Build Advice New PC build vs buy, proposed build inside

Hi,

I've built several PC's before and am thinking of doing so again, though time is a bit tight of late so am considering buying one. The lure of expensive electrical lego is of course calling like the wind though.

Building one does give me the opportunity to consider what bits I'd like and I do tend to keep them a while (5 years or so) and upgrade as I go along (CPU, GPU, graphics etc) so I was thinking of something like the one below. My current 775 will still stay around but something shiny sounds nice.

I have a monitor which I may upgrade but not as part of this spend (22in), I have Win7 pro which I bought on one of those pre order offers so no OS required.

Main uses of the PC; regular 'home' use, music, gaming, working from home when I have to (web developer so nothing very heavy).

Total cost currently around the £1k mark. Don't mind running up a little more than that but happy to stay under.

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic, DDR3 PC3-10666
Intel Core i5 750
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 mobo
Titan Fenrir cooler
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 x2
650W Seasonic X-650 PSU
LG DVDRW
Asus HD 5770
Asus Xonar D2 PCI Sound Card
Corsair Obsidian 700D

More than happy to take suggestions on improvement. Case wise I like this and the A71 from Lian Li.

Grateful for any views. I've been contemplating an upgrade for a while, just got the money (work bonus) to enable it.

Apologies I missed the how to post a thread thread so revised it as follows

Budget: £1,000 (+-£200)


Main uses of intended build: General PC use, music, gaming, working from home when required (web development)


Parts required: All but OS / monitor


Previous build information (list details of parts): 775 core duo

Monitor resolution: 1680x1050


Storage requirements: 2 1TB drives min


will you be overclocking: yes/no (delete as required): gently yes


Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers): No SLI / crossfire required


Extra information about desired system: Aesthetically pleasing case I can live with for a few years required

Proposed components:

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic, DDR3 PC3-10666
Intel Core i5 750
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 mobo
Titan Fenrir cooler
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 x2
650W Seasonic X-650 PSU
LG DVDRW
Asus HD 5770
Asus Xonar D2 PCI Sound Card
Corsair Obsidian 700D

 

to be honest mate you made some good choices.

only thing i can think of is grab some 1600mhz RAM as it not much more expensive over 1333 at the moment maybe £10 or so.

who you thinking of buying it from ? supplier prices can vary and it may save you up to £50 shopping around. i usually find scan.co.uk or ebuyer.com the cheapest

 

There are some good 920 / x58 bundles on sale / offer presently .. might be worth a look at them

 

I would cut the case back because the obsidian is great but really expensive. I would also cut the sound card as on board motherboard sound is good enough for most peoples needs. This would allow for a 5850 GPU or maybe a small SSD boot drive if you don't need the gaming power.

 

+1 - onboard sound is certainly good enough these days and you could always buy a sound card later on and use onboard for nor. Certainly a 5850 would improve gaming experience more than sound card

 

kick the onboard sound

reduce the case to an antec 900 or even 300 and use the extra money on a better gpu or SSD drive

1k for the spec you listed is high

if i was building it myself id be closer to £700

£209 for a case is overkill are us

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I do want a sound card as I run all my music via the PC and can hear the difference so I think its a worthwhile investment. I could move the one out of my old PC or just use that to drive the music though so it is food for thought in terms of moving the cash somewhere else.

Supplier wise I shall probably run with Scan as have mostly used them in the past and have never had an issue.

I'll certainly consider toning down the case but as I will keep it for some time and in all likelihood it'll house a couple of versions I do want something that is decent to look at even if its a bit of an investment. I wouldn't want one of the Antecs as we have pets so I'd fear the dust but I'd certainly look at perhaps going down to a Lian Li (have one at present) or a Lancool etc.

I was looking at an SSD but am wondering whether its mature enough to bother with as I know there have been issues with them and whether it makes any real difference in a tangible way? Anyone have any views on that..a few seconds on boot time is good but I can always have a coffee or something anyway while waiting!

Thanks for the idea on the RAM I shall definitely get some quicker stuff and hadn't realised the price differential was so small.

On an I7 would the difference in price be worth the difference in real world performance? I do do a few things in Photoshop but I don't use Maya or Max at home any more where I guess I might have seen a difference. Is an I5 a compromise or a rational choice at this point?

Thanks for the suggestions and hope you don't mind the additional questions.

 

SSDs are getting better but you would need to get one with trim tbh, im sure the guys here will point some out for you as i cant remember them all right now

 

Thanks.

I've done a bit of reading and think I'll leave an SSD and contemplate a bit more on the graphics instead. Plenty of time to get an SSD when they bed in a bit more.

Leaving the question of an I5 vs I7..is the I7 worth the upgrade if the socket isn't going to be long lasting (so it would in effect last longer)?

 

To be honest, I bought a Core i7 before the Core i5s came out, and I reckon I would have bought a Core i5 if I had waited.

The performance difference isn't something you are going to notice if you are using it for those things mentioned above. The triple channel memory is something that is over hyped most the time and if you're using 4 gigs of ram you wouldn't be taking advantage of that anyway.

Core i5 is definitely a good choice and I can't see you specifically running into any issues where having a Core-i7 would make a practical difference.

