Hi all, first post here , i'm looking for some advice on building a new system! I built my current system about 3 years ago, it's nothing sparkling and was my first attempt but it's worked well. The drivers for my 2 graphics cards are conflicting and now I want to connect my 32" tv as a 4th monitor it means I need to change one of the cards but i'm short of a PCI-e slot so i've decided to build a new one and sell off any existing parts to help fund it! I'm not a gamer and i'm not bothered about overclocking, but that's mainly because I know nothing about it but if it's something I should do then I will learn! I will use it for many hours a day for general internet, music, photo editing (often very big files), website construction etc, and I generally have lots of apps open at the same time! Budget wise i'm not really sure but I will say £500 (can be flexible as I might have to buy the parts over time) for a starting point but that doesn't need to include keyboard, speakers, monitors, and anything from my current system that is useable. My current system specs are: Core 2 Duo 6400@2.13Ghz Akasa heatsink & fan Gigabyte GA-945P-S3 skt775 mobo 4GB DDR2 PC2-5300 667mhz Ram MSI Nvidia Geforce NX7600GT 256MB PCI-E Dual DVI Nvidia Geforce 5200 256MB PCI Win Power 650W psu Maxtor 160GB SATA2 7200rpm internal HDD Seagate 320GB USB external HDD Pioneer 16x +/- Dual Layer DVD Rewriter ide AOpen 16x Dual Layer DVD Rewriter ide 2 x 19" lcd Monitors 1 x 17" lcd Monitor Aurora E-Box case (nasty I know but all I could afford at the time) SCSI Card JBL Creature Multiple case fans Windows XP I'm open to your suggestions for all components as i'm completely behind the times, but I do need 2 x GPU's with twin DVI out's ( can be another Nvidia 7 series to go with the one above or a pair of new ones!) and the SCSI card has to stay as it powers a large Linotype transparency scanner! Any help would be great thanks!!
Hmmmm after having a read it seems clear my starting budget is low, so I shall ammend that to a starting budget of £650! From other posts it seems my budget should also include Windows7 64bit! am I right in thinking that you only get 1 install from the OS now? as my XP must have been reinstalled more than 20 times for various reasons!
hmm something like this would be ok providing your not after gaming: Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H H55 - £71.08 (ebuyer) intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz - £93.66 Asus 8400GS Silent 512MB - £25.66 and use your 7600 as the other. Coolermaster Elite 330 with 460W coolermaster PSU - £57.99 (good for a budget) Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz - £79.47 Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB - £61.89 (very quick and massive drive) Windows 7 home premium 64-bit OEM - £76.52 (if your a student or know one can get pro for £37) TOTAL= £466.27 + del this will do everything you need. its nothing amazing but it will get the job done. if you want a bit more horse power maybe consider a i5 750 and P55 board instead. ooo - windows OEM will activate on only 1 machine as it tied to the hardware. so you cant install it on another one usually without a call to MS. BUT you can activate it many times on the same machine
Thanks for your reply Adam, I hadn't even considered the i3 to be honest, I had only really looked at the i7 or maybe the i5! Will the i3 cope with huge file editing in PS along side multiple applications open? I do indeed know a student
hmmm if PS is your thing then id go i5 750 as it will give you a bit more grunt if you deal with massive files and all the fancy features to boot. Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz - £157.98 Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 - £81.07 plus id get an aftermarket cooler like the Titan fenrir to boost that low 2.66 upto around 3.6Ghz+ for good measure.
Cool, many thanks Adam, yep the titan seems to be the cooler of choice around here and not too expensive so I think that's a must! Would I be better going for a pair of identical GPU's or doesn't it matter? i'm not sure how the 76oo stacks up these days, when I bought it, it cost a fortune (or so I thought then) although I think I was also swayed by it's looks lol! whereas now I just want it to be right and to work!
with XP you needed the same GPU chip i.e. nvidia, Ati, or intel with 7 you can mix and match the 3 as long you install the correct drivers for each card. you will be ok with a 7600 and 8400 together no problem oo crap did you say it had to have 2xDVI output ? as the 8400GS is 1xDVI 1xVGA they arent great cards for gaming nowadays but for just displaying screens there more than enough
Aha excellent, no more of my current driver conflicts Yep the 7600 has twin DVI that currently run my matched 19" panels, but I can cope with 1 x DVI and 1 x VGA on the second card as that will run the 3rd monitor as it currently does and will also run the 32" 1080 tv! I know a lot of people seem to dislike the Gig mobos, and while I know nothing is futurproof, will the Gig mobo and i5 be good for a good while would you think? as I don't want to have to upgrade as soon as i've built it!
