Hey all, I realise I have an old post on here asking for build advice, but money got tight and it got delayed. Tech has changed a bit, and I know little about the more specific things so was hoping people could help out? I have roughly £1k, and don't need speakers/monitors and I can push this a bit to get the best bang for buck. Details: Budget: £1k-1.2k Main uses of intended build: BF3/Gaming Parts required: All except Monitor, Speakers, Mouse, Keyboard and Sata Discs (would like an SSD for OS) Previous build information (list details of parts): Nothing re-usable except the DVD drive Monitor resolution: 1680x1050 but would like to go to 1080i Storage requirements: I have 2x1TB disc, which one will be going into a media server and one for this build. Will you be overclocking: would like the option Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers): Would appreciate e-Sata but not a hard requirement if this means sacrificing something else. Extra information about desired system: I would consider adding a decent sound card sometime down the line. Am looking to order this within the next 2 weeks (basically as soon as I get a solid parts list together). Thanks everyone for any advice they can offer. - Tibs
Easy build with that budget. Base system comes in under £1k, allowing you to go straight for the sound card, or bump it up to a GTX 580. I'm running basically the same thing, and I'm running BF3 on Ultra at 1920x1200. Board is SLI/Crossfire, has eSATA and USB3, and OC's like a champ. Put it all in my favourite case and job done. EDIT: Just for info, you want a reference cooler GPU for the FT03, you don't want it dumping heat inside the case in the fashion of most customer coolers (ie: FROZR). Then again, I find that to be generally true for a lot of builds.
something along the above lines is what you would be after. however if you wanted to future proof it, and your budget allows it you may as well go with a 2600k. i dont see why you wouldnt. you never know what the coming years have in store for gaming. id also make sure to get a higher psu than 650w. id recommend an 850w for a gtx 580, and a 1000w for sli 580's inb4 you dont need that much well a)as i have read numerous times in bit tech articles, psus are most efficient at like half load or something so theres no need to go right on the tip of not enough power b)future proof for multi gpu and any other addons for ssd am i right in thinking vertex 3 is still better than m4. have there issues been resolved by updates yet? if not just go with an m4. make sure to get bigger than 64gb though if you are putting programs+os on. i have run out of space with only like 7 programs on it.
I thought it was more like 75% load, but can't be sure. I'm sure a 650W would be plenty for a 570 and probably a 580. I reckon 1KW PSUs are only really required for the big stuff like Tri-sli, or Quad. My 64GB partition is nearly full with just windows on it,
I wouldn't recommend a Fortress case or Gene-Z motherboard as the OP indicated a desire for dedicated audio sometime down the road. That case and that motherboard is far from ideal in the dedicated sound stakes! Really you need a motherboard that has a single x1 PCi-express lane above the graphics card slot. I have an ASUS P8P67 Deluxe and it works beautifully. It has lots of ports to boot including eSATA on the backplate. Mines pretty decked out at the moment with four SSD and two HDD, the other two internal sata ports are accounted for with a Blu-ray drive and front panel external sata. All housed in a Fractal R3 which is a dead easy case to build in and offers excellent quality for the asking price.
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=219996 You want post 10 for the actual final build. Just take of the bit you don't need and you'll have money left to add lg 23"
Total waste of cash - the 2600K offers HyperThreading, nothing else. If you're looking at a CPU upgrade down the road, drop in an IvyBridge CPU sometime in 2012 - and you won't have wasted £80+ on a 2600K either. 850W is ridiculous for a single GTX 580. I'm using the exact PSU I recommended and an EVGA GTX 580 and it works perfectly, even at 100% load on the entire system. Yes, if you're thinking of possible future SLI then you'll need more than 650W, but I doubt many people will end up with dual 580s... Secondly, I recommended a GTX 570 to meet the £1k budget, which will draw even less power. Thirdly, Tibby is currently on 1680x1050 with a possible upgrade to 1920x1080 - SLI is overkill and totally unnecessary. Tibby already indicated he'll be using a mechanical HD as well as an SSD. 64GB is fine for OS + BF3 install. Why ever not? The FT03 will fit a single-slot dedicated sound card in next to the GPU, and the Gene-Z has another PCIe slot for exactly that reason (or SLI/Crossfire). If the end user isn't going to be stacking out the system with multi-GPUs, then there's no need for a full ATX board and case.
