Fix my spec :)

Lagz · 25 Aug 2010 at 00:24

I built my last PC around 3 years ago and haven't really looked at components since, so this might be way off (I also put it together fairly quickly). Any recommendations/tips/glaring errors? The machine is primarily for software development, with gaming a secondary consideration. The software I develop is CPU/Memory intensive. Thanks for looking

. I should point out:
- I'm not interested in overclocking it
- I'd like it to run as quietly as possible

Lian Li PC-7FN Case - Black 76.99
Lian Li 5.25" Aluminium DVD/CD Drive Bezel 5.99

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply 64.61
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler 16.99
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard 104.99
Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) 154.99
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 10666C8 (1333MHz) 94.99
Gainward GeForce GT 240 GS 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 79.99

Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache x2 69.98
Sony Optiarc AD-7260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) 15.99

Windows 7 Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit - OEM 113.96

TOTAL : 799.47

Monstermunch · 25 Aug 2010 at 00:45

A little over budget (£850 total) but far superior for your requirements, far superior cpu & triple channel memory, plus a 5750 is far superior to a 240gs:

Lagz · 25 Aug 2010 at 01:28

Thanks for the input. I will take a look at the Ati graphics card. Is there any reason why you changed the DVD drive (obviously not exactly the most important component, but I thought I would ask)?

I'm not willing to change the case for a cheaper one and my budget is £800 max, so I cant really justify going with the other suggestions. Is there anything that I should change within these requirements?

p.s. Although the software I develop is reasonably CPU/Memory intensive - it isn't anything ridiculous (i.e. I could survive on 2GB of RAM, so 4 is plenty. 6 is probably excessive/pointless).

MonkeykingZX · 25 Aug 2010 at 01:31

Lagz said:
p.s. Although the software I develop is reasonably CPU/Memory intensive - it isn't anything ridiculous (i.e. I could survive on 2GB of RAM, so 4 is plenty. 6 is probably excessive/pointless).

the x58 chipset uses triple channel ddr3 which is why he suggested the 6gb set

scotty365 · 25 Aug 2010 at 03:27

Depending on what your software research needs i7 might not be cost effective. If you don't make good use of hyper threading then i5 may well be all you need? - even for gaming.
What is your present system? You might be able to upgrade to a VERY capable system for a fraction of the cost or at least spend your budget on a juicy GFX card or SSD?
My system will get a quad core upgrade (Q6600) while I decide what to blow my next PC budget on - but the upgrade could probably last me for years!

danewesley · 25 Aug 2010 at 05:29

Hows about this then? 6 core, 1tb storage, your case etc, ssd included, dx11 card, £3 over budget? =)

Lagz · 25 Aug 2010 at 09:51

scotty365 said:
Depending on what your software research needs i7 might not be cost effective. If you don't make good use of hyper threading then i5 may well be all you need? - even for gaming.
What is your present system? You might be able to upgrade to a VERY capable system for a fraction of the cost or at least spend your budget on a juicy GFX card or SSD?
My system will get a quad core upgrade (Q6600) while I decide what to blow my next PC budget on - but the upgrade could probably last me for years!

I came to the same conclusion (that i7 isn't cost effective, for me anyway). I'm not going to be doing much gaming, so it really is a (distant) secondary concern. My parents are getting my old machine, so upgrading isn't an option.

Danewesley - That looks pretty good (not sure I need a solid state drive though - a regular HDD will do just fine

). How do AMD and Intel compare these days? It looks to me like AMD processors give you more in terms of cores and/or clock speed for the price, although I equally understand that these values are less and less a good indicator of true performance. I've always stuck to Intel in the past.

Edit - I see you guys are all suggesting 500W power supplies. Is this more than sufficient for the kind of spec we are talking about then (I originally put a 600W one in, but I wasn't really sure how power hungry such a build would be).

dfour · 25 Aug 2010 at 10:29

If you dump the SSd you can get a better cooler

Titan TTC-NK85TZ/V2 Fenrir CPU Cooler £32:99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-009-TI&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

The 500 watt will be sufficient for your needs. IMHO unless your doing a lot of rendering then you wouldnt notice any difference between amd and intel.

danewesley · 25 Aug 2010 at 13:43

yes a 500w psu is more than enough, i personally wouldnt ditch the ssd, for your os and main programs you will notice the difference and with you not overclocking there will be no use for a titan fenrir. the amd one i specced is more than enough for what you need and with programming as your main need it will out preform the i5.

Lagz · 25 Aug 2010 at 14:12

Thanks for the help. In terms of making the thing run as quietly as possibly:

- What is a good very quiet cooler?
- I assume that PSU is pretty quiet, given it has "silent" in the name
- I've used Samsung Spinpoint drives before and they seem pretty quiet, so I'm assuming this is still the case?

Anything else I need to look at in this respect? Also, do I need to buy any thermal paste, or do most coolers come with some pre-applied?

danewesley · 25 Aug 2010 at 14:58

stock cooler will come with tim applied, the psu is fairly quiet but not silent, ssd's are silent. and the hdd is good too.

dfour · 25 Aug 2010 at 16:06

have a look here for quiet heatsinks for amd.

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfmhttp://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

The suplied tims are usually pants and another £5 (artic cooling mx2/3, icdiamond (ignore artic silver it used to be the best but its old hat now )) will make a difference in temp especially if your going for silence. I agree the stock cooler is good but there are better and quieter ones. Thats why I specced the titan one.