Y2Stu

With my student loan coming in a few weeks (hopefully sooner then later ) I thought to myself I'm going to treat myself to a brand new computer. I don't often upgrade my computer so I tend to buy a new one every so many years.

I have a budget between £1000 and £1200 (Max) I'm going to need the full system as well a monitor as my 19" wide-screen at the moment is dying (ghosting and dead pixels). The only thing I'll be keeping out of my old machine is the 2 IDE hard drives as these will be used for extra storage for my music and pictures etc...

I'm a pretty heavy gamer, with the use of general office applications, web browsing, music playing and image editing.

I logged onto ebuyer.com and with what limited knowledge of what I thought/think is good, I came up with this list.



This is where I need some help, for a guy like myself who is studying IT (well im studying the network side of it ) im pretty far behind on what's new technology and what is good in terms of quality and speed.

Thanks

P.S - I'm from the UK so it would be needed to be from a UK on-line retailer and I don't mind shopping on different websites to order different parts for this computer.

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Zardon

thats actually a decent list of products and quite a few award winners from Driverheaven too in the mix.

Only thing I would look elsewhere for is the processor. the 955 is actually cheaper on other sites than the 945 on ebuyer.

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail

I know its not much, but every little counts, right?

kris23

heres my recommendation

Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 Zalman Cooled 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000528AS)
Prolimatech Megahalems Performance CPU Cooler (Socket 775/1366)
Samsung SH-S223L/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Noctua NF-P12 Vortex-Control 120mm Quiet Case Fan - 3 Pin
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound

Silverstone Raven 2 Case - Ebuyer
Hiper 880W 85% Efficient PSU - Quad SLI Ready, 4x 12V Rails - Ebuyer
BenQ G2220HD 22" TFT Monitor 1920x1080 300cd/m2 40000:1 (dynamic) 5ms 16:9 VGA/DVI Glossy Black - Ebuyer

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Rizen

Alright I don't post much but having a similar system i figured i would add my 2 cents

I have this motherboard trust be you would not be disappointed
Asus Crosshair III Formula

and I Would recomend this for cooling
Corsair H50
Better cooling equals better overclocking be it AMD or Intel (I don't got this but from all the reviews i have read it should out perform any air cooler for not a whole lot of extra cash)

And somebody correct me if i am wrong but i do believe if you don't put equal amounts of ram into each channel of a dual channel mother board it will run as a single channel, which results in a performance hit. so it may be better to go with 4 gigs or 8 gigs of ram rather than 6.

BlueMak

I advise against getting a 1920x1080 monitor. Go for a 16:10 resolution. If you need the 1920, then go for a monitor with 1920x1200 resolution.
If you plan on keeping the same PC for 3 years and you don't need that high resolution, I would consider going for a smaller resolution monitor and save money.
Yes, I know it isn't exactly the most expensive item in your list.
But, seriously, don't get a 16:9 monitor.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Optix

I'd wait a month or two before pulling the trigger on an i5 build if you can. Prices are out of control and should normalize soon. The new stuff is always sold at an inflated price at first.

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isaak

I would definately go with Intel here...the i7 is smashing stuff But the AMD 955 is a similar performance to the i5 750 I believe..so it's really up to you.

I'm waiting for prices to drop on the i7 870

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Cow_160483

You are going to be waiting for along time Isaak for that price to come down and to the OP processor wise go for something tried and tested like Z said in the beginning the 955 Be looks pretty solid

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Decode!
Muhahahahah!

asedsa

I advise to change Maxtor HDD with some WD or Seagate, because my experience with Maxtor hdd's is very bad. (noisy, shortlife, performance...etc).
This is just the advise, nevermind if you think different about maxtor.
Best regards,
asedsa

Y2Stu

Thanks for the quick comments, What are the views on an I5 vs. AMD 955? I put together the I5 components from Kris23 list (cheers mate)



is there anything you would change on that?

P.S - I thank everyone for your comments and taking time out to reply.

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asedsa

Everything seems great and powerful,

good luck !

Takaharu

Apart from trading the thermal paste for Arctic Silver I'd say it's pretty much there.

OldBuzzard

For high resolution/quality gaming, there really isn't going to be any diffeerence between the two. In fact they will perform as well as the i7 965 EE at 1900x1200 and up.

Note the benchmarks in this review of the PhII X4 955
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition review - TechSpot

Now there other applications where the Intel processors are CLEARLY superior, but if you aren't going to be using applications that take advantage of that superiority, and have no clear 'brand preference', then go for price/performance.

