Build Advice First time building gaming pc

hi all
Basically i want to make my own gaming pc (someone will make it for me), as mine is over 6 years old (amd athlon(tm) xp 2600+, 1.92 Ghz , 3GB ram DDR PC3200)
but there are soo much to choose from that i need help.
first i was thinking of getting AMD Phenom II X6 1090T as its cheap, than i started to read on this site that for games it would be better to buy Intel cpu rather than amd. than i thought of getting i7 930 but than i found out that i7 870 is better than 930 which has more Mhz or something like that.
anyway this is the template.

Budget: 900-1000 pounds


Main uses of intended build: Gaming


Parts required: i was thinking intel i7 870, about the graphic card gx460 or 70, or anything better than Radeon x1650 . i think 4GB ram will be enough?


Previous build information (list details of parts): its really old i dont think i will use any of it, the only thing that i have upgraded for my GMate GA-7VT600 1394 Motherboard is i put 3gb DDR PC3200 and thats it.


Monitor resolution: Acer - AL1916W TFT LCD Monitor (max res 1440x900)

Storage requirements: decent for games


will you be overclocking: yes/no (delete as required)
i think i might from what i have read in this site. (not sure how tho *yet )


Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers): i would want to get 1 good graphic card for now but i think in the future i will get another one or if it will be enough 2.


Extra information about desired system: i really not spec person i just want to get a decent gaming computer

 

btw is it better to use air or liquid cooling? if so is it big difference in price?
and I was just reading that gtx 460 is much noisier and has much heat but I know they are faster rather than other graphic cards.
or does 5xxx series are much better?

 

First, let's clear up some really obvious things;

1. Your current PC is so elderly that no parts will be carried over with the exception of the monitor.
2. The list of parts I'm providing comes from Bit-Tech's own monthly Buyer's Guide, so have a look at that for more information.
3. Thanks for using the format we asked for!
4. The prices below aren't necessarily the lowest, I just use Scan because I like them, they're easy to search and they offer free shipping to Bit-Techers.

As above, to me £900-1000 is an i7 930-based system; the 930 is more powerful than the 860 and is even easier to overclock should you wish to. However, with gaming as a principal goal, it may be that you should sacrifice some of x58's multitasking power in favour of a cheaper i7 860-based system so you can focus more money on the graphics card(s). However, note that cheap P55 (i7 860) motherboards don't support SLI/X-Fire properly, and you'll have to buy a more expensive one. Either way, you're looking at high-end graphics cards but I'm afraid that we don't rate NVIDIA's Fermi range (with the exception of the GTX460) - they're like Third World dictators; too expensive, too loud, too hot and too power-hungry. The other issue is the rather limited resolution of your current monitor; hugely powerful graphics cards like the 5970 are within your budget but would essentially be wasted on your screen. Seeing as the most relevant graphics card for your resolution is at most a 5870 (or an overclocked GTX460) I've elected to spend the rest of the budget building a generally blisteringly fast machine.

My build would go;

CPU: Intel Core i7 930 £222
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Frio £36
Motherboard: Asus P6X58D-E £149
RAM: Corsair 6GB (3x2GB) 1600Mhz DDR3 C8 £132
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB £45
GPU: XFX ATI Radeon 5870 1GB £290
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W £57
Optical Drive: Sony AD-5240S-0B £15
Chassis: Xigmatek Utgard £66
OS: Windows 7 x64 Professional

Total: £1012

That's a very fast machine, with triple-channel memory, the fastest single-GPU 'card Bit-Tech recommends, and solid components. If your current machine has a good case you could reuse that and save yourself more money to bring it down to about £960; the cooler could also be swapped for the Titan Fenrir (below) to save another £6. Alternatively, you could save a further £128 by opting for the less powerful and less versatile i7 860;

CPU: Intel Core i7 860 £211
CPU Cooler: Titan Fenrir £30
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 £82 - Again, this won't fully support X-Fire or SLI due to lane bandwidth restrictions. If you'd like to future-proof yourself against that, you'll need something like the GA-P55M-UD4, which is an extra £29.
RAM: Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) 1600Mhz DDR3 C8 £88

That would give you a total system cost of £884; you could stick with that or use the extra cash to get a blisteringly fast 64GB 6Gb/s boot-and-games SSD (total cost £1038)

SSD: Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB £114
Interface Card: HighPoint Rocket 620 £40

... or an even more powerful graphics card (total cost £1062)

GPU: XFX ATI Radeon 5970 2GB £468

What are you thinking?

