Which Build - And how could it improve?

Mark101

Mark101

Mark101

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Joined
16 Jun 2011
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40
Suggested Improvements for a £600 PC

The situation has changed slightly - I'm thinking to build myself now.

See my post (#10) for details :)

Uses: moderate gaming, photo and video editing, audio editing and music notation software.

Display: not part of budget; I already have a 1680x1050 display but at some point I may upgrade to a 1920x1080 and then use both in conjuction.

Thanks
 
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Hi, I would seriously consider assembling the whole thing yourself. I recently built my first computer, largely based on friendly advice from this very forum, as well as checking out some YouTube vids. I've never opened up a computer case before this, but it all went pretty smoothly. I checked out some of those "build your own pc" websites where they put it together for you, but it was still about 200 quid cheaper putting it together myself. It's pretty much like a big jigsaw puzzle.

Edit: this might be.a good starting point http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18281130
 
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Building a computer is easy. As long as you select the right components (Which people here will happily help with) it's literally just a matter of plugging/screwing things in. And if at any point in the build you're unsure of where something goes or what to do next, you can get an answer from someone on here within 5 minutes most of the time. You'll get a better build for the money doing it yourself, and you can customise every component to suit your uses.
 
Thanks for the advice and the link :)

Looking around, on those components I could save maybe £100 if I built it myself and bought the components here. I would definitely rather keep (most of) the £100 than try to improve the build - finding £600 would be a stretch.

Any advice on which of the two system to use as a 'jumping off' point for my further research?
 
Mark101 said:
____________________________________________

Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™
]
Click to expand...

Either get the i5 2500k cpu to make use of the overclocking ability on the P67 motherboard or save money and get a H67 motherboard.
 
Mark101 said:
Any advice on which of the two system to use as a 'jumping off' point for my further research?
Click to expand...

If you give it a while a few very experienced people will chip in and give you some recommendations for a full system. There are a group of regulars on here who between them will spec you a very good value setup if you want help. :)
 
jax_5 said:
Either get the i5 2500k cpu to make use of the overclocking ability on the P67 motherboard or save money and get a H67 motherboard.
Click to expand...

Right, so both th P8P67 and the P8H67 will support the specified components - but the P67 allows for overclocking? I'm not really interested in OC'ing so I will go for the H67. Thanks :)
 
If budget allows a Z68 motherboard and a 2500k will give you a significant power boost when overclocked, it really is spectacularly easy with these chips. If not then a plain 2500 and an H67 motherboard will still give you plenty of oomph for less money. Depends on your needs.
 
Right, the i5 it is then. It does seem unwise to get an AMD X6 when Bulldozer is close to release.

As I said, I'm more interested in price than massive performance, and I'm not particularly intersted in overclocking. I think the i5-2500 would easily provide enough power. So, I may as well get a H67 mobo.

143pa4y.png


PS. My thinking:


  • I went for 1333 RAM and a non-1600 mobo because apparently the i5-2500 (non-K) can't make use of anything higher. That correct? I went for 1600 RAM in the above build because it was the same price...
    I was torn between the HD6970 and the GTX 560 - they were the same price.
    I assume that the mobo would be able to make use of the 6gbit/s hard disk?
    And that the components would fit in the case?
    I went for aftermarket cooling - is this necessary for these components given no overclocking?

From here: How does that build sound? Any suggestions / balancing issues? If I was to reduce the cost of the overall built to maybe £550, where would I cut corners - and what would the perfomance hit be?

Thank you all so much for your help,

Mark
 
You need to change your ram to dual channel as your chosen board does not use triple channel ram.

You should really get a z68 motherboard even if overclocking is not your thing. That H67 board yoou have chosen is a waste of money. You may not wish to overclock now but i can tell you that overclocking on a Z68 motherboard is childs play.
 
Go for the K OEM since you're getting an aftermarket cooler; http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-368-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1275 - Cheaper too

Get 4/8GB dual channel, Sandybridge is dual channel not triple.

Get this HDD; http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-081-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=940

Motherboard for k processor; http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-167-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1906

It would be a waste not to OC the CPU since you can easily get 4GHz if you cba faffing around with it.
 
Ah - it's only dual channel, I knew I'd missed something.

Revised build:

19sbif.png


The very cheapest z68 mobo is the Gigabyte Z68A-D3 Intel Z68 at £80; all the other are over £100.

The one in the above spec is £90 - why is it more expensive when h67 is so inferior to z68? Would the Gigabyte Z68A-D3 Intel Z68 be an improvement?

Also the 2500K is another £15, and I definitely can't have the system over £600.

With that build, the spec is:

wmblsz.png


_________

edit: ninja'd - Right, so is the OEM the same as the normal K but without the stock Intel cooler?

If I did choose to OC; what's better: the MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 or the Gigabyte Z68A-D3 Intel Z68?

I've corrected the RAM :)

Isn't the HDD in my config faster than that one? I'm a noob so probably wrong, but I thought that 6gbit/s was SATA III and that one is SATA II - it's also a few quid more... Anyone explain?
 
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^ go with the second build the 2500k is a must (as you can oc !!)

for a few quid more get this case looks much better and has more room

plus you can save a fiver with this ram and you wont notice any difference
 
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I must say, I did worry about the case I specced. For £4 extra, a bit of extra room is nice :).

That RAM looks good - cheers.

So the current config is as per the second screenie in my post #13 - only with Pohly's suggested RAM and case, overall cost is about the same.

Outstanding questions:

1 - Which HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM, or the one I specced above?

2 - Is the OEM version of the i5-2500K (which is about £15 less) the same as the standard one but without the stock Intel cooler?

3 - What are the differences between the MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 and the Gigabyte Z68A-D3 Intel Z68?
 
Mark101 said:
Outstanding questions:

1 - Which HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM, or the one I specced above?

2 - Is the OEM version of the i5-2500K (which is about £15 less) the same as the standard one but without the stock Intel cooler?

3 - What are the differences between the MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 and the Gigabyte Z68A-D3 Intel Z68?
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1. i would go with the f3 slightly faster drives

2. yes the oem is the same without the cooler and with 1 year warrenty not 3

3. and the msi is the p67 chipset (older genertation) and the z68 is the latest one with some new features ie ssd caching so go with the gigabyte one + its cheaper :D
 
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Z68 has SSD caching (something about better speed when using a SSd i guess lol)

OEM is 1 year warranty, retail 3 years warranty,

i went for retail i5 2500k because it was just cheaper one at the time (i know random pricing lol think it was in the weekly deal or something), ended up thowing away stock cooler and using ym hyper 212 cooler, great cooler shame its out of stock at the moment.
 
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