time for a new rig

soundb0y · 22 Mar 2009 at 14:07

Hi guys, been lurking for a while, first time poster,

So basically I'm fed up with my crappy old acer laptop that cant run anything, and my 360 got rrod AGAIN, so I would like to make a return to pc gaming (been about 4 years :eek:

)

I was wondering if anybody could help me put together a spec for a new machine.

Ideally I would like something relatively futureproof without spending a fortune as I'm a student. Ideally I would love to play the new call of duty on highest spec when it comes out at the end of this year.

So, I have about £1000 budget,,,ish at the moment. This is for the tower, and maybe keyboard mouse etc, I have a 32" 32lg5700 tv which I will use, until maybe buying a smaller monitor when my next student loan comes through

After what Ive been reading the i7 looks like a great cpu, however I have also read some good things about the tri core amd's which would save some cash, but would it be worth spending slightly more to go down the i7 route?

As id be playing at such a high resolution, would a 4870x2 suit my needs? I know It would not make sense now, but could I then go to add another later?

Other components, Id like 6gb RAM and as big a hard drive as I can get without going too much over budget, id rather save a bit of dollar now and pick up another later. Would also like a pinao black case if possible to match my tv, external drives and iphone!

I do not need an OS so hopefully this will also save a bit.

Now I have seen the titan goliath which is on offer at the moment, and looks very nice, but I doubt I will be able to order before the offer ends.
I have never built a pc from scratch before, but I did manage to partially rebuild an old system a few years ago so would not mind building myself again if it works out cheaper.

I hope I have not missed anything out,

Cheers in advance

kieves1 · 22 Mar 2009 at 14:15

Well it would work out cheaper building it yourself but you get peace of mind guarantee when store bought.Im in two minds as to build my own or buy one now.Scared ill damage a component or somat while building it.
The Vulcan aint bad for £750
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-046-OE
£150 cheaper but only 4gb of ddr3 ram

zeppelin` · 22 Mar 2009 at 14:20

claimed

and definately build mate; id be looking at:

i7 920
6gb 1600mhz ddr3
gtx260

with that sort of money

sketch145 · 22 Mar 2009 at 14:21

I would go for something like this if you dont mind building it yourself.

Quixote · 22 Mar 2009 at 14:24

A £166 motherboard ? Totally negates the point of buying the X3. Should spend about £90 max, probably clock nearly as much.
Could also consider pairing it with DDR2 'cause there are more boards to choose from. Not that I'm saying don't go DDR3, it's up to you.

sketch145 · 22 Mar 2009 at 14:26

just thought it gave the option of full speed crossfire in the future (not that it would be needed with 4870x2) most of the cheaper ddr2 boards only support 8x on the second pci-e slot

sketch145 · 22 Mar 2009 at 14:27

but yeah ddr2 could bring the price down to about £700 without losing too much performance (it would still handle all current games on high I reckon)

soundb0y · 22 Mar 2009 at 14:35

cheers for the replys

Was looking at something like this?

What do you think?

sketch145 · 22 Mar 2009 at 14:42

looks good, would definitely handle all current games on high settings.

I would change the hard drive though as many people have had driver issues with the seagates, (western digital, samsung spinpoint and hitachi deskstar are all good)

dmxdex2020 · 22 Mar 2009 at 14:48

if their is an issue with hard drive it will require a firmware update which is out.

The drives are awesome.

kieves1 · 22 Mar 2009 at 14:52

Looks good just £150 over budget tho

Do you have a keyboard and mouse ?

soundb0y · 22 Mar 2009 at 16:17

I have an old keyboard and old wireless microsoft mouse . I would rather get the hardware nailed then splash out on peripherals when my next loan comes through.

Few questions about the case, would I need the more powerfull psu and would there be space for another 4870x2 later on?

reflux · 22 Mar 2009 at 16:20

Don't go for that case; it'll be too short for a 4870X2 and the PSU supplied won't be enough for one either.

Hmmm, you've specced a seperate PSU too - there's no point in doubling up tbh.

Get the Corsair 650 and this...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-065-AN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=160

Might not be your cup of tea (I think they're ugly personally) but it's a much better case than the Sonata.

sketch145 · 22 Mar 2009 at 16:37

or a antec p182 for a more reserved look.

bit of a price jump though

soundb0y · 22 Mar 2009 at 16:52

yeah that case is nicer, and it comes bundled with different psu's, would the 650 suffice?

soundb0y · 23 Mar 2009 at 12:36

Also, bit of a noob question but do I need to buy any cables or are they included with the parts

sketch145 · 23 Mar 2009 at 17:43

650w will be fine for that spec, also all the internal cables will be included with the motherboard, and all the power cables will be included with the power supply.

siumatfung · 23 Mar 2009 at 17:49

soundb0y said:
cheers for the replys

Was looking at something like this?

What do you think?

+1 but dont get that case get a Antec 300/902

or the coolermaster C690 is cheap as!!!!£67ish

or if you want to be posh and fancy get the Li A7

soundb0y · 24 Mar 2009 at 12:50

Thanks so much for the info guys, Will be looking to order in about 3 or 4 weeks I hope, maybe some prices will even drop by then who knows!

Anyway in regards to the future I may want to add another 4870x2 in so might prefer to get a larger case and PSU now.

Does anyone know which cases will fit 2 of these cards? And ive done some reading and the consensus is an 850w psu should be sufficient, I wont be running loads of HDD or anything.

Also will the motherboard be compatible with everything?

edit: Will I also need any more fans?

Guardsmon · 24 Mar 2009 at 13:18

Um there seems to be something you're missing which no one has picked up on... have you got an operating system? Pref 64bit? as this is going to add cost.

Most cases if long enough to fit the 4870x2's can support 2 of them unless you're looking at M-ATX case. depends on the case whether you need more fans, also depends if you like near silence or are happy with a little noise.

850W is certainly enough. More to the point though how as a student have you got £1k lying around at this time of year?