Spec me please

CliffyG

CliffyG

CliffyG

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
17,832
Location
Cambridge
I am looking at fully replacing my existing pc:

Intel Core i5 2500K
Asus P8P67 Intel P67 Mainboard
MSI GeForce GTX 460 HAWK "Super-OC" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit

I have no idea about hardware these days though so would much appreciate if someone could save me a lot of hours of research. I am keeping my mouse, keyboard and monitors.

My requirements are as follows:
I will be replacing everything so need case, fans PSU etc
Upgrades to all current components
Subtle normal size case, easy to open and install stuff
500gb SSD for OS and game installs
3 TB disk for media files
Some kind of speaker / speakers which are small / subtle

So any suggestions / recommendations? Budget is pretty flexible but a starting point would be around £700.
 
You're gonna eat up £300 or so just adding a 500GB SSD and a regular 3TB HDD..

Stick an i5(4670k) or i7, plus a decent mobo in and that's another £300. This doesn't leave much to cover GPU, Case, PSU, Fans and speakers..

Do you need OS included and how far north of £700 are you prepared to go?

NOTE: You can carry your ram across to the new build, so no need to replace.

Can't see upgrading to anything short of an i7 would be worth it. An SSD and new GPU would be a cheaper upgrade path(if you wanted to consider an upgrade over a new build).
 
There's nothing much wrong with your CPU, motherboard, or RAM. Would you be open to keeping them and just upgrading the GPU, SSD, and maybe the PSU and case if necessary? You'd end up with a much better system for you £700 that way.
 
Hmm I must admit I just assumed as I bought them early 2011 that they'd be worth upgrading. If they are still relatively good I'm not averse to keeping them. The power supply I have is a Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W, worth keeping that too? If so I guess I'm just looking at case, gfx card, speakers and hard drives as I have the OS sorted.
 
Having a little browse of the shop and spotted the Antec 302 Three Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case, someone in the review mentioned that you need a USB3 header on the motherboard though. Is that correct?

As for hard drives, Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) and Crucial M500 480GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - (CT480M500SSD1).

Graphics card I was thinking Asus GeForce GTX 760 DirectCUII OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card although to be fair I don't really know what I'm looking at.

Not sure about speakers either.

Suggestions?
 
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You're paying a steep premium for the large SSD, do you honestly have enough apps/games to warrant needing an SSD that size?
 
I will double check tonight exactly how much space I am using. I may well be able to drop to 250GB. I think the graphics card may be a little excessive as the only taxing game I play is Arma 3.

I don't overclock.
 
You could just grab this lot new.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £119.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x Creative Inspire A250 2.1 Speaker System - (51MF0420AA004) £29.99
Total : £239.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).



There is a couple of decent cases FS in the MM.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18593056

If the 290 is overkill for you, then look at a 280X, 7950, 7970 or 670, all of which are FS in the MM.
 
I'd rather buy a new case. I do quite like the look of those speakers, I would prefer a sound bar I think but not a Bluetooth one. Graphics card is the big one really, not sure I want to spend over £300 for one.
 
CliffyG said:
I'd rather buy a new case. I do quite like the look of those speakers, I would prefer a sound bar I think but not a Bluetooth one. Graphics card is the big one really, not sure I want to spend over £300 for one.
Click to expand...

What sort of case are you after?

I would'nt pay £300 for a Gpu either, especially when I can buy one for between £130 and £180 in the MM.
 
Got these in the end:

Asus GeForce GTX 760 DirectCUII OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW)
Western Digital Caviar Red 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD30EFRX - OEM HDD
Antec 302 Three Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Black
Creative Inspire A250 2.1 Speaker System - (51MF0420AA004)
Silverstone Internal Dual Port USB 3.0 PCI-E Controller Card (SST-EC01-P)
 
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