Please spec me a PC minus processor and graphics card

Dani723

Dani723

Dani723

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Yes, it's yet another of these posts! Thanks for taking a look.

I already bought an unbelievable processor over Ebay, an overclocked i7 920 that apparently runs 80% faster than a regular 940.

I say this because to emphasise that I need to get a powerful PC, I'm an internet marketer and need to have 4-5 marketing apps open and running at all times the PC is on, and my current dual core 2.6 Ghz is getting pwned by the requirements.

Additionally I enjoy the latest PC games, which right now, seem to be in slow mo mode!

So, I've already got the processor, also the PCI-E graphics card and all the peripherals. If it's not too much to ask, given the high price of 1366 boards, I'd really appreciate two slightly different PC specs, one with a decent mobo, and one with the best 1366 mobo that you use in your spec'd PCs.

Most important to me of all is getting a PC with great upgrade potential. I'm trying to save money here in several ways, I don't need a processor or a graphics card, and I don't want more than 2x2GB DDR3 please, but, of course, with room for much more RAM to add later. Also, the board needs to be crossfire ready for my Radeon 4870 card.

The budget is between perhaps 500-800, it really depends, tell me what you think I need.
So, please spec me up!
 
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Budget?

When you said you bought an oced i7 920, just because it's been oced 80% doesn't mean you will be able to run it at the same speed as well. It just means that its probably been abused by previous owner. It depends a lot on your motherboard, ram, cooling, and power supply. When you put your new build together it will still run at its stock 2.66ghz until you overclock it yourself. Just wanted to make that clear as I think you're getting a little confused.

Crossfire is supported on lga1366 platform and because it runs triple channel ram the best confit is 3x2gb sticks, which allows for 12gb in the future.
 
OK thanks. The budget is between about 500 and 800 pounds, which I presume is enough to get a high-end PC when the major costs of processor and graphics card are taken out of the equation.

Alright, then I could afford to buy one with 3x2gb instead just to safe, thanks. I'm not sure about the technical requirements for running a processor that I can overclock, so I'm here to get the specifics.
 
The way to get the best results out of overclocking is to have 3x2GB of Corsair RAM (brand loyalty here, but ask around, OC'ers love Corsair), a high-quality X58 motherboard (I don't know much about 1366 boards but you need to get a decent one to overclock well), a very high quality PSU- again, Corsair and 550W or more- and a very good cooler (95thrifles' thread has some very good ones in it).

Also, adding more RAM later will screw your overclock, just FYI.
 
Just a quick spec. Don't think you need to spend any more than this.

spec.png
 
80% faster than an i7 940 is 5.27GHz!! You wont get that unless you also invest in a liquid nitrogen cooling system. If it's really gone that fast under some serious cooling, it could well be a good chip and should give you up to around 4.2GHz on air cooling, or you could have just fallen for some internet marketing ;) :p. Out of interest how much did you pay for this chip on ebay?

The 4870 will hold you back in 'the latest PC games'. If you sold it for some cash to put towards a better GPU, you could add a 470 to Steve258's spec above and be under your £800 budget.
 
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I might have fallen for some Internet Marketing, but I did query some of the people that had bought his processors on Ebay before and the feedback was very positive, so fingers crossed. I got it for about £150 on an auction, I won't expect miracles.

Actually I've just remembered that the card's a 4890, I haven't used it in a while, surely this should still be enough.

Thanks very much for the spec, I forgot to mention that I was interested in a solid state HD, but you covered it anyway.

I already have a 1TB external HD so the extra HD is unnecessary, but other than that, that spec looks good!

Just to be absolutely clear, can anyone see any problems with the spec there?
 
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£150 seems pretty good to me. Just had visions of you paying more than a new 930 or something based on those performance claims! Should have a bargain there.
 
problems no, but you dont need 2000MHz RAM, the 1600MHz or PC12800 will do, if youre not going to go with another internal HDD I'd definitely recomend a larger SSD, at least 120-128 if not more
Also you may want to go for a modular PSU, personally Id recomend the XFX Black Editions or Antec True Powers
 
Great, I'll definitely keep all that in mind, thanks 95.

OK, I'm going to do a little research and then, excuse my ignorance here, but can I then contact Overclockers UK and have them build me this custom PC with the parts they sell?

This is a bit of a cop out, and I know putting the component together is pretty straightforward, but I did this with my current PC and I've had a lot of problems with it over the years. I'd feel better knowing there were people on hand to deal with support requests.
 
It's worth giving them a call and see what they can do for you. If going for larger ssd then I'd go for crucial c300 128gb as it's the only one supporting and utilises the extra sata3 bandwidth.

Also if you want better cooling it night be worth adding 30 quid for a corsair h50.

*EDIT* also make sure you install the ssd in one of the two sata3 ports for max performance.
 
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