New build

franco_22 · 9 Jan 2011 at 17:45

Budget: £800

Purposes:

Most important: Silence
Second: HD Video
Third: Light gaming
Fourth: Office work

The build:

Case: Fractal Design Artic R3
DVD RW: Sony Optiarc
HDD: OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB
GPU: ASUS GTX 460 768MB
CPU: AMD 555 (will hopefully unlock)
MB: Gigabyte GA-880M UD2H 880G
Monitor: Dell U2311H
RAM: Corsair XMS3
PSU: BeQuiet Straight Power 450w
Cooler: Immo3d iChill

I know I should really save money on everything else and go for a better cpu/mb combo but I thought that everything else would last me a really long time 3-5 years hopefully and if I really need a cpu upgrade then I could wait for Ivy Bridge or something even later. I don't need processor power but I do want the quietness offered by the case, the snappynes of an ssd and the picture quality of the dell.

What do you think?

Am I better off saving £100 on the monitor, is the Dell overrated?
How good is the PSU?
How good is the cooler?

franco_22 · 9 Jan 2011 at 18:57

Anyone?

franco_22 · 9 Jan 2011 at 20:41

Really wanted to order this before midnight to get the ram + vat offer so if anyone could offer an opinion I'd really appreciate it

hybrid572 · 9 Jan 2011 at 20:49

I'd switch the X2 555 for an X4 630, drop the cooler and get a better known brand of PSU.

Otherwise- good to go.

freddie64 · 9 Jan 2011 at 21:33

This monitor looks ok.

- LED Backlit
- Screen Size: 24" Widescreen
- Resolution: 1920x1080
- Contrast Ratio: 20000000:1
- Brightness: 250cd/m²
- Response Time: 8ms
- Viewing Angles (H/V): 178°/178°
- Colours: 16.7 Million
- Inputs: 1x Analogue, 1x DVI-D & 2x HDMI
- Weight: 6.0kg
- USB Hub
- Warranty: 2 Years On-Site

Don't know how it compares to the Dell, but it seems like a lot of monitor for the price, and it saves you £70

cmndr_andi · 9 Jan 2011 at 21:44

Looks good.

Probably the last thing I would change is the monitor. It is the thing you will be looking at all the time and you picked an excellent one.

As for the cooler - I would suggest going for this one, it cools well and is quiet. If you want silence I would invest more and get a thermalright HR-02, but on this budget you will have to compromise a lot - and the GPU and PSU will introduce noise anyway.

Considering you are only doing "light gaming" then I would go with this GPU. Its cheaper and uses less power.

I would also consider going for this PSU (or the 520W version) as it is more efficient than the BeQuiet.

The rest looks really good.

franco_22 · 9 Jan 2011 at 23:40

Hey andi,

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm glad I did something right.I'll go for that cooler, do you by any chance know if it comes with it's own paste?

I'll take that PSU as well but do you think 400w would be enough? I only do light gaming but I don't wanna have to upgrade in a years time so do you think I should stick with the Asus gtx 460?

Thanks!

20 minutes to go!! haha

Randomface74 · 9 Jan 2011 at 23:42

Antec TruePower New 650W.

cmndr_andi · 9 Jan 2011 at 23:49

Yes, that cooler comes with mx2 paste pre-applied to the base. However, I would suggest getting a tube of MX3 and TIM cleaner if you need to re-mount.

If your budget can support it - then I would get the GTX 460 it is a nice card. But you will need a bit more power than the 400W - so I would suggest going for this one (its good quality, efficiency and gives you some power headroom).

franco_22 · 9 Jan 2011 at 23:49

billysielu said:
Antec TruePower New 650W.

I read your sig but still, it's kinda out of budget

franco_22 · 9 Jan 2011 at 23:49

cmndr_andi said:
Yes, that cooler comes with mx2 paste pre-applied to the base. However, I would suggest getting a tube of MX3 and TIM cleaner if you need to re-mount.

If your budget can support it - then I would get the GTX 460 it is a nice card. But you will need a bit more power than the 400W - so I would suggest going for this one (its good quality, efficiency and gives you some power headroom).

Awesome , thanks for the suggestions.

franco_22 · 9 Jan 2011 at 23:51

One last question before I order this.

Does anyone know if the Fractal Design R3 Artic white is the same as the Black Pearl?

I am ordering everything from OcUK but they dont have black pearl!! My gf wants black but i want white, she says that it looks stupid if monitor and everything is black and then the case is white, what do you guys think? I assumed the white one was a newer model.

cmndr_andi · 10 Jan 2011 at 00:02

I'm pretty sure its the same model - just a different colour, these R3 cases haven't been out long.

I'm not really great with aesthetics - so I can't advise you which one to get. Though I would be suggest you get it in black to make the missus happy

franco_22 · 10 Jan 2011 at 00:09

I freaking hate cards, been trying to pay for the last minute, I have more than enough funds on my account and it won't work!! grr

Edit: nvm it worked.

Product Name Price Qty Line Total
Dell Ultrasharp U2311H 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey £203.98 1 £203.98
Asus GeForce GTX 460 Direct CU TOP 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £93.01 1 £93.01
OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G) £81.58 1 £81.58
Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case - Arctic White £71.79 1 £71.79
AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 555 3.20GHz Black Edition (Socket AM3) - Retail £54.66 1 £54.66
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £49.51 1 £49.51
Antec High Current Gamer 520W Power Supply £46.50 1 £46.50
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £29.37 1 £29.37
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1155/ 1156 / 1366) £15.82 1 £15.82
LiteOn IHAS124-19 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.65 1 £11.65

Yay OcUK

cmndr_andi · 10 Jan 2011 at 00:13

paypal perhaps?

franco_22 · 10 Jan 2011 at 00:20

cmndr_andi said:
paypal perhaps?

card worked after the 5th time

i went for white case instead, can always paint it black if it's that big of a deal for her

Now Im just crossing my fingers that 555 will unlock