north-ict Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 (edited) My lovely home pentium 4 machine thats i have had for 4-5 years now is outdated and i think its time to build a new machine. Probably over the weekend i am gonna sit down and work out components etc to build a new tower. Ideally i want to use it for latest gaming and to use Adobe creative suite CS5 on it. i reckon looking to spend around 500 quid. I just thought if you guys had any suggestions on setups or parts etc would be greatly appreciated. What better place to ask . Edit: Im thinking id probably run some virtualisations on it too Edited July 7, 2011 by north-ict
creese Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 Here is the list that I built mine from recently. Prices may have changed. I5 QUAD core Processor - £ 163.47– link: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache.. | Ebuyer.com Motherboard Socket 1155 - £ 104.67 - link: Gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3H-B3 H67 Socket 1155 GB LAN 8.. | Ebuyer.com PSU 500watt - £ 42.41 - link: EXDISPLAY OCZ StealthXstream II 500W Power Supply | Ebuyer.com Black tower case - £105.00 - link: NZXT Phantom Black Full Tower Case | Ebuyer.com OR White tower case - £ 105.00 – link: NZXT Phantom White Full Tower Case | Ebuyer.com Buy two of theses - Combo DVD drive/burner - £ 24.76 link: Plextor PX-L890 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA.. | Ebuyer.com Memory 4gb - £38.00 - link: Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 Memory Kit.. | Ebuyer.com
north-ict Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Posted July 7, 2011 Here is the list that I built mine from recently. Prices may have changed. I5 QUAD core Processor - £ 163.47– link: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache.. | Ebuyer.com Motherboard Socket 1155 - £ 104.67 - link: Gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3H-B3 H67 Socket 1155 GB LAN 8.. | Ebuyer.com PSU 500watt - £ 42.41 - link: EXDISPLAY OCZ StealthXstream II 500W Power Supply | Ebuyer.com Black tower case - £105.00 - link: NZXT Phantom Black Full Tower Case | Ebuyer.com OR White tower case - £ 105.00 – link: NZXT Phantom White Full Tower Case | Ebuyer.com Buy two of theses - Combo DVD drive/burner - £ 24.76 link: Plextor PX-L890 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA.. | Ebuyer.com Memory 4gb - £38.00 - link: Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 Memory Kit.. | Ebuyer.com Thanks creese much appreciated for the details Ill have a proper gander at this later.
sonofsanta Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 For £500 you'd want something along these lines... TR's Summer 2011 system guide - The Tech Report - Page 2 I fear that at that budget, you're going to have to sacrifice performance in one of virtualization or games - the former likes a beefy CPU and doesn't care about your GPU, the latter will never have enough GPU and is largely indifferent to your CPU. What's your priority?
north-ict Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Posted July 7, 2011 For £500 you'd want something along these lines... TR's Summer 2011 system guide - The Tech Report - Page 2 I fear that at that budget, you're going to have to sacrifice performance in one of virtualization or games - the former likes a beefy CPU and doesn't care about your GPU, the latter will never have enough GPU and is largely indifferent to your CPU. What's your priority? I mean 500 is a ballpark figure to start off on and work from there so if its a bit more so be it. Ideally would be nice to have both only reason i said 500 is a starting point. Obviously dont wanna go crazy high
north-ict Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Posted July 7, 2011 How fussed are you about overclocking? Im open to suggestions either way.
creese Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 Got waylaid.... I don't use mine for games and already had a HDD. But it works well for Photoshop etc. and has USB3 sockets and also, my favourite, an onboard HDMI output. In total cost me about £500.
