Hey I'm planing a new build as I'm already tired with my old system (4 months old) I have almost decided on the components but I was just going to ask for an opinion. As I'm strapped for cash and don't have a job yet the Budget has to stay around £450 I am planning to upgrade some of the components as the PC ages, such as the Processor. If you recommend any components can you please stick to an Intel processor AMD don't look like good quality atm. The main uses for the system will be Gaming/Folding and that's why I am using Nvidia for the Graphics. I will be overclocking this system. Case: Xclio NightHawk Extreme (I have this case at the moment and it performs well for the price) CPU: G6950 Pentium Dual Core (Apparently overclocks well) Motherboard: Asus P7H55-M (Recommended as the Socket 1156 Overclocking Board) RAM: 4Gb (2x2Gb) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 (1600MHz) GPU: 1Gb Gainward GTS 250 Nvidia DVD Drive: Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE SATA HDD: Already have atm PSU: 750W XFX Black Edition Single Rail Modular (CPC Recommended) Case: £40.36 CPU: £72.49 Motherboard: £65.27 RAM: £76.52 GPU: £88.89 DVD Drive: £13.97 PSU: £100.76 Total: £458.26 Planned Upgrades for the future are i5-750, GTX 460 and purchasing the Gelid Tranquillo CPU cooler. Any reccomendations?
4 months, for real???? What are the specs of your old 4 month rig then?? Cpu, take it youve been reading issue 84 of cpc to say that. Mobo, i'm sure it's pretty good (being an asus), but I thought cpc recommends a gigabyte board. Also why are you going for a h55 over a p55 when you're using a gpu? RAM, Good choice GPU, Please god no, why do you want to buy that? whats youre current gpu? what games you play? rest is okay IMO, but what heatsink you using?? I assume youre overclocking as youre buying the parts as they're good overclockers?
The gpu's a bit weak a waste of money tbh, You should add a bit and get a GTX460. You dont get much for that budget.
At the moment I have: AMD athlon ii x2 240 clocked at 3.6GHz 2x1Gb Cheapo Memory from Hynix (I think) Artic Cooling CPU cooler (Cant remember the model) HD 5750 Graphics but I want to up my PPD as I mainly GPU fold now as its faster and atm i only get 2K PPD Cheapo Brand PSU rated at 650W MSI 770-G45 Mobo and I have the same case as the one I'm gonna get. Actually I first thought of getting that CPU when I read the article online but i also read it yeah. Two words It's cheaper (by about £20 and I'm not going to SLI or CF) And they do but if you look at Page 115 in issue 84 of CPC at the bottom page they recommend it there as the best MATX for 1156 H55 chipset. Is it that bad? I was going to use it mainly for Folding as it gets around 3x as much as my current GPU. I was also going to upgrade to a GTX 460 around Christmas time. Also on your question on Overclocking. On the Stock Heatsink you can still reach aroung 4Ghz Stable. So I was going to Wait and then get a proper Heatsink in the form of the Gelid Tranquillo.
Thanks for the info, Judging from your current rig (although i'm not an amd user/expert) I would have thought if your main concern is folding and gaming then surely just splashing the cash on a 460/470 would be the better option. Dual core is still used by a lot of games, and as you were considering a dual core again i'm assuming you dont play the type of games that really need a quad core? Well a gts 250 is based on a g92 core (if memory serves correctly) so is really not worth the money for gaming but as the recent article shows ati is awful at folding therefore a gts250 is worth it for folding. Might be worth a shout at posting over on the folding forums and see what they reccomend for your gpu, on your budget?
Thanks for the Recommendation but the only way that I can afford the new build is actually by selling my old build so just upgrading the graphics isn't really an option. The only Games that I really play now are MW2, Just Cause 2 and a few other low demanding ones. And what I was planning for the future with my upgrades were to build esentially another rig and just move some components and leave this rig as a pure folding/networking Underclocked Rig. (My parents are very energy concious) (And Skint) Would the GPU be enough for those games though? For the 4 - Month Period before I upgrade? Edit: Just Thought you may want to know that currently my Monitor resolution is 1920x1080
Then I would say that gpu is likely to struggle if you like the pretties on your games. You'd need to dial back a fair bit on settings for most games. It about pasts muster at 1680 on most medium-demanding games. But remember, despite nVidia's "rebranding" you're buying into obselete technology with the 250. Caroline
Hi I understand that the GTS 250 is just a rebranded 9800 which is a rebranded 8800 but I am planning to just use mostly for folding and a few games. I am also planning on upgrading to a GTX 460 1Gb around Xmas time.
