I've previously asked for build advice here and got lots of great advice. Given that was a couple of months ago and things have changed a bit I thought I'd start a new thread rather than bumping the old one. Budget: About £600 including tower and OS. Being a student I can get Windows 7 for a smidge under £40 leaving around £560 for everything else Main uses of intended build: Just gaming initally. I have an aging iMac that I'm currently dual booting which is more than capable of doing my web browsing, word processing etc. so I'll keep that for day to day stuff and the new one can be just for gaming plus storage. Monitor resolution:1920x1080. I'm planning on getting an LG IPS231P to go with this. Will you be overclocking I imagine I will at some point but I doubt I'll be doing anything too extravagant. However having the option so I can extend the period before another upgrade is very attractive. So given all that what I'm currently thinking is the following (prices from Scan): Processor: i5 2500K Retail £163.40 Motherboard: MSI P67A-GD53 £104.00 (OOS) RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600 XMS3 £28.99 PSU: 450W XFX P1-450S-XXB9 Core Edition £37.18 HDD: Samsung F3 1TB £39.56 GPU: XFX HD 6870 BE £129.59 (Today Only) Case: Xigmatek Asguard Black £29.98 Other: DVD drive +wifi card £20.46 Total: 555.96 I have a few worries/problems. The motherboard is out of stock at Scan and I can't see it elsewhere at a similar price. Is there an alternative for similar money or somewhere else stocking it? On a similar note are there any recommedations for where I should get the LG IPS231P? I know LambdaTek have them (EDIT: Actually they're OOS) but I don't know if they're any good or not. I also assume the case could do with an extra fan. Whats a decent, cheap 120mm for it? I'd rather have quiet than performance. My biggest headache however is the graphics card. That 6870 looks like a good deal but I've heard bad things about XFX in regards to returns and the like. A cheap 560 is a possible alternative but the clock speed variation means I'm uncertain as to whether it would be faster than the 6870 and by how much. Thanks for any help given and any abuse that stops me being so indecisive.
Better PSU option http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w-corsair-cmpsu-500cxuk-builder-series-80-eff-120mm-fan-single-rail-atx Bargain GPU option, never heard anything bad about XFX returns and modern hardware is rarely faulty so should be fine. http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/ATI/ATI+6800+Series+/XFX+ATI+Radeon+HD+6870+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+with+FREE+S.T.A.L.K.E.R%3A+Call+of+Pripyat+%26+Shogun+2+Games+?productId=44533&source=googleps There's a reason that motherboard is out of stock. An extra 120mm fan would be advisable. CPU cooler? Gelid Tranquillo for £25 is a good option. Goodbytes can sort out your monitor question.
Thanks for the reply Mucgoo. The XFX 6870 from Scan actually works out a couple of quid cheaper once delivery is taken into account (and is black edition though without the free games) and seemingly is the dual fan version which I've read is quieter so assuming I order it before the offer runs out I'll probably get that. However that one looks like a great option if I dilly and dally like I normally do. I note the card comes with a 5 year warranty so my worries are probably misplaced as you suggest. On the CPU cooler front I thought I'd get away with the one that comes in the retail box as I'm not looking for too much OCing and can always get one later when I fancy giving it a proper go. Is the stock one particularly awful? As for the PSU I was thinking about the Builder Series but the ones on Scan aren't the V2 versions and hence aren't 80plus certified. I went for the XFX as they are Seasonic rebrands so I thought it would be fine though reading Johnny Guru it does seem they have weird issues with the 12v regulation. I'm no PSU guy so how much of an issue is this? I may go with the Corsair instead. Anything better in the 450-500w bracket around £40 I should be looking at? Thanks again for the advice.
