As it says. My main pc is a 980x, 2 x gtx480, overclocked and watercooled etc so I am not looking to build a powerhouse gaming machine. I need a 2nd machine in the bedroom as my wife gets sick of me yelling at the computer when I am playing Football Manager. Until the weekend I had an i7 920 / 5870 watercooled system as a bedroom pc. This was built in a Coolermaster Cosmos S. Whilst I loved the PC, it was far too big for my bedroom and my wife hated it. I have now sold it to my mate which leaves me looking for a new machine. The problem is I am a disaster at building a budget pc. Every time I look up something, I see something else and think "well it's only £15 more, I might as well go for that". I have tried 2 or 3 times to build myself a budget machine, but I keep ending up building a 2500k sandy bridge system with an EVGA GTX 460sc. This was my last effort at a budget bedroom machine. I already have a Corsair C300 128gig + 500gig Spinpoint F3 that I took out of my old machine before selling it, along with a Dell U2311H. Basically I'm looking for some advice please. I like running multiple leagues etc on Football manager, so I need a cpu with plenty of grunt. I won't be "gaming" on it, so there is no need for a top end graphics card, although it will be used for BBC iPlayer / Sky / YouTube etc. I have no experience with the recent lower end CPU's and as I said, if I don't ask for advice I'll only end up buying a 2500k system and wasting money. Thanks in advance.
How about an AMD system? The Phenom IIx4 955 would be plenty for your needs, and can be had for around £110, and a decent AM3 motherboard is only £75 or so. If you go for one with the SB850 southbridge (most 800 series ones) then the native SATA 6Gbps would be fast enough for the SSD too. Then stick in 4GB of DDR3 for £35 and a basic GPU, and a 450W power supply in your choice of case and you're golden. If anything, a 955 is overkill for football manager... it's fine for Bad Company 2.
Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £139.99 (£116.66) £139.99 (£116.66) Asus GeForce GTX 460 Direct CU TOP 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £109.99 (£91.66) £109.99 (£91.66) Asus P7P55-M P55 Express Chipset (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard £85.99 (£71.66) £85.99 (£71.66) Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33 (£53.61) £64.33 (£53.61) GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) £33.98 (£28.32) £33.98 (£28.32) Sub Total : £361.91 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with: DPD Next Day Parcel (This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00 VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £74.38 Total : £446.29 Reasonably small, fast enough for your needs, lot cheaper than the build you made on Scan?
I'll be honest, I haven't had an AMD system since my Opteron 146. I have no problems with AMD and was overlooking them as they get their arses spanked when up against the Inel CPU's. As you say though, the 955 as a quad core looks a good buy for what I am needing. I shall look further along these lines. The only Intel in the same price range is the i3 560 and this is only dual core. FM likes extra cores, you'd be suprised at how CPU intensive it is; it gives my 980X a good working over. I'll be overclocking the machine too. What CPU coolers work well with AMD? I like the reviews on the Thermaltake Frio, but I've only looked at the intel figures.
Thanks for the effort here. This is where I start spending too much. I like the look of the 2300, but I do love to overclock. As the 2300 isn't unlocked, I'm sort of against buying one. I will though have to compare benchmark scores with the overclocked AMD 955. As I also mentioned, I don't really need anything as powerful as a GTX460, but for the money it's a damn good buy. You did pick the 768MB version and that makes more sense too. I'm not a fan of that coolermaster case. I suppose it's each to their own on this. I am pretty sure that I'll go for the HAF912. I'm not specifically builing this to not spend money, I don't mind a few extra here and there if it's worth it. What I am trying to do, and you are all helping out very kindly too, is not to spend money where I don't have to. I know for what I need, I don't need a 2500k, but I still want a good case etc
Are you sure you want a 912 if your wife doesn't like the cosmos i don't think she will like the 912, I don't think there's really any decent cards below the 460 maybe the 450 but there's such little price difference why bother, a 460 768mb would be great card in my eyes
Its a bit more expensive at 80 quid but have you considered the Fractal R3 it's a fair bit better looking than the haf and it would be quieter http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2010/10/29/fractal-design-define-r3-review/1 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/fractal-design-define-r3-black-pearl-mid-tower-case-w-o-psu
How about something smaller as it's for a bedroom? Just need cooler and fans. If you are really only going to play FM you could go with a even lower power graphics card http://www.scan.co.uk/products/512m...gddr3-gpu-650mhz-80-cores-d-sub-dl-dvi-i-hdmi
Nice case, the only thing I'm not a big fan of is a front door. To be honest, it wasn't the look of the Cosmos S she didn't like, it was the fact that it was huge. Rather than it just fitting in, it took over. I will definately consider this case though. ***edit*** I'm sold on the X4 955. Will be ideal for what I'm looking for. Any ideas on what motherboard will pair up nicely and allow for some overclocking?
Why not build something 1156. Like an i5 760 build or similar? Prices will probably drop soon on them.
might have an issue or two sticking that cpu in that motherboard . need a p67 or h67. for what you're looking for, i think you could go 2300 sandy and an h67 mobo. no need to oc because you wont be doing anything on it that it can't handle as it sits with room to spare. no need for a dedicated gpu because again, doesn't look like it will be running anything it can't handle. not sure how the prices match up, but the 2400 seems to be taking the six core amd's lunch money, so i dont think the quad amd will match up well to the 2300.
Thought about it, but I can't wait for the prices to drop and I doubt they will drop that much. Also, if I went down this route I know I would regret not going for the sandybridge. For the difference in price as it is, there is no reason at all to go for these CPU's. The X4 is £60 cheaper than the 2500k (the only one I would consider) and for what I am wanting from this PC, the X4 will do nicely. I'm looking at the Asus M4A88TD-M EVO/USB3 motherboard @ £78, any thoughts on this one?
I agree, the 2300 is a great CPU and is very tempting. Thing is, the 2400 is only £8 more. The 2500k is then only another £25 on top of that. For such a small difference, I might as well go for the 2500k. As it stands the AMD set up will cost me £112 + £78 = £190 The Intel will cost £178 + £112 = £290 Now whilst I can afford the extra £100, it's money that I don't think I need to spend. As I said in the inital post, I already have a fantastic gaming rig. This is my big problem, I am already thinking, ahh, it's only another £100, go for it.
well, with the amd system you must get a dedicated gpu. few bucks there. dont upsale yourself on the sandybridge, you don't need it. i know its only this then this, but try to utilize some self control lol...it's hard though, i know. the 2300 and the gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3H will run you close to the amd setup with no real need for a deciated gpu...i'm all for supporting the little guy, so if that is what you do, no loss there.
I've almost decided to go for the AMD, the Asus M4A88TD-M EVO/USB3 and a Asus GTX460 768 top - linky All in all £530 (I get free delivery and don't bother with scansure). I wouldn't be able to buy a 2300. I would have to spend the extra and buy a 2500k. That being the case, I'll be spending an extra £100 more than the AMD. I'm going to sleep on it now before ordering. £100 extra for a sandybridge system, damn its tempting!