Spec me an x51 (i7 gtx660) alternative for £900 plz

JohnP87 · 19 Aug 2012 at 22:34

Hi, I’m trying to match the performance/cost of the new alienware x51 with gtx 660 gpu after a 10% discount (voucher).

So for apprx. £900 (high end x51 without blu-ray after discount) I’d get:

Intel® Core™ i7-3770 (3.40GHz, 8MB L3 Cache, 4C)
1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660
see specs here: http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19461968.aspx
???Motherboard
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
1TB Serial ATA (7,200 rpm)
Windows 7 Home Premium
Integrated 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Wireless LAN
DVD+/-RW (Read/Write)
Keyboard and Mouse
1 yr Next Day In-Home Hardware Support

Ideally I would prefer an 120GB SSD and 16GB ram. I can do without windows if necessary. Downside of the x51 is that it is harder to upgrade parts in the future but it would probably meet my requirements for now.

Can I get a better deal with an Overclockers build?

thanks

wazza300 · 19 Aug 2012 at 22:42

you could save a few ££ by choosing a 3550k and a 7950 gpu?

Gav_881 · 19 Aug 2012 at 23:52

Just for gaming or high end workstation?

JohnP87 · 20 Aug 2012 at 00:34

Thanks for your replies.
I'll be using it for cad like Revit, 3ds Max & V ray mainly. Also games like crysis and as my main PC for general use.

JohnP87 · 20 Aug 2012 at 10:27

Hi, heres my basket as it stands. I've never built before so I'm not sure what else I'd need or if this is the best deal, thanks for your help!

Asus HD 7950 TOP 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - AMD 3 for FREE Promotion £279.95

Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £269.99

Intel 330 Series 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail (SSDSC2CT240A3K5) £161.99

Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98

OCZ ZS Series 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £67.98

OcUK Tech Labs - BitFenix Shinobi Core Midi Tower USB 3.0 Case - White - Noise Dampened £64.99

TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316G1600HC11DC) £59.99

Asus PCE-N15 300Mbps 802.11B/G/N Wireless PCI-E Network Adapter £29.99

Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99

OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99

Sub Total : £883.20
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £179.39
Total : £1,076.34

Gav_881 · 20 Aug 2012 at 10:47

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £269.99
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 660TI 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (3660-KR) with FREE Borderlands 2 PC Game £249.95
1 x ASRock Z77E-ITX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Silverstone Sugo SG05 HTPC Case with 450W Power Supply - All Black ( SST-SG05BB USB 3.0) £114.98
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (ST2000DL003) £78.98
1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £59.99
1 x Silverstone SST-NT06-E CPU-Cooler £28.99
1 x Samsung SN-208BB/BEBE Slimline 8x DVD±RW SATA Drive - OEM £18.98
1 x Akasa Slimline Optical SATA Cable, 40cm (AK-CB050-40) £2.99
Total : £1,038.94 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Went for a SSF build to match the X51, if your open to a larger case you will cut a few quid off the build on the mobo and case side of things.

The samsung ram is very good for OCing but for similar money you can get lower quality 8gb sticks, the mobo in this build only has two Dimms so either you spend a hell of a lot for 2 x 8Gb sticks or take some cheep stuff.

For your money you get a 128Gb SSD and 2TB of storage, WIFI and the GPU you were after.

I have the same cooler on my board so i know it fits, had to buy it elsewhere though as OCUK don't ever seem to have it in stock, for an OC above 4.4ghz i had to fit a 10x120mm scythe fan to keep temps in the zone i like but at 4.4Ghz the PSU fan was enough to keep it cool.

Gav_881 · 20 Aug 2012 at 11:04

JohnP87 said:
Hi, heres my basket as it stands. I've never built before so I'm not sure what else I'd need or if this is the best deal, thanks for your help!

Asus HD 7950 TOP 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - AMD 3 for FREE Promotion £279.95

Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £269.99

Intel 330 Series 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail (SSDSC2CT240A3K5) £161.99

Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98

OCZ ZS Series 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £67.98

OcUK Tech Labs - BitFenix Shinobi Core Midi Tower USB 3.0 Case - White - Noise Dampened £64.99

TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316G1600HC11DC) £59.99

Asus PCE-N15 300Mbps 802.11B/G/N Wireless PCI-E Network Adapter £29.99

Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99

OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99

Sub Total : £883.20
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £179.39
Total : £1,076.34

GPU - if your doing graphical work most apps support cuda so work better on Nvidia cards apparently, dont do it myself so cannot comment on real world benefit.

PSU - 750W is overkill unless you plan to SLI in the future, if your going for an ATX build get a corsair builder series 500W

SSD - a well respected SSD there but do you need 256Gb of SSD space? the money could go to a more massive mech drive and a 128Gb ssd.

The only thing in your list i'm not sure about is the CPU cooler, i cant find a max height anywhere for your case, sure it will fit but dont want to just presume, others will know though.

Doomedspeed · 20 Aug 2012 at 11:04

Just throwing another option at you: 2011 build.

Will perform better than the 3770k, have more overclocking room, will achieve better temps than the ITX build.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - AMD 3 for FREE Promotion (H795Q3G2M) £239.99
1 x Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x MSI X79A-GD45 (8D) Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £153.98
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £67.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £64.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316G1600HC11DC) £59.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi "Core" USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £46.98
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 Intel Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1155/1156) £32.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £1,017.37 (includes shipping : £13.75).

EDIT: PSU & Motherboard support SLI/Xfire, so for upgrade just add another 7950.

EDIT: Gav 881: CUDA is good for use in CAD but AMD use Open GL which has similar workings. Not used it myself but heard good reports.