The Gigabyte motherboard is absolutely fine, but it is a bit budget. Without further alterations, you could upgrade to the UD3 or the UD3R, which incorporate the bleeding edge in terms of chipsets - SATA 6Gb/bs and USB3. That's as future-proof as motherboards get at the moment. 1156 is Intel's newest socket, Lynnfield it's second-newest desktop CPU family (after i3 - Clarkdale) and P55 the second-newest desktop chipset (after H55 - Clarkdale). So i5 is pretty much as future-proof as Intel CPUs get at the moment. Personally, I would upgrade to the UD3 for a much simpler reason - being ATX (rather than the UD2's mATX) it means you can buy nonstandard height memory - i.e., stuff with tall heatspreaders - without it conflicting with the Fenrir. That said, unless you are planning an SSD and external items that will use USB3, you don't need either of those things. They'll be about £20 and £35 more than the UD2, respectively, so it's up to you. Otherwise, adam_bagpuss' build looks extremely solid (though check what he says about the 8400 - I'm not sure about that one.
Thanks for your reply Puresilver! Yeah I have tended to do a lot of "Budget" purchases previously so i'd rather not do that this time, even if it means spending more and waiting a little longer to get them,having said that it's my birthday tomorrow so if people are really kind to me I might even manage to place some orders tomorrow!!! Plus by the looks of it I will not be using anything from my old system really so that will make a few quid on ebay! So I am looking at : Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz Titan fenrir UD3 mobo (which model number is that exactly please?) Coolermaster Elite 330 with 460W coolermaster PSU Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Windows 7 home premium 64-bit OEM + 2 x GPU ( any suggestions?) 2 x Internal dvd/rw and you would agree that will cope with multiple applications over 4 monitors inc working in PS on 800mb+ files?
hmmm i've just looked at the Coolermaster Elite 330 and i'm not keen, would like a nice looking case this time so any other suggestions would be great
If you're going to change the case, you'll need a new PSU as well because that slightly iffy one was part of the deal. Frankly, I think you'll be well shot of it, so it's no loss. I'll take most of adam_bagpuss' suggestions and incorporate; CPU: Intel Core i5 750 £160 CPU Cooler: Titan Fenrir £32 - Also consider the Gelid Tranquillo (£24) which is cheaper and a bit quieter at all but maximum heat input. TIM: Supplied with both the Fenrir and the Tranquillo, though there isn't very much with either, apparently. If you like, pick up a tube of Arctic Silver 5 (£6) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 (SATA 6Gb/s + USB 3) £109 - That's pretty much future-proofed; there is also the £10 cheaper GA-P55-UD3 (£99) which lacks both cutting-edge technologies. RAM: Geil Value 4GB 1600Mhz DDR3 CL9 £85 - You can save yourself a miserable £3 and downgrade to 1333Mhz, but frankly, better to stick with the faster stuff for overclocking. HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB £61 GPU: nVIDIA 7600GT - You already own this. GPU: Some alternative low-cost 'card with 2xDVI ports. No suggestions yet, sorry. PSU: Corsair HX450W £58 - A vastly superior quality modular PSU. Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE £15 - Obviously all CD/DVD-RWs are essentially all the same, so any will do. You don't need two, I don't think - any particular reason to specify them? OS: Windows 7 x64 - Student supplied Total: £520 w/ Fenrir, 1600Mhz RAM, GA-P55A-UD3, w/o extra TIM + shipping Chassis: (Suggestions) Antec Three Hundred £41 - Not particularly pretty, but cheap, highly recommended, and very functional. Lian Li PC-7FNB £85 - All-aluminium wonder; ultralightweight and superb build quality from the world's premier case builders. Fractal Design R2 £80 - Super-quiet insulated case, also comes in white and black. For all of these cases, you should factor in the additional cost of 2x120mm fans to keep things even colder as most will only supply the bare minimum.
hmmm, for GPU try these: ATI HD 5450 512MB - £35.14 come with DVI, HDMI and VGA as for case what about the antec 300 its a very practical and well built case. guess it depends on what style your looking for. post some links so we can take a look at how good they are for cooling. why the 2xDVD writers ? just need a basic SATA DVD writer to be honest unless your adter lightscribe or some thing ?
Hi, many thanks for putting that together for me, I had a quick look and that mobo is popular, most places are out of stock! I honestly didn't realise there were so many cases now, it wasn't like that when I was a lad lol , of course all the ones I like are aimed at gamers and are wayyyy too much money! This what I have been sitting here looking at for the past few years http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....29677&_sacat=See-All-Categories&_fvi=1&_rdc=1 and it really is time for a change so lots of thought to be put into it! Do you have any idea where the best place for Win7pro for a student would be?
hmmm good question Adam, "why 2 x DVD" I suppose it's just habbit, i've always had 2 and in the past have used them quite often for copying cd to cd, but to be honest i'd not thought that i've not done that for a good while and will I need to ? probably not!! so scratch that lol Many thanks for the GPU suggestion i'll have a look!
ewwww that case is minging and it comes with 400W horrid no brand PSU too. im so sorry you have had that for so long. well ms have stopped doing the student deal directly now so you have to get it from a partner like. www.software4students.co.uk god damm prices have been upped another £5 in last week on it.
Lol yep it's evil, the PSU came out as soon as I got it and was upgraded to a 650W but that's still a no make one that cost £22 at the time! but that said it's done fine for 3 years! Many thanks for the link, omg £42 for pro, how cheap, ooh I have to be nice to my neice now !!
