First Build unsure if I should go for i5 or 17? 6870

[wg1234]

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next 2-4 weeks

Budget Range: £600 - 700 excluding the parts I’ve got already. I'd be willing to go over a bit if the part is really that necessary - any and all comments/suggestions/critiques welcomed, please.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming at 1080p & good frame rate (I’ll be new to pc gaming, but have a 360 and ps3)(games like crysis & other FPS), media (music & movies, movies to my tv, surround sound to amp), using & learning photoshop, dreamweaver & using and learning video editing (adobe premier) Quietness

Parts Not Required: Monitor, dvd drives, harddrives, keyboard, mouse. Maybe case, maybe PSU

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: scan.co.uk, ebuyer, overclocker.co.uk or any other recommened uk sites

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Parts Preferences: Intel, other than that, no preference.

Overclocking: No (unless its easy)

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I would love a quiet system, as I’ve currently using a sff dell pc that makes a racket whilst on. I’m unsure of the main parts for my needs. Im thinking that maybe a i7 might be overkill for me being a beginner in gaming, photoshop and video editing? But figure it would future proof me. Would I still be able to play games at high settings with an i5 if I have a 6870? would there be much difference using the 6870 in an i7 then a i5?

Is there alot of difference between a i5 and i7? in video editing ( I heard something about encoding? but then again I'll just be a beginner) and gaming, oh yeah and noise.

What I’m thinking of & what I’ve bought:

Thinking of:Processor: i7-950 or i5 760
Motherboard: ?
RAM: ?
Graphics Card: 6870 Im unsure what make to get.
CPU Fans & Heatsink: ?
What I’ve bought
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 Hard Drive x2

What I've bought:

Case: I’ve bought a 2nd hand Antec 900 case from ebay, which came as was, so without all the screws mounts etc that probably originally came with the case.
Power Supply: coolmaster rs-700 power supply Unsure if I should use, it came with the Antec case I bought from ebay Is there anyway to test if the power supply is good?
Optical drives: Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM

X1 - Samsung SH-D163C Black, 48x CD-ROM 16x DVD-ROM, SATA, OEM


Thanks for any help

 

[wortwortwort]

The i5 760 should be more than enough for gaming.

 

[arges86]

for your price range i'd go w/ the i5 760
if anything, i'd use the savings for faster RAM, or more HD space

 

[wg1234]

thanks so far for the suggestions. As its my first build, Im a little worried about the 2nd hand case and psu. The case shouldnt be to bad, Im sure there cant be much that can go wrong with the case, but somebody told me if the psu is dodgy it could blow all my conponents (that I aint even got yet..lol I would cry, if that happened lol) Is there away to test the psu. I mentioned this to somebody in my computing course who said that I dont really need to worry about blowing the conponents and that it would either work or not.

btw, if I go with the i5 anybody got any suggestions on a good motherboard?

 

[vindictive]

thanks so far for the suggestions. As its my first build, Im a little worried about the 2nd hand case and psu. The case shouldnt be to bad, Im sure there cant be much that can go wrong with the case, but somebody told me if the psu is dodgy it could blow all my conponents (that I aint even got yet..lol I would cry, if that happened lol) Is there away to test the psu. I mentioned this to somebody in my computing course who said that I dont really need to worry about blowing the conponents and that it would either work or not.

btw, if I go with the i5 anybody got any suggestions on a good motherboard?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621

 

[arges86]

your PSU is from a reputable brand, so i wouldn't worry so much about it.
I personally go w/ a PSU thats @ least 80+ certified, and your is.
Usually when a PSU starts to die, it won't 'fry' your components, it usually just stops supplying constant voltage to intensive pieces (ala v drops to graphics cards)

The P55 motherboard that vindictive suggested is a good one to use.

 

[vindictive]

and honestly.. if you go with i5 overclock... if your going to run stock then i'd go i7 (although I'm going with i7 950 OC to 4GHz for my build).
its very easy http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/

 

[wg1234]

I guess I'm going the i7 route

I just received some ram I ordered on a good deal

Corsair 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) £65

Now I got to look for an i7 9xx processor & motherboard to go with the ram. any recommendations? probably looking to spend about £350 for both

if I dont overclock Im guessing that I dont need a cooler? or do I?

What is better 6870, 5870 or 460 1gb bearing in mind I want to keep idle noise down, can all of them output to an 5.1 amp through hdmi? (does sound and video go through the hdmi from the gfx cards?)

 

[arges86]

for your CPU you'll prob. want the Core i7-950 (can be had for about $294.99 or £186.994)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i3-athlon-ii-x4,2791-5.html

If you don't OC, then u don't NEED an aftermarket cooler, but i always recommend them anyway. They aren't that expensive, they can be much quieter, and if u decide to push the CPU by a few Mhz in the future (very easy and safe to do) then your all set. Always remember that cooler is better, so reduce heat wherever u can, and it will prolong the life of the product

Nvidia has an audio passthrough w/ its cards since the 9800 series.
Out of all the cards you picked, the HD 5870 is prob. the best, but for its price you can almost get 2 GTX 460s
I have Nvidia's GTX 470 and i love it. Quite enough, powerful, and it fit into my budget.
At this point, you have to think of what your going to do w/ the card specifically, as some applications and games do better w/ one brand over the other
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850,2782.html

 

[wg1234]

with the pc that I build I want to use it for gaming, as a htpc, and with the adobe software photshop, premier. When runnig movies I want to be able to get 5.1 sound through my amp, I used to use hdmi from my Sony vaio laptop to do this until I upgraded it from Vista to Windows 7.

I dont mind if the sound comes from the motherport or some sort of sound card with optical out or s/pif, just as long as its in sync with what ever Im watching.

Hearing that Sandy Bridge is coming out has made me stay on hold in regards to getting the motherboard and cpu. Do you think the 1366 motherboards or i7 950 will become cheaper when SB is releashed? or would I be better getting Sandy Bridge if its the same sort of money.

BTW I already got the triple memory ram (6gb) will this be able to work in sandy bridge, I think I heard that SB takes Dual channel ram.

 

[mdd1963]

The upcoming socket 1155 SandyBridge cpus and mainboards are indeed only dual channel memory capable.....get another like DDR3 stick to fill all 4 slots, rather than 'waste' a stick...

 

[arges86]

When building for me, i usually buy a generation old (especially when a new one is just released).
The day Sandy Bridge comes out, the current Core products will prob. drop in price. They are still great products, and blow away any game on the market today.

As for your 5.1 surround sound, i'd make sure to get a video card that has the audio passthrough. Nearly every motherboard (even mine from '07) has 5.1, and allot have 7.1 now as well.
Sound cards are becoming unnecessary accept for extreme enthusiasts