Struggling to decide on a spec, help please..

zAndy1

zAndy1

zAndy1

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Joined
1 Jan 2004
Posts
412
Hi all,
I'm looking to do a self build with a budget of about £500 preferably, might stretch to £600 if it's worth the extra. I currently have a system based around an Athlon X2 3800+ dual core CPU with 1GB Ram and it's slow! One of my main priorities is good video encoding speed with HD material (I currently get approx 2fps H264 encoding using Ripbot264!). It would be nice if it could run the latest games well but it's not a priority. I need pretty much everything , got a blu-ray drive but apart from that I guess I'll need everything. Was hoping to get a core i7 920 but that's gonna be about £1000, I'm torn between something based around the Phenom II X3 720 currently on offer or a Q6700 maybe? I'm leaning towards the AMD Phenom as it's future proof ish with DDR3 support and socket AM3 (would have probably stretched to the system on offer this week if it was £647 as shown on some pages and not £699 as it seems to actually be :confused:) and is perhaps the best compromise between encoding and gaming performance and value for money. Anyone got any opinions / suggestions I'd be happy to hear them?
Oh by the way, I'll be looking to overclock whatever I get to 3.4Ghz at least, just in case that sways things one way or another..

Thanks,
Andy
 
Last edited:
I agree you'd be best going for the AMD 720 set up, is your budget to include OS? or have you already got one? I take it its not incl monitor, preipherals etc?
 
Already got the OS (well I can get Vista Ultimate 64bit for £40 cos my wife is an OU student, or might just install Windows 7 beta ;) ).

Already got a monitor / keyboard etc

Basically I'm after motherboard, CPU, Ram, Graphics card, HDD, case and PSU (when I put it like that I think my £500 budget is a bit optimistic isn't it...)

Cheers
Andy
 
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £114.99
(£99.99) £114.99
(£99.99)
Biostar TSeries TA790GX 128M AMD 790GX (Socket AM2+) DDR2 Motherboard £78.19
(£67.99) £78.19
(£67.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD753LJ) £67.84
(£58.99) £67.84
(£58.99)
Asus ATI Radeon HD 4670 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (90-C1CLP0-J0UAN00Z) £60.94
(£52.99) £60.94
(£52.99)
Seasonic Silverpower 500W Power Supply £57.99
(£50.43) £57.99
(£50.43)
Corsair XMS2 4GB DDR2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x2GB) Dual Channel Kit (Twin2X4096-8500C5) £39.99
(£34.77) £39.99
(£34.77)
Sub Total : £365.16
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £56.27
Total : £431.43


will allow you to run new games, but not in all their glory with full AA and AF if you play on a very high res.

needs case

you could get a cheapish case like the akasa zen and maybe upgrade the GPU to a 4830 or 4850 if you want more GPU power, or get a phenom quad core instead. or you could consider adding more RAM if you need more then 4GB.
 
Thanks for that, I like the CPU and Motherboard and HDD. Not so keen on the graphics card, think I wanna spend a bit more on that to be honest. Was thinking perhaps this case and PSU bundle:-

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-113-AN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

The monitor I've got at the moment is a 19" 1280x1024 one but I will be getting a bigger / higher res monitor later although no bigger than 22" really.

I think 4GB of RAM will be fine for now, we're getting there ;)

Cheers
Andy
 
How about this:-

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £166.74
(£144.99) £166.74
(£144.99)
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £116.99
(£101.73) £116.99
(£101.73)
AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £114.99
(£99.99) £114.99
(£99.99)
Antec 300 Gaming Case and Antec Basiq Plus 550W Modular PSU £89.99
(£78.25) £89.99
(£78.25)
Western Digital Caviar Green 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD6400AACS) £57.49
(£49.99) £57.49
(£49.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3 10666C9 1333MHz TwinX Dual Channel Kit (2x2GB) (TW3X4G1333C9) £54.04
(£46.99) £54.04
(£46.99)
Sub Total : £521.94
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £79.98
Total : £613.17

Top end of my budget but it's a pretty decent spec I think!
 
Question then is, is this worth the £200 extra:-

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - OEM £229.99
(£199.99) £229.99
(£199.99)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail£166.74
(£144.99) £166.74
(£144.99)
Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £164.44
(£142.99) £164.44
(£142.99)
Antec 300 Gaming Case and Antec Basiq Plus 550W Modular PSU £89.99
(£78.25) £89.99
(£78.25)
OCZ Gold 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Low-Voltage Triple Channel Kit (3 X 2GB) (OCZ3G1333LV6GK) £75.98
(£66.07) £75.98
(£66.07)
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD6401AALS) £63.24
(£54.99) £63.24
(£54.99)
Sub Total : £687.28
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £104.78
Total : £803.31
 
Think I'm gonna go for this:-

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £116.99
(£101.73) £116.99
(£101.73)
AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £114.99
(£99.99) £114.99
(£99.99)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 "XXX Edition" 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £109.99
(£95.64) £109.99
(£95.64)
Antec 300 Gaming Case and Antec Basiq Plus 550W Modular PSU £89.99
(£78.25) £89.99
(£78.25)
Western Digital Caviar Green 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD6400AACS) £57.49
(£49.99) £57.49
(£49.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3 10666C9 1333MHz TwinX Dual Channel Kit (2x2GB) (TW3X4G1333C9) £54.04
(£46.99) £54.04
(£46.99)
Sub Total : £472.59
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £72.58
Total : £556.42

When you say you're not sure about the PSU, was that with the i7 spec or is it just not a decent enough PSU fullstop?
 
mmm, was put off by the reviews of the RAM that's on offer to be honest, so you reckon the one that's on offer is worth the extra £20 then?
 
