New System - Opinions

ricm

ricm

ricm

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Joined
11 Mar 2010
Posts
11
I have a quote on a new system. The price seems decent but would appreciate a 2nd opinion before parting with any dosh.
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Elite Pro Ice 5 - System Base Price: £ 552.34
Intel® Core™ i5 750 Quad Core Processor (2.66GHz, 8MB Cache) - LGA1156
ASUS P7P55 LX Mainboard - Intel Core™ i5 / i7 - LGA 1156 / ATX
Midi-Tower ATX Chassis with 550W PSU - Piano Black
Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional pre-installed [upg £ 25.53]
Midi-Tower ATX Chassis with 550W PSU - Piano Black
4GB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM - (2x2GB)
2TB (2x 1000GB) Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive with 32MB Buffer [upg £ 97.87]
Raid 1 Configuration (Mirror) [upg £ 17.02]
1GB ATI Radeon HD5750 Graphics Accelerator [upg £ 25.53]
14 USB 2.0 ports (6 ports at mid-board, 8 ports at back panel) - ASUS P7P55DM /LE
Network Ready PCIe Gigabit LAN
1 Year Return to Base Hardware Warranty - inc 3 Months Free Collect & Return
Delivery Charge: (8am - 6pm) - Mainland UK (O Service) Standard £ 21.26
Nett: £699.55
Total Including VAT: £821.97

The PC will be used primarily for photo processing and video editing and I plan to overclock modestly to say 3-3.6Ghz.

I want the Win 7 Pro for backwards compatibility with some 32bit software I already have.

I wanted 1600 DDR3 but apparently the manufacturer is not doing any Asus Boards with the 1600 spec because of instability problems - they will only supply 1333 DRAM for the foreseeable future (did ask if they were trying to dump 1333 but apparently not according to their account manager). Will the 1333 RAM be a restriction or should I hold out for 1600? Perhaps in respect of photo processing 6GB of RAM would be a better option.

Should I upgrade the power supply (currently only 550W) to something like 650 or 700W bearing in mind later I want to add another pair of drives in RAID 1.

There is currently no option for a better cooler than the base cooler supplied and I have no idea what that is. Should I get a better cooler in any case? I'd like everything to turn in at about £700 (net of VAT) - so for that money should I be looking at a different board/processor?

Sorry for all the questions. Haven't built a system for the past 4 years and I'm a bit out of it. The pre-built/preinstalled option spec'd out above looks attractive because it's ready to go and includes p&p but not sure it's the best raw processing power for the money. The cheapest I can spec out a similar system here using individual components and self build is about £680 - but then I need to add p&p so there is almost nothing between the two. Any thoughts anyone?

Regards
Ric
 
There are a few concerns I have with this pre-build. First there is no information on the type of PSU other than its capcity and colour. From this we can probably assume that it is an el-cheapo. As for the RAM not running at 1600Mhz, well it probably won't without overclocking the CPU to raise the BCLK, but I would still want RAM rated to 1600MHz for when I do overclock. Also, the GPU is rather poor - especially considering GPU accelerated Photo and video editing software is now mainstream. Also, the motherbaord is basically the cheapest p55 board you can buy.

I would suggest building it yourself. For that kind of money you can get an i7 rig and with higher quality kit (ie decent PSU, 1600MHz RAM).
 
Looks OK, but there's a few dodgy bits, doesn't look like they specify what PSU, HD, RAM you're getting. Chances are it will be the cheapest they can get their hands on, and I'd be much happier with branded reliable kit. OCUK hasn't really got any decent i5 quad bundles at the moment... May be worth giving them a call and seeing what they will do for you, don't know if they would be able to swap out an i3 processor for an i5...

Failing that if you take a look at the system build sticky the £1000 intel build would be a much better choice (downgrade graphics to 57XX to bring you under budget) if you fancy putting the bits together yourself.
 
Hi and thanks for your comments so far.

Given the main use of photo/video editing I'm expecting the 5750 will do the job; I can't see it ever being used for gaming. I felt comfortable with the P7P55 because it has an automated OC facility in the BIOS and having only ever OC'd 1 mobo before I really like the idea of letting it get on with it and live with the results knowing they won't have compromised the CPU/RAM. Hence the modest OC target.

I have been checking out a better spec but still with a P7P55. Here it is, but note that whilst most bits are from OCUK - I can cut costs by using free postage from another supplier.

