New Build + Some Questions

will0812

will0812

will0812

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23 Nov 2009
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My PC is about 3 years old now, so looking to put together a new one.
System will be primarily for gaming, and want it to last at least another 3 years.
Budget is around £1000-£1500 so,

- Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail - £211.99 inc VAT
- Asus Rampage II Extreme Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard - £252.99 inc VAT
- Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel - £117.99 inc VAT
- Prolimatech Megahalems Performance CPU Cooler (Socket 775/1366) - £49.99 inc VAT
- Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 / 1GB GDDR5 / PCI Express 2.0 / Graphics Card - £219.99 inc VAT
- Kingston SSDNow V+ Series 64GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive - £134.99 inc VAT
- Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM - £48.99 inc VAT
- Antec 1200 Full Tower Case + Antec CP 850W Modular PSU - £199.99 inc VAT
- Sony AD7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer & RAM Burner + LightScribe Black Bare Drive - OEM - £18.68 inc VAT
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - 64 Bit - £72.12 inc VAT

That all comes to £1327.72 inc VAT

Is it worth spending an extra £90 for a HD5870 instead of the 5850, Possibly even a Sapphire 5870 Vapour-X for £339.99?
Would you recommend any other alternatives to what I have selected?
Is overclocking a system like this "Fairly Easy" and Do-able for a someone who has never overclocked before?
Is the PSU Ok?
Also, I have always gamed with a CRT however now i am considering getting a TFT if its not too expensive. As a gamer i am not too fussed about the detail of graphics, but i want very good frame rates, and very smooth gameplay as i play fast paced games. Does a CRT limit performance at all ? Id prefer to keep my CRT as its cheaper, as long as its not holding back my 5850, I've had bad experiences with TFT's being slightly blurred when moving around rapidly. Otherwise what is a good TFT you would suggest 19"-22" for around £150?

All opinions and ideas are welcomed,

Thanks in advance, Will
 
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I would get a 5870 with that build... as you said only £90 more... and more future proof (just add another one later next year in crossfire and it will last you even more than 3 years) and still within your budget.

I don't know about the antec psus... personally I prefer the corsair ones (hx 850) although it is a bit more expensive.

Hard drive I would get the samsung F3 - 500gb or 1TB... it seems to be the best hdd around right now.

From what I hear overclocking is extremely easy with these sort of specs and mobo... although I never overclocked before tbh.

About the monitor... and with a LCD TFT monitor you will benefit more than a CRT...

This 22" is the best one imo cause it has an e-ips panel, a bit over your budget, but personally if I was going to spend that money I would go for this 24". It has 1920x1200 resolution although it is a TN panel, but with a 5870 gfx you don't really want a resolution lower than this.
 
I dont really know much about HDDs, but the WD has higher cache and higher rpm, so what makes the Samsung better? And in what way will a TFT benefit? just because of the higher resolutions? + ive read some reviews on that psu they all seem good and i can get it as a bundle with the case so its cheap.
 
will0812 said:
I dont really know much about HDDs, but the WD has higher cache and higher rpm, so what makes the Samsung better?
Click to expand...

Yeh i wouldn't mind knowing this as well, i was all for the WD Black when i was building my current rig, but pretty much everyone recommended the new F3s so i went with that- was a bit cheaper as well.
 
If you're using it for gaming, i would suggest getting an i5 because they are great for gaming and they're cheaper than an i7.
 
The only thing I would change would be the SSD. I would get a better one with a slightly bigger capacity. I found out very quickly that these fill up after a couple of games + OS forcing some games to be installed on my secondary drive.

I would suggest the Crucial line and would consider forking out for the (128gb?) model.

This would def be possible if you stayed with the 5850 or, as TheTard suggested, drop to the i5 for the slightly cheaper build.
 
The Antec CP850 PSU in first spec is spot on, one of best, just not used by many due to limited compatibility (not ATX - CPX)
The prolimatech cooler youve included is just the tower, youd need to add a separate 120mm fan, Noctua PF12 is good, or you could just use the Noctua cooler itself or the Corsair H50
Re the HDDs I'd spend more and get a better SSD, your secondary drive you have choice, if you're going to have additional apps then yeah the black youve included is good, if its just for storage then a green would be better (quieter and more efficient, not quite as fast) The reason the F3 is marginally better is it uses 500gig platters which are denser than the usual 333gig platters therefore better performance
Do you really need a top range motherboard like that? Or would the P6T Deluxe not suffice?
Re monitor, chances are a £150 LCD monitor isnt going to be better than your CRT, imo you should up this budget, whats the point in spending all that cash on a top PC with top gfx card then being unable to display it??? I'd be investing in a decent 24" circa £400 (Dell/HP good choices) - Dont forget the monitor is likely to last you multiple systems too - upgrade PC every 3 years say, monitor every 10 so its a good investment
 
95thrifles said:
The Antec CP850 PSU in first spec is spot on, one of best, just not used by many due to limited compatibility (not ATX - CPX)
The prolimatech cooler youve included is just the tower, youd need to add a separate 120mm fan, Noctua PF12 is good, or you could just use the Noctua cooler itself or the Corsair H50
Re the HDDs I'd spend more and get a better SSD, your secondary drive you have choice, if you're going to have additional apps then yeah the black youve included is good, if its just for storage then a green would be better (quieter and more efficient, not quite as fast) The reason the F3 is marginally better is it uses 500gig platters which are denser than the usual 333gig platters therefore better performance
Do you really need a top range motherboard like that? Or would the P6T Deluxe not suffice?
Re monitor, chances are a £150 LCD monitor isnt going to be better than your CRT, imo you should up this budget, whats the point in spending all that cash on a top PC with top gfx card then being unable to display it??? I'd be investing in a decent 24" circa £400 (Dell/HP good choices) - Dont forget the monitor is likely to last you multiple systems too - upgrade PC every 3 years say, monitor every 10 so its a good investment
Click to expand...

+1
 
Yea, i realised i needed a fan for the cooler the other day, didnt even think to check at first :)
what ive read about the PSU seems to be all good so ill go with that, as far as HDD, What you said is actually a very good idea, There is no way im spending 400 on a monitor though, for me its just not worth it, i simply want the best frame rates, and smoothness, I play Cod4 mostly, and play at a very competitive level, so for me the graphic detail and resolution is not of great importance as at current i turn all settings as low as possible to get constant 125 fps for the advantages this brings being on a quake based engine, but the card has had it now and cant even get 125 stable anymore, however thinking about it i probably dont need anything higher than a 5850 if i stay with my CRT.

Finally, if the second device is just for storage, which is more efficient / quiet WD Green or Samsung?
 
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Ok thanks, will go for that then. all main apps etc will go on the SSD, HDD is just for videos and music and other things. In terms of SSD the Kingston seems to be one of the lowest priced 64GB ones, but also has respectable read and write speeds so for me i think its the best choice? similar price products are only 30GB and read/write speeds are very much the same if not slower. However again my knowledge of what makes a good SSD is limited and just comes down to read/write speeds :)
 
My knowledge is by no means on par with an "expert" but if your going to splash on an SSD I would take the extra little stretch rather than possibly regretting it in the future
 
Yea, well originally i didnt want to spend over £1000, but that went out the window a long time ago :P However i have just fixed my personal PC so there is no rush at all now. Cant believe it was all to do with one setting in the bios =/ had be stumped for 2 weeks

But i will still make a new build. just taking my time now. might go i5 and maybe a better SSD as you suggest :)
 
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