Spec Advice Please

Marse

Marse

Marse

Associate
Joined
6 Jul 2007
Posts
464
Location
Northumberland
My current PC, as per sig, was my first self build around 3 years ago.
I normally tend to start thinking of a replacement every 3 years or so and would appreciate advice on a new build.

Once the new build is up and running the current PC will be my spare so I won't be gutting it completely although I will take the 2 x Samsung F3 1 Tb HDD's out for the new build for general storage and back-up.
I'm looking at a decent spec which hopefully will still be reasonable in 2 or 3 years time when no doubt I'll start again.
No specific budget but I don't want to waste money either.

I want a QUIET PC. If need be I'll swap some fans out of the current PC which are very quiet.
Main uses are pretty standard, plus some CAD work, occasional Photoshop, TV via Freeview Card and HD TV via Satellite card, some Video editing etc.
It won't be primarily a gaming rig by any means but I have dabbled in that direction occasionally.

It'll probably be a few weeks before I order but unless there is something very startling coming in the next month or so at most, I'm not inclined to delay because you are likely to find there is then something else just round the corner and you just keep delaying it.

I'll be using an Intel CPU and since I found overclocking my Q6600 incredibly easy anticipate overclocking the CPU but nothing else.

I have the Monitor, keyboard etc.

Provisional Spec:

CPU: Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz (Bloomfield) (Socket LGA1366)
£240

GPU: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Toxic 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [11162-05-40R]
£250
I think this card will fit in the case ?

Motherboard: Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58
£150
Probably more of an enthusiast's choice but seems very good value
I might as well get one capable of supporting USB 3 and SATA 3 ?

Ram: 6 GB - OCZ3G2000LV6GK - on ASUS QVL
£130
Edit: - it would be desirable to use Ram which I could easily add to in the future ie up to say 12 Gb or whatever

SSD: Intel X25-M Mainstream 80GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (SSDSA2MH080G2R5)
£160
Not the cheapest but my preferred and simple option - ie supported by Intel's Toolbox

HDD - Storage & Back-up: existing 2 x Samsung F3 1 TB

Case: Lian-Li B25FB
£125
I prefer a good old fashioned looking case and have been very pleased with my existing Lian-Li.

PSU: Corsair HX 750W ATX Modular SLI Compliant
£120
Not sure if I need that much power ?
I have no plans for expansion but it could happen and would prefer some spare.
Current unit is a Corsair and am tempted for another modular unit

CPU Cooling: Corsiar H 50
£63
Hopefully this will be adequate and quiet although it could be a bit, dare I say, 'gimmicky'.
Are pumps inherently less reliable than fans ? - reliability is very important to me.

Total Cost around £1500.
 
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I hesitate to mention this but I'm using XPPro although I'm playing around with W7.
I may buy a copy of W7 Home Premium for the new build not least since with 64 bit I understand you are less constrained by Ram limitations and in principle W7 seems to be an improvement on XP.

I suggested 6 GB of Ram for the new build to provide some future proofing.
I may persevere initially with XP partly because all my existing kit won't run on 64.
I use a Ram Disk, or two, ie SuperSpeed RamDisk, which can access 'unmanaged' Ram so in the short term excess Ram won't be wasted.
If I can't get Intel's Toolbox to Trim the SSD in XP, although it's supposed to, I could use W7 32 bit until all my kit and software is 64 bit compatible.
 
Marse said:
  • I'm looking at a decent spec which hopefully will still be reasonable in 2 or 3 years time
  • No specific budget but I don't want to waste money either
  • I want a [QUIET PC
  • Main uses are pretty standard, plus some CAD work, occasional Photoshop
  • TV via Freeview Card and HD TV via Satellite card
  • some Video editing
  • It won't be primarily a gaming rig by any means but I have dabbled in that direction occasionally
  • I'll be using an Intel CPU
  • anticipate overclocking the CPU but nothing else
  • I have the Monitor, keyboard etc.
  • Provisional Spec:around £1500
Click to expand...
Hey Marse,

pity you are not considering "all" your options, you could have saved £640 odd quid! ;)

You do like expensive computers chassis don't ya! :p

marse.gif
 
[Off Topic]

Jony27 said:
change the ram as iirc many people have had problems with ocz's gold rams
Click to expand...
Hello Jony27,

I don't think you "Recall correctly" . . . I think you are passing on information that someone told you, that was told to them by someone else etc [chinese whispers] . . . there are one or two forum members here that "dislike" OCZ products so scaremonger people away from them! :(

In short, don't scare people away from a product unless you have really good reason . . . a reason isn't someone somewhere in the world that had a problem . . . all computer has problems sometimes! ;)
 
[off topic]

stulid said:
heres a recent problem, solved by changing the rubbish ram to good quality Corsair.

no scaremongering going on.
Click to expand...

Big.Wayne said:
a reason isn't someone somewhere in the world that had a problem . . . all computer has problems sometimes! ;)
Click to expand...
Love the flawed reasoning . . . . "someone somewhere" had a problem with a product . . . therefore all the same products in the world are faulty . . . . these three users had no problem . . . I had no problem? :D
 
[Off Topic]

So are we only recommending products that have never caused a problem for someone somewhere in the world? . . . because as I patiently tried to explain to you before if that was the case we can't recommend anymore computer hardware? :D

Now lets have some respect for Marse's thread shall we? . . . or do you want to flame this one up and then blame me? :cool:

[edit] My point was directed at Jony27 anyway . . .
 
It would interesting to know whether the folk at OcUK themselves see a higher failure rate for the OCZ RAM sets they sell.

Anyway, if the OP is using their computer for more non-gaming tasks the Phenom II X6 1055T is worth a look at IMHO.
 
CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
It would interesting to know whether the folk at OcUK themselves see a higher failure rate for the OCZ RAM sets they sell.

Anyway, if the OP is using their computer for more non-gaming tasks the Phenom II X6 1055T is worth a look at IMHO.
Click to expand...

I would guess OCUK have a very low fail rate for the OCZ ram or else they would not be selling it,however that doesn't mean there isnt a high failure rate elsewhere.
 
Thanks for all the replies - I think :)

@stulid - I checked the link and there is reference to Dominator Ram which I assume is Corsair but I don't think the one I've referred to below is it.

ASUS QVL seems to have 2 items which OCUK list, both 1600.
Corsair TRSX6G1600c9 VER 2 1(XMP)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-169-CS

and

Kingston KHX1600C9D3K3/6GX(XMP)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-091-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=

There was a third but the reviews on OCUK were very mixed.

Any thoughts on the two above or alternatives for 6 GB ?.


I checked the OCUK member's reviews on the GPU's and although there weren't many there were a number of comments on how loud the GTX470's were.
An odd negative comment is to be expected but a fairly high percentage puts doubt in your mind.
I'm really looking for a quiet PC so not sure if that's the right way to go.

@BigWayne
Thanks for the alternatives.
I was on AMD's for many years and decided to revert to Intel for the last PC with the intention of sticking with them.
My memory isn't what it used to be but I vaguely recall relatively minor issues with AMD as against Intel, which may no longer be relevant but I'm still inclined to Intel.

You're probably right about my extravagance but I thought if I aimed high someone would moderate my ambitions a little bit where necessary although I'm not wanting to spend the minimum I can get away with either - whatever that might be.
I'm still going through some of your other suggestions.
 
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