Please Advise Me on This New PC Spec

richie_C

richie_C

richie_C

Associate
Joined
10 Jun 2011
Posts
38
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.
 
Last edited:
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
 
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.
 
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.

:)
 
Olivier - Thank you very much for you input. I have decided to keep my current sata hybrid drive and that makes the total price £660 which I think is great. I will try the GFX Card with the stock cooler to see how it runs and if its quiet ill not bother with an after market cooler.

I could spend an extra £40 on a better CPU, GFX Card or get another 8GB of RAM but I dont know if a) id be going over the top with 16GB of RAM and b) if spending an extra £40 on a higher priced CPU or GFX Card will result in any better performance than the spec already stated.

Thanks for the PC Building video guides but Ive been building my own rigs for the last 14 years haha, Ive just gone out touch with all the up to date info on PC hardware. Though an overclocking tutorials would be appreciated as I have never done it before and wouldn't mind giving it a go with the intel chip.

Again, many thanks for your help.
 
Awesome! I'm just trying to decide now if I should go for the Midi or Mini Fractal Design case. I currently have a Mini case and it does the job and I like the size. Plus I remembered I don't need a dedicated sound card as I have a Line 6 POD which works as my sound card, so for expansion slots I only need one for the TV Tuner.

I was looking PSU's as saw that fractal design do their own silent PSU's, are they any good?
 
This is it. The final 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 Mini Computer Case
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
Zalman CNPS10X-Quiet CPU Cooler
Compro VideoMate S350 Digital Satellite TV Card - Retail
LG GH22NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Akasa AK FC-06BK Fan Controller Junior - Black
 
My fault. I got mixed up and thought the board as mATX, dont know why. OK here is another revised final spec. Does this sound right now. The price seems very good at £680. I don't need a sound card as stated and I will use my current Hybrid Drive as a system drive.


Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £161.99
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £ 137.99
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.89
Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case £79.99
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £61.78
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz £49.99
Zalman CNPS10X-Quiet CPU Cooler £35.99
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter £16.99
Compro VideoMate S350 Digital Satellite TV Card - Retail £20.99

£682.19 (Including Delivery)
 
I think I may go with the Tranquillo cooler. Ive always gone with Zalman but trying something new isnt a bad thing. This is the first time I'm going with an Intel CPU in about 10 years haha.

Jony27 - I never use the stock coolers that come with CPU's and so my fingers crossed ive never had a problem with a CPU so not needed the extended warranty.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom