Please Advise Me on This New PC Spec

richie_C

richie_C

richie_C

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10 Jun 2011
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Looking for some comments on a new spec I have priced up.

I currently have:

AMD Pheonom II X2 550 3.10GHz
4GB DDR2 PC6400
ATI Radeon 4830 512MB
Seagate Momentus XT 250GB Hybrid SATA-II 2.5" 7200RPM 32MB

I wont mention the rest like sound card and case as they aren't relevant and I know what kind I want. What I would like to know is if this new spec below is really good value for money compared to my old spec and if there are other parts out there that are better for the same price.

I'm looking to spend about £700 - £750.

New Spec:

AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1090T Black Edition 3.20GHz
MSI 870A-G54 AMD 870 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard
Crucial Ballistix Sport 12GB (3x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz
XFX ATI Radeon HD 6770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache x2
Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case - Silver Arrow
Cooler Master GX 650W '80 Plus' Power Supply
Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW
Scythe Shuriken Rev.B Quiet Low Profile CPU Cooler

This new spec comes to £634.

My thinking is that I am going for a faster CPU compared to my old one, lots more RAM, I mainly use the machine for 3D work and some gaming. A better graphics card in the list (I think).

I'm looking for it to be a quiet PC, will I need to get a different CPU cooler? Does the PSU have enough wattage? (I currently have a 500W OCZ Stealth Stream PSU and its really quiet would that be good enough for this new machine?) Will I need an after market GPU cooler?

I dont mind buying the extra bits above as I'm still within my budget. I wont mind switching to Intel CPU's or Nvidia GFX Cards, I just chose AMD and ATI as its what Ive always gone with but if I can get more bang for my buck by changing please let me know. Im also thinking 2 SATA 6gbps hard drive ins RAID 0 will be faster than the hybrid ive got.

Any guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks,

Richard


(UPDATE)

Ive also thrown in some thermal paste and TV card to the spec. Im also thinking of switching the CPU cooler to the Zalman CNPS11X Extreme CPU Cooler. This should take the price to £700 and that's including delivery.
 
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whats your current PSU?

im assuming you can reuse your current case/psu(if good enough)/HDD/optical drive.
this way you can spend more on the maind components, cpu/gpu.
 
I can re use the PSU if it is good enough. The case, well I'd like a better case for sound proofing. Im kind of hoping of using my old (current) machine for a media centre.

For the optical drive I plan to get a blu ray drive.

I'm really looking for advice on my CPU, RAM, Mobo, GFX Card as I want to get the best value for my money
 
OK then. On with the R3...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £161.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 460 Cyclone 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** LOWEST UK PRICE ** £99.98
1 x Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case - Black Pearl £69.59
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.46
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x LG CH10LS20 10x BluRay-ROM / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black (Retail) £49.50
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £30.98
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
Total : £676.98 (includes shipping : £13.75).



Can change card to a GTX560 / HD6870. You have a little left in budget.

If you want the R3 mini, you will need a m-atx motherboard, like the Asus P8P67.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £161.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 460 Cyclone 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99
1 x Asus P8P67-M Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £94.99
1 x Fractal Design Define Mini Computer Case £79.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.46
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x LG CH10LS20 10x BluRay-ROM / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black (Retail) £49.50
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £30.98
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
Total : £680.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Not entirely sure what sort of CPU cooler can fit in that case. Also, problem with m-atx is their lack of expansion slots (for TV cards and such).

YOu may prefer a slightly more powerful PSU, like a 650W, if you want a better GPU.
 
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olivier thank you for these specs. I will give them a look over and read about all the parts.

Also olivier, if I got for 2 SATA drives in RAID 0 will they run faster (ie faster boot up times). Also in regards to RAM, is that 8GB DRR3 you have priced up better than the triple channel 12GB I chose on my previous spec? Finally is there a motherboard at the same price as the one you spec'd up but that is ATX and not mATX?


Jony 27 - My current CPU is 500W OCZ Stealth Stream PSU. Is that good enough to keep.
 
richie_C said:
olivier thank you for these specs. I will give them a look over and read about all the parts.

Also olivier, if I got for 2 SATA drives in RAID 0 will they run faster (ie faster boot up times). Also in regards to RAM, is that 8GB DRR3 you have priced up better than the triple channel 12GB I chose on my previous spec? Finally is there a motherboard at the same price as the one you spec'd up but that is ATX and not mATX?


Jony 27 - My current CPU is 500W OCZ Stealth Stream PSU. Is that good enough to keep.
Click to expand...

good enough to keep for a single gtx460/HD6870
 
richie_C said:
olivier thank you for these specs. I will give them a look over and read about all the parts.

Also olivier, if I got for 2 SATA drives in RAID 0 will they run faster (ie faster boot up times).
Click to expand...

I suppose. IMO not worth the effort / money / risk. Much better getting a SSD for that purpose.

Also in regards to RAM, is that 8GB DRR3 you have priced up better than the triple channel 12GB I chose on my previous spec?
Click to expand...

You can't use triple channel memory, only the X58 chipset does this. Well, I suppose you can but that would be a waste.

Finally is there a motherboard at the same price as the one you spec'd up but that is ATX and not mATX?
Click to expand...

I would just get the Gigabyte Z68 board in the first build really.

Jony 27 - My current CPU is 500W OCZ Stealth Stream PSU. Is that good enough to keep.
Click to expand...

