Would appreciate help on new build plz

[Guest]

Need help with building a new pc, Im looking for something balanced between been able to use for work and gaming. Im fed up of researching myself and seem to find myself going round in circles.

So basically it will need to be able to cope with moving large files quickly because I hate waiting, the files are on average 2GB to 20GB sometimes more, as in music/pictures/movies/wrar ect,

As for gaming I just want something that can handle 90% of the games out there on max settings if possible, I dont want the best graphics card out there, just something thats in the top half.

Also Im looking at running raid with prob 3 drives or more and a large 2TB for storage depending on what the community advise, is SSD the way to go or should i stick to the normall drives, also something that as really been bugging me is that I read on here somewhere that Intel motherboards bottleneck raid arrays and AMD dont, is this true ?

So lets say my budget is around $1250 or £800 < think i converted that right.
So I need
CPU
MOTHERBOARD
RAM
GPU
HARDDRIVES
PSU
case not needed !

 

[NeoElemental]

$1200 is probably about the worst price point to try and build a system for (imo), because it's just shy of building a top of the line system and a little more than building a top/middle system.

You can easily build a i5-760 Intel system for around 800 (let's say 700 seeing as you don't need the case). This gives you some room to figure out your HD situation. The build is listed below.

SSD at your budget is pretty much limited to a boot drive, on which you can put your applications. Anything above a few hundred gigs is way out of your budget. I would recommend the Vertex 2. That being said, SSD prices are on the downward trend, so maybe waiting would be wise here, if you are in a situation where that is feasible.

Vertex 2 - 170

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550&cm_re=vertex_2-_-20-227-550-_-Product

For regular storage, the spinpoint f3 1tb drive from samsung is pretty much the gold standard, especially if you have ANY interest in raiding the drives. The caviar blacks from wd are gimped in terms of raid capabilities. Their price has been fluctuation recently, with sales as low as $60 for a tb, so maybe keep an eye out for a good deal.

Samsung f4 Spinpoint 1TB - 75

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=samsung_f3_spinpoint-_-22-152-185-_-Product


Final note: these prices are in USD from newegg, so I don't know what the pricing/availability is where you are.


Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor - 210

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product


GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - 120

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product


G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) - 102

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product


GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 - 230

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product


XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W ATX12V 2.2 / ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active

and

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - 150

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.469033

Total: 812

 

[Guest]

Thx NeoElemental,

The SSD idea was just for boot up and the basics.
And as for the GPU I was looking at the ATI 5850 but the one you suggest seems to be getting good ratings.

 

[Guest]

ok I found these bundle deal, its not far off the same as yours.

Intel Core i5 760 2.8GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) Processor - Retail
1x £144.51
Asus GTX 460 ENGTX460 DIRECTCU/2DI/1GD5 Voltage Tweak Edition
1x £182.11
Asus P7H55-M Pro Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard
1x £83.41
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
1x £82.24
Samsung HD103SJ SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 3.5" Hard Drive
1x £42.29
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular Silent SLI/Crossfire Ready ATX2.2 Power Supply
1x £72.84

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total: (inc. VAT) £607.40

Not sure if my old 620W PSU from my old AMD system could be used, I also have 2 wd 150GB raptor drives that could be used.

 

[NeoElemental]

That's a solid build. If you're looking to get to your budget, you could spend a little more on the PSU and maybe try and find something from Corsair or Seasonic (seems like XFX isn't available where you are). OCZ is good, but not quite as good as the two I mentioned above.

If you have the 2 raptors, you could raid them as your boot and use the f3 for mass storage. You were probably thinking something along these lines anyways.

Just so you know the board you have is a micro-atx board, which means it's smaller than the normal board. Usually you pay a premium for smaller sizes, so if it's not something you were actively looking for, maybe looking for a non micro-atx board would save a few. Also, depending on the quality of your case, there could be problems mounting a micro-atx board if your case is built for regular atx boards. Most cases can fit both.

 

[Guest]

Dam ! never noticed that, your right, I overlooked that, thx again NeoElemental.

I will wait just incase anyone else comes up with any ideas, but so far I will go with the system you suggest.

 

[sp12]

Lol drop that PSU.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2008/11/12/ocz_700w_modxstream_pro_power_supply/4

 

[Guest]

Corsair PSU it is then !