New Build, need advice please.

True, offers are on quite a lot at OCUK.

I just hope some of my parts go on offer or a nice SSD. I have another question though; The friend that wants to buy this old system will be putting his own HDD and optical drive into this system as I've already mentioned and I will be doing a fresh install for him, but he needs to buy Windows 7.

He wants to spend the least possible on the OS. He knows upgrades are cheaper than buying 7 on it's own. So could I replace the HDD and optical drive and then do a complete fresh install/upgrade with an upgrade disk without any problems?

If not, he wants the cheapest possible solution. I've seen the OEM version of Windows 7 is much cheaper than the Retail, almost half. He wants to know the main differences between the two, such as any limitations that will really matter.

Thanks as always guys!
 
Steve Foster said:
True, offers are on quite a lot at OCUK.

I just hope some of my parts go on offer or a nice SSD. I have another question though; The friend that wants to buy this old system will be putting his own HDD and optical drive into this system as I've already mentioned and I will be doing a fresh install for him, but he needs to buy Windows 7.

He wants to spend the least possible on the OS. He knows upgrades are cheaper than buying 7 on it's own. So could I replace the HDD and optical drive and then do a complete fresh install/upgrade with an upgrade disk without any problems?

If not, he wants the cheapest possible solution. I've seen the OEM version of Windows 7 is much cheaper than the Retail, almost half. He wants to know the main differences between the two, such as any limitations that will really matter.

Thanks as always guys!
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OEM is basically parts for people "in the know". It doesnt come in a flashy box explaining what it is and how to use it. It's essentially just want you need sold for less without "unnecessary" extras.

I wouldnt bother with the upgrade disk just get the home premium 64bit OEM disk. Unless your mate is a student sometimes they have offers for students to get an OS and MS office cheaply. (long shot but worth mentioning)
 
honosuseri said:
OEM is basically parts for people "in the know". It doesnt come in a flashy box explaining what it is and how to use it. It's essentially just want you need sold for less without "unnecessary" extras.

I wouldnt bother with the upgrade disk just get the home premium 64bit OEM disk. Unless your mate is a student sometimes they have offers for students to get an OS and MS office cheaply. (long shot but worth mentioning)
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He's not a student anymore. I'm fine with installing the OEM version of 64bit for him, it saves him money at the end of the day and if it's only the box and support from Microsoft that's missing then it's all good :)

I'm buying my parts on the 5th March so I should be building it on the 6th when the parts arrive. I might as well tell him to try and get a retail version on eBay through bidding, he might get a bargain. If not, I'll just get him to buy the OEM version.
 
Thinking about SSD's. They're fast to read and help with booting and opening programs a few seconds faster, but I think I'd rather get another mechanical HDD for more space.

I can get:

Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200 RPM SATA3 6Gbs 64MB Hard Drive - ST1000DM003

For £90 new, and retail.

I was thinking of using my current Segate Barracuda 3.5" 7200 RPM ST3500418AS 500GB for Windows and all my games/programs while I could then use the 1TB drive for storage and my FRAPS files.

The only reason I'd rather buy the 1TB HDD, is because the 60GB just isn't enough space for me to install Windows and my games. SW:TOR is 32Gb and I haven't updated it in month, the SSD would run out in no time.

So do you think that would be an alright setup with the 2 mechanical drives?

I was also thinking of installing a Black Magic Intensity Pro into the system as well, instead of the Happuage PVR which I currently have. Would an Intensity Pro fit and be compatible with the system I'm building? Specs are here (you have to select Intensity Pro from the dropdown box) :)
 
It's double the memory but it's slower than the other one, and I need the speed for videos from FRAPS. Plus I've heard the Green drives can go into power saving mode while recording and mess your video up lol...

It seems like I will buy the £90 one I found unless I see any offers on OCUK. Only 15 days now until I order my parts =D
 
My friend bought himself a second hand 3.5" hard drive for this when he gets it. He needs some screws for it, will any type do, such as from B&Q or will he need PC screws? Can't see any on OCUK.
 
Steve Foster said:
My friend bought himself a second hand 3.5" hard drive for this when he gets it. He needs some screws for it, will any type do, such as from B&Q or will he need PC screws? Can't see any on OCUK.
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You might have a few spare that come supplied with your case. Depending on how many drives you are using ;)
 
I'm buying the parts later today or tomorrow. Just to clarify, these components should work fine together:

Finished Product
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366)
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 "Dual Fan Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 (Unlocked to 6970)
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
1 x Lightscribe Blu-Ray DVD+RW+DL Drive (My old one)
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB (My old one)
Click to expand...