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=19986835

Maybe for a weak GPU (single PCIE connector, like the 5770), but I wouldn't use it for a 150W GPU (GTX460, ... 2 PCIE connectors).
 
if you go with a sandy bridge build then you need dual channel ram not the triple channel than you chose for the amd, not a cases of better/worse its just what the sandy bridge supports.

for future proofing for the pci-e3.0 you could go for http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-054-AK&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990 will still be within the top end of your budget, the extreme3 gen3 is cheaper(price wise similar to the gigabyte oliver has suggested) but not sold on ocuk, you will need to upgrade to ivy bridge cpu(out next year) to make use of the pci-e3.0 as sandy bridge doesn't support it.
 
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Don't get the i5 2400, if you're going to get an i5 get a 2500k.

Do you really need a blueray drive? I've found that a cheapy dvd drive is good enough to install games / windows, download any blueray movies you want to watch.
 
i5-2400 is not overclockable. And I don't know why you think the MSI P67 board is better than the gigabyte, which can support PCI3, Ivybridge, crossfire 8x8x, QuickSync and LucidVirtu for video transcoding, has better VRM, better build... :D

OEM bluray dont come with software to read blurays. You need retail, unless you already have the software, or you are willing to pay for it.

The 1090T is OK, but it will still get its ass handed to him by a 2500K. Not to mention that that the 2500K overclocks much higher and easier. Don't let the '6 cores' fool you. And I would wait for Bulldozer to come out if I want to use AMD. Or get at least a good AM3+ motherboard.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/146?vs=288

I really think the Antec TP-550 is a far better PSU. But you want to roll with the OCZ, then go ahead.

Get low profile memory, or make sure you can fit a cooler above the Corsair Vengeance, they stick out, and that usually interfere with air coolers.

For the video card, get the best you can afford really. Not sure which works best with 3dmax, NVidia or ATI. If NVidia, get a GTX 460 for £120. It's about the same performance as a 6850, give or take.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/313?vs=291
 
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revised build :)


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £161.99
1 x XFX ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE MOH, Deus Ex & Stalker Games £124.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** LOWEST UK PRICE ** £99.98
1 x Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case - Silver Arrow £79.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.46
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x LG CH10LS20 10x BluRay-ROM / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black (Retail) £49.50
1 x Zalman CNPS10X-Quiet CPU Cooler (754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366) £35.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £30.98
1 x Compro VideoMate S350 Digital Satellite TV Card - Retail £20.99
Total : £723.37 (includes shipping : £13.75).



With that, you should be able to overclock to 4.2GHz comfortably. Anything above would be incremental, but can be pushed further, with added stability, noise, CPU voltage, heat problems. Depends how good the 2500K chip you get and how much voltage you need to pump in (ideally, under 1.3V Vcore).
 
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stulid said:
^
Very nice, but isnt there a 6870 at the same price currently for 19hrs more or until the stock runs out.
Click to expand...

Aye, there is a 6870 for cheaper. Not sure about quality / noise that sort of thing.

Jony27 said:
from your spec, i would probably get a GTX460, drop the cooler to an A50/Tranquillo and up the PSU to 650w in case OP wants to add a second card.
Click to expand...

The 'cyclone' GPUs are not the quietest, the 460 still an option if it works better with his software. I think the CNPX10 Quiet is a good cooler. Read a couple of reviews on it and seems to tick the boxes. Maybe tricky to install, but imo that's not such a big deal (how often you remove your cooler).

As for a PSU bump and crossfire, I think it would be best for the OP to do that when he crosses the bridge.

my $0.02.
 
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Thanks for all the info guys. After reading everything you have been saying (which all makes a lot of sense). I think I will go for the Core i5, as you say its good for overclocking (something I will look into). Ill also drop the blu ray drive as its not needed. With all that in mind this is the new revised spec:


Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
XFX ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case
Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
Zalman CNPS10X-Quiet CPU Cooler
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM
Compro VideoMate S350 Digital Satellite TV Card - Retail
LG GH22NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM

Total Cost (inc delivery) £689.87

Last few questions I have are, it seem people think getting 2 hard drives in RAID 0 isn't worth it so say I should go for the one SATA 6Gbs HDD. (If I had the cash id go SSD, but I don't lol) I currently have a Seagate Hybrid drive. Now would I be best to keep the hybrid drive or get the SATA 6gbs drive? It will be purely used as a system drive.

The only thing I may add is an after market cooler for the GFX Card but I wont know how noisy it is until I get it. One of the reasons I like the zalman coolers is that they come with a fan controller. Other than that I seem really happy with that specification.

:)
 
Keep the hybrid for OS (probably performs better at caching windows and apps files), I would not bother with RAID really. '6GB/s' Hard Drives mean nothing, they can't reach that level of performance anyway, only SSD latest gen can. I prefer the 7200.12 or Samsung F3 over the Caviar Blue. Better performance, and from a manufacturer standpoint, I prefer Seagate (although WD usually good too but their Caviar Blue aren't the best they produced).

I wouldn't bother with after market cooler for GPU either. Too much hassle for little gain (if any). You will need a reference design card, not a custom design. Current GPUs come with 'custom cooling' off the shelf anyway, that's pretty much what these funky looking cards are.

You wont hear the GPU unless under stress. And the case has good noise insulation.

That spec is looking good from my perspective.

if you need advice on building the computer, have a look at these series. There is also an extensive thread on that subject here. But it's nice to have it in video form :)

- part 1 is choosing components. what we've been doing ;)
- part 2 is installing components and testing.
- part 3 is setting up the os and drivers.



 
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