SmellyLlama Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 I'd recommend Antec Psu's, they get a 3 year warranty. We use/sell them in the shop exclusively unless people want a real budget replacement. The same goes for mobo's Intels own ones get a great warranty and rarely go wrong. That Corsair ram is mad cheap at the moment it's great!! You can throw a cheap passive GT210 or something similar in for about £40 and even play most games.
sonofsanta Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 If you're not going to be encoding much video, your best build for the money would probably be * Intel Core i5 2500k in a P67 board * At least 4GB of RAM, if not 8 for virtualization - easy upgrade later on, mind * An AMD 6950 would be your best choice, but if you can't stretch your budget then the 6870 will do you fine for all current games * A 500W PSU should suffice for that lot, case of your choice. * Pick a 1TB drive. The Samsung Spinpoints are very highly regarded, the Western Digital caviar Black has a 5 year warranty. You'll not got far wrong if you follow those TechReport builds though - they're fairly recent (the Utility Player build is pretty similar to what's above) and well balanced. EDIT: And as SmellyLlama hints at above, don't cheap out on your PSU (or case) - you'll regret it. If the PSU goes wrong your whole computer goes down, and you'll probably live with the case for a number of years, so it's worth getting a reasonable one. PSU's, you'll want to stick with Antec or Corsair, more or less, and cases from Antec or Coolermaster will generally serve you well at the budget end of the market.
3s-gtech Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 Personally - I'd wait for AMD's Bulldozer chips on AM3+ to be released before seriously pricing up (should be soon!) Even if they're not the greatest performance wise (and they look okay) it should help to drive down prices on decent level CPUs. For gaming, your chosen resolution is key. The top internally CrossfireX'd and SLI'd cards are no use on a 1680x1050 monitor, and they're overkill at full HD, it's only at 2560x1600 that they start to shine. Depending on what res you use, choose the card to match.
LiamH Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 PassMark Software - Video Card Benchmark Charts Best friend when trying to compare the many "NvidiATI 123 variant a/b sub class 63" Vs "ATIVIDIA 87423" annoying naming schemes you get with video cards. They also benchmark CPU's which is handy.
north-ict Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Posted July 7, 2011 For some reason i didn't get any notifications that the thread has more replies just saw it now thank you guys for inputting this and recommending. For some reason i don't see the 'Thank you' button on any of the replies to thank :S Any more helpful suggestions greatly appreciated
sonofsanta Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 For some reason i didn't get any notifications that the thread has more replies just saw it now thank you guys for inputting this and recommending. For some reason i don't see the 'Thank you' button on any of the replies to thank :S Any more helpful suggestions greatly appreciated There's no thanks button because it's the Fun Stuff forum, and you only get notified the first time there's a reply since the last time you looked. If you don't refresh any EduGeek pages you don't get further updates. Good luck, and enjoy
north-ict Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Posted July 7, 2011 There's no thanks button because it's the Fun Stuff forum, and you only get notified the first time there's a reply since the last time you looked. If you don't refresh any EduGeek pages you don't get further updates. Good luck, and enjoy LOL ahhhh can you tell i am a forum noob? LOL cheers
jamesfed Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 I've got a AMD 6950 2GB and I have't yet been able to max it out on any game when just using a single monitor so I wouldn't expect that you would need something quite that powerful. You might also want to take a look at the new AMD Fusion APUs - the quad core ones are powerful enough to runs games on without a dedicated graphics card (because the processor also includes a GPU that is muuuuch more powerful than Intel onboard graphics).
north-ict Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Posted July 7, 2011 Inititially I was thinking of getting a i7 27 inch mac but the costing at the moment and money restrictions its more logical for me to build a pc machine at a fraction of the cost and probably loaded with more stuff.
MK-2 Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 what about cpu cooling? at the moment i have a near silent pc (silent gpu etc) but have a stealth ninja cooler which takes up a massive amount of room. if you're spending nearly £200 on a cpu you'd want it cooled nicely without too much noise (i'm also looking at building a pc again as mine is about 6 years old) might have to get mine bit by bit over the months as i cant afford one big payout. one thing with the cases, i have an antec p180 at the moment and the dual compartment thing is really good. the psu and hard drives sit at the bottom in a compartment separate from the mobo and rest, with a little hole for running power to the bits that need it. it makes it a hell of a lot easier to work on, quieter, and a cleaner look inside. ideally i'd like a silent gpu again but i'm guessing the cost of those will be pushed up.
