New PC on insurance - need urgent advice

[MatildaCS]

Hi all,

thanks for looking, and unfortunately I need get this sorted quite quickly.
To cut a long story short, my homebrew gaming rig has been violated by a pint of orangina.
They didnt get on well, and now my PC has gone to silicone heaven.

My original pride and joy was;
Asus striker extreme
4x1gb Crucial Ballistix
XFX Geforce 8800 GTX XXX 768mb
WD 250 gb HD
Corsair HX620w PSU
Antec 900 case
Q6600 CPU
Zalman CNPS 9900 LEd CPU cooler
Vista Ultimate 64

The replacement I have been offered is as follows

ANTEC NINE HUNDRED TWO CASE
OCZ 700W PSU - MOD XTREAM PRO - ATX V2.2, 80+ CERTIFIED, ACTIVE PFC, POWERWHISP
INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q8300 CPU, 2.5GHZ, LGA775, 1333FSB, 4MBCACHE, RETAIL
ASUS STRIKER II EXTREME ATX. QUAD CORE. DDR3 1600MHz, NFORCE 790-SLI. SKT775
2GB 1333MHz (PC3-10600) DDR3 CL9 DIMM MEMORY
WESTERN DIG 3.5" SATA2 CAVIAR BLUE HDD, 250GB, 8MB CACHE, 7200RPM,
SONY DVD RE-WRITER, DVDRAM, SATA, 24X, BLACK, OEM
ASUS GEFORCE GTX285 GRAPHICS PLUS PCIE CARD, 1GB DDR3, DUAL DVI, HDMI, HDCP WITH CUDA
MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE, 64 BIT, OEM DVD, SINGLE LICENCE
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY V8.5 - OEM (SINGLE LICENCE)
LOGITECH INTERNET 350 USB KEYBOARD & UV96 USB MOUSE, BLACK
POWER DVD SOFTWARE, VERSION 9,
NERO 8 ESSENTIALS OEM CD, CD AND DVD BURNING SOTWARE,

Mouse and K/B not essential as I have G15 and G9
I am thinking of paying extra to have;
2x2GB DDR3 RAM
An extra 250GB CAviar HD and run them in RAID 0
Scythe Mugen 2 CPU cooler
Bullguard Gamers Edition

My question is...

Should I look at anything else instead? I'm happy with this (I think) But I took weeks choosing everything previously, and now I have no time, and not as familiar with what is on the market!! Any advice is greatly appreciated!


Thanks in advance!

 

[MadAdmiral]

What's the budget? It looks alright in terms of performance, but it's pretty bad compared to what you could have for roughly the same price.

First, it's a LGA775 build, which is a dying socket. You won't have an options to upgrade without a new motherboard.

Second, it is low on RAM. Almost all new builds have 2x2 GB sticks of 1600 mhz CL 7 RAM nowdays.

Third, that HDD is super slow. A 500 GB Samsung Spinpoint F3 or Seagate 7200.12 is the man standard and wouldn't cost much more.

Fourth, that nVidia card is really expensive and outclassed by similarly priced GPUs and some cheaper ones. It's also going to be obsolete as of March 26th.

Fifth, that OCZ unit isn't the hgihest quality. It certainly isn't as good as the Corsair you had.

I'm taking a stab at the budget here and saying you've got about $1,500 for the actual tower. If that's about right, this would be much, much better:

CPU: i5-750 $200
Mobo: Gigabtye GA-P55A-UD3 $135
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $115
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $90
GPU: HD 5970 $700
PSU: Corsair 750W 80+ $100
Case: HAF 922 $90
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $25
HSF: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $29

Total: $1,484

 

[obsidian86]

no deal its all based on older tech

they should least offer
i5 750
p55 board with an x16 and x8 pcie slots
4 gb ddr3 cl 8 or lower at 1333 mhz
ati 5850

edit or what he said ^

 

[MatildaCS]

What's the budget? It looks alright in terms of performance, but it's pretty bad compared to what you could have for roughly the same price.

First, it's a LGA775 build, which is a dying socket. You won't have an options to upgrade without a new motherboard.

Second, it is low on RAM. Almost all new builds have 2x2 GB sticks of 1600 mhz CL 7 RAM nowdays.

Third, that HDD is super slow. A 500 GB Samsung Spinpoint F3 or Seagate 7200.12 is the man standard and wouldn't cost much more.

Fourth, that nVidia card is really expensive and outclassed by similarly priced GPUs and some cheaper ones. It's also going to be obsolete as of March 26th.

Fifth, that OCZ unit isn't the hgihest quality. It certainly isn't as good as the Corsair you had.

I'm taking a stab at the budget here and saying you've got about $1,500 for the actual tower. If that's about right, this would be much, much better:

CPU: i5-750 $200
Mobo: Gigabtye GA-P55A-UD3 $135
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $115
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $90
GPU: HD 5970 $700
PSU: Corsair 750W 80+ $100
Case: HAF 922 $90
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $25
HSF: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $29

Total: $1,484

I'm limited as to what my insurers will replace. in terms of spec, is their proposal, with my changes a good gaming rig?
Ideas on a 3d mark score?

thanks again!

 

[MadAdmiral]

I would make a counter proposal using either the above system or the cash value of what you paid for the old one. If that's not accepted, demand that they include at least another 2 GB stick of RAM. After all, 4x1 GB does not equal 1x2 GB. You should also try to get them to include the CPU cooler, as your previous build had one and their offer does not.

I have no idea on a 3dMark score, but there are a lot of benchmarks out there, so you can look it up. It would be good for gaming for now, but will quickly show it's age.

