£600 first time build

[cptmane]

Approximate Purchase Date: Before Skyrim!!


Budget Range: £500-£700 at most


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Surfing, Watching films


Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, speakers, dvd drive, monitor


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: amazon.co.uk, dabs.com (unless anyone knows better sites?)


Country of Origin: England


Overclocking: Yes


SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future


Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050


Parts: ive done a bit of research myself for an AMD or an Intel build that i considered within my price range (allowing for additional components i will need). im leaning towards the intel i5 2500k at the moment but open to suggestions so long as it falls within my price range


Intel CPU's:
i3 2100 sandybridge


or

i5 2500k sandybridge
[url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Sandybridge-i5-2500K-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B004FA8NX2/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1314623322&sr=1-1[/url]

AMD CPU's:
AMD 965 Black
[url=http://www.dabs.com/products/amd-phenom-ii-x4-965-3-4ghz-black-edition-am3-socket-l2-l3-8mb-6B0X.html?q=965%20black]

or

AMD 1090T
http://www.dabs.com/products/amd-ph...am3-black-edition-processor-6Z3T.html?q=1090t

GPU's:
GTX 460
http://www.pc-titan.com/product_inf...ce-GTX-460--1GB-GDDR5--2x-DVI--mini-HDMI.html

Radeon 6850
http://www.pc-titan.com/product_inf...ower-Edition-OC--Radeon-HD-6850--1GB-GDD.html

Memory:
Corsair XMS3 4x2Gb
http://www.dabs.com/products/corsai...red-6KBQ.html?refs=50113-52280000-12-55270000

Hard Drive:
http://www.dabs.com/products/wester...ml?refs=4294946772-450300000-4294946744-50473

Didn't even start choosing the motherboard or powersupply etc, they just started confusing me to be honest..

Any advice on whether what i've chosen is a good idea and on what else to get?

Many thanks

 

[cptmane]

url's didnt work there at all.... lol

 

[AdrianPerry]

You've missed two of the best UK websites,
www.SCAN.co.uk
www.EBUYER.co.uk

Here's a rough build idea:
Mobo: ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 £115
CPU: i5-2500k £155
Cooler: Hyper 212+ £25
GPU: 6870 £120
PSU: 500w £50
HDD: SpinPoint F3 1TB £40
Optical Drive: DVD-RW £20
RAM: 8GB 2x4GB Sticks DDR3 1600MHz CL9 £50
Case: Any mid-tower ATX £20-70

 

[Silvune]

A warning about PC-Titan, from what I have read about them they are not based in the UK, nor in the EU. So the delivery and customs charges that will be added on will make their prices a lot less attractive.

 

[cptmane]

ok cheers for the rough idea, i'll check out scan.co.uk. already tried ebuyer but found cheaper elsewhere.

so i take it a 500w PSU will be fine until i get crossfire? any reason for the 6870 over the 6850?

and finally about the socket type on the mobo im gonna need a 67 or 68 to overclock the CPU to its full potential?

 

[AdrianPerry]

The reason to get the 6870 over the 6850 is that it performs better. Its a more powerful card which will give you better performance in games. There also isn't too much price difference between the cards last time i checked.

500w PSU is plenty for a single card, i think 650w would handle crossfire 6870's but id probably go with a 750w just incase.

P67 and Z68 both overclock the same. The z68 just has a few extra features like SSD Caching if you wish to use a small SSD as a cache drive. P67 is a common choice because its slightly cheaper, however if you do chose a z68 for the extra features, it will perform the same. Just dont get a H67 because that doesn't allow CPU overclocking.

 

[cptmane]

Thanks for the warning on pc-titan silvune!

Think i'll go for a 500w psu first up then, leave it a year or two before idouble up on the 6870's

thats cleared a few things up, many thanks adrian

 

[cptmane]

I've decided on my final build, went for a 6850 to keep the cost at £600. just checking if the PSU is workable and i read the Hyper 212+ is compatible with 1156, it didnt state the 1155??

CPU:
Intel i5 2500k
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Sandybridge-i5-2500K-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B004FA8NX2/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1314623322&sr=1-1
£160

Fan:
Hyper 212+
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coolermaster-hyper-212-plus-4-heat-pipes-with-120mm-quiet-fan-lga775-1155-1156-1366-am2-am2plus-am3
£22

GPU:
MSI 6850 Cyclone
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-msi-hd-6850-cyclone-oc-4400mhz-gddr5-gpu-860mhz-960-stream-processors-2x-dvi-hdmi-displayport-pl
£118

Mobo:
MSI P67 GD53
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-p67a-gd53-%28b3%29-intel-p67-s-1155-pcie-20-%28x16%29-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-raid-sata-atx
£103

Memory:
Corsair Vengence 1600 4x2Gb
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9-1600MHz-Vengeance-Memory/dp/B004CRSM4I/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1315327296&sr=1-1
£42

Hard Drive:
WD Caviar blue 500gb 6gb/s
http://www.dabs.com/products/western-digital-500gb-caviar-blue-7200rpm-16mb-sata-6gb-s-7823.html?refs=4294946772-450300000-4294946744-50473
£35

PSU:
Corsair 650tx
http://www.dabs.com/products/corsair-tx650w-650-watt-psu-atx-4RY9.html?q=corsair%20650tx
£60

 

[Silvune]

Yes the Hyper 212 Plus will be compatible with 1155; 1155 and 1156 share the same mounting holes.

It is fine, if a bit old and outdated; there is now a newer TX series.
Personally I think this is well worth the extra ~£5:
Thermaltake Toughpower XT 675W 80Plus Bronze Modular £65
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/675w-psu-thermaltake-tpx-675mpcuk-modular-89eff-80-plus-bronze-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-quiet-fan-atx
As it is more efficient, is modular and has ~1% regulation on the 12V rail.

 

[AdrianPerry]

If you can find an extra £5 id recommend getting a Samsung SpinPoint F3 HDD.

An extra £5 for double the HDD space and a good solid drive, seems crazy not to.