Rate my build please?

theone1989 · 23 Dec 2010 at 13:53

Hi guys:

I haven't had a desktop in years and my laptop is 3 years old. But I have a 27" monitor which I would like to play games at 1920x1200. I've also never built a pc before

I've googled around and come up with a list of components, the format of which is taken from the sticky "system build guide" here.

1) intel i7 920
2) Asus P6X58D-E
3) 6gb Corsair Dominator 1600mhz RAM (does 6 gb of XMS3 Corsair work just as well?)
4) 1 x 128gb SSD, 1 x 1TB 7200rpm (Samsung F3?)
5) 2 x GTX460 in SLI ( Does the brand of the 460 matter? ie MSI, Zotac etc)
6) 750W PSU (not decided on model, or if should go 650W)
7) Antec Darkfleet DF-85
8) CPU cooler (not decided on model, I hear recommendation of Noctua)
9) Case fans (undecided, do I need more fans?)
10) Any drive bay that can burn Dual Layer discs.
11) No sound card

Anyway, I'm hoping to come as close to £1000 as possible. I'd be looking to buy some of those parts second hand. I'm also looking to overclock everything to the max. I also don't need SLI right away.

So do I have the right idea etc about these components? Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.

Scone · 23 Dec 2010 at 14:07

on offer today http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-344-IN

case is up to personal preference psu id reccomend xfx, corsair or maybe an antec?

get the sammy f3 cooler is your choice but lower end is this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-031-TT&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

or the gelid tranquilo high end go for the noctua or watercooling?

branding matters if you like quailty? have you used a brand before that you have liked?
i personally go for msi or gigabyte

and for ram again your choice xms3 is great but if you have the money go for something high end like the dominator or vengeance?

95thrifles · 23 Dec 2010 at 14:39

Assuming this to be a gaming machine you don't want i7, i5 is much better suited, have a read of my guide for an i5 build idea or better still wait a coupla weeks for the new SandyBridge

cammy5477 · 23 Dec 2010 at 14:48

95thrifles said:
Assuming this to be a gaming machine you don't want i7, i5 is much better suited, have a read of my guide for an i5 build idea or better still wait a coupla weeks for the new SandyBridge

i find that hard to believe.......if its for gaming get the best gfx card you can afford cpu will make no noticable difference between i5 and i7...but for everything else i7 kicks ass...but yes dont drop £1000 yet till we see sandy bridge

95thrifles · 23 Dec 2010 at 17:43

For gaming
Single gfx card, i5 is better than i7 due to the on die PCI-E controller, also if not OCing it's better due to the more aggressive turbo boost
If dual gfx then i7 edges i5 due to running at x16/x16 rather than x8/x8 however this is only a few percent with the top range gfx cards that do actually saturate the bandwidth
Overall I'd take i5 personally, and that's before you allow for the fact it's typically 150 quid cheaper too

Cookeh · 23 Dec 2010 at 17:47

95thrifles said:
For gaming
Single gfx card, i5 is better than i7 due to the on die PCI-E controller, also if not OCing it's better due to the more aggressive turbo boost
If dual gfx then i7 edges i5 due to running at x16/x16 rather than x8/x8 however this is only a few percent with the top range gfx cards that do actually saturate the bandwidth
Overall I'd take i5 personally, and that's before you allow for the fact it's typically 150 quid cheaper too

+1.

i7's only real strength is benching, or very CPU heavy applications, like encoding or video-editing.

cammy5477 · 23 Dec 2010 at 21:21

95thrifles said:
For gaming
Single gfx card, i5 is better than i7 due to the on die PCI-E controller, also if not OCing it's better due to the more aggressive turbo boost
If dual gfx then i7 edges i5 due to running at x16/x16 rather than x8/x8 however this is only a few percent with the top range gfx cards that do actually saturate the bandwidth
Overall I'd take i5 personally, and that's before you allow for the fact it's typically 150 quid cheaper too

what i7 are we talking about? the 920 or the 980x?

i dont believe an i5 could beat a 980x in anything :rolleyes:

could it?

Freddie589 · 23 Dec 2010 at 21:26

wait till SB.....much better performance and overclocking ability's

Dark_Angel · 23 Dec 2010 at 21:27

WAIT untill jan.

Sandy Bridge.

(Note to mods, I think hotlinking to the shop is fine? If not sorry).

setter · 23 Dec 2010 at 21:29

The i7 980x will only pull ahead in applications that make use of all its cores, as very few games actually use 4 cores, though this is starting to change. As 95thrifles states above, i7's will pull ahead slightly in games over an i5 when multiple gpu's are in use., even though its only by a very small amount, it will show in benchmarks nore than actual games.