My concern about self-build is I have no idea what clearances are required for different cooler/mobo combinations. This one comes in a little over £700 (£net/£p&p/£total net):


Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black [Amazon] £38.79/£0/£38.79
Intel Core i5 660 3.33GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) [****] £134.99/6.95/£141.94
Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard [OC] £121.69/£4/£125.69
Akasa AK-CCX-4001HP Nero S Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler (LGA1156) [OC] £31.48/£4.00/£35.48
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5750 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics [OC] £87.57/£2.00/£89.57
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz [OC] £103.74/£2.00/£105.74
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) [OC] £55.31/£4.00/£59.31
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) [OC] £55.31/£4.00/£ 59.31
Samsung SH-S223L/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM [OC] £16.18/£4.00/£20.18
Microsoft Windows 7 Profesional - 64 Bit [Amazon] £91.45/£0/£91.45

Totals: £ 697.72/£30.95/£728.67
Regards,
Ric
 
Last edited:
Hi ricm,

Good to see you are thinking of building it yourself, and pretty much everythiung you chose above is better quality than the pre-build. However, I would suggets you change a few things in this new spec:

Get the i5 750 not the 660. The 750 is a true quad core, the 660 is a dual core with hyperthreading and a redundant integrated graphics processor.

This RAM is cheaper and just as good.

Windows 7 OEM is cheaper from OCUK, you can even get the retail version for less than the £90.

You will be needing a power supply unit, I suggest this.
 
Hello andi - thanks for your suggestions. It was stupid of me to forget the PSU. Will 450W be enough given I want to ad another pair of drives later?

The price has effectively come down and with the PSU is around £750 net incl a reasonable estimate for p&p. The windows is the Pro version and Amazon is still cheaper but maybe by getting everything at OC i can get an overall better deal.

Can anyone tell if the Akasa AK-CCX-4001HP Nero S Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler (LGA1156) will work with the Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard?

I feel as if I'm getting there on this one.

Thanks,
Ric
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Net Price
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £36.59
Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) £139.57
Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £121.69
Akasa AK-CCX-4001HP Nero S Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler (LGA1156) £31.48
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5750 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics £87.57
Geil 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GV34GB1600C9DC) £72.33
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £55.31
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £55.31
Corsair VX 450W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-450VXUK) £47.65
Samsung SH-S223L/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.18
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional - 64 Bit £99.57
Postage £25.00
Total Net: £751.66
 
Psu will be fine.

As for the cooler, everyone seems to love the titan fenrir as a decent cooler at a good price.
 
Drop the Ati card and swap it for a GTX260 or similar if you don't plan on gaming it will perform a lot better in CUDA accelerated software which a lot of video and imaging software is now
 
I think the GTX260 is good but beyond my budget. I am using CS4/Lightroom 2/Sony Vegas. Going for Lightroom 3 if it ever appears.
Ric
 
ricm said:
Hello andi - thanks for your suggestions. It was stupid of me to forget the PSU. Will 450W be enough given I want to ad another pair of drives later?

The price has effectively come down and with the PSU is around £750 net incl a reasonable estimate for p&p. The windows is the Pro version and Amazon is still cheaper but maybe by getting everything at OC i can get an overall better deal.

Can anyone tell if the Akasa AK-CCX-4001HP Nero S Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler (LGA1156) will work with the Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard?

I feel as if I'm getting there on this one.

Thanks,
Ric
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Net Price
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £36.59
Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) £139.57
Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £121.69
Akasa AK-CCX-4001HP Nero S Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler (LGA1156) £31.48
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5750 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics £87.57
Geil 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GV34GB1600C9DC) £72.33
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £55.31
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £55.31
Corsair VX 450W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-450VXUK) £47.65
Samsung SH-S223L/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.18
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional - 64 Bit £99.57
Postage £25.00
Total Net: £751.66
Click to expand...

Did you give the shop a ring re postage?
 
Re video editing.

I have an i5 750 (not overclocked), and it's only just quick enough for Premier Pro 4. I have seen benchmarks where an i7 gives a good boost for video editing, and would try and stretch to entry level i7.

Also as said already, don't go lower then than the i5 750, as this is true quad and vital for video editing.

Also i'm running one of the cheap'ish Gigabyte 1156 boards and it's been totally fine. You could save yourself a few quid towards the i7.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-209-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=

BTW I only mention the i7 due to you saying video editing, I think the i5 is plenty for everything else otherwise.
 
Yeah I have contacted the shop. I added it up wrong but got a good deal on postage bringing the final price to £765.82. That's £65 more than I wanted to pay but couldn't see an easy way of making a sensible cut. The spec is as per post 10.

Thanks everyon for your input - much appreciated - and JasonM - an i7 would be great but it's just too much over budget

Cheers,
Ric
 
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