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

Zardon

Yeah I would agree with oldbuzzard for games and quite a lot of functionality there is no 'real world' discernable differences between an intel i7 and a high end phenom X4.

I have been actually testing this theory for a few weeks when I get some downtime and game time. I have been using an intel 965EE for months and I deliberately switched over to a phenom II X4 965 black edition at 3.4ghz and I would be hard pressed to tell the difference, even with Quad core intensive games such as Grand Theft Auto 4. This is running at stock clocks.

Obviously when doing benchmarking the differences are clear but the price differences between the CPUs are massive. (obviously you could opt for a 920 and overclock if you so wished). I have to say that im so long in this industry that I am utterly bored of synthetic benchmark results when in fact in real world terms its virtually meaningless.

personally I am a huge fan of the Phenom II black editions and you really can't go wrong with any of the new quad cores.

kris23

yea the AMD camp is excellent... only reason i threw the i5 up was because it was generally cheaper than the AMD alternative that the OP shown (surprisingly). it also has that *tiny* bit of performance advantage and is more efficient per clock and is more power efficient....

both camps produce amazing chips.... i still am in awe at how the AMD Phenom II 550 pretty much took down the E8400 for almost half the price..... they're definitely coming up...

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Y2Stu

I posted the same setup on Neowin forums and one member replied saying i didn't need a huge power supply like i chosen. He recommended a 620w one. Is that enough for a system like the AMD or the i5 (still not chosen yet lol, thinking of going AMD, as my old machine is AMD atm)

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BlueMak

Why would you want to go to a 620W one? Is saving a few pounds really worth the trouble if something goes wrong and ending up, at best, buying another PSU? If you are going to do something, do it right.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

OldBuzzard

Since you are saying 620W, I'm assuming that he was referring to the Corsair 620HX.

If that is the case, he's absolutely right. The 620HX would handle that system with room to spare. It would most likely handle a crossfire setup as well, but that would be pushing it a bit. I have a 620HX and it doesn't hardly break a sweat running my system (see specs).

IF you are thinkng that you might possiblely be upgrading to a Crossfire setup in the future, then the new 750HX would be a better choice.

One thing to remember with Corsair PSUs. They are rated at Max CONTINIOUS output @50C, not max PEAK @ 25C. There is a HUGE difference in those two ratings.

Ask Z about the PSUs he tried for that 'obscene' Skulltrail system he had running, and what finally worked

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

Neshi

What does that exactly mean? I'm (already) looking for setting up a system myself, for study intentions like the OP.
I'm gonna study Architecture, so I would need some performance while keeping price to a minimum.. But as I need it in February, I thought I'd look around in January again to see what new goodies hit the market.. and prices for today's hot stuff should have dropped by then..
But the PSU has always been one of the things I can never understand. What is good, what brand should I take and what to avoid, what wattage do I need... etc. etc. I'm learning a lot from the reviews on here, but I'm still at a loss as everything looks alike, to me.
I don't intend to hijack this thread, but I think this is a question where both the OP and I could benefit in knowing the answer.

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If one does not attach himself to people and desire, never shall his heart be broken. But then, does he ever truly live?

The only guarantee in life is failure, to achieve success you have to take risks.

BlueMak

Well, the PSU (and the monitor, but let's talk about the PSU here) is perhaps the hardware you do not want to buy the cheapest you can. Why? Because the life of the rest of your PC depends on it. Everything in the case is at risk of failing or frying if there is something wrong with the PSU. It's like buying a car and buying seating belts made of toilet paper. It doesn't matter how cool the car looks or what performance it can get, if there is a problem while running, you are dead if you rely on the tp.
For me any PSU that costs less than £80 is just not worth even considering.
As for brands...I never had problem with (expensive) models of Thermaltake, I hear Corsair are good and so are BFG. But it is not my strong point.

Paying less than £1.5 per 10W is a mistake IMO.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Neshi

Well, that I know.
Thermaltake and Corsair are the brands I am considering. I am just not sure of the wattage and build-> (sub-brand, like the Corsair ...HX, or ...TX, or the Thermaltake Toughpower ... for example)

I look here and would buy a Gold or Silver awarded PSU: http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_join.aspx

My question here was in particular about the quote. What does it mean exactly?

And what wattage do you need to buy?
for example. You have a system that would need 400W, are you better of buying one that covers that just, like a 450W PSU. Or do you need to double that number (like mentioned on one of the replies above) and get one of 75o-850W?

