Speccing Up

Bicko · 22 Oct 2010 at 19:32

Evening all, a friend of mine is looking to upgrade from his little HP Micro system to a new computer. He doesn't know how to assemble a computer, so that'll be my job. A mutual friend just bought a pre-made Dell computer and we're looking to out-do him on spec whilst spending about as much. We have a budget of £1000, and will need to buy an OS, PSU and case along with everything else (GPU/CPU/RAM/HDD).

We're looking to beat:

Intel i7 870 @3.93Ghz
6GB DDR3 @ 1333Mhz
GTS 240 1GB

He's also interested in water-cooling.. I've never built a system with it however and if it's going to likely go ****-up because of me (or go way over budget) I'd rather stick to an air-cooled system.

Cheers all!

shroomz · 22 Oct 2010 at 19:34

LOL that won't be hard, brb with a spec

Do you need kb/mouse/monitor?

EDIT -

£30 over budget, but you can downgrade the power supply to a slightly cheaper one like the XFX that is really popular just now:

Bicko · 22 Oct 2010 at 19:42

Nah, no kb/mouse needed, just the PC itself.

RJC · 22 Oct 2010 at 19:43

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i7 930 2.80GHz (Bloomfield) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £211.49
(£179.99) £211.49
(£179.99)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 470 OC 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with MAFIA 2 £199.99
(£170.20) £199.99
(£170.20)
Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard £149.99
(£127.65) £149.99
(£127.65)
Patriot Viper 2 Sector 7 6GB (3x2GB) PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Triple Channel Memory Kit £99.99
(£85.10) £99.99
(£85.10)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £82.99
(£70.63) £82.99
(£70.63)
Coolermaster CM-690 II Advanced Dominator Case - Black £76.99
(£65.52) £76.99
(£65.52)
XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular Power Supply £69.99
(£59.57) £69.99
(£59.57)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £43.99
(£37.44) £43.99
(£37.44)
Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3) £35.99
(£30.63) £35.99
(£30.63)
Samsung SH-S223L/RSMN 22x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Beige/Black/Silver) - Retail £14.99
(£12.76) £14.99
(£12.76)
Sub Total : £839.49
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £149.10
Total : £1,001.09

Liampope · 22 Oct 2010 at 19:47

^^ Destroys Dell.

Couple of questions...

1. Did Dell really put 6GB on a 1156 mobo???

2. Did Dell really overclock a CPU, or do you mean 2.93GHz?

shroomz · 22 Oct 2010 at 19:48

Hah, I see RJC beat me to it

.

Oh and

Liampope said:
1. Did Dell really put 6GB on a 1156 mobo???

2. Did Dell really overclock a CPU, or do you mean 2.93GHz?

I'd like to know as well

RJC · 22 Oct 2010 at 20:09

They may of used 1 X 4GB & 1 X 2GB modules!

Liampope · 22 Oct 2010 at 20:14

RJC said:
They may of used 1 X 4GB & 1 X 2GB modules!

I mean of course you can do it physically, but would that work dual channel? I dont think so, right?

RJC · 22 Oct 2010 at 20:20

Liampope said:
I mean of course you can do it physically, but would that work dual channel? I dont think so, right?

Interesting thought, just looked at a Gigabyte motherboard manual and mentions it's recommended to run the same speed, capacity and brand if running dual channel mode, but does not say it would not work :confused:

Bicko · 22 Oct 2010 at 20:30

@RJC: Just looking at that case, there's a version that comes bundled with a PSU anyway and would work out cheaper than buying a seperate PSU. Is it a reliable/worthwhile brand? http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-018-OP

Liampope · 22 Oct 2010 at 20:40

Good deal, good PSU, and saves a good bit of cash. It's just not a modular PSU - if that doesn't bother you it's a good choice.

RJC · 22 Oct 2010 at 20:44

The XFX is modular so you only use the cables which are needed which helps with cables management.

Link below shows the Cooler Master Review conclusion:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-GX-750-W-Power-Supply-Review/917/10

And the XFX:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/XFX-650-W-XXX-Edition-Power-Supply-Review/899/10

Bicko · 22 Oct 2010 at 22:50

Cheers for you help everyone, as always the ocuk forums prove to be an invaluable resource when making a new rig! Here's what we went for in the end, for a grand total of £973.73

Intel Core i7 930 2.80GHz (Bloomfield) (Socket LGA1366)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 470 OC 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with MAFIA 2
Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard
Coolermaster CM-690 II Advanced Dominator Case & Coolermaster GX 750W Power Supply
Patriot Viper 2 Sector 7 6GB (3x2GB) PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Triple Channel Memory Kit
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599)
Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ)
Samsung SH-S223L/RSMN 22x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Beige/Black/Silver) - Retail