£1,600 build for friend

Associate
Joined
18 May 2009
Posts
331
Hey guys,

I'm building a £1,600 games rig for my friend and I've compiled a list of components. What do you guys think (apologies for the messiness)?

Case: Antec 1200 Series gaming case £130
Mobo: Asus Sabertooth TUF X58 £147.10
CPU: Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz £179
HSF: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 £19.99
Memory: 6GB Corsair XMS3 1600 tri-channel £54.96
Graphics card: EVGA GTX 570 £268.28
SSD: Intel 320 Series 80GB £143.71
HDD: 1TB WD Caviar Black Sata II FALS £40.76
PSU: Corsair HX 850W (7 year warranty) £125.82
DVD Drive: Pioneer DVD RW SATA £17.98
Monitor: Viewsonic VP2365WB 23” £209.99

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium Retail £115.58

Total: £1453.17

Of course, I'll have to add £30 or so more for a keyboard and mouse lol.

Also, seeing as he's under budget, there is room for improvement, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated. :)

Incidentally, the reason why I've chosen not to go for a Sandy Bridge setup is because 1) I heard that it has flaws and 2) Intel have just slashed their prices on their 1366 mid-market chips and the performance difference is hardly noticeable. :)
 
Caporegime
Joined
17 Jan 2010
Posts
66,802
Location
weston-super-mare
Get a Intel Sandybridge setup, it will be much faster.

A i5 2500K and a P67/Z68 motherboard with dual channel 4GB or 8GB RAM.

2500K vs i7 950 - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=100

There are no flaws with them the B3 revision chipset is the fixed ones.


You then say intel have cut the prices of the older socket1366 stuff, they need to as it doesn't compete and the Sandybridge stuff is still cheaper.
 
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Soldato
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Posts
7,070
Agree with most of the above, Sandybridge is the way to go, building two myself. Great performance for the price (i5 2500K). Building in a CM 690II Adv and 600T(white) both really nice cases. Got a good price on Corsair AX750 PSU £120. Also splashed out a bit more on the monitor, HZ27WC very nice for the money.

If you take the advice from the guys above you won't go too far wrong :)
 
Associate
OP
Joined
18 May 2009
Posts
331
Get a Intel Sandybridge setup, it will be much faster.

A i5 2500K and a P67/Z68 motherboard with dual channel 4GB or 8GB RAM.

2500K vs i7 950 - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=100

There are no flaws with them the B3 revision chipset is the fixed ones.


You then say intel have cut the prices of the older socket1366 stuff, they need to as it doesn't compete and the Sandybridge stuff is still cheaper.


Hmmm... I didn't know about that anandtech performance comparison program and yes indeed, Sandy Bridge is a fair bit more powerful than the 950. Thanks for the link. :)

Which one would you suggest though? the P67 or Z68?


Better to go down the 1155 socket and buy a gtx 580 over the 570


That I disagree with. You get something like a 10% performance increase with a GTX 580 over the 570, but it costs on average £100 more.


Agree with most of the above, Sandybridge is the way to go, building two myself. Great performance for the price (i5 2500K). Building in a CM 690II Adv and 600T(white) both really nice cases. Got a good price on Corsair AX750 PSU £120. Also splashed out a bit more on the monitor, HZ27WC very nice for the money.

If you take the advice from the guys above you won't go too far wrong :)


Which motherboard are you going for?

I also want to future proof my friend's PC (hence me asking for your feedback :)) and I'd be after a motherboard with SLI support. For some reason, I've noticed that there is a Sandy Bridge mobo out there with just Crossfire support which is very annoying!!

What do you guys think of this? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-443-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1906

Paired with: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-290-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

And I'm looking at an i7 2600k too.
 
Associate
Joined
14 Dec 2009
Posts
1,657
RAM is fine, I would go with an MSI board myself. I've seen them recommended a lot with Sandybridge specs so they must work well. i7 Vs i5 - only with encoding/video editing demanding taks like that does the i7 outperform the i5. Gaming wise they are nigh on identical so get i5.

