Spec my bros a PC.

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Budget of £800 tops. Only need the case and innards. KB+M, Speakers and Monitor are all fine for now. Looking to buy this week.

So far done:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti Twin FrozR II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £169.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £149.99
1 x Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £139.98
1 x Fractal Design Define XL Full Tower Case - Black Pearl £84.98
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 620W Power Supply £64.98
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £40.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £37.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £748.58 (includes shipping : £14.75).

Can you guys do any better with the budget? Tis gaming and 3d modelling ideally so I don't think SSD is really necessary for them.
 
not that much better. Or worse.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 Twin FrozR II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £197.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £164.99
1 x MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £139.98
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £71.99
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £56.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £40.99
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £806.39 (includes shipping : £13.75).



8GB, less posh case, better PSU, better graphics. More expensive. Maybe someone can come up with something a bit left field. To be fair, he doesn't need a uber motherboard to reach good overclock on the 2500K. The Pro and GD65 can do SLI / Crossfire, but given the PSU, you'd be better off upgrading to 750W 'if' that's an option.

So a GD53 (out of stock), and a TX750W.
 
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Wow that's a damn good build. I heard the newer 6950s can't be unlocked to 6970 though or was that just a rumour? Thought it was just for the first batch or so of cards.

Gonna have to sit down and look at both those builds, looking damn good. But something in the back of mind is telling me not to go for ATi again after the pain and misery I had this past year with my 5870 =/

EDIT: What are the cons of going for a Z68 motherboard?
 
5870s were notoriously bad from what I've heard, where as I haven't heard any problems with the 6950s.

The rev. 1 boards can be unlocked (which the MSI I specced is) and apparently the Twin Frozr III ones can but not the Twin Frozr IIs.

Not drawbacks of Z68 as a whole but that motherboard in particular won't allow CF/SLI and only has 6 USB ports (where most have 10).

Check out this link to compare motherboards.
 
I've heard better things about the Define R3 than the XL so I'd personally go for that instead, but it is only a mid-tower case so if you need a larger case either the XL or the Coolermaster 690-II would be good alternatives. I don't see the merits of the Corsair A50 over the Gelid Tranquilo either. Oh and I'd probably go for the MSI 6950 Twin Frozr III instead of the reference 6950 simply because it's on this week only at the moment and from the reviews I've read, the cooler is quieter and more efficient than on the reference card.
 
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