As you know, I'm buying these parts:

Still Need
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366)
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 "Dual Fan Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 (Unlocked to 6970)
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Total @ Current Offers Price: £605.94 Including VAT and Delivery.
Click to expand...

Once I get back from the bank I'll be able to give you a total amount that I can spend. Might be enough extra to get better parts here and there. Also, will I need any thermal paste with the OEM processor? I know the cooler should have some on but would the Arctic Silver be worth it?
 
Ok, I'm about to order parts. I've decided to wait for my second HDD, can always install it easy enough as it'll only be for storage :D
 
Looking good bud.

Couple of tips as you are close to building. The CPU is easy enough to fit, there a notches to show it only fits one way. As you bring the lever back down you'll hear some noise and you'll think your breaking it.....that's normal don't panic.

As stulid said the heatsink comes with a tube of decent paste. You need to fit the heatsinks mounting bracket to the back of the mobo and there is another one to screw onto the heatsink itself.

You'll find it easier to do the mobo bracket first, then thread the 4 bolts through and use some tape to hold them in place. Flip the mobo over then you can slide the washers down the bolt (much easier than trying to stick them on over the holes), then add the spacers and finally a dab of paste to the CPU and then add the heatsink and screw it down. It's wise to do say, the top left then the bottom right and then top right, bottom left to help spread the pressure.

I've just finished a similar build the other day. If you head into the BIOS and change the mulitplier to 44 the i5K will run at 4.4Ghz. I was using the zalman z9 case, stress tested the CPU was sitting at 40 deg OC'd.

Hope that helps make your life a lil easier.
 
honosuseri said:
Looking good bud.

Couple of tips as you are close to building. The CPU is easy enough to fit, there a notches to show it only fits one way. As you bring the lever back down you'll hear some noise and you'll think your breaking it.....that's normal don't panic.

As stulid said the heatsink comes with a tube of decent paste. You need to fit the heatsinks mounting bracket to the back of the mobo and there is another one to screw onto the heatsink itself.

You'll find it easier to do the mobo bracket first, then thread the 4 bolts through and use some tape to hold them in place. Flip the mobo over then you can slide the washers down the bolt (much easier than trying to stick them on over the holes), then add the spacers and finally a dab of paste to the CPU and then add the heatsink and screw it down. It's wise to do say, the top left then the bottom right and then top right, bottom left to help spread the pressure.

I've just finished a similar build the other day. If you head into the BIOS and change the mulitplier to 44 the i5K will run at 4.4Ghz. I was using the zalman z9 case, stress tested the CPU was sitting at 40 deg OC'd.

Hope that helps make your life a lil easier.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I have the OCUK picture and Newegg's video guides ready and have already watched them several times.

So once it's all connected, do you recommend changing the multiplier before or after I install Windows? Once the CPU overclock is out of the way I'll be testing it, then moving onto the GPU. I've never OC'd RAM though so have no idea about that.
 
Will my Steam and Origin games be alright? They won't need deactivating or anything will they? Never switched since I had Steam :)
 
Steve Foster said:
Thanks for the advice. I have the OCUK picture and Newegg's video guides ready and have already watched them several times.

So once it's all connected, do you recommend changing the multiplier before or after I install Windows? Once the CPU overclock is out of the way I'll be testing it, then moving onto the GPU. I've never OC'd RAM though so have no idea about that.
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You might as well do it at the start, seeing as it's wise to head into the bios as soon as the system posts to check settings and connected devices anyway (boot priority etc).

You will be in the bios at stock speeds and you can easily see what the current CPU temp is. If the temp is low and it's obvious you fitted the heatsink fine then you can proceed to up the multiplier.
 
My parts will be here within the hour. Regarding the 6950's dual bios switch, should I switch it to the number 2 position (6970) when I first install it, so before I install software and boot for the first time?
 
Steve Foster said:
My parts will be here within the hour. Regarding the 6950's dual bios switch, should I switch it to the number 2 position (6970) when I first install it, so before I install software and boot for the first time?
Click to expand...

Well it has two choices doesn't it.....it will either unlock or it won't lol

In all seriousness you seem to be keen to run before you can walk. Get windows installed, get the latest drivers etc on the machine along with some benchmarking and monitoring software (prime95,3dmark,cpu-z,HWmonitor etc).

Then you can worry about squeezing every last bit of performance from the machine. If you tinker too much at the start and something isn't right you are making it more difficult to find out why fella.
 
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