non gaming rig

trif

trif

trif

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Joined
13 Nov 2009
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35
after a £500ish PC

need:
cheap case
cheap but ok PSU
decent CPU
awesome RAM
good mobo
ok HDD
£10 gfx card ^^
 
nope, got an OS

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
Processor:Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield/Stock Cooler)
RAM: Corsair Dominator 4GB DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz
Graphics:Gigabyte Ati Radeon HD 4550 (Heatsink/Low Profile)
Hard Drive: Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II
Optical Drive:Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe
PSU: Corsair CX 400W ATX Power Supply
Case: Akasa Rev.4 Zen Case

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
ok
Processor:Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield/Stock Cooler)
how does this compare to an E8400? and the best AMD has to offer? Phenom II X4 9## something?

RAM: Corsair Dominator 4GB DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz
yea, corsair ram was probably a given ^^ leaning towards 6/8 gb ^^
Graphics:Gigabyte Ati Radeon HD 4550 (Heatsink/Low Profile)
Asus HD 4350 Silent 256MB DDR2 VGA DVI HDMI Out Low Profile PCI-E Graphics Card really tight £20

Hard Drive: Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II
i really dont need this much HDD, most files are stored on servers, just O/S and Apps, so like, 80gb would be fine, or do the larger drives have better transfer reates/overall performance

Optical Drive:Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe
got
PSU: Corsair CX 400W ATX Power Supply
you reckon play it safe on the psu? i think i always get talked away from the cheap PSUs ^^
Case: Akasa Rev.4 Zen Case
well, i'll go for some £10 case :)

i take it a Core i7 is out of my price range due to the cost of compatable mobo/ram?
 
The Samsung F3 500GB is a single platter disc and will be far faster than an older 80GB disc.

The Core i5 750 tends to be ahead of the slightly cheaper Phenom II X4 965. However AMD tends to have cheaper motherboards and those with integrated graphics too like the 785G which can run dual displays(one analogue and one digital) and decode HD media.

The Corsair CX400W is made by Seasonic and uses Japanese made capacitors AFAIK!
 
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This is what I would get:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 ~£144

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-253-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1328

Asus M4A785TD-V Evo ~ £73

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-355-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481

This motherboard has 128MB of DDR3 on the motherboard dedicated to the IGP.

8GB 1600MHZ DDR3 ~ £170

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-087-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Run this RAM at 1333MHZ using the latencies possible as this is the optimal memory settings for a Phenom II X4 processor.

Asus TA-8H3 Midi Tower Case~£20

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-040-AS&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

Samsung F3 500GB ~ £40

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-081-SA

Corsair CX 400W ~ £39

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-017-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

Here are some reviews of the motherboard:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2472

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2009/08/28/asus-m4a785td-v-evo-review/1

The motherboard also has all solid capacitors which means a longer lifespan and better stability of the motherboard at higher temperatures.
 
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core i5
ram 4gb 1333 £84 Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Ballistix Memory Kit CL7 (7-7-7-24) 1.65V
cooler £18.00 Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 Socket 775, 1156, 1366, AM2, AM3 Heatpipe CPU Cooler
core i5 750 £150.00
mobo giga £125.00 Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3R P55 Socket 1156 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
hdd f3 £37.00
gfx £21.00
psu £40
case £10



Total £485

Core i5 and 8gb ram
ram 8gb 1333 £168 Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Ballistix Memory Kit CL7 (7-7-7-24) 1.65V
cooler £18.00 Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 Socket 775, 1156, 1366, AM2, AM3 Heatpipe CPU Cooler
core i5 750 £150.00
cheap mobo onboard gfx £70 Gigabyte GA-P55-US3L P55 Socket 1156 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
hdd f3 £37.00
psu £40
case £10

Total £493


AMD System
ram 8gb 1333 £168
AMD Phenom II X4 £140
mobo M4A785TD £70
hdd f3 £37.00
psu £40
case £10

Total £465




how do the 2 gigabyte mobo's I've listed compare? and how would the OCing go on each? (would an H55 with onboard gfx be a good way to save £20? or is that not for the i5 750s?)

also do i5s even OC that well?

do the Phenom's do any better Ocing?

basically the two systems look very comaprable now, just the i5 is newer tech, or you think the AMD system might still be better anyway?

edit: what did you mean about the ram you linked, underclock it? would it work out better than the CL7 i linked? if so they are the same price so i'll go with whichever

this looks better than both?
Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz Ballistix Memory Kit CL8(8-8-8-24) 1.65V Unbuffered Non-ECC

also was
The Corsair CX400W is made by Seasonic and uses Japanese made capacitors AFAIK!
Click to expand...
a good or bad thing?
 
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i5's can hit 4GHz on decent cooling with relative ease, as far as I know.

Phenoms are cheaper, but what are you actually going to do with it?

If you're not going to game, why do you need to spend £500 on a PC? If you're considering using onboard, or a £10 card, does that mean you're not going to be watching HD videos on it? obviously not going to be doing photoshop... is it just a web browsing pc?

Have a look at the Athlon II X2 or X4. Decent chips, and cheap. If you want something with a little more power, try a Phenom II X3 720BE, or an X4 955BE.

The 955 should easily get 3.8Ghz, and i've got my 720 running at 3.5Ghz.
 
SMAndy said:
i5's can hit 4GHz on decent cooling with relative ease, as far as I know.

Phenoms are cheaper, but what are you actually going to do with it?

If you're not going to game, why do you need to spend £500 on a PC? If you're considering using onboard, or a £10 card, does that mean you're not going to be watching HD videos on it? obviously not going to be doing photoshop... is it just a web browsing pc?

Have a look at the Athlon II X2 or X4. Decent chips, and cheap. If you want something with a little more power, try a Phenom II X3 720BE, or an X4 955BE.

The 955 should easily get 3.8Ghz, and i've got my 720 running at 3.5Ghz.
Click to expand...

X2

Athlon II X2 will be plenty if you just want a fast little pc.
 
its a PC for work, and i've been given a buget so i'm aiming to use it and get a PC that wont suffer from the usual slow down after 6 months or when a load of apps are running :)

so not just web browing:
all of the office 2007 suite, web, our ERP system etc, when they're all open and i'm flicking between my current PC just can't cope

i see your point tho, i guess i dont really need an overkill CPU, just a ton of fast ram,

then again, i have that (i reckon 8gb is a lot ^^ hard to get more into 4 Dimms) and an awesome processor :)

and would XFXHD 4650 512MB DDR2 VGA HDTV DVI Out PCI-E Graphics Card make photoshop more viable? (it'd be nice if it could run it smoothly for £10 extra ^^)
 
ahh, ok, do you reckon 400w will be enough for this system?

i think i'll stick with the 256mb gfx, i reckon it'll cope,

what about this ram? the 1600 stuff apparently wasn't compatable, or possibly wasn't or something? could you shed some light?

anyway, yea, whats this stuff like?

Patrtiot G Series Sector 5 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-028-PA&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1516

or

Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Memory Kit CL9 1.5V ?
 
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