New build with help required...

sirp

sirp

sirp

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18 Oct 2002
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Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 "Dual Fan Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 Game (£166.66) £199.99
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor -retail (£141.66) £169.99
Asus P8P67 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION **(£104.15) £124.98
Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 650W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXV2UK) (£62.49) £74.99
OCZ Vertex 2 50GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-2VTX50G) (£58.32) £69.98
Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) (£39.99) £47.99
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) (£33.32) £39.98
Pioneer 24x Internal S19LBK DVD Rewriter including Labelflash - Retail (16.66) £19.99

Sub Total : £623.25
Total : £759.90

I have not bought and built a new machine for 5 years, so I am out of the loop, hence my questions. My research led me to this spec. I am trying to hit around the £800ish mark for a gaming rig. I also have not added a case yet, see questions below. I am happy to have the retail CPU, not intending to overclock so will be happy with the stock cooler for now. I know other chips are around the corner, but I cannot see the prices changing that much and I cannot wait forever :)

Now for the questions:

(1) Not sure about PSU, I really have no idea of what I need etc, what is good, what is overkill etc for this build.

(2) Regarding a new case, I do not want to spend a fortune and I do not care too much about looks. My requirements are that I want usb ports on the front, not the top, I do not want a front cover, and it must have SSD mounting (rather than buying mounting kits?), and enough adequate fannage but be quiet! Also, PSU must be suitable for this case (cable lengths?).

(3) Motherboards, too many for me to choose, but not intending to upgrade machine for a number of years, so this board seemed fine, unless someone can suggest a better alternative.

(4) GPU, is it worth getting a 6900 series card over the 6800 series?


cheers in advance for any help/advice.
 
(1) Not sure about PSU, I really have no idea of what I need etc, what is good, what is overkill etc for this build.
Click to expand...

Its a good PSU, the wattage depends on what cards you want to run? but this 650W will do a pair of 6870's or 6950 in crossfire too.

(2) Regarding a new case, I do not want to spend a fortune and I do not care too much about looks. My requirements are that I want usb ports on the front, not the top, I do not want a front cover, and it must have SSD mounting (rather than buying mounting kits?), and enough adequate fannage but be quiet! Also, PSU must be suitable for this case (cable lengths?).
Click to expand...

So many to pick from, but this has great cooling out of the box,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-ZA&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=736

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcwlHsyUC20

(3) Motherboards, too many for me to choose, but not intending to upgrade machine for a number of years, so this board seemed fine, unless someone can suggest a better alternative.
Click to expand...

This is better - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-170-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1906

It does sli or crossfire at 8X/8X, the asus above does it at 16X and 4X for the two slots respectively.

(4) GPU, is it worth getting a 6900 series card over the 6800 series?
Click to expand...

Yes.

====================================================

So including a case, and a Antec modular PSU.



Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 "Dual Fan Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 Game £199.99
(£166.66) £199.99
(£166.66)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £107.99
(£89.99) £107.99
(£89.99)
Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £82.99
(£69.16) £82.99
(£69.16)
Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £71.99
(£59.99) £71.99
(£59.99)
Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) £47.99
(£39.99) £47.99
(£39.99)
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
(£37.49) £44.99
(£37.49)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£14.16) £16.99
(£14.16)
Sub Total : £652.42
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £132.98
Total : £797.90


And its under your £800 mark too:)
 
Last edited:
cheers for your input. I quite like that case for the money, but does the open panel not mean its noisier than it has to be? Or is that the pay off for air flow and noise?
 
Well Zalman are well known for there "quiet" products so the fans (which is where all the noise comes from) will be ok items. It will need that mesh at the front for the good airflow.
 
regarding motherboards, what would I be missing out on if I picked up an Asus P8P67 LE Intel P67 instead of the MSI or Asus P8P67 Intel P67 version of the board? Would this be a good way of saving money or cutting back in the wrong place?

I dont think I would need SLI in the future just crossfire.
 
Well thats the cheapest motherboard that does SLI+Crossfire at 8X/8X, it also has better quality components (capacitors etc) than cheaper boards. It aslo features "OCgenie" which is a one touch overclocking button that you press to give you a easy 4.2ghz.

The Asus P8P67 LE for example does run both PCI-E slots at the same speed, its actaully 16X/4X.
 
ok, i think i understand the PCI speed benefits for crossfire now.

that case is out of stock everywhere too, so need to find an alternative. This is starting to bring back memeories of the last build 5 years ago, a neverending research project!
 
looks ok, apart from the usbs on the top...why is that the norm now :) I would have to buy some fans too, but is an option.
 
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 "Dual Fan Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 Game (£166.66) £199.99
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail (£144.16) £172.99
MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** (£89.99) £107.99
Cooler Master CM-690 II Advanced Dominator Case - Black (£70.82) £84.98
Lepa B-Series 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (£62.48) £74.98
Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) (£39.99) £47.99
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) (£33.32) £39.98
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) (£21.66) £25.99
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM (£14.16) £16.99
Sub Total : £643.24
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £131.40
Total : £788.39

This is where I am now at :)
Decided to drop the SSD for now. After much thinking, I am also not going to consider the Z68 or version 3 boards to future proof, as I do not think I will do that, and it will probably be cheaper to sell board/psu and upgrade later. Therefore, its the suggested MSI board for now.

Case wise, its the CM690 or the K2 if is appears in stock I think.

Man this is a nightmare deciding. Part of me is also saying wait until nearer BF3 release time to build, but if I keep putting it off i will never get the thing built! Also have a 5% voucher to use up.

Its the monitor that is now taking over my thoughts 120hz or not!
 
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