As for the case, I know that some people will say that the Obsidian is quite expensive and not worth it but in the end it comes down to personal preference, especially when considering its a choice in aesthetics.

You're going to have this case outside and if you aren't happy with what it looks like, part of you will have died inside even though you know that the components inside are awesome.

Not buying a case that you like simply because the list of features didn't validate the price, will make you regret buying the ugly case that with that 1°C lower temp.

If you like the look of it, and can accommodate it into your budget then go for it.

As for the rest of your choices...they are all pretty much top notch.

Although I did recently contemplate the usefulness of my CD drive and whether I should just have it as an external so that I can use my front bays for something else...

 

Thanks for that..it is really helpful! I think the I5 is the one to go for. Sounds like a good balance of bang and buck.

I feel exactly like that about having a case I like, I'd be happy to find a bit more money for a good one as its the only bit I will get to stare at when the lovely thing is in my hands. It is the only bit of the build where aesthetics really matter to me (not really going to go for coloured lights and windows etc).

I guess the only thing left to wonder is whether its worth going for 6GB RAM and running 64bit Win7.

 

64 bit win7 is surely something you should do (not consider, but do). 4GB is good. you won't really notice if it's more (except if you're working with very big photoshop files). But on the other hand, you shouldn't go much lower neither. I5 and 1600mhz are the way to go.

About the sound card: the onboard IS good. So i suggest first trying without a soundcard, and buy one if you really notice it.

And the case: get the one you (really) like, even if it costs a little bit more. otherwise it will hurt, deep in your heart, every time you see it and think about how you should rather have had the other one...

 

sound card are a personal prefance.personally i think onboard sounds crap compared to a good sound card. I would deffintally cut back on the case though something arround 100 pounds or so

 

I was wondering about 64 bit, thinking it was the way to go and I haven't see issues reported with drivers etc so will install it and see (I can always format if it doesn't work out). Thanks for the tip on that. Has anyone had issues with peripherals, external HDDs etc with it..I have a couple of externals to use.

I think I shall move my old soundcard and save on a new one, best of both worlds there.

On the case it is quite a divider opinion wise and I think am going to let my heart lead me on the case and head lead on what's in it..at least that way the insides will be optimal!

Memory wise looking at

Corsair XMS3 Classic DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600)

and

Corsair Dominator DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600)

They have the same timings and are the same price albeit a few pence..is the only difference in them the heatsinks?

 

I suoppose you do have to look at you case every day, and you dont want to be think i should of went for the other case

 

External HDDs are all plug and play, you won't have a problem. There was a nightmare in the early days of Vista, but nowadays most things support Windows 7.

Yes, if you feel you need a sound card then that's probably the best route.

Make sure your case can handle the heat output of what's inside - Custom PC did some tests last year to see if cases can handle highly overclocked hardware in the middle of summer - the majority could not. Make sure the case has at least good airflow.

Pretty much just the heatsinks. Personally, I'd get the dominators, but that's just me

 

Thanks for the information on the plug and play, handy. I don't have many other older peripherals and any issues with cameras (the only other thing I connect really) I can resolve with a card reader I guess.

The heatsinks do look cooler so as its not difference I'll go for those if they have the stock!

You're right on the airflow point, I'll make sure I read the reviews carefully..I think the 800D and the 700D have pretty good airflow, though I did see some recommendations to add extra fans so I might put a couple of extras there. The Sharkoons seemed to get good reviews in custom PC..anyone prefer other models? Don't need lights.

 

Just a couple of points I'm suprised people have missed out on.

First is go to Aria.co.uk as they have the lowest prices on i5 and i7's in the country (i7 for £175!!), and motherboards, corsair PSU's are on offer. I looked up an i7 build on there for £700 (ish). Service is good.

Second look at the Coolermaster ATCS 840. I love this case. Cools 95% as well as my HAF 932, looks amazing, build qulity is top notch. I've used one before and it's a pleasure to work with. Plenty of dust filters.

as for fans, I'd go for Gentle Typhoons on a fan controller, as they're regarded to be the best on the market currently (I own 3 and they are great).

Corsair Dominator RAM is designed specifically for overclocking, so if your not interested in heavy overclocks I'd say go for the XMS3's. There are many other RAM manufacturers though, just Scan only stocks Corsair, I personally prefer the OCZ Reapers.

 

Thanks that's a useful tip on the case, but the review here

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2008/10/31/cooler-master-atcs-840-classic-review/1

indicates it doesn't have top dust filters. As we have pets I'd like dust filters on all the fans really (I've had a bad experience with non filtered cases), though being on the exhaust it does probably matter a bit less.

I'll be lightly over clocking (not busting anything out of the park but I don't mind a few extra hz) but if either would do that that it can depend on what's available.

I'll have a look at Aria, thanks for the link there.

Thanks for the fan advice, great.

Is a fan controller really needed? Just wondering whether I would really use one.

 

It has quite a tight weave mesh on the top, so nothing will float in

You may not need one, but it's the best way to get usable quiet fans. Maybe get the fans then get a controller if you feel you need to tame them? The 1850RPM ones are still very quiet