Can anyone please help me make my own desktop.

cmndr_andi · 23 Apr 2010 at 03:32

lunatic9009 said:
Ohhh thank you, then this is becoming harder and harder for me.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-233-GI

If you look at this it says: "Expasion slots: 2x PCIe 2.0 x16 Slot & 2x PCI Slot (Supports ATI CrossFireX Technology)"

What does that mean?

This board may have 2 physical x16 slots (ie. they are both big), but only the 1st one can run at x16 speed - the second is electronically only running at x4 speed. Here is the gigabyte spec sheet which confirms this. Hence it isn't very good if you want to run crossfire in the future.

As mentioned before, to buy a proper x8x8 s1156 motherboard you will have to shell out at least £130.

lunatic9009 · 23 Apr 2010 at 03:40

Thank you cmndr_andi.

I am not sure about a lot of these thats why i came here looking for help.

Is crossfire essential?

AMD 995BE or i3 530?

Sorry for wasting everyones time i am spending a lot of money here [For me anyway] and it's a gamble since ive never done this before.

arc@css · 23 Apr 2010 at 03:43

I never knew that, so when it reads 2 x16 slots, it doesn't necessarily mean you get two slots running at the full speed.

Sorry lunatic, I think I got my facts wrong there.

lunatic9009 · 23 Apr 2010 at 03:52

Don't matter we both learned something heh'

cmndr_andi · 23 Apr 2010 at 03:52

Crossfire isn't essential tbh. If you buy a 5850 now, then it will keep you playing games at top settings for quite a while.

However, when you do feel game performance lag and you want to upgrade then if your motherboard isn't good for crossfire then you need to buy a new card (though you can sell your old card on to recoup some of the costs). However if you have a crossfire capable board - then you can simply buy a 2nd 5850 (which will now be as cheap as chips 2nd hand as it is the future (pill food, hoverboards, flying cars etc.)) and run it in crossfire and get a massive performance boost.

Also, you can buy 2 cheaper cards (5770s for example) and crossfire them off-the-bat. This isn't so good for future upgrading - but it means you get the performance level of a much better card for a much lower price. Here is a review which shows two 5770s in crossfire (total cost ~£260) outmatching a single 5870 (cost ~£320).

That is my thinking anyway.

lunatic9009 · 23 Apr 2010 at 04:13

Would this be the best for my price range?

Any tweaks i need to do?

Fallen god · 23 Apr 2010 at 04:25

I would personal go for the last AMD build with the 5870. I know this might confuse you more but you could drop down to a 5850 and get a better case and CPU cooler and maybe try overclock your CPU abit. Anyways it looks abit perfect already just a few ideas.

cmndr_andi · 23 Apr 2010 at 04:29

I would go with the final build, personally.

Its got a nice true quad core that is great for gaming, x8x8 crossfire motherboard, 5870 card, solid PSU and good RAM. However, I would suggest going for the non-ecogreen HDD, as it is much faster.

Will you be needing an operating system (ie Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit), a DVD drive, a monitor or any peripherals?

lunatic9009 · 23 Apr 2010 at 04:47

Okay this is what i came up with.

Went for that case because i love red and i am unsure about the cooling.

cmndr_andi ummm i think i have everything else apart from the Computer.

cmndr_andi · 23 Apr 2010 at 04:53

Do you not need a hard disk?

I suggest going for this cooler if you plan some overclocking in the future.

lunatic9009 · 23 Apr 2010 at 04:54

Oh yes i forgot about that. HDD aswell.

Is my choice of case good enough for what im paying?

cmndr_andi · 23 Apr 2010 at 05:00

I'm pretty sure the 5850 will just fit into that case, but it will be very close. I would suggest going for this case instead.

lunatic9009 · 23 Apr 2010 at 05:03

Okay thanks for the help.

What Hdd you recommend?

Also 5850 enough for gaming?

cmndr_andi · 23 Apr 2010 at 05:11

The samsung spinpoint F3 that you picked in the first 2 builds in post#46 would be my choice.

Also 5850 enough for gaming?

Yes. For any modern game (crysis and Metro excluded) you should be able to play at 1080p res, high framerates and all the details on high. As newer games come out, you may need to scale down the settings to keep the frame rates good, however I expect this card will remain great for contemporary games for about 2 years.

lunatic9009 · 23 Apr 2010 at 05:17

Okay thank you very much for all the help.

£799.72 all together 28p under my max budget haha.

Marine-RX179 · 23 Apr 2010 at 07:22

lunatic9009 said:
Okay thank you very much for all the help.

£799.72 all together 28p under my max budget haha.

You haven't bought a CPU cooler and MX-3 thermal vompound/paste. I think you can cut back a bit by going for a £44 ish case such as getting a Antec 300, and then you'd have around £30 for a decent CPU cooler. Or if you don't want to change anything, just spend extra £16 getting this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-035-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
It is not the best CPU cooler, but if you are on a tight budget, this is would be a good choice as it is still WAY better than a crappy stock CPU cooler.

cmndr_andi · 23 Apr 2010 at 07:28

I think the £799 figure is the spec above + titan cooler + F3 HDD, I think those sums add up.

I agree that getting the MX-3 is a good plan. Its one of the very best thermal pastes around, easy to apply and one tube will last you many builds. I probably also point out that getting a TIM remover kit like this is invaluable for cleaning and preparing heatsink/CPU heatspreader surfaces.

scrlk · 23 Apr 2010 at 07:42

If you can wait - wait (and save more more nicer components). Intel (AMD is likely to release a new socket aswell) is releasing their new chips on a new socket meaning that in 2011, your rig is already prev. gen. and if you go though with the build and decided you want to get a new Intel (or AMD), you will need to get a new mobo.

Marine-RX179 · 23 Apr 2010 at 07:43

cmndr_andi said:
I think the £799 figure is the spec above + titan cooler + F3 HDD, I think those sums add up.

ah...the F3 HDD is the 500GB...I thought it is the 1TB one...not wonder it seemed overbudget to me lol

cmndr_andi · 23 Apr 2010 at 07:51

If you can wait - wait (and save more more nicer components). Intel (AMD is likely to release a new socket aswell) is releasing their new chips on a new socket meaning that in 2011, your rig is already prev. gen. and if you go though with the build and decided you want to get a new Intel (or AMD), you will need to get a new mobo.

Why wait?

If he wants it now and it will work with modern games, then there isn't any reason to wait for the new tech to come round the corner. There is always shiny new stuff X months down then line, at some point you just need to take the plunge. Considering the OP wants to mainly play games, and modern CPUs like the Core i5 and Phenom II X4 are more than powerful enough to run all modern games - then waiting for new CPUs doesn't make much sense as they will not give much of a performance boost in these tasks.

Anyway, as detailed in the most recent posts - he is going for an AM3 system. So any lack of longevity of intel s1156 doesn't really apply.