Spec me a PC to replace my Xbox please!

ubersonic said:
Well I think the PSU is overrated by at least 3-400w lol

You have pretty much the same system as me but with a slower CPU, I use this PSU: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-167-CM&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1103

Its a Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W and is on offer this week for £50, the thing really is pretty much silent, I can't hear it at all. If you get one of them you will have plenty of overhead and lots of room for upgrading at a later date.
Click to expand...

Hmm.... I was thinking that I'd like to be able to upgrade to a SLI or crossfire graphic card setup in future, that's why I wanted a beefier PSU, but I guess it might be worth getting a "weaker" PSU to start and simply getting a more powerful PSU with the second graphics card.

Being on a tight budget the £40 is welcome. Then again, I'm not buying just yet so by the time im ready prices may be cheaper than the £50 offer atm.
 
Updated.

martinoheat said:
In that case...
What do you guys think of this:
CPU - i5-3570K £180
GPU - HD 7850 £200
PSU - Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W £55
RAM - Teamgroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £29.99
Case - zalman z9 £54.98
CPU cooler - hyper 612s £32.99
Motherboard - MSI Z77A-G45 £105
Click to expand...

Total: £658
 
DoJCf.jpg
 
My setup (as shown in the sig) came to just about £600 without anything else. I use the Asus GTX 560ti and my god, its a beast...what would you look at spending on a gpu? i spent £168.40 on it. Plays all my games that I play on xbox on ultra with 2 monitors (one for the game one generally for a strat guide) both at 1920x1080 resolution.

Definitely don't skimp on a PSU...nasty shock when it pops.

Oh also, the GTX 560ti SLI could be a beauty.. ;)

Depends what kind of games you play and what else you use it for. I got my i5 because it was cheaper and i didn't really need the i7 like I have in my laptop for gaming so I went with the 2500k with my ASRock motherboard. I had been told it was a good combination and they were right :).
 
tamzzy said:
DoJCf.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! I was close to buying it.

lomadias said:
My setup (as shown in the sig) came to just about £600 without anything else. I use the Asus GTX 560ti and my god, its a beast...what would you look at spending on a gpu? i spent £168.40 on it. Plays all my games that I play on xbox on ultra with 2 monitors (one for the game one generally for a strat guide) both at 1920x1080 resolution.

Definitely don't skimp on a PSU...nasty shock when it pops.

Oh also, the GTX 560ti SLI could be a beauty.. ;)

Depends what kind of games you play and what else you use it for. I got my i5 because it was cheaper and i didn't really need the i7 like I have in my laptop for gaming so I went with the 2500k with my ASRock motherboard. I had been told it was a good combination and they were right :).
Click to expand...
I was looking to spend less than £200.
From what I read, the extra £30 cost of the 7850 over the gtx 560ti does get some considerable performance boost:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=547
I think I am happy to get the 7850.

When you say don't skimp, are you saying that the Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W for £55 isn't good enough? What is your PSU?
 
martinoheat said:
Thanks for the info! I was close to buying it.


I was looking to spend less than £200.
From what I read, the extra £30 cost of the 7850 over the gtx 560ti does get some considerable performance boost:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=547
I think I am happy to get the 7850.

When you say don't skimp, are you saying that the Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W for £55 isn't good enough? What is your PSU?
Click to expand...

My PSU is a 650w but it all depends on your rig. I'd probably tend to spend about £60-£90 on a PSU on a budget.
No, that PSU should handle some decent SLI's and stuff, I just meant in general that skimping on a PSU is a very expensive mistake. Some of the guys on here know a lot more about PSU's than me but as far as I can see it should be just fine.

I got my PSU and case together:
CM Storm Enforcer Case with Coolermaster 650W GX PSU - £83
I was on a budget building my rig so that did the job perfectly.

As for the graphics, definitely get the 7850. I personally went for the GTX because a few friends of mine have had them and loved them. It does the job perfectly, looks beasty in my case too :cool:
 
cheapest legal way to get windows 7 is free from your university if you're a student of IT or programming

next cheapest is to buy it from a certain website (google "software for students") if you're a student

if you're not a student, then just get the OEM copy of home premium from whatever online retailer is cheapest
 
SheepBeast said:
cheapest legal way to get windows 7 is free from your university if you're a student of IT or programming

next cheapest is to buy it from a certain website (google "software for students") if you're a student

if you're not a student, then just get the OEM copy of home premium from whatever online retailer is cheapest
Click to expand...

thanks for the tip, i am a student, but unfortunately not of IT or programming.

i looked at the software for students, but it seems to only offer a windows 7 upgrade, which is not suitable for a build as i need a fresh/full install :/
 
*UPDATE*
i have been getting overexcited about my build, and have been working a lot recently, which means the date of my build will be much sooner.... as soon as in a week or two.

So after doing my research and having many helpful suggestions from the members here, this is my final spec:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £191.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £96.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £54.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £35.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
Total : £804.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

[url="http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct
 
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thumbs up. I would personally spend £5 on a retail CPU, and I still think SLI / Crossfire is a waste of money (having been down that road), but each to his own. Good components.

It's better if you don't update your original post.
 
olivier renault said:
thumbs up. I would personally spend £5 on a retail CPU, and I still think SLI / Crossfire is a waste of money (having been down that road), but each to his own. Good components.

It's better if you don't update your original post.
Click to expand...

The £5 buys a CPU cooler and a longer warranty right? Yeah, why not.

I won't be doing crossfire for a while yet, and I have a friend with a very similar setup to mine who is considering doing it fairly soon, so I will see how he gets on.

Sounds like I'm good to go!


olivier renault said:
It's better if you don't update your original post.
Click to expand...
I just un-updated it :)
 
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martinoheat said:
The £5 buys a CPU cooler and a longer warranty right? Yeah, why not.

I won't be doing crossfire for a while yet, and I have a friend with a very similar setup to mine who is considering doing it fairly soon, so I will see how he gets on.

Sounds like I'm good to go!
Click to expand...

Yeah I'd say so.

Shop around for the GPU as it's uber expensive. You could get a Asus GTX 670 DirectCU TOP for that amount of cash.
 
olivier renault said:
Yeah I'd say so.

Shop around for the GPU as it's uber expensive. You could get a Asus GTX 670 DirectCU TOP for that amount of cash.
Click to expand...

this is the spec i am going for:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £191.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £96.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £54.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £35.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
Total : £804.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).




You mean £192 is too much for the 7850?
 
No it's not. a 7850 under £200 is good value for money.

I was speaking of the 670 Windforce 3X at over £350.

It's just the motherboard and PSU, since I would personally dismiss crossfire / SLI, in favour of cheaper components (or better rest, here it would be saving for a SSD or the case, like a 500R / Fractal R4), and going towards a one-to-one upgrade on the GPU when necessary.

That build is good nontheless, if you want to ignore me and go crossfire.

Oh yeah, I think the XFX 850 XXX is on offer at the moment. For a few quids, might as well.
 
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