95thrifles · 23 Dec 2010 at 21:36

cammy5477 said:
what i7 are we talking about? the 920 or the 980x?

i dont believe an i5 could beat a 980x in anything could it?

short answer, yes, as explained by myself above and others since, spending the most doesnt always get you the best, if using a single gfx card i5 (7series) IS better than i7 (9 series, in fact i7 8 series will also be better as uses same technology - so to be more accurate 1156>1366)

Cookeh · 23 Dec 2010 at 21:38

95thrifles said:
short answer, yes, as explained by myself above and others since, spending the most doesnt always get you the best, if using a single gfx card i5 (7series) IS better than i7 (9 series, in fact i7 8 series will also be better as uses same technology - so to be more accurate 1156>1366)

+1

I love people who automatically think that the most expensive thing is the best!

hybrid572 · 23 Dec 2010 at 21:38

Marginal performance increases from switching up to i7 from i5 (chiefly due to higher clock speeds and x16/x16 support) are really blown out of the water when you spend all that money on better graphics instead. For that extra £150, you could get a third 460. Or alternatively, as you only need one for 1920x1200, you could pocket £300. Just a thought.

Liampope · 23 Dec 2010 at 21:47

cammy5477 said:
i dont believe an i5 could beat a 980x in anything could it?

Not really beat, but match it (clock for clock) - easily. The extra cores and hyperthreading just aren't going to be used in pretty much any current game, and I dare say many future games for years to come - sorry

. 980x worth 5 times the price of a 760? Not IMHO! Sure it's the best available currently, and for a while to come - just as long as you dont hope to justify it in any sentence that also contains the phrase 'value for money'. I'm sure you didn't buy it for bang-for-buck though

Cookeh · 23 Dec 2010 at 22:16

Liampope said:
Not really beat, but match it (clock for clock) - easily. The extra cores and hyperthreading just aren't going to be used in pretty much any current game, and I dare say many future games for years to come - sorry . 980x worth 5 times the price of a 760? Not IMHO! Sure it's the best available currently, and for a while to come - just as long as you dont hope to justify it in any sentence that also contains the phrase 'value for money'. I'm sure you didn't buy it for bang-for-buck though

No, it can beat it.
Leave both at stock, chuck some games at it, and the i5 can come out on top. Its turbo-boost is more aggressive, giving higher clock speeds more frequently.

Similarly, a lot of the cores on the 980x just aren't used as no game exists that is optimized for, or needs more than 4 cores (most still are optimized for 2!)

cammy5477 · 23 Dec 2010 at 22:24

Liampope said:
Not really beat, but match it (clock for clock) - easily. The extra cores and hyperthreading just aren't going to be used in pretty much any current game, and I dare say many future games for years to come - sorry . 980x worth 5 times the price of a 760? Not IMHO! Sure it's the best available currently, and for a while to come - just as long as you dont hope to justify it in any sentence that also contains the phrase 'value for money'. I'm sure you didn't buy it for bang-for-buck though

the 32nm silicon its built on lets me clock it to 4.71ghz......

are you still saying the i5 clock for clock built on a 45nm process can best the 980x...... games rely on gfx cards not cpus
nobody ever said 980x is value for money

cammy5477 · 23 Dec 2010 at 22:26

Cookeh said:
No, it can beat it.
Leave both at stock,

do most of us in here buy our cpus to be left at stock?

cammy5477 · 23 Dec 2010 at 22:27

i buy the one that i can clock the **** out of till something better comes along or i pop it trying....whatever happens first

95thrifles · 23 Dec 2010 at 22:33

If both are using say a 580 and clocked at 4GHz the i5 760 will beat the i7 980x due to the onboard PCI-E controller the i5 has, it makes a faster route for the instructions between the cpu and gfx, go read any reputable review site which will explain it in much more depth
However as you say your 980x is capable of higher speeds than a 760, however as you also admit games are gpu dependant and the gfx card is still likely to become the bottleneck before the cpu
So I'm sorry to say but if you bought it as a gaming machine you wasted your money on a 980x, if however (and I do hope its the case) you bought your machine for more than gaming, eg encoding/rendering etc then the 980 will shine

cammy5477 · 23 Dec 2010 at 22:41

95thrifles said:
if however (and I do hope its the case) you bought your machine for more than gaming, eg encoding/rendering etc then the 980 will shine

i understand that in gaming both chips set to the same values the i5 shines but my point was how hard you can clock the 980x due to the fab process.....i bought it as you hoped for encoding/rendering etc i dont have loads of time for gaming normally but am hopefull of getting some hard core gaming in over the next week while im off work