Hey, well the summer's looming and thought I'd get building that PC I initially planned after SB came out, here's my proposed build Monitor: U2311H Purpose: Gaming Budget: £750 Could someone also link to a good site for first time building? I also have another query, I'm currently in Year 12 and will be applying to top universities next year, and although new technology is always on the horizon, is it better to just get the system built now or wait until I finish with A-levels and get to university? The troubling this is though I spend almost all my waking home hours on the computer (which is an Inspiron 530 - aka VERY out-dated and not fit for its purpose anymore), and gaming has been something that has been enjoyable and a break from studying which has motivated me to use my time better, but for the last 2 years I haven't had a chance to play games properly and academics have slightly fallen because I waste my time away instead of managing between studies and gaming efficiently, so that's a reason why I'd like to get the system over with now (which I can then alter at a later stage, and university will be more about experiences and extra-tough studies anyway). You don't have to help me with my last ultimatum, I'm just a worried person who over-thinks everything, even though realising that I'll never really be up to speed with technology since they'll always be out-dated every half year. Anyway, advice on build appreciated!
Looks like a great build, for advice maybe a book is a good way to go... http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0XG58RN9ZVK3ZMYV54KH For alterations maybe consider these... CPU COOLER: Antec KUHLER H2O 620 CPU Liquid Cooler MOTHERBOARD: MSI P67A-GD53 (B3) Also Novatech currently have 8GB of DDR3 going for £61.98 which is a bargain, might be an idea to buy now... http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/E3/E3P-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9.html Use the code FREEDEL11 for free delivery, you can also get QuidCo cashback making it even cheaper. I'd be tempted to go for a GTX 570, currently SCAN have an MSI variant for less than £235. A few case fans would be good as well, Silverstone Air Penetrator for the bottom intake would be nice with a GTX 570. An SSD is also a nice upgrade for use as a boot drive, Crucial M4 64GB an excellent choice.
looks like a very solid build but change your motherboard to a MSI GD-53 (B3) http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-...-ddr3-2133-sata-6gb-s-sata-raid-atx-sli-xfire and get a more update thermal paste like MX-3 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/arctic-cooling-4g-mx-3-high-performance-thermal-compound as for your cooler it is good but I would go for the sythe mugen 2 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/scyt...1156-1155-and-amd-754-939-940-am2-am2plus-am3 I don't like those closed loop coolers and aria are doing a even better ram deal mushkin 8gb DDR3 1600mhz £55 http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials...2x4GB)+DDR3+1333MHz+9-9-9-24+?productId=41882
Nice build. I'd pay a little more for a 2TB drive; Scan TodayOnly has 1TB £39 and 2TB £52, both Samsung. Upgrading is always a hassle and more space is always useful.
I would reccomend MX2 over Arctic Silver 5 and then +1 to Blogins suggestions of the KUHLER H2O 620 and a MSI P67A-GD53
Unless you have another reason to not buy now, then buy now! As you say there is always gonna be new stuff on the horizon, you just have to bite the bullet sometime. As for a guide, http://www.pcityourself.com/ is great. They have neat little animations Also, please read the manual for the motherboard. The rest is pretty straight forward but there is generally a image of the mobo showing you where all the front panel headers and things. As for your build, its a nice build. I personally would make a couple of amendments, but it depends whether budget allows. +1 For the MX-3 or similar. The Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro comes highly recommended for SB.
The Samsung F4 2TB is £49.98 @ Ebuyer at the moment: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/237908. There is a free delivery option as well.
I need to read more and why don't you like MX-3? I use it I get great temps, it is a little annoying to apply but you get over that when you look at your temps
Only use that as a data drive or secondary drive because it runs at 5400RPM which would make it slower than the F3.
Thanks for the replies, a lot of people suggesting larger and better with 8GB RAM, 2TB and GTX 570, does the card warrant about £55 extra? I do plan to play to the highest detail, but given that I've got a collection of games to catch-up on, I'd figure it's something I'd update every 2 years or so anyway. Though I see no real use as to how 8GB RAM and 2TB, as nice as they are, would benefit me since I've been told the models that I've chosen are particularly good anyhow. Also, some people suggesting getting the MSI GD53 MOBO over the Gigabyte UD3P which may save me £20, I guess I'll take that into count! Someone had also mentioned SSDs, I'm not familiar with those besides booting up faster, which I don't have a genuine need for if that's the case since I only boot up 1-2 a day and leave the computer and, and usually do something else while it loads (like organise the desk). Someone care to enlighten me if SSD's are REALLY beneficial, when I am not going to run anything heavy besides gaming, or bother about boot speed. Also, there's so much confusion generated with which thermal compound to get, I thought the one I chosen was recommended (and is slightly more expensive, but face value isn't everything I know that). Would help if someone could clear the confusion about thermal compounds.
SSD is great, everything opens in an instant! Barely notice The Witcher 2 mid-level loads AS5 works great and is easy to manage. Buy the MSI P67A-GD53 (B3) then upgrade to the MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB. Worth the extra £40 budgeted for this build in my opinion. Also remember lots of the stuff you listed is discounted under the 'Today Only' tab on SCAN. You may well save enough to bring it under budget anyway!
Which SSD would you recommend that's around £80 or less? And would you say, given the choice go for GTX 570 (over the 560 Ti) or an SSD (that's maybe 60GB?) Also speaking of SSDs (I have little idea from just reading about it, maybe a link to an article somewhere might help), what do you put on there besides OS? Do you put the software/games you want to play, then move it over to the HDD if you may want to revisit the game at a later date?
If only you asked me a few days ago! I got a Crucial M4 64GB from Pixmania for less than £78 on a special they had going Wednesday. All installed and working perfectly after taking delivery today. Cheapest at the time of writing and most reliable retailer is Amazon for £86.99. Personally I would go for the SSD upgrade over graphics asked the question to choose between either. It's like turning on a fresh install of Windows every single day of use but better because it's even faster and more responsive than that! Graphics will likely follow in a future upgrade, getting your operating system drive established is a priority with a new build and only more fuss should it follow sometime down the line! Not much needs doing as Windows 7 optimises the drive for you pretty much. All I decided to do was disable the Recycle Bin to reclaim space and disable Drive Indexing! Also had a problem with Intel Drivers but that was a completely separate issue and not the fault of the SSD itself.
I'd take the SSD over the better graphics card too - it makes a huge difference to everyday usage. If your planning to apply to top universities, your not going to have much time for gaming anymore. I built myself a nice (at the time) £1k rig to take to uni (in sig), and then all but gave up gaming the moment my course started. Its now nearly 2 years old, and thanks in a large part to the SSD, I'm not feeling the need to upgrade at all, as its still pretty snappy, and is more than powerful/fast enough for general use, course stuff and occasional gaming.
A 64GB Crucial M4 often drops down to £85 on Today Only. As for a Graphics card upgrade, a HD6970 for £245 or a GTX570 for £235 would be £60-£70 extra. I would suggest getting an SSD, as the GTX560 will not stumble on many games, at least for a year or two.