 

[MatildaCS]

Sorry, I didnt make Myself clear... When the PC was damaged, it only had a crappy 1x1gb ram in it, and the CPU cooler was stock from intel.
I can get the cash replacement for my system, but won't get as much as their proposed system is worth.
Surely this system will play all new releases at max settings. Surely it would do for a couple of years aswell?!
Sure, it will start to age quickly but then an i5 system would aswell.

Any additional input with it in mind that CPU cooler and RAM were not in my original system?

Oh, is it worth going for a RAID 0 or shall I just upgrade to 1tb instead of 2x 250 gb?
I have a laptop which I use for music and film d/l and the laptop is used for iTunes for my iPhone so the systembis used purely for gaming and occasional office work.

Thanks

 

[MadAdmiral]

I don't think RAID is worth it. You'd be better getting a 500 GB platter drive (Samsung Spinpoint F3 500 GB or 1 TB, Seagate 7200.12 500 GB or 1 TB or WD Caviar Black 1 TB (6 GBps version) or 2 TB).

The problem with saying it will play the newest games at the maximum details is that in a year, DirectX 11 will come into the mainstream. That means that the card in the system will not be playing games at the highest details levels (and indications show it's a big difference when fully implemented). The i5 system would last a lot longer.

Out of curiosity, what's the cash amount they're offering? You could probably get a better gaming build with any amount greater than $1,000 or so...

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

See if you can step down the PSU, case and the GPU to upgrade the CPU. corair tx650, cooler master cm 690 advance and the HD5770, should save enough money to get a intel q9550.

 

[MatildaCS]

I don't think RAID is worth it. You'd be better getting a 500 GB platter drive (Samsung Spinpoint F3 500 GB or 1 TB, Seagate 7200.12 500 GB or 1 TB or WD Caviar Black 1 TB (6 GBps version) or 2 TB).

The problem with saying it will play the newest games at the maximum details is that in a year, DirectX 11 will come into the mainstream. That means that the card in the system will not be playing games at the highest details levels (and indications show it's a big difference when fully implemented). The i5 system would last a lot longer.

Out of curiosity, what's the cash amount they're offering? You could probably get a better gaming build with any amount greater than $1,000 or so...

They are offering me £1150 (UK pounds)
I have monitor, mouse and K/B so just need a case and things to fill it.
They have said that money saved on GPU can be offset to CPU aswell. So as long as it stays under this budget, I can have ANYTHING!!

They recommended prices from Scan.co.uk as a guideline.

Any new ideas now? Im not up to date with the current tech and I dont fancy spending weeks researching everything! (Plus, if I do, my girlfreind will definately dump my geek ass...)

 

[MadAdmiral]

That's $1,700. Price out the build above. I would be surprised if it was more than that.

Also check ebuyer. That's the only other PC component site I can think of over there.

 

[obsidian86]

What's the budget? It looks alright in terms of performance, but it's pretty bad compared to what you could have for roughly the same price.

First, it's a LGA775 build, which is a dying socket. You won't have an options to upgrade without a new motherboard.

Second, it is low on RAM. Almost all new builds have 2x2 GB sticks of 1600 mhz CL 7 RAM nowdays.

Third, that HDD is super slow. A 500 GB Samsung Spinpoint F3 or Seagate 7200.12 is the man standard and wouldn't cost much more.

Fourth, that nVidia card is really expensive and outclassed by similarly priced GPUs and some cheaper ones. It's also going to be obsolete as of March 26th.

Fifth, that OCZ unit isn't the hgihest quality. It certainly isn't as good as the Corsair you had.

I'm taking a stab at the budget here and saying you've got about $1,500 for the actual tower. If that's about right, this would be much, much better:

CPU: i5-750 $200
Mobo: Gigabtye GA-P55A-UD3 $135
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $115
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $90
GPU: HD 5970 $700
PSU: Corsair 750W 80+ $100
Case: HAF 922 $90
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $25
HSF: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $29

Total: $1,484

had to switch memory to 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600), CAS 8

and 1tb to 500gb

it comes to
Total
£1,346.91
on scan

but maybe something like this


or just switch i5 for i7 860 and 5970 for 5870 then it comes to bout £1170 on scan

 

[MadAdmiral]

I wouldn't go up to the i7-860. You wouldn't see any benefit.

Since it appears you have to drop down to the HD 5870, pick up a Asus P7P55D-E Pro instead of the board I listed. This one has two PCIe 2.0 slots for Crossfire, which you may need in a number of years. The 5970 wouldn't need to be Crossfired (it's already two 5870s on one card), but the 5870 might.

These XMS3 CAS 7 sticks would be better. They're about the same price.

 

[Silvune]

Here is the build on ebuyer, including Windows 7:
CPU: Intel Core i5 750 £160
CPU Heatsink: ZALMAN CNPS10X £28 Probably the best cheapest one on ebuyer, they don't have the Hyper 212 Plus.
Mobo: ASUS P7H57D-V EVO £150
RAM: G-Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 Ripjaw Memory Kit CL7(7-8-7-24) 1.65V £95
GPU: XFX RADEON HD 5870 1GB £310
PSU: Antec EarthWatts 750W £77
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 £80
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB £42
OS: Win 7 64bit Home Premium £76
Cheapest SATA DVD Burner £20

£1038

You'll even have some left over and this is much better than what you were being offered.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I would personally switch the board to an Asus P7P55D-E EVO for 27 more pounds, and up the HDD to a 1 TB drive.

It's definitely much better than what's offered.