sonofsanta Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 what about cpu cooling? at the moment i have a near silent pc (silent gpu etc) but have a stealth ninja cooler which takes up a massive amount of room. if you're spending nearly £200 on a cpu you'd want it cooled nicely without too much noise (i'm also looking at building a pc again as mine is about 6 years old) might have to get mine bit by bit over the months as i cant afford one big payout. one thing with the cases, i have an antec p180 at the moment and the dual compartment thing is really good. the psu and hard drives sit at the bottom in a compartment separate from the mobo and rest, with a little hole for running power to the bits that need it. it makes it a hell of a lot easier to work on, quieter, and a cleaner look inside. ideally i'd like a silent gpu again but i'm guessing the cost of those will be pushed up. Corsair Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU.. | Ebuyer.com - complete kit, with barely any faffing about, reputedly. If you want to properly go down the watercooling route you can get custom water blocks for GPUs as well.
DAZZD88 Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 I was just about to mention AMD's Fusion APUs but @jamesfed beat me to it. Anyhow, if you get the A series(?) you can buy an ATI graphics card and enable crossfire between the APU and the GPU on the card. Even cheap cards gain a massive improvement. Plus the Fusion APUs are quite cheap.
MK-2 Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 Corsair Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU.. | Ebuyer.com - complete kit, with barely any faffing about, reputedly. If you want to properly go down the watercooling route you can get custom water blocks for GPUs as well. don't really want to do watercooling as that will bump the price up even more. i can reuse my psu as that is still decent, but at the moment im looking at cpu+cooler/mobo/case/hdd/mem/vga so dont want to add watercooling to that!
sonofsanta Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 don't really want to do watercooling as that will bump the price up even more. i can reuse my psu as that is still decent, but at the moment im looking at cpu+cooler/mobo/case/hdd/mem/vga so dont want to add watercooling to that! It's only £60 (only, he says) so not that far off some of the decent tower coolers anyway. It doesn't seem to need too much in the way of massive radiators and pipe routing either, as it's a fairly small self contained unit though. I know what feature creep can be like in a PC though, my last build started out as a plan at £500 and ended up about £650
north-ict Posted July 8, 2011 Author Report Posted July 8, 2011 Well I am gonna sit down on the weekend and go through all your suggestions and do some research of my own too and see what i come up with. I dont know this maybe Trivial or a silly idea but it might be cool to have a page dedicated to 3 or four spec custom variants that all of us come up with and have a page on the site. For example EDUECO Range, EDUSCHOOL Range, EDUHOME Range. and basically under each heading have 3 options Light Medium and Heavy usage. Dunno I just woke up sounds good but might be completely silly altogether lol
sonofsanta Posted July 8, 2011 Report Posted July 8, 2011 Well I am gonna sit down on the weekend and go through all your suggestions and do some research of my own too and see what i come up with. I dont know this maybe Trivial or a silly idea but it might be cool to have a page dedicated to 3 or four spec custom variants that all of us come up with and have a page on the site. For example EDUECO Range, EDUSCHOOL Range, EDUHOME Range. and basically under each heading have 3 options Light Medium and Heavy usage. Dunno I just woke up sounds good but might be completely silly altogether lol It's a great idea in theory... but in practice it'd need udpating so frequently it'd become a chore, and there's already plenty of tech sites out there doing the same thing (TechReport, AnandTech, Ars Technica, many others). Most of the time the parts recommended on US websites are available over here as well, except in a few rare examples (usually with cases); the only problem is you'll realise how much higher the cost is over here!
north-ict Posted July 8, 2011 Author Report Posted July 8, 2011 Yeah i was just thinking that when i went over to fix a printer. Too much to update i guess maybe if it was set up so every 3 months or something or half a year a updated version would be shown to kinda filter it out and not overload. But i totally agree with you too much work.
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