Upgrading 2x Desktops - Budget approx £1,100 - Spec needed!

Loony BoB

Loony BoB

Loony BoB

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I say approximately because I can go up to £1200 or so (all on the credit card, being paid off over a few months) but ideally I'd like to be closer to £1,000 if possible. I'd like to set the two PCs up fairly equally when it comes to GPU, SBD, CPU, RAM.

I'm looking to buy i5 processors and 1GB GTX460 cards. At the moment we're going to be sitting on 20" screens @ 1900x1050 (or whatever, I forget :p) resolution, if that's in any way worth knowing. Oh, and naturally we'll need RAM and a systemboard. 4GB RAM for now is fine, don't think we'll need 6GB just yet.

Finally, for my girlfriends desktop, I'm considering getting her a case with a bit more room (and a bit lest dust, urgh, I need to clean that thing...), so if you feel that it would do some good then feel free to fit in a case and power supply as well.

Hard drives and optical drives will remain as they are and my case/power supply are fine to remain as they are.

My PC...
Case: 1028 Lian Li PC-7 SE-B II Black
SBD: Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3P (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB)
RAM: OCZ Gold Edition 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Series
PSU: Corsair HD 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
GPU: OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)

My GF's PC...
Case: Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Case
SBD: Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3P (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB)
RAM: OCZ Gold Edition 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Series
PSU: EarthWatts 500W PSU (came with Case)
GPU: OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)


EDIT: Forgot to say: I don't plan on overclocking these, as I have no clue when it comes to that. If I get a new case and power supply for the gf's PC then that means I'll have a spare PC which I can do a bit of messing about with, so maybe I can finally have a go at learning! :D
 
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came up with the following, comes in at just over £1,100, could reduce that by removing the case/psu for g/f if needs be, everything is priced as x2 except case/psu.

Palit GeForce GTX 460 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99 (£127.65)

Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £293.72 (£249.98)

Asus P7P55-M P55 Express Chipset (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £179.98 (£153.18)

Antec 902 Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £88.99 (£75.74)

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £164.48 (£139.98)

Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W Power Supply £66.99 (£57.01)

Sub Total : £931.19
Shipping : £12.50
VAT : £165.15
Total : £1,108.84
 
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Loony BoB said:
just if I ever want to upgrade the GPU again in a few years it would obviously make it easier.
Click to expand...

People often say this, however say you have a 2 year old card (a 4850 for example) then adding a second isn't going to do a lot with new games - You are much better just selling your current 4850 and buying a newer single card.

Only use SLI or Crossfire as a means of adding together high end graphics cards, otherwise stick with one card as it is much less hassle.
 
Ah, cheers for that, it takes out a little of the confusion over what system board to get. :)

Will be going for the 1GB GTX 460 cards over the 768MB ones, personally - don't mind the extra cost for that end as we find it's the thing which limits us most with our gaming.

EDIT: Did a bit of messing about with things over the past few hours and came up with the following...

2x Gigabyte GTX 460 1GB Graphics Card = £357.98 (admittedly purchased elsewhere, unlike the rest of the kit, because it's not available here!)

And from OcUK...
2x Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail - £293.72
2x Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard - £209.98
2x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) - £164.48
1x Lian Li PC-7FN Case - Black - £84.99
1x Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) - £59.98

Now, a few questions regarding this...

1. The important one: Will the parts combine well?
2. When the PSU mentions "SLi Compliant" I assume that it'll be fine for non-SLi. It was cheaper than the 500w Corsair PSU!
3. When the graphics card mentions "(Supports ATI CrossFireX Technology)" is it safe to assume that a NVidia graphics card will still run just fine on it? I'll be connecting my HDTV and monitor to the PC simultaneously, effectively meaning I'll be using dual monitors.

It's been three years since I built these desktops, and that was a first for me - so advice is appreciated. I'm pretty much still a novice here!
 
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some motherboards are only SLI, and as you are not combining more than one then it shouldn't matter as it will run well.

the 650w can handle two high end graphics cards with ease except maybe the 5970 .

it should suit your needs well.
 
Thanks for all your help. :) Anyone else who has any advice regarding the choices I've made, feel free to shed some light as I'll probably wait a couple of days before buying, just to be sure.
 
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