Please check this spec!

kc249

kc249

kc249

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Joined
19 Jun 2009
Posts
7
Hello guys.

Although this is my first post I've actually been reading this forum for about a month now and I think I could use your advice :).

I'm looking to build a new pc for myself. This will be my first build, but I'm quite confident that I can handle it. My budget is ~£2000. The pc will mainly be used for heavy gaming, general media and some simulations (MatLab etc...) :P. I'd also like to have a go at overclocking when I have some time.

I've picked out the parts for myself, but it would be nice if you guys could check for compatability etc just in case. I chose the parts based on reviews and general comments, and the fact that I am not planning to upgrade for 3-5 yrs (except gfx card, see later).

So without further ado!

2e30kn8.jpg


(I don't need mouse or OS btw :P)

I have a few questions as well:

1. I know the gfx card may be a strange choice for a £2000 rig, but I think I'll wait till some decent dx11 cards are available before splashing out on gfx. Will the 4870 cope until then? Should I crossfire 2 of them instead?

2. I really wasn't sure what RAM to get, any advice on this area?

3. Is the PSU big enough? I've used PSU calculators but they all give different results.

Thanks in advance!
 
PSU will be fine, but I would spend a few more quid and get a 4890. If you want to wait for DX11 compatability before splashing out on graphics then that will see you through nicely and give you very respectable performance for the money.

PSU calculaters are generally..unreliable at best.. you'll get a different result from pretty much every single one.

(EDIT: welcome btw :))
 
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kc249 said:
1. I know the gfx card may be a strange choice for a £2000 rig, but I think I'll wait till some decent dx11 cards are available before splashing out on gfx. Will the 4870 cope until then? Should I crossfire 2 of them instead?

2. I really wasn't sure what RAM to get, any advice on this area?

3. Is the PSU big enough? I've used PSU calculators but they all give different results.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forums - nice potential spec.

1. Even though it's an interim card i would spend the extra £10 and get the 4890 - this will cope with most games at full max.

2. I would save some money here and buy the Patriot Vipers @£87.99.

3. The PSU is ample.

EDIT: Beaten to it... :)
 
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Thanks for the fast response :).

In that case, which 4890 should I get?

I was originally going to order a Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4890 PCS+ BattleForge Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card, but now they are on Pre-Order without an ETA... and the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card seems a bit excessive...

Maybe the XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card?

I'd prefer a quiet card if possible :P.
 
Thanks for the advice Plec.

I'm really clueless when it comes to RAM :P. Yeah, I was also looking at the Patriot vipers... I'll go for those instead.
 
XFX are a good make and the xxx edition is only a few pounds more. I can't advise you on stock noise levels other than to say you can make separate user profiles within ATi CCC.

For example i have the ASUS glaciator 4850: I have a 'quiet profile' for general use (fan at 20% and the GPU and memory underclocked and this makes the fan inaudible) and a 'gaming profile' where i leave the fan at default and the GPU and memory is clocked. This is noisy but is not a problem when playing games.
 
With the money you're saving on the memory you could buy 2 Apache 120 fan and utilize a push-pull configuration on the Prolimatech. If you're planning on clocking the CPU (which you must by OCuk law with a spec like that!) this will help a little with keeping your temps down even lower.

BTW, your monitor choice is excellent!
 
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States in OP that no mouse or OS is needed :)

Excellent advice on the fans there. Wish i had a spec like that to play with :D
 
Re-reading your post; as you're toying with the idea of overclocking you may want to consdier the Gigabyte UD5 motherboard. It's a proven clocker (OCuK use them on their premium bundled machines with the Patriot Viper memory) and has the added bonus of being ~£40 cheaper.

It's an excellent board and Gigabyte are based in Milton Keynes so if you have any fututre problems the returns process is far less hassle than ASUS (and i'm an ASUS fan).
 
hehe, I spent sooo long looking for the right monitor :P. Read some pretty bad things about it (mainly input lag issues), hopefully I'll get a A02 revision so that won't be a problem.

Yeah, I read about the push-pull config, but not really sure how to do it. This is my first build, so I wasn't going to try anything too adventurous. But anyway, it won't cost much more, so I'll give it a go. Don't I need extra fan clips or something?

I'm currently using a mouse with my laptop so don't need another one :P. Been stuck on a laptop for 3 years now... not being able to play new games is so depressing :(.

Gonna order the XXX edition. You did make a compelling argument :).
 
I would personally suggest 2x Crucial M225 64GB SSD's.
It will be faster once RAID 0 is setup and you will have the same capacity anyway for £90 less!
 
PakJai said:
I would personally suggest 2x Crucial M225 64GB SSD's.
It will be faster once RAID 0 is setup and you will have the same capacity anyway for £90 less!
Click to expand...

Agree, but i don't know why you've chosen those drives. Sure, they're all good but what are you using them for? Since the SSD isn't as big as the HDD i'd assume you were using the SSD as a boot drive and the HDD for storage, but you only need about 30GB for the boot drive so you could save a bit there and up the HDD to 1TB.
 
Quick run through:


Monitor: nice
SSD: not nice. Go for a Intel G2 or one of the M225 series
mobo: run like hell. I have the same one. It broke over a month ago and still no rma
processor: nice
blu-ray drive: nice but substantially cheaper elsewhere
graphics card: get the 4890. same price but a lot better. try and get not reference cooling
case: personal opinon, but i would get something else
PSU: great.
ram: nice stuff, but you can get cheaper and better.
HDD: I would personally go for a decent 1tb, but your choice.
CPU cooler: nice if you are going to overclock.
rest of stuff: fine.



Overall a decent spec.
 
Yip 4890 1GB + OCuK OC 2.6 to 4GHs bundle use MX-2 instead of AS-5, who wants to wait 200HRs for it to cure, AS-5 is old hat, and fan clips.
 
kc249 said:
hehe, I spent sooo long looking for the right monitor :P. Read some pretty bad things about it (mainly input lag issues), hopefully I'll get a A02 revision so that won't be a problem.
Click to expand...

If you drop OCuK a web note they'll be able to tell you the revisions that they have and if they have the A02 in stock i now from personal experience that they'll be more than happy to spec you with the right one.

kc249 said:
Yeah, I read about the push-pull config, but not really sure how to do it. This is my first build, so I wasn't going to try anything too adventurous. But anyway, it won't cost much more, so I'll give it a go. Don't I need extra fan clips or something?
Click to expand...

You will probably have to order 2 x Prolimatech Fan Wire Clips - 120mm x 25mm for the addition of the fans (not sure that the HS comes with any?). And it's no harder to setup than setting up with just the one fan - juts make sure you have them orientated the right way.
 
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Thanks for all the replies.

I went for that SSD cos I was going to put OS + games + some essential applications on it. Isn't it meant to be a significant boost? Could maybe drop to a 60GB one and save some money there, but don't want to be too restricted on space.

What's wrong with the Vertex series? :P

Is the Antec 1200 a lot better (in terms of cooling) than the 902? I'd like a able to upgrade to 2 gfx cards in the future so can the 902 accommodate this? :P

Might have a look at some other cases.

Found the MX-2 and the fan clips, thx for the tips.
 
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