New pc build

suitheist · 19 Jun 2011 at 15:53

Hey, I'm about to build a new pc. This is the spec I'm intending to go for. Budget is £650. I don't need windows or a screen. I intend to use it for gaming and general use.

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power 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 - OEM £156.98
(£130.82) £156.98
(£130.82)
Gigabyte Z68A-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
OCZ StealthXStream 2 700W Power Supply £52.98
(£44.15) £52.98
(£44.15)
G.Skill RipJawsX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
(£28.32) £33.98
(£28.32)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD753LJ) £28.99
(£24.16) £28.99
(£24.16)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1155/ 1156 / 1366) £17.99
(£14.99) £17.99
(£14.99)
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
(£12.49) £14.99
(£12.49)
OCuK Value 1mtr HDMI Male - Male Cable(CDLHD-301) £2.59
(£2.16) £2.59
(£2.16)
* Sub Total : £523.73
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £107.00
*
TOTAL: £641.98
*

Is this a good build for my budget? If I could stretch to £700, would it be worth getting an agility 3 60gb instead of the HDD and using my 1tb WD NAS drive over LAN for games etc? It works for streaming films, but i don't know how fast it is in more general terms; I suspect I'd be boosting my OS performance but crippling my gaming. If I go as above, I intend to buy an SSD sometime down the road.

95thrifles · 19 Jun 2011 at 15:57

Looks good bar the HDD, you want the F3

Jordan97 · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:00

thats ****

N00bbuilder79 · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:01

Jordan97 said:
thats ****

??

Reaper 392 · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:03

change the RAM to corsair XMS3. it will mean you dont have problems later if you want to get a big cooler. it performs exactly the same as the Gskill

olivier renault · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:40

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 Game £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £156.98
1 x MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £107.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 620W Power Supply £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £34.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £26.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366) £21.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £661.39 (includes shipping : £11.25).

Pretty much the same, with a difference motherboard (that can do SLI / Xfire). For £650, would be hard to save on components, unless you shop around. Changed the cooler as the other one is out of stock. It's a much better cooler anyway. For a few pounds more, you have the GD65 and Hyper 212+ bundle. Moving to a 560ti (Asus Direct CU) and you will bring it within budget, while even getting room for a Antec 100.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £173.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £156.98
1 x MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** with FREE Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler £139.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 620W Power Supply £49.99
1 x Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £41.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £34.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £26.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £656.41 (includes shipping : £13.75).

suitheist · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:46

Ok, I switched the RAM. Thanks Reaper.

But the F3 HDD seems the same as the F1 except with 250gb less space and half the cache? Surely that's worse?

Is there any point in getting a sata 3 HDD? I've gone for a motherboard which has sata 3, but that's for an SSD later. Presumably HDDs can't take advantage of the bandwidth?

RJC · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:48

The F3 has slightly different platter configuration so would be faster, not sure if your budget allows for the 1TB version.

suitheist · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:50

I was surprised how cheap the MB I'd chosen was, so it's missing XFire support? I thought for XFire the second card went into the 4x slot anyway? I'm going ATI, so SLI doesn't bother me.

Surveyor · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:51

Jordan97 said:
thats ****

N00bbuilder79 said:
??

I think that was his last hurrah before he got banned.

This was his penultimate post:

Jordan97 said:
OcUK is being ****ing bull**** for answers lately. **** you all!

I think he had a hissy fit.

N00bbuilder79 · 19 Jun 2011 at 17:17

Surveyor said:
I think that was his last hurrah before he got banned.

This was his penultimate post:

I think he had a hissy fit.

Ah that would explain it, Cheers

RJC · 19 Jun 2011 at 17:23

He had a affiliation with Waffles & potatoes for some reason.

suitheist · 19 Jun 2011 at 17:39

Is the Antec 100 a better case? It looks nice and plain: I like the fact it doesn't have a window in the side. Is it as good cooling wise as the cooler master 430? Description suggests cable management is better, and it has SSD bay for later.

How much better is the the Hyper 212 cooler?