Can anyone please help me make my own desktop.

Marine-RX179 · 23 Apr 2010 at 07:57

Vinni3 @H|H said:
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.

There will always be newer stuffs coming...and one can potentially wait forever as there will always be nicer things to come. And Phenom II X4 is still current gen (not 'pre. gen') and capable of doing a decent job at gaming. If waiting for new socket as you say, I think it would be a bit hard for him to get through the 1 year gap...at least it would be 1 year without quality gaming.

If I haven't misinterpreted, lunatic most likely doesn't even have an existing PC for gaming. Most people can wait if they are 'upgrading' from an ok spec PC, but I don't think this is the case here for him. He needs a capable PC system for modern gaming now.

lunatic9009 · 23 Apr 2010 at 10:07

I think this is 8x8x Crossfire capable.

I am about to order it anything i need to change before i do so?

Lemin · 23 Apr 2010 at 10:13

Still cant see an dvd-rw, how are you gonna install windows ? unless i missed something.

lunatic9009 · 23 Apr 2010 at 10:16

I have a DVD Drive so it wouldn't be a problem i think.
Ill just use the one on my current computer.

cmndr_andi · 23 Apr 2010 at 10:16

That board is indeed capable of 8x8x crossfire, have a look at this page in the specifications tab.

Everything looks great.

lunatic9009 · 23 Apr 2010 at 10:24

Is that CPU cooler enough?

cmndr_andi · 23 Apr 2010 at 10:29

lunatic9009 said:
Is that CPU cooler enough?

Yes, it is one of the best. Here is a review.

lunatic9009 · 23 Apr 2010 at 10:33

Thank you everyone for helping me.

Now hopefully i won't damage any of these, because this is my first time assembling.

Marine-RX179 · 23 Apr 2010 at 10:39

lunatic9009 said:
Is that CPU cooler enough?

Yes...what cmndr_andi said.
But I still think it's worth investing extra £7 on getting the Arctic Cooling MX-3 Thermal Compound to use with that Titan Cooler:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-002-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

It would probably lower another 10C for the CPU comparing with whatever compound that comes with the cooler.

Lemin · 23 Apr 2010 at 11:16

lunatic9009 said:
I have a DVD Drive so it wouldn't be a problem i think.
Ill just use the one on my current computer.

Fine, hope its a sata drive as an ide one would spoil airflow.

Liampope · 23 Apr 2010 at 11:24

What's all this AMD or i3?? i5 will spank it

Wait a sec...

Liampope · 23 Apr 2010 at 11:26

Ta daa. Proper CPU and proper mobo. I even specced a graphics card that's in stock

Edit: oh - remove the optical if you dont need one. Bang on 800 then

Marine-RX179 · 23 Apr 2010 at 11:31

Liampope said:
Ta daa. Proper CPU and proper mobo. I even specced a graphics card that's in stock

Edit: oh - remove the optical if you dont need one. Bang on 800 then

Hate to say this, but he doesn't want cheapo case. Your build is pretty much cut corner from the PSU, case and CPU cooler to squeeze out around extra £95

IMHO I think i5 750's price creeped up from £150 to £170 is a damn joke to be honest...especially when i7 920 is now £180, and a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R with USB3.0, 6GB/SATA is just £15 more the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD5. The price difference between i5 750 CPU+motherboard and i7 920 CPU+motherboard is like £310 vs £330. i7 cost more than i5 is mainly only because of the cost the the extra 2GB of ram.

Liampope · 23 Apr 2010 at 11:43

Marine-RX179 said:
Hate you say this, but he likes the more expensive cases more lol

And I think i5 750's price creeped up from £150 toward £170 is a damn joke to be honest...especially when i7 920 is now £180, and a decent Gigabyte 1366 motherboard with USB3.0, 6GB/SATA is for around the same price the same price as the 1156 Gigabyte UD5.

