Gaming Build, need to sort some details

[hugolairespires]

Hi everyone, I'm currently looking at this build in PCSpecialis.co.uk but have a couple doubts.

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK FUSION CASE inc. 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-930 (2.80GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5850 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
Power Supply & Case Cooling
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

1- Case, "On the rear the case has a slot for a 120mm cooling fan, and the side of the case has an industry standard Intel TAC 1.1 approved air duct in additon to the cooling vents." would this be suitable for this build? They have their options here.

2- PSU, would this be enough to power this build?

3- Processor Cooling, would the "INTEL SOCKET LGA1366 STANDARD CPU COOLER" be enough or do I need the " SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER "?

Try and answer as simple as possible as my hardware knowledge is almost non existant. Thank you for your help.

 

[Guest]

Yes that would be a nice enought case, thought having a fan at the front would improve airflow.

The power supply unit is perfectly fine for that system. I have an i5 750 and HD5850 with a 600W PSU.

You only need a better cooler for overclocking, but since your no PC expert stock cooler is just fine.


Hope I helped

 

[Silvune]

How much does that all come to? I tried to match it on the site and I came up with £991 inc VAT.

1. Your graphics card does run reasonably cool, so it probably doesn't need a gaming case, but it might be better to get a gaming case. It looks like there is an option to "choose your own case" where you can get a case that isn't offered by PCSpecialist.co.uk. If they will build the system in a case of your choice, then I'd suggest the "Antec Three Hundred", the cheapest site to get it from is lambda-tek.com. Or the Silverstone PS05B from scan.co.uk.

2. Don't know. A good 600W PSU could definitely power this build, but I don't know if that one is in fact a good one. You could risk it or go for the Corsair TX650.

3. Again it's hard to know without asking someone who has it already to test it, whether or it's better than the stock (Intel Socket LGA1366 standard CPU cooler) or worth £19.

For gaming you don't need an Intel i7-930. CPUs are broadly equal in gaming, especially when you only use one graphics card. You could get a better build (high quality power supply & case) for less even including a 5870. http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-top-spec-pc/ I chose the AMD Phenom II X4 955, 4GB Samsung RAM, 5870, 1TB Hard Disk, Corsair TX650 and the PCS Maelstrom T900 and it came to £908 inc VAT. After all that I'd have a better gaming system as the video card is much more important in gaming.

 

[hugolairespires]

Base on the information given here and a forum for Final Fantasy XIV (game for which I´m buying the PC) I
got the following build.

Main difference is getting an AMD instead of Intel because of the information I got from the FFXIV forum.

CPU
Minimum: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz or higher
Minimum: AMD Athlon X2 2.0GHz or higher
Recommended: Intel Core i7-920 2.66GHz or higher
Recommended: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8 GHz or higher


Graphics Card
Minimum: nVidia GeForce 9600 or better with VRAM 512MB or more
Minimum: ATI HD 2900 or better with VRAM 512MB or more
Recommended: nVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or better with VRAM 768MB or more
Recommended: ATI HD 5830 1GB or better

A) With the AMD I also had to change the MoBo and I have no idea if this is good enough so I would ask to pay attention to that.

B) The site also advises that I do not need the 600W PSU and advise the "450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan" as a money saving oportunity, which will save me 35 GBP plus tax. What you think?

C) Since this is changed I would once again ask if the cooling is enough.

Case
Antec Three Hundred
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X6 1055T (2.80GHz/9MB CACHE/AM3/)
Motherboard
ASUS® M4A87TD/USB3: DUAL DDR3,SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5850 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card
NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
Power Supply & Case Cooling
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

 

[Silvune]

Could you give me the total price of each of the two builds that you've posted so far?

I think you would be better off with the better video card. However you probably know more about FFXIV than I do.
Maybe FFXIV will be a game that is more processor dependant, so you want to get a solid CPU base now and will adjust the GPU later if need be. Which would be easier than replacing the CPU.

A) Yes the motherboard is fine. However you won't have the option to add an additional graphics card in future with that board. So if you want that feature, and depending on price you might be better going back to the i7-930 build if you want that option.

B) Even a really good 450W PSU would probably not be advisable for a system with a 5850 and a power hungry processor, so one of unknown quality is definitely not advisable.

C) Now that you have a better case, the cooling I'd say is almost certain to not be an issue.