Spec and thougts?

bJN · 27 Mar 2011 at 18:48

Just been putting a spec for basically two identical builds, one for myself, one for a mate.

Looking really for input on the current choices we've got, and also a few more recommendations - mainly the GPU.

We've been thinking about sticking one HD6950 in now, unlocking to the 6970 (where possible) and then adding another later on should we need extra power (BF3 people

).

Thoughts?

Cheers

bJN · 27 Mar 2011 at 18:54

Other things to note: I don't need a case, but my mate does, so could do with some recommendations for that - he doesn't care for looks, it just needs functionality, i.e. ample cooling.

The only other thing I can think of right now is a CPU cooler - personally I was going to go with the CoolIT piece of kit with the double rad on it as it would sit nicely at the the top of my TJ07, but that's no longer on sale here so maybe a decent air cooler for the both of us would be better?

bJN · 27 Mar 2011 at 21:22

So no one has any input then? Looking to get this bought within a couple of days...

Reaper 392 · 27 Mar 2011 at 21:35

if this is going to be just for gaming, you might as well go down to 4GB of RAM, as no games have been able to use all of it yet, let alone 8GB. use the money you save from this to get a CPU cooler and overclock that processor. i know very little about CPU coolers, so i will leave that for someone else to recommend

*edit*
do you, or your mate, need a DVD drive?

bJN · 27 Mar 2011 at 21:44

With regards to the RAM, we both do a fair bit of rendering so the 8GB is staying, he also does a fair bit of VMWare so it comes in handy

He doesn't need an optical drive as he has an external Blu-Ray, however I will - going to see if I can scrounge a DVD drive off someone else first though

Reaper 392 · 27 Mar 2011 at 21:57

bJN said:
With regards to the RAM, we both do a fair bit of rendering so the 8GB is staying, he also does a fair bit of VMWare so it comes in handy

He doesn't need an optical drive as he has an external Blu-Ray, however I will - going to see if I can scrounge a DVD drive off someone else first though

ok, 8GB is very much needed then.

heres a build i put together with everything in it

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £204.98
(£170.82) £204.98
(£170.82)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE Shogun 2 Game £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £149.99
(£124.99) £149.99
(£124.99)
Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1) £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL ) £71.99
(£59.99) £71.99
(£59.99)
Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3) £38.99
(£32.49) £38.99
(£32.49)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £38.80
(£32.33) £38.80
(£32.33)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM 1yr Warranty (ST31000528AS) £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
(£11.66) £13.99
(£11.66)
Sub Total : £692.25
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £140.55
Total : £843.30

notes:
- i changed the motherboard because im not 100% sure if the one you chose does crossfire at x8/x8, x16/x8 or x16,x16 speed. the MSI board ive chosen does crossfire at x8/x8, which despite the sound is pretty much identical to x16,x16. ignore any motherboard that says crossfire is x16/x4 or x16/x1
- make sure the CPU cooler will fit inside the coolermaster case, and will clear the top of the RAM. i think it will, but im not 100% sure. im not an expert on CPU coolers, but ive heard some very good things about this one
- i have no idea about SSD's, so i went with the one you chose