Well I thought I'd throw it in there

I said i5/5850 was possible at the start and am surprised nobody based a spec round it. The OP can waste the budget on an expensive case and more expensive than necessary PSU if he wants, but I think spending on bits that actually make a difference to performance is a better idea. That Xigmatek case is excellent by the way - amazing value (I have one as of yesterday

) and the OCZ PSU is fine too.

i5 price just reflects its desirability. It's coming closer to i7 920 because for the most important purposes (gaming of course

) it performs just as well. You can't deny my spec should spank the AMD/i5 builds in performance.

edit: Hmmmmm [reflects on above post]. Am I becoming an i5 fanboy

Marine-RX179 · 23 Apr 2010 at 11:59

Liampope said:
edit: Hmmmmm [reflects on above post]. Am I becoming an i5 fanboy

Don't worry...I got nothing against i5 750 at all (except the stupid price rise

). They are very good performing platform for gaming, however onces the requirement of Crossfire enter the equation, i7 920 just seem to be much more sensible choice...because if needing to Crossfire/SLI on the 1156, one would have to get a board like Gigabyte's UD4/UD5 at £140, instead of the decent non-crossfire capable Gigabyte UD2 at just merely £85. Major part of the saving for going 1156 is from the motherboard, but once you have to get close to £150 getting a motherboard, the saving over going i7 920 instead becomes very minimal, especially if the person decide he can cut corner by just having 3GB of ram instead of 6GB on the i7 920.

Marine-RX179 · 23 Apr 2010 at 12:24

Was bored, so I thought I'd have a go at trying i7 920 build:

The i7 920 4.0GHz overclocked bundle is on offer. With £45 off and price now at £506, it is cheaper than buying the parts separately and the 4.0GHz pre-overclock comes free! (i7 920 £180+Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R £156+Patriot Viper 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel £140+Titan Cooler £30+Arctic Silver 5 or MX-3 thermal compound £7=total £514!)

This will cost will be just under £900, but it would be better than the Phenom II X4 build. Also the pre-overclock is very good, especially if you are not familiar/comfortable with overclocking and planning on just using the Phenom II X4 CPU at stock speed (I remember when few years ago when I first try overclocking the my PC wouldn't boot, it scared the hell outta me lol. Well, clear the CMOS sorted that out).

Liampope · 23 Apr 2010 at 13:24

My opinion is that the extra over an AMD/i3 build for an i5 is worth it for the performance, but I wouldn't say the same for the extra over an i5 build for an i7. Gaming-wise that is. But still WOW at the value of that OC'd 920 build above thanks to that special offer (even though you're still using that cheap Asus 5850 that isn't in stock

)! OP if you can stretch your £800 budget by a mere 12.5%, then what an amazing rig for the money!

Marine-RX179 · 23 Apr 2010 at 14:00

Liampope said:
Ta daa. Proper CPU and proper mobo. I even specced a graphics card that's in stock

Edit: oh - remove the optical if you dont need one. Bang on 800 then

Well, I switch to same components as you and cut back from 6GB of ram to 3GB (which is actually sufficient, considering even I never use more than 3GB ram and only using 2-2.2GB on average, with Win7 64-bit, 15 Firefox tabs in background and gaming at the same time):

So for just £22 more, the i7 920 build comes with extra two USB3.0 plots, two 6GB/s SATA, faster CPU (that's got 3 years warranty not the OEM CPU with just 1 year) and one of the fastest 1366 motherboard that can push a 5870's minimum frame to 42 in Crysis at 1680x1050, high setting (1156 Gigabyte UD2-UD5 with i5 750 at 4.0-4.15GHz only achieving 33-35 minimum frame rate).

One more thing to point out is that case does not have a rear fan...would need to buy one to add to it. Also the PSU is place at top, not at bottom.

Fallen god · 23 Apr 2010 at 14:26

I think nothing will beat the AMD build, everything in it is solid, dont have to use a cheaper cooler, case and PSU. And there wont be any really gain in games from using i7.

Liampope · 23 Apr 2010 at 14:28

Have to say that looks pretty sweet! I just hadn't realised i5 had gotten so close to i7 in price - I kinda stopped looking at prices after taking the plunge with my ebay-special rig. I guess i5 price really is over inflated at the mo. OP will have to learn to overclock himself though - but i think that sort of thing should be encouraged

.

However we seem to be talking to ourselves now, lol. Think OP may have gone and bought the AMD rig