I would choose something like this (which isn't too different to other suggestions ofc) except that ppl seems to have missed out the monitor that the OP included so I will include one:


LG W2363D 23" TRUE 120Hz 3D Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black
£167.99
Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
£347.99
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB 2.5" SATA-3 Solid State Hard Drive (VTX3-25SAT3-120G)
£199.99
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
£161.99
OCZ ZX Series 1000W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply
£149.99
MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION **
£139.99
Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Full Tower Case with USB3.0 - Black
£106.99
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ)
£40.99
Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3)
£38.99
2x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)
£61.96
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£16.99
Shipping :
£22.20
Total :
£1,460.51

EDIT: You could swap out the monitor for the following and it wouuld come to £1665. There was a lot of problems with the first batch of these monitors but I believe the glassless ones are better:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-013-HO

Huge and great resolution
 
Last edited:
Associate
OP
Joined
18 May 2009
Posts
331
[WU-TANG]GZA;19473711 said:
RAM is fine, I would go with an MSI board myself. I've seen them recommended a lot with Sandybridge specs so they must work well. i7 Vs i5 - only with encoding/video editing demanding taks like that does the i7 outperform the i5. Gaming wise they are nigh on identical so get i5.

I would choose something like this (which isn't too different to other suggestions ofc) except that ppl seems to have missed out the monitor that the OP included so I will include one:


LG W2363D 23" TRUE 120Hz 3D Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black
£167.99
Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
£347.99
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB 2.5" SATA-3 Solid State Hard Drive (VTX3-25SAT3-120G)
£199.99
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
£161.99
OCZ ZX Series 1000W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply
£149.99
MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION **
£139.99
Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Full Tower Case with USB3.0 - Black
£106.99
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ)
£40.99
Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3)
£38.99
2x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)
£61.96
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£16.99
Shipping :
£22.20
Total :
£1,460.51

EDIT: You could swap out the monitor for the following and it wouuld come to £1665. There was a lot of problems with the first batch of these monitors but I believe the glassless ones are better:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-013-HO

Huge and great resolution


Ok, I've done some research into Sandy Bridge motherboards, including the one you've mentioned and two MSI motherboards have received glowing reviews from a leading computer magazine: the GD53 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-170-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1906 and the GD65 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-165-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1906
From what I can see, the latter has more SATA III ports, a 3 year warranty, SLI support etc. I could do with more opinions seeing as there is a £25 difference between the two. What do you guys think

Also, rather annoyingly, the OCUK website mentions that the GD65 has 4x DIMMs with support for DDR3 1133/1066 up to 16GB MAX. Not that it's really important right know as 16GB is plenty anyway, but does the GD65 really only support half as much as the GD53?
Just to make it clear, it DEFINITELY does support this RAM http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-290-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517 and this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-295-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517 as it doesn't specifically mention it on the OCUK web page, right?

Incidentally, I appreciate all the suggestions for hard drives and SSD, but 1) I am personally annoyed with Samsung so I will never by one of their products again (long story) and 2) I'm definitely getting an Intel SSD as I've seen so many threads on here where people have been saying they've had problems with their OCZ SSD's. I also appreciate the suggestion of the Gainward GTX570 but the EVGA one has a 10-year warranty (once registered on their website) so I think I'll stick with that. :) Again though, thanks for your suggestions.

I have taken on board most of you suggestions, and have changed a few things so my thought are now along these lines:

Case: Coolermaster HAF 932 Advanced £106.99
Mobo: MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) £139.99
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k £173.99
HSF: Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced £42.98
Memory: 8GB Corsair vengeance 1600 dual-channel £99.98
Graphics card: EVGA GTX 570 £268.28
SSD: Intel 320 Series 80GB £139.99
HDD: 2TB WD Caviar Black Sata III 64mb cache £119.19
PSU: Corsair TX 850W £125.82
Blu ray: HP Combo drive BD240i £17.98
Monitor: Viewsonic VP2365WB 23” £209.99
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium Retail £115.58

