Spec me a rig

shotgunshand · 21 Oct 2011 at 15:31

Hello OC forum dudes and dudettes!

You know what I love? Almost any game bethsda software have churned out that I've played to date. You know what's making me plan on getting back into gaming... oh yes, SKYRIM!

So I'll be wanting it by 11.11.11 so that gives you an idea of when.

I currently run a very poor system but it does for most things and some guild wars stuff. In all honesty, I've not had time to game in aaaages. Wanting to make a point of redressing the work/play balance soon though.

So the machine needs to be able to run Skyrim beautifully and the latest games comfortably. I have a dell 23 inch HD (1920 x 1080) screen and that'l be the resolution I'll be playing it on.

I've got the screen, speakers, keyboard and mouse. I've got a hard drive I can bring across (1tb samsung)

My budget is around £700.

If you learn-ed sages could assist me or point me in the right direction I'd be most grateful.

stulid · 21 Oct 2011 at 15:35

Did you need a copy of Windows? is the HDD a SATA? what about DVD drive?

Shadz · 21 Oct 2011 at 15:36

Any preference to Intel or AMD and Nvidia or Ati/AMD ?

shotgunshand · 21 Oct 2011 at 15:48

Did you need a copy of Windows? is the HDD a SATA? what about DVD drive?

Nope, got Win 7 prem 64bit, I have a terabyte hard drive I can move over onto this which should help with the budget. I'm guessing the budget will be too low for SSD but if it can be managed that'd be pretty amazing.

Any preference to Intel or AMD and Nvidia or Ati/AMD ?

Not particularly. I've always been intel / nvidia before on gaming rigs but I'm not very faithful.

barneystuta · 21 Oct 2011 at 16:11

Should get a more than capable system for that price. Start with an i5 2500k, add in a ATI 6950 (2GB), and then pick the rest of your system at personal preference.

Something like this:

- The PSU maybe over kill, but it depends what your future intentions are. If you plan to stick with this rig as things stand, go with a 550w, should be sufficient.
- The case, I just picked at random really, but plenty in that range/budget that will give you what you need.
- Went for a mid range Z-68 board. There are cheaper ones, there are more expensive ones. Check what features you want ( from USB ports, to SLI/Crossfire ready, etc)
- 4GB RAM should be more than sufficient for gaming, even today. If you can though, stretch to the 8GB (2x4GB) as RAM is very cheap at the moment.

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 & Deus Ex PC Games £205.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £184.99
1 x MSI Z68A-G45-B3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £104.99
1 x Cooler Master Storm Scout Gaming Case - Black £64.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £64.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT25664BA160A) £21.98
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black/Silver/Biege) - Retail £18.98
Total : £707.92 (includes shipping : £12.50).

stulid · 21 Oct 2011 at 16:59

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
HIS ATI Radeon HD 6970 IceQ Turbo 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 & Deus Ex PC Games £269.99
(£224.99) £269.99
(£224.99)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £184.99
(£154.16) £184.99
(£154.16)
Asus P8Z68-V LX Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.59
(£67.99) £81.59
(£67.99)
Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL ) £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.98
(£11.65) £13.98
(£11.65)
Sub Total : £577.93
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £117.94
Total : £707.62

• 6970

• 8GB RAM

shotgunshand · 26 Oct 2011 at 23:48

Would that PSU be Alright for future expansion. I dare say I'd later get another 6970 GFX card to run in Cross-fire to extend the life of the rig.

Thank you very much for your assistance so far lads!

fowler002 · 27 Oct 2011 at 03:37

shotgunshand said:
Would that PSU be Alright for future expansion. I dare say I'd later get another 6970 GFX card to run in Cross-fire to extend the life of the rig.

Thank you very much for your assistance so far lads!

you'd want a 750/850w for for xfire.

the 6970 is back upto £280, the mb is upto £90, the is upto £50, psu is upto £70, the CPU is down to £170 tho.

shotgunshand · 27 Oct 2011 at 11:32

Hmm, Right I just need to jump in and do this. I am gonna up the case to a Haf X I think. An fair old extra but that case would give me better cooling which will be good for expansion and overclocking.

I'll be making the purchase this weekend I think. It should arrive mid week up here in Valhalla and then I can have it built ready for 11.11.11

I'll probably ask ask again for some assistance on the weekend to get the final rig spec together.

Thanks guys.

shotgunshand · 2 Nov 2011 at 10:08

My final Spec:

Coolermaster HAF X (+ 200mm fan, 80mm fan and 120mm fan)
Corsair A70 cpu cooler
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 TOXIC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive
Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9)
XFX P1-750S-NLB9 PRO750W Core Edition Power Supply
Kaze Q-8 Channel Fan Controller, 3.5 Black

Spent a little more than I planned to. Tried to keep it to £700 but ended up going over a grand. Ho hum!

It's the additional delivery costs up here that really sting though!

SKYRIM had better be worth it! LOL

SL09 · 2 Nov 2011 at 11:33

good spec you got there, could last you at least 3 years without any upgrade. unless your wallet is too thick and want to throw some away.

stulid · 2 Nov 2011 at 11:33

That will all work together just fine

But no SATA DVD drive?

shotgunshand · 2 Nov 2011 at 12:53

stulid said:
That will all work together just fine But no SATA DVD drive?

I've got a spare one here. Also got a spare 1tb Sata II drive which will do for storage. Going to use my existing PC as a file server / download centre elsewhere in the house to purely to accessed via remote desktop connection and administered remotely.