I've diced with an audio card below the GPU before and it obstructs airflow to the detriment of its cooling capability. Also the FT03 is an enthusiasts, enthusiast case, it requires a degree of skill in the cable management and is fiddly in comparison to a full ATX case. Since the OP has not stated a need or want for Micro-ATX I'm not sure why recommendations are being pushed in that direction. Standard ATX offers more ports internal and external which is what I gather the OP is interested in. Just my 2 pence!
why would not many people end up with dual 580's. and did you even acknowledge what i said about psu efficiency. why would you even want to be close to the limit. and it may be 'working' but how the hell do you know if its working 'perfectly'. Facts are facts and chances are youd get better performance if you had a bigger psu. yes, 2 gtx 580 for 1980x1050 is unecessary. But are you really REALLY saying 850w is over the top. just no. simply, no. why would you get an ssd for an os and 1 game. no. and a gtx 570 imo will not be adequate for 1080p on ultra settings
also just thought id add in here. people with 2500k's are always the ones recommending them and get mad when anyone suggests a 2600k. just an observation ive encountered many times. cei umad i primarily game but when i do render and encode i do it faster than you? pfft
Why? Because they cost £350+ a pop, so a pair will be running to over £700, which is huge chunk of Tibby's £1k budget. Look at people's signatures on this board - not that many have SLI'd 580s. PSU efficiency is one reason you buy a quality PSU, such as the Antec, rather than a cheap one. This means you can run it at a higher load without penalty - you won't magically "gain performance" from having a bigger PSU. 850W is over the top for a single GPU set up, end of. SSD for OS is quite normal. Until you can get 500GB SSDs for a decent price, I can't see people installing their Steam libraries on an SSD - until then, a small one for the OS is fine. A GTX 570 will run BF3 on Ultra, just without maxed AA settings - it's Tibby's choice whether he wants to go all out or not. People recommend 2500Ks because for gaming they are just as competent as a 2600K. They over clock to the same level, and as games ignore HyperThreading there is no point buying a 2600K. Since the OP is asking about gaming, then it's a waste of £80+. I couldn't give a hoot about you encoding faster - actually, I bet my dual-Xeon workstation does it faster anyway.
Why not spec in 2 of those M4s in RAID 0. will give you double the capacity and double the speed. WIN WIN Or 2 of these for the much better write speeds. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/60gb...e-sf-2200-read-525mb-s-write-490mb-s-80k-iops
im quite aware of this. but who literally 100% of the time JUST games on their computer. not many people. it probably does and im sure you paid a considerably amount of money for it.
I only play games on my PC, and for £80+, I doubt enough people care about a few seconds longer wait whilst they rip the odd DVD.
I don't think anyone is going to take you seriously after this. How would putting in a bigger PSU make the performance better? I bet if Cei put a power monitor on the PC, it won't be anywhere near as much as you seem to think it is.
yeah i knew that came out wrong but no one picked me up on it. i dont really know what i was trying to get at tbh. perhaps more efficient. i take that back
Just clear up the graphics card questions. Ive just built a rig for my best mate. I can confirm that his msi gtx570 plays bf3 on ultra at 1080 like an absolute dream Its runs smoooooooth as butter hope thats helpful. if its of any interest (probably not)............ He got the 2600k and its run at stock as he doesnt overclock. I tried to save him money by recommending the i5, because he only uses his pc for gaming, but he was set on the i7 because its the "top chip" and he wont be upgrading for a long time to come. Even though the i7 will not give him any additional performance!! In fact in bf3 its been proven to provide some stuttering with ht enabled.
thats why i got my 2600k. i do a mix of things on my pc, but moreover i wont be upgrading for a while. so i wanted the best one to last me through thick and thin ofc without getting an extreme.