Total: £1583.88

Forgive the format issue but I copied this from a Word document. Anymore feedback would be greatly appreciated. :)
 
Associate
OP
Joined
18 May 2009
Posts
331
I forgot to add. I've changed the PSU to the Corsair non modular TX 850 as 1) its cables are longer and I really want to keep the case as tidy as possible and 2) it's cheaper, although marginally. :)
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Feb 2011
Posts
10,235
Location
Slough
oops, didnt notice the OP needed a monitor, mouse and keyboard.
new build:

YOUR BASKET
2 x OcUK GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.98
1 x Dell Ultrasharp U2311H 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey £229.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £175.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £173.99
1 x MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** with FREE Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler £139.99
1 x XFX 750W Black Edition Modular Power Supply £99.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £62.39
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £59.99
1 x Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) £24.98
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-19 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x Logitech 600 Media Keyboard (920-000031) £11.99
Total : £1,621.28 (includes shipping : £22.20).

includes IPS panel monitor, but with a WAY shorter response time (important in fast paced games)

included the OcUK favourite mouse, along with a logitech keyboard (i would have gone with the delux USB logitech keyboard, but its not available :(

do you need a mousemat as well? if you do, then this one will be big enough for your mouse and keyboard to sit on top of, or for a small tennis tournament: boogie bug XL
 
Associate
Joined
23 Jun 2011
Posts
6

Amazing build!!
I'd make some small adjustments....

1x Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £369.98
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £244.99
Gigabyte Z68X-UD3P Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £148.98
OCZ ZX Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £134.99
OCZ Agility 3 60GB 2.5" SATA-3 Solid State Hard Drive (AGT3-25SAT3-60G) £91.99
Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K62 Mid Tower Case with Window - Black £84.98
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) £73.99
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £67.99
BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366, AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / 754 / 939 / 940) £54.98
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99

Total: £1,304.38

Leaves 300 for Monitor and Keyboard & Mouse!!
 

RJC

RJC

Don
Joined
29 May 2005
Posts
29,003
Location
Kent
I would stick with the Samsung f3 drive, this will be pretty much the same performance as the WD and saving £30 ~
 
Soldato
Joined
16 Nov 2004
Posts
4,110
Location
London
If they want 3D then this setup is really good:

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card OcUK GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.98
(£208.32) £499.96
(£416.64)
LG W2363D 23" TRUE 120Hz 3D Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black LG W2363D 23" TRUE 120Hz 3D Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £159.98
(£133.32) £159.98
(£133.32)
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £144.98
(£120.82) £144.98
(£120.82)
XFX 850W Black Edition Modular Power Supply XFX 850W Black Edition Modular Power Supply £122.99
(£102.49) £122.99
(£102.49)
NVIDIA 3D Vision Kit with Duke Nukem Forever NVIDIA 3D Vision Kit with Duke Nukem Forever £107.99
(£89.99) £107.99
(£89.99)
Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K62 Mid Tower Case with Window - Black Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K62 Mid Tower Case with Window - Black £84.98
(£70.82) £84.98
(£70.82)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £62.39
(£51.99) £62.39
(£51.99)
Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA775/AM2/AM3) Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA775/AM2/AM3) £50.99
(£42.49) £50.99
(£42.49)
Creative T3130 2.1 Speaker System (51MF0395AA003) Creative T3130 2.1 Speaker System (51MF0395AA003) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) £24.98
(£20.82) £24.98
(£20.82)
LiteOn IHAS324-32 24x DVD±RW ReWriter SATA (Black) - Retail LiteOn IHAS324-32 24x DVD±RW ReWriter SATA (Black) - Retail £19.99
(£16.66) £19.99
(£16.66)
Logitech 600 Media Keyboard (920-000031) Logitech 600 Media Keyboard (920-000031) £11.99
(£9.99) £11.99
(£9.99)
Sub Total : £1,350.99
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £27.55
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £275.71
Total : £1,654.25

£50 over but SLI GTX570s would be very good for 3D and getting the most potential of 120hz in 2D gaming mode too.Just add a SSD later on sometime.
 
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