Is a Watt-calculator a good source to see what you might need.. or is it not accurate enough?

__________________
If one does not attach himself to people and desire, never shall his heart be broken. But then, does he ever truly live?

The only guarantee in life is failure, to achieve success you have to take risks.

BlueMak

Not accurate enough. But, why would you be worried buying a more powerful PSU to begin with, unless to save a few pounds. It's not like the PSU will consume all the power it can even when it doesn't need it.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

swimtech

I heartily agree with OldBuzzard's point about the design of the PSU - the continuous output at 50C is important because the PSU will be running at 35C or higher at all times other than idle. I'd also agree that a 620 watt is totally sufficient, even for an overclocked system so long as you're using a single GPU - the 750 watt unit would give flexibilty for adding another graphics card with headroom for peace of mind, and quiet operation.

The system you've put together there looks great and would consume about 350 watts or so while gaming at stock clocks would be my guess - just so you have an idea of real world power consumption. PSU's are generally most efficient at 30% load and up, yet remain quiet up to 50-60% load if the cooling system is well designed - a general conclusion drawn from my own experience and from the history of Grace's PSU reviews here.

For gaming, the primary CPU consideration is still clock speed. For that use, the AMD PhenomII X4 965 is an ideal processor for the money, but won't perform as well with regard to media creation and processing as the more flexibly performing Intel i5 or i7 processors - but they cost more for the same clock speed. You know, if you decide a year or two out that you want to do the things that Intel processors excel at, you still can with the AMD and you won't know the difference - it'll still work great from your perspective - and you can save a lot of money initially.

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It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Neshi

thank you. That answered my questions sufficiently, and I hope the OP didn't mind me asking questions here.

You will see one of my 'need opinion on my build' thread in the near future

__________________
If one does not attach himself to people and desire, never shall his heart be broken. But then, does he ever truly live?

The only guarantee in life is failure, to achieve success you have to take risks.

Y2Stu

nah i don't care lol

he never mentioned any brand just said "No need for 880W PSU 620W will be more then enough."

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Neshi

well, like OldBuzzard said, he's right. But you will have to have good quality PSU. have a look at the PSU's reviewed in the review section, there are some good ones.

But stick to the good brands. A no-brand or some other low-quality PSU will cause you more grief than money it saves..

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If one does not attach himself to people and desire, never shall his heart be broken. But then, does he ever truly live?

The only guarantee in life is failure, to achieve success you have to take risks.

OldBuzzard

OK...this may get a bit long

Grace reviewed a "550W" PSU back in January that is a perfect example for us to to use. On the second page she says:

Read more: [COLOR=#f9c200]http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=700&pageid=2#ixzz0QuwfAeO3[/COLOR]

Now, why is this important? Most (if not all) 'calculators' for system power requirements fail to take into account the power draw that is required to START the system. They only calculate what the system needs for operation. When you first start a system it needs a LOT more power than when it's 'up and running'. MOST of this comes from the HDD motors starting. Electric motors require a LOT of power at startup. Once they are up to speed, their power requirement drops.

With a PSU rated at 500/550 like the one above, it's well within the relm of possibility that it would not be able to power a system that is calculated to draw 475W while operating, but needs 575W at startup.

The temperature that the PSU is rated at also comes into play as well. A PSU that can produce 500W at 25C ( a very common rating), will NOT be able to produce 500W at 50C. This is because electronic components become less efficient as they heat up. Here is a page that has graphs for a PSU showing it's output at various temperatures:
http://www.biaspower.com/tools/uploa...BPS%201-DS.pdf
While it's not the same type of PSU that we are using, the same thing happens. As heat goes up, power output goes down.

Couple that with the fact that while the internal case temperature might be 25C or less when the system is powered down, it will soon go well past 25C when it's operating, and the CPU, Vid Card, HDD(s), and such start producing heat. Even my system that has the CPU and GPU watercooled gets well above 25C when it's operating.

So, a PSU that can produce more than the 475W that you may need at 25C, may only produce 450W (and fail) at 40C.

I'll cover AMPS on the +12v rail(s) in another post. Right now, "The War Department", Aka SWMBO, Aka "the WIFE", is telling me that it's time for a trip to the local Gyros emporihum.

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

kris23

generally the 750w PSU is a better value, you only pay a couple more dollars for a good chunk of power in most places

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Y2Stu

any recommended brand of PSU? I've looked in the DH review section and there is quite a few to look at lol

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kris23

Corsair, PC Power and Cooling, and Seasonic are the best main companies

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