Yet another build check.... If you dont mind

nismo34

nismo34

nismo34

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Joined
25 May 2011
Posts
5
Location
Runcorn
Heys all

Firstly, thanks for all the help so far, this is my first attempt at building a computer and everytime I googled some hardware OC usually came up with the answer.

Im looking for a decent gaming setup but nothing over the top and was hoping for a budget of £300 but thats long gone so I'll settle for not much more than im at now. It may seem a little mismatched in terms of performance but I've tried to allow for future upgrades and I also have a strange loyalty to AMD/ATI... No idea why....

I'll leave it at that for now and all feedback would be great cheers

Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition
G.Skill RipJawsX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3
OcUK Crusade 650W
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW

I did struggle making a decision on the GPU and could only partially settle on the Sapphire HD5750 1GB GDDR5 Vapor-X edition but would prefer any suggestions on what would "fit" better with the proposed specs.
 
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You should avoid the cheapo PSU's. There not upto much at all, and you have went the opposite direction with the RAM. Way overboard.

What's the budget then? I take it you don't need Windows or a case?
 
Yeah I changed the memory as you posted hehe, hopefully thats a little more suitable.

Luckily I get windows discounted through my college and I already bought my case, all be it a £30 casecom one..... I really wasnt planning on getting much :p
As I say I get carried away easily so preferably not much more but I would like to have an even system and learn a little by it :D

Ill be grateful of any advice and if I need to spend a little more so be it....
 
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nismo34 said:
Yeah I changed the memory as you posted hehe, hopefully thats a little more suitable.

Luckily I get windows discounted through my college and I already bought my case, all be it a casecom one..... I really wasnt planning on getting much :p
As I say I get carried away easily so preferably not much more but I would like to have an even system and learn a little by it :D

Ill be grateful of any advice and if I need to spend a little more so be it....
Click to expand...

OK. You never made it easy for me did you. I added all those items to the basket and then got the total price from there. £385 including shipping.

So let's say the budget is £400 or less. I presume you don't need a monitor? The primary use is gaming yes?
 
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £83.99
(£69.99) £83.99
(£69.99)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £54.98
(£45.82) £54.98
(£45.82)
OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply £40.99
(£34.16) £40.99
(£34.16)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £319.93
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 20.00% VAT : £65.99
Total : £395.92

------------------------------------------------------------

This is a lot better than what you had specced up. It's within your £400 budget and will run pretty much any game with respectable settings.

Here is a comparison between the graphics card you had chosen and the one I've included in the build. Comparison
 
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Hehe well the more I learned the less I knew and ive ended up with my head fried....

It will primarily be gaming but not expecting everything on high and over 3 screens.... I prefer smooth over pretty.... Ill be looking at titles like the total war series mainly.
I do already have a monitor, although that will be upgraded next, and as I say its not really essential to stay under 400 but preferred.

Muchly appreciated btw, hopefully i'll learn soon enough and get a bit of sense :p
 
nismo34 said:
Hehe well the more I learned the less I knew and ive ended up with my head fried....

It will primarily be gaming but not expecting everything on high and over 3 screens.... I prefer smooth over pretty.... Ill be looking at titles like the total war series mainly.
I do already have a monitor, although that will be upgraded next, and as I say its not really essential to stay under 400 but preferred.

Muchly appreciated btw, hopefully i'll learn soon enough and get a bit of sense :p
Click to expand...

Well there you have it then. A system for under 400 quid that will make your games look pretty and smooth :)

Is there anything there you don't like or are unsure about?
 
TBH the PSU was what I was most concerned by with what I originally put forward and the rest seems a lot better with no extra cost so not bad for 10 mins hehe
Im glad you put the AMD 955 BE back in as was pretty impressed by the reviews and comparisons I saw for the cost.

The only question I have is on the motherboard. I figured atx would be better for heat build up and generally with the layout etc but thats just my assumption? also I did originally set my sights on that board but I went for the USB 3/ Sata 6Gb and 2 x PCI x16 for dual gpu.... admittedly over optimistic again so i'll trust you if you think its not a necessity any time soon hehe

Definately a big help though and as Im ordering all this on fri no doubt Ill be going for your recommendations :)
 
nismo34 said:
TBH the PSU was what I was most concerned by with what I originally put forward and the rest seems a lot better with no extra cost so not bad for 10 mins hehe
Im glad you put the AMD 955 BE back in as was pretty impressed by the reviews and comparisons I saw for the cost.

The only question I have is on the motherboard. I figured atx would be better for heat build up and generally with the layout etc but thats just my assumption? also I did originally set my sights on that board but I went for the USB 3/ Sata 6Gb and 2 x PCI x16 for dual gpu.... admittedly over optimistic again so i'll trust you if you think its not a necessity any time soon hehe

Definately a big help though and as Im ordering all this on fri no doubt Ill be going for your recommendations :)
Click to expand...

I didn't actually mean to put the athlon in originally, the phenom for a few quid more is definitely worth it.

If you think you will ever use USB-3 or Sata-3 then go ahead. However, the only time your going to need Sata-3 is if you buy yourself a Sata-3 SSD. If you will in the future or think you might, then go for it. Or you could just buy a Sata-3 controller card to fit into any board. With regards to USB-3. I haven't seen many devices support this, USB2 is fine for external drives IMO. Again this is all just my opinion, some people might love USB3. Myself however, couldn't care less about it.

With your budget I didn't think Xfire would have been an option at any point in time. However if you think you might want to go Xfire in the future then you will also need a more powerful PSU as the one I specced is only really capable of running one high end card, not two.

It's a M-ATX board, meaning Micro. If anything there will be less heat in a Micro ATX system as there should theoretically be more room for airflow, the boards are smaller after all.

If you want a full size ATX board with the ability to go Xfire in the future. Then perhaps this PSU and this Mobo and PSU would suit you better.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-283-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-004-XF&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1497

That specific PSU is "OOS" at the moment, however, I'm sure it will be back in shortly. Or there are other alternatives, however the XFX do get good reviews.

As you can see, the price really starts to mount up here. So unless you really do plan on going down the Xfire route then I wouldn't bother. It really all depends on how much you want to spend. If you can stretch to £500-£550. You could really go to town and do a whole re spec. It's hard to work out a plan without an actual figure.
 
Buchanan0204 said:
Well... did you ever decide on parts?
Click to expand...

I have actually just completed my order :D

Went for everything you suggested except for the HDD in which I got 2x250GB drives as a friend said I should set up raid-0 since it'll mainly be gaming and I have everything else on an external already.

Since its my first attempt at throwin one together I'll get some pics and show the progress in the 'builds' section hehe

Cheers for the help though, really was appreciated :)
 
nismo34 said:
I have actually just completed my order :D

Went for everything you suggested except for the HDD in which I got 2x250GB drives as a friend said I should set up raid-0 since it'll mainly be gaming and I have everything else on an external already.

Since its my first attempt at throwin one together I'll get some pics and show the progress in the 'builds' section hehe

Cheers for the help though, really was appreciated :)
Click to expand...

Ah no probs. Raid0 is nice, wont make any difference to most games however, makes levels load marginally quicker but has no effect on overall performance. Looking forward to the pics.
 
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