Spec me & Hello!

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Hi good people of OcUK,

First post so go easy!

I am going to be building a desktop system in couple of months time. I have got a max budget of £2,500 to play with and I need EVERYTHING!!

This is obviously a lot of money to spend on a computer and some people will fundamentally disagree with me spending this amount but can we just avoid any money wasting/morality debates - I can afford it and want a high-end system that will last a few years (obviously things like the GPU etc. might get upgraded during that time).

Here is what I had in mind:

n.b. I know the GPU market is in silly season at the moment - if the 5870 (or X2 when it arrives) live up to the hype then I will swap the 295 out for one.

basket.png


It'll mainly be used for gaming & video/image editing.

A critique from you learned folk would be most appreciated.

Thanks :)
 
Soldato
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Wait for the DX11 cards to be launched on the 23rd. The 5870 seems to be about as powerful as a GTX295 and is a single GPU - so it will work better in non-Multi-GPU optimised games.

If you are wanting to spend 2.5k on a PC, make sure you get a good screen and speakers. Personally, I recommend this monitor and these speakers (these if you want surround sound, but lower quality).

Also, the RAM is overkill, this stuff is great. As for motherboard, I find this one to be better.

BTW, welcome to the forums - and I hope your build goes well :)
 
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2.5k? You really want to spend that much? You could easily do 1.5k or even 1k and get a PC that you won't really notice a difference between the more expensive one and have 1k left for software, or whatever you want...

I agree that is a bit expensive and you could do it with much more less.
 
Soldato
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2.5k? You really want to spend that much? You could easily do 1.5k or even 1k and get a PC that you won't really notice a difference between the more expensive one and have 1k left for software, or whatever you want...

Usually, i'd agree that 2.5k is too much for a system - but in this case £800 is for peripherals. Admittedly, some seem to be overpriced (especially the mouse), but for a complete system it is not outside the realms of sensibility. For all the other components, they are basically what I would specify to most people (with my suggested changes).

If the OP can afford the price, then there is nothing here that is ridiculously overpriced (though if the OP thinks he can live without an SSD and a blu ray burner for 6 months, he will save a lot of money).
 
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Hi good people of OcUK,

First post so go easy!

I am going to be building a desktop system in couple of months time. I have got a max budget of £2,500 to play with and I need EVERYTHING!!

This is obviously a lot of money to spend on a computer and some people will fundamentally disagree with me spending this amount but can we just avoid any money wasting/morality debates - I can afford it and want a high-end system that will last a few years (obviously things like the GPU etc. might get upgraded during that time).

Here is what I had in mind:

n.b. I know the GPU market is in silly season at the moment - if the 5870 (or X2 when it arrives) live up to the hype then I will swap the 295 out for one.

basket.png


It'll mainly be used for gaming & video/image editing.

A critique from you learned folk would be most appreciated.

Thanks :)

All your money, and I must confess that people spending money is a nice thing indeed.

However I would say thats £2,400 for not a lot.

Nice pc sure, but for £2,400 I really would expect more tbh.

Like I said your cash your decisions, but I would want a pc that would "wow" me for that cash. Also, getting the GTX 295 really is kinda pointless. There is no real game out there that a 4890 can't power through (£130), so spending so much on something that will depreciate faster than a losing lottery ticket.....
 
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Btw, I'd recommend against getting those speakers look up Behringer MS40's, you can have them for a simular price off of dolphinmusic.co.uk - proper studio speakers, probably infinately better than those, espec if you're doing VE, the sound quality would be better.
 
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I'm not going to even pretend to know what I'm taking about here, as this is so far out my league its not funny....but a small suggestion:

I have the Z-10 speakers, and wonderful as they are, they lack the option to add a subwoofer, which they could really do with. And the touch sensitive buttons are a pain in the ass. for the spec you are looking to build I would far recommend a 2.1 system, such as the Z-2300. A little bit more pricey but you get FAR more for your buck.

As for the mouse and keyboard, I cant see past the MX Revolution and Logitech G11 (on special offer this week)

Everything else is far beyond me :)
 
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I'd deffinatley go custom WC for that amount of money, wait for the 5 series and watch prices plummit (hopefully) :)

I can just predict this thread is going to cause a bit of an argument between people about 'more money than sense'. Me personally: If you can afford it then why not!
 
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I'd deffinatley go custom WC for that amount of money, wait for the 5 series and watch prices plummit (hopefully) :)

I can just predict this thread is going to cause a bit of an argument between people about 'more money than sense'. Me personally: If you can afford it then why not!

Tbf, apart from the GFX and mouse, the system isn't that insane, it's just a complete setup. Also, 2xsmaller SSD's and raid0 them, and as mentioned, lesser RAM.
 
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Thanks to those who posted constructive criticism - it is appreciated, thanks. To all the others who said "2.5k!!! Pah, that's too much, I could build one that would perform just as well for a lot less." Don't just say it, where are your specs? I'm open to suggestions.
 
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Here - Add the Behringer MS40's from Dolphimusic - £96, then a headset, £35 (I'd personally go with the Gamecom one)

Note: I added seperate optical drives to save £60, this won't be an issue as they'll be hidden by the purdy door on that sleak Lian Li. Also, I forgot to add graphics card, so add another £130 for 4890, or whatever. :p
 
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Here - Add the Behringer MS40's from Dolphimusic - £96, then a headset, £35 (I'd personally go with the Gamecom one)

Note: I added seperate optical drives to save £60, this won't be an issue as they'll be hidden by the purdy door on that sleak Lian Li. Also, I forgot to add graphics card, so add another £130 for 4890, or whatever. :p

I've got my heart set on the Corsair case - it's getting some great reviews and I really like the design.

Also I want at least 128GB's worth of SSD - not too fussed about RAID'ing, they're quick enough without it surely?

I will defo consider some of your other suggestions though, thanks.
 
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With a 1.5TB SATA 2 HDD I don't see much point getting such a large SSD personally.

I have read somewhere that you should not fill SSDs up completely, and that you should leave approx 20% free for best performance? I obviously want to put my OS and quite a few programs/games on this - I was thinking 128GB would be too small if anything?
 
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I would only put the OS and then programs that take a long time to load from HDD on a SSD personally, might be worth 'auditing' what software you want to put on there and looking at how much space that will occupy followed closely by 'will I notice any speed bonuses' :)
 
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