Why has no one mentioned that the power supply is a waste of money when you aren't going to be using SLI or CF? Seriously get yourself a lower capacity PSU and put that money towards a better GPU preferrably the GTX 460 of some kind.
The thing is that I am planning on upgrading my hardware in the near future anyway so I would be making an investment in the Power Supply for the next few years. I was also planning on OC'ing the Rig and the Power Supply was found to be 100% stable. If you want could you suggest a new Rig according to your thoughts as that would be helpful.
Just add another 2gb of ram and a 460 and maybe a power supply. You could even drop in a six core cpu in later if your can find a use for it
Yeah thats just madness to suggest that judging by what the OP said earlier and that 6 core is just 1366 so far. You say youre buying this rig by selling your old rig but i dont see how thatll pay for the new one you're suggesting? You must have some extra cash to buy all that hardware?? Why cant you just save and buy a 260? I kind of understand the PSU, youre buying it to last and all, I mean my rig looks up to date but I wont be upgrading for a few years yet by which time it'll be 'out of date'
What I am planning to do is to sell my current rig to a friend and then use my extra money to help me pay for the new rig as shown in the first post. The one with the GTS 250. I would have bought a 260 but the price is actually higher than a 460. Anyway. Because I dont have all of the money that I need for the planned upgrades and I have to sell soon I am going to buy the base machine. When I have the money at christmas time I am going to upgrade some parts (mainly graphics and CPU) and deposit my old parts into storage. Later next year I am going to try and scrape some money together for more upgraded kit. Then I can build 2 PCs. My plan is to sell the weaker PC to my parents and leave it folding 24/7 on the GTS 250 (6.5k PPD sounds pretty sweet). Then I have my powerful PC in my room )for gaming / power tasks / GTX 460 Folding). Over 12k PPD Good plan?
Well, I don't have a son, but if I did and he wanted to make me pay for a PC which he'd then power from my electricty to fold all day, he'd get a slap! If you can wait, the 450s are due out soon (ish) which might provide you with a better option, particularly considering you could SLi them up at a later date. Obviously they've not been released yet but if the lessons they've learned from the 460 are anything to go by they should be good but we'll just have to wait and see.
I might wait but I couldn't bear to be without a computer for too long Also about selling to my parents, I would sell cheap, underclcok CPU to reduce power usage and anyway they actually asked me about getting them a new PC soon as all we have downstairs atm is an 8 year old dell which doesn't even have dedicated graphics or a dual core. So from my point of view they owe me big time for giving them a great rig. And if I didn't sell it I would just keep both in my room drawing all of their power.
I nearly forgot. I was thinking about getting the UD2H as there re 2 PCI 2 x16 slots (reduced speed) as then I can fold with both Graphics cards between the time I upgrade and the time that I get a new PC. I would have to get some RAMsinks though of course to cool the VRMs and MOFSETS. Good idea P.S. sorry for double posting but I didn't really want to write that in a reply to someone else
You seriously need to reconsider that PSU. Yes it's great, but so is the Antec 500W Eathwatts, which is only £57. Hell, the Corsair VX550 is £33 less and they will both easilly cope with that CPU and a GTX 470. EDIT: Just to clarify, PSU Calc suggests 515w PSU for a i3 530 with *two* GTX 470s. There really is no need for that PSU.
Thats a good idea actually but what about an overclocked i5 750 @ 4GHz with a GTX 460 and a GTS 250? Also what about the fact that if I get the higher spec PSU then it will last longer as it is not always stressed. I have just done a PSU calc with my future upgrades (and not even an upgraded GFX card) it reaches 681W at full load (Which due to folding it will easily reach) and I was going to have an extra GPU in this system.