2010 New Budget Gaming Rig

I'm assuming this is primarily for gaming and that you won't be doing much cpu intensive work (video rendering/encoding or extensive photoshop).

If that is the case, and you like intel, I would HIGHLY suggest you get the i5-760 with the LGA1156 socket. Most games only support dual core and so you don't really gain an advantage of the quad core i7-9xx series. If you really want a i7-9xx, then I would say just get a 930. The extra clock speed is something that you can unlock on your own super easily and most likely not worth the extra money you're paying.

If you are staying with the 9xx, you would need RAM in multiples of 3, not 2, since memory is triple threaded. If you are taking my advice and switching to the 760, then stay with the 4gbs. Otherwise, step up to 6gb.

The other benefit of the 1156 is that mobo's are much cheaper. The best value of the bunch is the Asus P7P55D-E Pro. Has SLI and o/c ability, along with usb 3.0 and sata II.

I have never heard of the Crusade, but it doesn't seem to have good word of mouth in various forum threads. I would recommend any high quality 650w unit for sli 460's. XFX, Corsair, Seasonic are top tier. Below that, but still okay if you don't get a lemon, I would say Antec Earthwatts and OCZ. I don't know what is available for you in the UK.

Most people would recommend a 1tb samsung f3 spinpoint drive, as that drive is usually only like 60-70 US$'s. Again, don't know what the pricing is for you.

Hey,

Thanks for the reply. Yeh I did look into the 1156 socket option for a while but just kept finding forums saying how compromised it was because of this, that and the other. And as this is meant to be a mean gaming rig, I didn't want to compromise by running sli and different things at the same time.

Well, just to let you know I've pressed the button now, couldn't wait any longer! Lol. I've bumped up the ram to 6gb (2x3gb) patriot low latecey ram (the ones with the blue heat sink over them).

Also, I let temptation take over and I ended up buying a £110 gaming case (budget was orignonaly £50 lol). Just couldn't resist that new nzxt full tower phantom case. I got the black version.

So, I've spent about £680 in total and I'm still minus a power supply and graphics card! I'll pick these up next month, I might go with the gtx470 but just alittle worried about how hot it runs andnpowee consumption, may just stick with the gtx460 future sli, or go for an ati 5870.

Can't wait till my stuff comes! Lol, this Jammu first ever computer build, and I'll be putting it all together based on everything I've learned from YouTube vidoes and Internet forums. Hmm don't think I can really call this a budget system anymore tho.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up ref ram. Do you think my system will be good based on my parts?

Core i7

Woops, were it says 6gb (2x3gb) that's suppose to say (3x2gb) triple channel memory.

Also, I got a bit of a better western digital hard drive, caviar black SATA 6gb/s 64mb cache - OEM.

Don't really no what difference it's going to be but got it anyway. I'm guna pick up a ssd in 2 months, only a small one tho just for my operating system and games

XFX 650W XXX Edition Single Rail Modular PSU - £69.99inc. vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191826

For the $$ i would hit a better returns of investment frames-per-pound so consider something like a simple 955BE + 870 chipset and smack in a HD 5870 there?