 

im in agreement with silver for most stuff except if you intend to overclock and gaming is all you care about drop the i7860 down to the i5 750 which is much cheaper and will make no difference to gaming at all.

i persoanlly dont recommend SLI/Xfire as its not economical and offers varied boosts to performance. also grabbign a 2nd card later for SLI/Xfire is usually a waste too since a single more powerful GPU would make more sense in the future providing lower power requirements, less heat and most of the time better performance since dual GPU setups are so varied.

with that been the case you can save extra cash and grab a gigabyte P55-UD2 which is a cracking board.

i also wouldnt opt for win 7 pro unless you will be conecting to domains as this is the main advantage of pro. save the cash grab OEM win 7 HP 64-bit

 

+1 rep on that response mate.

I would suggest a Corsair HX650w PSU instead, I trust them more than the OCZ ModXStream Pro models. This however would alter the cost.

Given the resolution games would be played at, wouldn't a GTX460 or ATI5850 be ample and enable the cost to be adjusted?

Also with Adam on the Home Premum vs Pro, I don't see the point of Pro.

 

If i were the op i would consider going for the cheaper 2nd option, and spend the remaining on a nice monitor.


or even more likeley..... I would opt for an i5-760 build, something like the enthusiast build (mid range) and get a really nice monitor, mouse & keyboard to game with.

The i5 is plenty fast enough for most of todays games, and even tomorows!

thats just my opinion though

 

You could well be right on 7 Pro; I got it student-rate and like the XP mode, but I daresay that Home Premium would be just as good for 99% of uses. The advantage of the i7 860 over the i5 is HyperThreading - the problem is that really what OP needs to take advantage of a new build is a new monitor with a much higher resolution. If we drop down to the i7 860 build, and substitute an i5 750/760 for the 860, we would have about £180 to spend on a new monitor, which would be plenty for a 1680x1050 or even 1920x1200/1920x1080 Dell, the former of which the 5870 would definitely be able to handle and the latter it should for most games.

 

agreed

with i5 750 the extra cash would be good for a shiny new high res monitor taking advantage of your new gaming machine rather than it been limited by your low res

 

Sounds like we now need feedback from the OP.

 

There's a vast price gulf between high-end air cooling (~£30-50) and high-end water cooling (>£200). It's also a lot of work and in any case unless you're willing to fit GPU blocks, buy a fanless PSU and run only SSDs something else in the case will make up the noise anyway. There are smaller, cheaper, self-contained watercooling solutions (the Corsair H50-1 and the new H-70 are the best examples) but again they're £50 and ~£70 respectively, and offer only a slightly reduced noise level compared to equivalent air cooling.

The GTX460 isn't quiet, but it's a lot quieter than the 465 and 470. However, it's only really equivalent to the 5830/5850 - above that level, you really should buy ATI's 5**0 offerings. If you're only looking to upgrade your monitor to 1680x1050, an overclocked GTX460 married to an i7 750 is sufficiently cheaper that you could buy the SSD combination we're also recommending too.

 

omg so much feedback on my thread

uhhmm ok. just want to say I will ONLY use it for games nothing else.
I agree if i5 750 is good for gaming and I could overclock it some how to get it much faster it would save a lot of money and I could spend it on good monitor as you guys said (mine is just plain one)
I like the build you made for me silver.
so if we go for i5 750 with good graphic card (I don't think I will use crossfire but is SLI any good?
and I think 4gb of ram is more than enough?
I want to use watercooling because I want to keep my comp very cold and not to overheat.

Just want to add that my max is 1k only can't spend more than that.

Anyway I have to run to work to earn more money for it

Thanks a lot to all of you. Keep coming with ideas

I really just a newb in all the things you guys saying so I will put my trust in you and get what you guys are telling me
Anyway bye have to run to work.

 

Hey guys, I have searched what you guys told me, and I have taken most of it from silver post.

Anyway this is what I come up with:


Tell me what you guys think?

 

looks good but wheres the OS ?

add windows 7 HP 64-bit

you can drop the mobo down to a UD3 which is £10 cheaper and will overclock just as well.

 

But that would be +1k which is too high for me. Is there any way I can take something out and put os in? I found 1 site that sells win 7 home 64 for 80 inc delivery charges. btw is monitor any good???
ty

 

I just remembered that i have win7 from my friend so I don't need that. So if this all good and monitor too and you guys have no other things to include or change then I will be buying it 8)

 

You should grab the i5 760 rather than the 750. The 750 is being phased out - the 760 is very slightly better and a little bit cheaper.

EDIT: Plus the 760 is in stock.

 

You should also try to find a 5870 that's in stock - this one would be fine.

 

get a new monitor and have dual screen - there is no point upgrading so high with that monitor.

that could cut your budget depending on the monitor - the nec ips is a good one or the acer 120htz if 3d or 120htz rock your boat.

go for the gtx 460 over the ati stuff at the moment.

regarding windows 7 cost... lol... I have valid copies but they never verify

 

Hi Roo, you need to check your link, that one is to the i5 760.

 

+1 with roosauce. It's cheaper