First Build

[cythx]

Posting my first build.

Tower: Antec 1200

CPU: i7 920 (Going to OC to 4.0 Ghz)

GPU: ATi Radeon 5970

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R

RAM: Patriot Extreme 6 GB

HDD: Seagate 7200.12

PSU: Antec 850w CP

DVD: Sony RW 24x

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5

Heat Sink: Coolermaster 212+

All together this setup would cost £1270~ including shipping.

Any suggestions/advice? Would be appreciated

Thanks

 

[gracefully]

First off, that's a very nice build. You certainly did your research.

You seem to have a high budget. You might consider getting an SSD for your primary (OS) drive. I'm sure you'll love it.

Are you sure you want to stick with a budget CPU cooler? That's what I use, and I have to say it offers exceptional cooling, but then my overclock isn't aggressive. If you're not going the water-cooling path, Why not get something bigger? The Tuniq Tower 120 or Prolimatech Megahalem (or Megashadow) would be nice.

I've read somewhere that the 5970 has overheating issues with its VRMs. I'm not sure if ASUS did a job of fixing that, but the 5970 throttles hard if you try to overclock. It's not too big of an issue if you don't plan to overclock, but it's an issue nonetheless. I assume you have a good, low (~20 C) ambient temperature?

That's all I can think of. Once again, very nice build.

 

[countessa]

very nice very close to the build i will be doing this week
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/281084-13-need-advice-motherboard-cooling-case


i would suggest getting 5870 viper and if you decided to go sli or crossfire it will be a cheaper upgrade instead of buying another 5970

and i would agree with getting SSD its the only way to go for hardcore gaming i suggest something like Intel X25-M Mainstream 80GB they cost around 190 pound but they are 1 of the best ssd's around or go for a cheaper kingston

 

[cythx]

First off, that's a very nice build. You certainly did your research.

You seem to have a high budget. You might consider getting an SSD for your primary (OS) drive. I'm sure you'll love it.

Are you sure you want to stick with a budget CPU cooler? That's what I use, and I have to say it offers exceptional cooling, but then my overclock isn't aggressive. If you're not going the water-cooling path, Why not get something bigger? The Tuniq Tower 120 or Prolimatech Megahalem (or Megashadow) would be nice.

I've read somewhere that the 5970 has overheating issues with its VRMs. I'm not sure if ASUS did a job of fixing that, but the 5970 throttles hard if you try to overclock. It's not too big of an issue if you don't plan to overclock, but it's an issue nonetheless. I assume you have a good, low (~20 C) ambient temperature?

That's all I can think of. Once again, very nice build.

Thank you for the reply, I have been doing some research over the last week.

I'll put some thought into getting one of those coolers though, thanks.

About the 5970, I'll actually be borrowing a friends 9800 gtx when I first buy this build, and be replacing it with a higher end GPU a bit later.

I don't plan to overclock the GPU, so I hope it won't be an issue and yeah my ambient temperature is around that, have no idea on the actual number, but I can control the heating in my room.

 

[cythx]

very nice very close to the build i will be doing this week
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/281084-13-need-advice-motherboard-cooling-case


i would suggest getting 5870 viper and if you decided to go sli or crossfire it will be a cheaper upgrade instead of buying another 5970

and i would agree with getting SSD its the only way to go for hardcore gaming i suggest something like Intel X25-M Mainstream 80GB they cost around 190 pound but they are 1 of the best ssd's around or go for a cheaper kingston

Thanks for the input, I will probably upgrade to an SSD some time later though, I still need to buy a screen/peripherals.

And lots of people are telling me to think twice about getting a 5970 so I might change my mind soon after some moar research ;p

 

[gracefully]

Since you have a full tower (Antec Twelve Hundred) and it comes with pretty decent fans, I'd say your case temp is good. You have like, six fans blowing air around your case. That should make your system quite happy.

I reiterate my suggestion of an SSD. Something like the X25-M from Intel.

 

[gracefully]

Thanks for the input, I will probably upgrade to an SSD some time later though, I still need to buy a screen/peripherals.

And lots of people are telling me to think twice about getting a 5970 so I might change my mind soon after some moar research ;p

You'll be married to that 5970 for a very long time if you decide to go through with that. It's not exactly cheap, so it's not easy to sell to someone secondhand. Getting a lesser card, like the 5870, should permit you to switch in 1-2 years, grab another one to crossfire, or sell the 5870 and switch. Just a few scenarios.

 

[cythx]

Do you have any benchmarks of how that SSD performs compared to various HDDs?

 

[gracefully]

Do you have any benchmarks of how that SSD performs compared to various HDDs?

Here's one versus other SSDs:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3607&p=4

And here's a (quite old) comparison by Computerworld. I'm sure the same things apply, though:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9134468/Review_Hard_disk_vs._solid_state_drive_is_an_SSD_worth_the_money_?taxonomyId=19&pageNumber=2

 

[cythx]

Cool, thanks.

How much memory would Windows 7 Premium 64 Bit need? Is there anything else I could put on the SSD?

 

[countessa]

Thanks for the input, I will probably upgrade to an SSD some time later though, I still need to buy a screen/peripherals.

And lots of people are telling me to think twice about getting a 5970 so I might change my mind soon after some moar research ;p

indeed the 5970 is Fantastic card But the price puts most people off so they go for the 5870 and also now alot of gamers are starting to use triple screen setups so the 5870 comes out ontop when using crossfire but if you do get the 5970 it will stand the test of time for a good 2/3 years and remember its all about what you want so if you want the 5970 then get it

 

[gracefully]

If by memory you mean HD space, then I'd put it around 12 - 16 GB. Then you can put all of your most used programs in the SSD. Everything else, like your photos, videos, and other media go to the HDD. 80 GB should be enough as an OS+programs driver for an average user. You could probably fit a game or two in the SSD, though, if you game.

 

[cythx]

If it's only 12-16 GB and the SSD is 80 GB, that leaves 64-68 GB for my most used programs (ie, Chrome, Messenger, Games, Steam, Winamp or iTunes or Spotify).

How would I only fit a game or two in the SSD? Arn't they only like 15 GBs max

 

[gracefully]

In that case, you would be able to fit a little more than 4. Personally, I have a lot of Adobe products, so I might not be considered "average".

Now that I think about it, you can fit a lot more in 80 GB that I previously thought.