Hi guys, After reading many of the threads on here about Sandy Bridge builds, I've decided to take the plunge and do my first "proper" scratch build. I've based it mostly on what is recommended in the Buyers Guide and on what people have suggested for similar builds. I'm aiming to buy from Scan due to free delivery, previous good experiences and I like everything coming all at once I've got a couple of queries and would quite like someone to go over them before I hit the "buy" button. Budget: Around the £800 mark, £850 max. Main uses of intended build: Generally everything, mainly looking at Gaming, Photo-editing and Software Dev. Previous build information (list details of parts): Not much really; HDD, DVD Drive and Monitor(1280 by 1024)(Aiming to upgrade the monitor later this year.) Will you be Overclocking: Yes. The basics of the build I am aiming for is: i5-2500K Asus P8P67 560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr Be Quiet! Dark Rock PRO Fractal R3 There are 3 parts of the build which I'm currently struggling with; Memory, if I remember correctly I'm sure I've read in a couple of threads that with SB, memory timings aren't so important, so am I able to skimp a bit a go for something a bit cheaper memory-wise? And also would it be worth stepping it up to 8gb? I'm currently looking at 4gb. PSU, I know that I'm looking around the 650w mark, I would go with the one recommended by the Buyers Guide but it is currently £90 on Scan as opposed to £70. Therefore I'm currently looking at either this or this. Any recommendations or alternatives? SSD, I would really like a SSD in this build, I'm just not sure which one to go for. I'm looking at a 64GB drive and ideally not over £100 otherwise I start to go over my budget, again I was going to for the SDD recommended by the Buyers Guide(C300) however they appear to have disappeared of the Scan website. I understand that the Crucial M4 is supposed to be replacing the C300, would it be worth while just picking up one of those instead. Or again any recommendations or alternatives? Any advice is welcome, Marc
Photo editing benefits considerably from 8GB of RAM, try http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-...600)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-150v http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w...bronze-85-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-fan Will do fine as a PSU. Are you sure you can afford a SSD on a £800 budget? EDIT: I obviously meant SSD
Also have a look at this PSU http://www.scan.co.uk/products/530w...-sli-crossfire-120mm-fan-dual-rail-atx12v-v23 and the Corsair Builder series. Some people don't give them the credit they deserve. 500Watts id plenty of power really. The Be quite! HSF will be a bit overkill for the 2500K really. Have a look at the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus or the Geild Tranquillo. The ram Ph4ZeD has linked is great ram, the Corsair XMS3 ram is also good stuff I have the 8gh kit and haven't had any problems at all. Something to note with the R3 is that it would benefit with a GFX cooler that exhausts hot air our the back of the case instead of dumping it into the case. Them few changes should get you closer to a SSd anyways.
For a silent PC: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...ddr5-gpu-835mhz-shader-1670mhz-384-cores-hdmi Otherwise I would reccomend: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...50mhz-shader-1700mhz-384-cores-dvi-i-minihdmi That Bequiet PSU should be fine for a GTX560. I would also go for a Gelid Tranquillo if the budget is being a little stretched especially if its because of a SSD.
Actually the fractal isn't too bad when it comes to GPU that exhausts into the case. The only problem is if you run dual cards. I have a GTX 460 SLI configuration and the top card can get hot! However a single card shouldn't present such a big problem. However I would recommend a Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850RPM fan in the rear to take care of exhausting as much hot air as possible!
Cheers for all the help guys, I've dropped the Be Quiet! Cooler and put in a Gelid Tranquillo instead. I've also opted for the 650W XFX PSU as well. Also I changed up the SSD, I've put in 60GB Corsair F60 instead after reading the "Help Me Select An SSD" thread and having a look at the write speeds. I've gone with the 8GB XMS3 in the end also. I'd seen this mentioned before but had forgotten about it! Slightly concerned now, I've posted where I'm currently up to without the 560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr, I've got around £200 to play with. Is it worth looking around at different cards or just do as Blogins suggested and make sure I've got a Gentle Typhoon to get rid of the extra heat in there? +repped
You should be fine with just adding another fan. It's not going to make a huge differance only a small one. You may as well buy the OEM version of the 2500K, it won't have a heatsink but you are getting an after market one anyways If you are buying today Scan have the 2500K and the vengance ram for 227 pounds and for 280 there is a bundle with the Gigabyte UD4, which is a great deal. Have a look at the arctic version of the R3 as well, It really looks well in white. It's kinda hate it or love it though.
Was doing a little research around on PSUs in this budget/size myself, and the Coolermasters here came up with really solid reviews and specs in terms of efficiency, current handling etc. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/700w...us-gold-90-eff-sli-crossfire-eps12v-135mm-fan http://www.scan.co.uk/products/600w...us-gold-90-eff-sli-crossfire-eps12v-135mm-fan Could be an option - anyone tried them?
I have a cooler master silent pro m 850 watt PSU in my build and I never had any problems. Even though the gold series say they have higher efficiency than the silent pro's, I've that they suffer form some voltage stability problems that don't affect the silent pro series
I've got the 600w one. Seems to run a treat. Had no issues and it's pretty quiet too. I've only been running mine for a couple of weeks though, so can't say conclusively.
