times will be running off some old sata 2 500gb hdd.

Yes sellin the 6950 is my choice, tbh this is more of a favor to keep the price down with the idea of small improvement for me and my case been more quiet.
Click to expand...

Well at that relatively low res a GTX460/6850 is probably enough for BF3 if you're on a tight budget and decide not to sell your 6950 to him, see here, bare in mind this is ultra settings inc 4x AA
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £167.99
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked FTW 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (01G-P3-1363-KR) £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £46.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £46.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
Total : £523.87 (includes shipping : FREE).



I'd aim for something like that.

The z77 mobos have lucid MVP which increases FPS, you dont get this on z68 mobos. That mobo would allow him to add another 460 later (cheap 2nd hand maybe) the 550W PSU has enough grunt to run 2 460s or 6850s

Note that 460 uses 192bit VRAM to SLI you need another 192bit 460. In all honesty, if you look around these 192bit cards are cheaper and more common than the 256bit versions. Of course he can use a cheaper mobo if he wants to omit the dual carding option....which would bring it closer to £500

However.....

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/314?vs=293

Thats X2 460s vs the 6950 but the 460 is running @675mhz (stock) obviously @867mhz the 460 would pull ahead more.
 
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