Xenomorph or Onyx Prebuilt System?

sliilvia · 30 Aug 2010 at 21:40

Hi all, I'm going to buy one of the pre build systems on pay day and I'd like to get some opinions please especially OC staff if they see this thread.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-237-OK&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=1712

I'll be adding on an SSD and a 470 taking it just over £800.00

Or alternatively the:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-025-OP&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=1712

As my budget is around £850.00 if I go for the Onyx, I won't be able to afford the 470 and the SSD.

Any thoughts from anyone please?

It's a big purchase for me personally so I'd really like to make the best decision. Is it wiser to just get the best core system I can and worry about GPU, etc later or should I go for something a bit more basic like the i3 setup with better accessories?

Just for further info:

I would be using the PC for gaming at 1920 x 1080, photoshop work and my current set up is:

Dual Core E6750 2.66GHz
4.00 GB of cheap OCZ RAM
Ati 5770 card
Asus PN5 SLI PLUS Mobo

stulid · 30 Aug 2010 at 21:48

for pure gaming, you will be hard pushed to beat the GTX470, that onyx system has a 4850?

sliilvia · 30 Aug 2010 at 21:54

stulid said:
for pure gaming, you will be hard pushed to beat the GTX470, that onyx system has a 4850?

Yes for some reason many of the the prebuilt systems have quite high specs, but ship with low end graphics cards as the default option. If I got the Onyx, it would cost me an extra £136.00 to get the GTX470. Really not sure whether to not worry about a decent GPU till I can afford it and get the i7 system or just get the i3 Xenomorph with a decent GPU and SSD. Decisions, decisions....

Cycrow · 30 Aug 2010 at 22:10

i think i would go for the Titan Exodus with a 470.

then think about an SSD later on

raikesi · 30 Aug 2010 at 22:14

your current system has a 5770, so just spec the i7 system with a 5770 and crossfire them. simples
that comes to £862 for the i7 system with dual 5770's

whatalegend123 · 30 Aug 2010 at 22:15

i really dont see the need for an ssd with a decent harddrive like a spinpoint f3 save the 80squid and get a better gpu,

sliilvia · 30 Aug 2010 at 22:22

raikesi said:
your current system has a 5770, so just spec the i7 system with a 5770 and crossfire them. simples
that comes to £862 for the i7 system with dual 5770's

That sounds like a good option, but I see so many people here on the forums with crossfire or sli problems

By the way, do the crossfire connecting ribbons come with the cards or do you need to order them seperately?

stulid · 30 Aug 2010 at 22:26

sliilvia said:
That sounds like a good option, but I see so many people here on the forums with crossfire or sli problems

when the drivers work, and the game supports crossfire, then the general feeling around these forums is that two 5770 match a single 5870.

but on the other hand, how often this happens is anyones guess.

for really smooth game play, the minimum frame rates need to remain high, which is what a GTX470 does very well.

raikesi · 30 Aug 2010 at 22:29

also (slightly contradicting myself here) the gtx470 should be better for the photoshop work that you stated (what sort of things would you be doing?)

sliilvia · 31 Aug 2010 at 09:46

raikesi said:
also (slightly contradicting myself here) the gtx470 should be better for the photoshop work that you stated (what sort of things would you be doing?)

Now I'm really confused

So an the Onyx with crossfire would be a significant upgrade from my existing setup mentioned earlier in the thread?

NathWraith · 31 Aug 2010 at 09:49

sliilvia said:
Yes for some reason many of the the prebuilt systems have quite high specs, but ship with low end graphics cards as the default option.

This is because a lot of customers prefer to have great system perfomance over graphical perfomance. You would be surprised.

I would personally go for the Titan Exodus as it is a good middle ground between the Xenomorph and Onyx. You still get a powerful GPU with the sacrifice of an SSD but the Quad i5 is more than worth it, especially running at 4GHz.

sliilvia · 31 Aug 2010 at 09:52

NathWraith said:
This is because a lot of customers prefer to have great system perfomance over graphical perfomance. You would be surprised.

I would personally go for the Titan Exodus as it is a good middle ground between the Xenomorph and Onyx. You still get a powerful GPU with the sacrifice of an SSD but the Quad i5 is more than worth it, especially running at 4GHz.

That's really helpful! Many thanks.