Just realised I need a CPU cooler as well! What's the best reasonably priced (i.e. preferably no more than £40) cooler compatible with the AM3 board?

Thanks

EDIT: Ok, just realised the CPU is a retail kit so comes with a cooler BUT if I'm planning on overclocking it will the provided cooler be sufficient or should I invest in something better?
 
Last edited:
the only cpu cooler compatible i have seen is the sun beam but erm check with ppl what speed of ram they are running to see if you require faster stuff esp ppl who have overclocked there's:D
 
Right, this is where I'm at right now:-

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £116.99
(£101.73) £116.99
(£101.73)
AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £114.99
(£99.99) £114.99
(£99.99)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 "XXX Edition" 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £109.99
(£95.64) £109.99
(£95.64)
Antec 300 Gaming Case and Antec Basiq Plus 550W Modular PSU £89.99
(£78.25) £89.99
(£78.25)
Western Digital Caviar Green 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD6400AACS) £57.49
(£49.99) £57.49
(£49.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3 10666C9 1333MHz TwinX Dual Channel Kit (2x2GB) (TW3X4G1333C9) £54.04
(£46.99) £54.04
(£46.99)
Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM3/LGA775) £28.74
(£24.99) £28.74
(£24.99)
Sub Total : £497.58
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £76.32
Total : £585.15

Before I click buy is there anyway I can get that price down to nearer £500 without compromising much performance. Should I maybe go for an AM2+ motherboard and DDR2 RAM (if so which would be best and would the motherboard work with the X3 720 as supplied cos how could I flash it otherwise?). I know I said video encoding was important but honestly it's not like I encode stuff all the time so as long as it's half decent at video encoding it'll be ok. I just feel there's potential to get the price down a bit but get similar performance? Perhaps I should look at an Intel spec instead (the E5200 looks interesting, cheap and seems to be a brilliant overclocker, suspect it's crap at the video encoding though?). Anyway I'm off to work for a few hours and when I get back I would like to get things finalised as I've been doing this for the last week now!!
Any advice much appreciated and thanks for all the input so far

Cheers
Andy
 
Last edited:
Just had a thought, I've got an old system in an Antec case , this one:-

http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/antecplus1000amg/

with this PSU:-

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1287

Would I be able to use that case? Not sure but would the front USB ports be USB2 or does that just depend on the motherboard? What about the PSU or is it not up to the job? Just thinking it might save me £100 if I use the old case and PSU that's all. Not sure whether the PSU has the right connectors for the latest motherboards or whether the 12V rail is good enough to take a HD4850?

Cheers
Andy
 
Last edited:
Right, assuming I can use the case I've got this is where I'm at now:-

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £114.99
(£99.99) £114.99
(£99.99)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 "XXX Edition" 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £109.99
(£95.64) £109.99
(£95.64)
Asus M4A78 PRO AMD 780G (Socket AM2+/AM3) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £90.84
(£78.99) £90.84
(£78.99)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 500w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Modular Power Supply £57.49
(£49.99) £57.49
(£49.99)
Western Digital Caviar Green 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD6400AACS) £57.49
(£49.99) £57.49
(£49.99)
OCZ Gold Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500 4GB Dual Channel (OCZ2G10664GK) £34.49
(£29.99) £34.49
(£29.99)
Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM3/LGA775) £28.74
(£24.99) £28.74
(£24.99)
Sub Total : £429.58
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £65.94
Total : £505.52

Pretty much spot on budget, so for the final time before I click checkout, everything ok?

Cheers
Andy
 
Thanks, just changed the HDD to a 320GB one, already got a 1TB USB external HDD so don't need a big HDD in the PC, it's all money saved at the end of the day. Might add a case, probably the Coolermaster Elite 335 which seems reasonable at £35. Apart from that I think I'm done :)

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £114.99
(£99.99) £114.99
(£99.99)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 "XXX Edition" 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £109.99
(£95.64) £109.99
(£95.64)
Asus M4A78 PRO AMD 780G (Socket AM2+/AM3) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £90.84
(£78.99) £90.84
(£78.99)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 500w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Modular Power Supply £57.49
(£49.99) £57.49
(£49.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD322HJ) £40.24
(£34.99) £40.24
(£34.99)
OCZ Gold Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500 4GB Dual Channel (OCZ2G10664GK) £34.49
(£29.99) £34.49
(£29.99)
Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM3/LGA775) £28.74
(£24.99) £28.74
(£24.99)
Sub Total : £414.58
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £63.69
Total : £488.27
 
Id recomend getting the antec 300 incl 550Watt basic PSU, its a cracking case and PSU is good too, think its 80 or 90 quid
Edit: actually its out of stock atm, its £90 and this is the link
 
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