Spec check: basic-ish Core i5 system

SiD the Turtle · 9 Sep 2009 at 20:13

Hi guys,

I'm just throwing around some alternatives for a system for my brother for university, here's the one I've put together for an i5 based system. What do you think?

The case may get swapped out a similarly priced Coolermaster mATX case.

My main concern was the power, is 400watts going to cut it? Anywhere I can shave the price?

mynameisjarvis · 9 Sep 2009 at 20:17

I doubt 400w will cut it to be honest. That GTX260 is pretty power hungry, i punched in a basic amount of details into a PSU calculator and came up with 574w usage.

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html

I'm a rook though tbh, and am only just catching up with the latest hardware myself.

Looks like its gonna be a sweet build though

Kennysevenfold · 9 Sep 2009 at 20:43

My 2cents mate

Product Name Qty Price Line Total

Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £159.99
(£139.12) £159.99
(£139.12)

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £114.99
(£99.99) £114.99
(£99.99)

Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £86.99
(£75.64) £86.99
(£75.64)

Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB DDR3 1333C9DHX Twin3X (2x2GB) (TW3X4G1333C9DHX) £60.00
(£52.17) £60.00
(£52.17)

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD6401AALS) £52.99
(£46.08) £52.99
(£46.08)

Coolermaster eXtreme Power 650W Power Supply £49.99
(£43.47) £49.99
(£43.47)

Coolermaster Elite 335 Case - Black (No PSU) £28.99
(£25.21) £28.99
(£25.21)

Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£14.77) £16.99
(£14.77) Sub Total : £496.45 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : FREE VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £76.16 Total : £571.86

jamiehavok · 9 Sep 2009 at 20:50

mynameisjarvis said:
I doubt 400w will cut it to be honest. That GTX260 is pretty power hungry, i punched in a basic amount of details into a PSU calculator and came up with 574w usage.

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html

I'm a rook though tbh, and am only just catching up with the latest hardware myself.

Looks like its gonna be a sweet build though

yeah you need a minimum of a 500 watt psu for the 260 i think so i'd get a 600. i doubt it would take 574 for that though as the 280/285 requires 550 minimum. so yeah for a 260 600 should psu should be ample and not stress it too much or maybe get higher if you plan on going sli or getting a ssd or something in the future

SiD the Turtle · 9 Sep 2009 at 21:22

Thanks Kenny. Out of curiosity why the 4870? I have't been following graphics card for some time but isn't the Nvidia 260 more powerful while at the same time cheaper?

How's about this then (forgot about the useful free shipping

):

Kennysevenfold · 9 Sep 2009 at 21:29

I would swap out the Hard drive for THIS one.

And PSU

Works out about the same price, though you get a slightly faster HDD and another 140gig

and another 50Watts.

GFX card wise would be negotiable. GTX 260 is about on a par with the 4870.

beefybarn · 9 Sep 2009 at 22:30

The 260 and 4870 are evenly matched but the 4870 is cheaper, you can get a xfx one for £93.

jamesgoss · 9 Sep 2009 at 22:33

Kennysevenfold said:
GFX card wise would be negotiable. GTX 260 is about on a par with the 4870.

Well, if it's the 260(216) then it is on a par with the 4870. They're both much of a muchness. Comes down to personal preference really. The old 260 wasn't quite as fast as the 4870 from what I can remember.