spec numero duo!

poobert

poobert

poobert

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Joined
25 Jun 2010
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53
Location
London
Hiya,
I have booked some holiday at the end of this month and I am ready to assemble a computer for myself, so i just need to buy a few things.

Right. What I already have is: A 1920x1080 monitor. A mouse. A copy of windows 7. Many, many, many hard drives and a 60 gig ssd.

The computer will be for general use and I would like to be able to play games too.... quake 3 is getting a bit tedious.

My budget is around £700 for the remainder of the parts. But lower would be great!

So far my spec is as follows:

Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail
Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard
HIS ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case - Black Pearl
XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular Power Supply
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
LG GH22NS50 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM

This all comes to 672.03 quid.

I would very much like a cpu cooler too, but I have no clue when it comes to these. Preferably one to keep things nice and quiet when I gather the balls to overclock.

Finally, the video card was a stab in the dark. The gtx 460 1gig is around £40/50 less than the 6870, is the drop in performance worth the savings? Not to mention the gtx 470, which is about 30 quid cheaper, but runs hotter and louder. Perhaps not something I want to put in the fractal case... or is it? Too many choices!

Thanks.

*edit* Any idea if overclockers can deliver on a Saturday?
 
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The mobo Stulid chose is a good cheap option if you might want to go for dual GPUs at a later date, but has no USB3 or SATA3 (though you could always add a card for those later as required). If you aren't bothered about dual GPUs, but would like USB3 and SATA3 (depending on what SSD you have, you might want SATA3 to maximise its speed) the Gigabyte UD3 or Asus P7P55D-E are good value choices (the Gigabyte USB3 mobo you chose has USB3 but no SATA3, but is otherwise pretty much identical to the UD3). If you want both SLI/x-fire for dual GPUs and USB3/SATA3 you need to spend a bit more and go for the Gigabyte UD5.

6850 and 6870 are fine cards, but 460 and 470 are better value for money given their current pricing. A single 470 would run fine on the PSU you chose, but if you like low power/noise the 6870 might be better for you and performs the same as 470. I'm sure a 470 ought to be perfectly liveable with - noisy beast claims are exaggerated imho.

A £35 or so air cooler like Titan Fenrir will keep an i5 cool at 4GHz.
 
Thanks very much for the feedback. I currently have an ocz vertex 2. I am pretty sure it doesn't need sata 3, and nothing that I know of uses usb 3, so I don't really mind the lack of it.

The possibility for 2 video cards is also quite tempting. The sli motherboards I have seen are quite expensive and may make the gtx 470 option more expensive than the 6870...

I watched a lecture the other day about synthesising happiness. Apparently if you have too many choices you are less happy with the outcome, regardless of what you choose :(
 
Cookeh said:
+1 for Fenrir - ugly thing but will be hidden due to lack of window :p
Click to expand...

I heard the Freedom Tower (stupid name, I know) is better for cooling Intel CPUs whereas the Titan is more suited towards AMD.

From Bit-Tech
'Once the easy installation was complete, we weren’t let down by the Freedom Tower’s cooling prowess. If you’re looking for a new cooler for your AMD rig, the Titan Fenrir is a better bet, but for all the Intel sockets, the Freedom Tower was very good. It was as quiet as the Fenrir while delivering better cooling and easier mounting. If you want a cheap upgrade for your current Core 2 or LGA1366 Core i7 rig, the Freedom Tower is a sound choice.'
 
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