New build for £800- £1000

[grantwooduk]

Approximate Purchase Date: January 2012

Budget Range: £800-£1000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Movies, Photo Editing, Web Browsing

Parts Not Required: Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Anything UK based preferably.

Country: United Kingdom, England

Parts Preferences: i7-2700k (if applicable)

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: A nice clean-cut case would be nice, and sound levels at the lowest would be prefered. If we can get this system to be running Skyrim/BF3 at HIGH/ULTRA quality, this would be prefered.

 

[g-unit1111]

I don't know what the power requirements in the UK vs. US are so someone else will have to help you out there but this is what you'll need:

- Between 650 - 750 watt PSU
- Intel i5-2500K
- 8GB RAM
- Between 64 - 128GB SSD
- Geforce GTX 560TI or Radeon 6950
- Z68 motherboard (I like the Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P)
- Additional 1 - 3 TB storage if you can get it for not that much money

 

[metal orient]

Hi grantwooduk,

How about this build:

Intel 2500k combo: 2500k, Gigabyte Z68X UD3P, CM 212+ £280
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/GIGABYTE+Intel+i5-2500K+Gamer+Bundle+w%2F+FREE+DiRT+3+PC+Game%21+?productId=47140

8Gb Mushkin RAM £36
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/8GB+Mushkin+Blackline+LV+%23996988+%282x4GB%29+DDR3+1600MHz+9-9-9-24+?productId=43961

ASUS direct CU II GTX 570 £250
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Asus+GTX+570+Direct+CU+II+1280MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=43791

OCZ solid 3 120GB £114
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Solid+State+Drives/OCZ+Solid+3+120GB+2.5%22+SATA-III+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+?productId=44531

Seasonic 620W £84
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/Modular+650W+or+less/620W+Seasonic+M12II-620+Modular+ATX2.3+Power+Supply+?productId=46663

Fractal Design R3 £78
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/MIDI+Tower/Fractal+Design+Define+R3+Black+Pearl+V2+Midi+Tower+Chassis+w%2F+USB3.0+?productId=46520

LG BD player/writer £68
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Blu-Ray+%2F+DVD+Drives/Blu-ray+BD-R+Writers/LG+BH10LS38+Internal+Blu-Ray+DVD%C2%B1RW+SATA+Drive+-+Black+-+Retail+?productId=47103

and Windows 7 Home Premium £70
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Software/Operating+Systems/Microsoft+Windows+7+Home+Premium+64+Bit+SP1%2C+Operating+System%2C+Single%2C+-+OEM+?productId=38272

So that total cost comes to £997 with shipping and VAT.

I'll agree it's a little too much so a few places to save:

Could go for a cheaper board like this: https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Intel+1155+Z68+%28B3%29/Gigabyte+GA-Z68AP-D3+Intel+Z68+%28REV+B3%29+Socket+1155+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=45563

and then buy cooler + cpu separately but it will only save you £8 and not really worth it IMO.

Then you could reduce the size of the SSD to a 64GB version, would cut about £50 off but again not really value if you ask me.

Changing from a Bluray to a DVD would save £50 and i would recommend that, but that's because i've never seen the point of bluray for PC's.


You could also reduce your GPU to a 560Ti, i wouldn't recommend a 6950 simply because performance is comparable between it and the 560Ti and it's about £30 more expensive.
A good choice woudl be this:
ASUS DCUII 560 Ti £165 (£85 cheaper than 570)
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Asus+GeForce+GTX+560Ti+DCII%2F2DI%2F1GD5+DirectCU+II+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=43564

You could save money on the case but i wouldn't really want to get into that right now. It's better you find one you like.

SO with a DVDRW and a 560Ti and a smaller SSD, and an OCZ ZS 650w PSU you could knock the price down to: £776

PSU Link: £58
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/650W+or+less/650W+OCZ+ZS+Series+ATX2.2+80PLUS+Bronze+Power+Supply+?productId=45458

You will of course have noticed that i haven't put in an HDD, at this point in time i really question the point in buying them, way overpriced, a 120GB SSD will do you for a while i'm sure.

 

[grantwooduk]

Thanks for the suggestion Metal,

A couple of things i was thinking was:

Getting the 560ti as you suggested,

Getting a Samsung BD-ROM for ~£40 (as films were stated in the orginal request, getting a BD seemed much needed) ,

Going for the Antec True Power 750w which is around ~£85 which would allow for SLI 560ti if I go ahead with it.

Possibly upgrading the case to a HAF 932 which is only around £15 more but i feel would be better.

I don't know what your thoughts are on the changes at all?

 

[metal orient]

I do think that right now in terms of high end GPU's the 560 Ti offers the best value, so so by all means go for it.

If you want the BD-ROM fair enough, i personally have never used a Bluray Disc which is why i don't consider them.

You did say in your post that you didn't want to SLI, But yes that PSU would cover it.

The HAF 922 would do the same at a cheaper price. Although it's not as big, if you want that.

 

[grantwooduk]

I apologise, thought i put Maybe on the SLI front

I think having the slightly larger case as well seems more logical on the expansion front, and a cooling point of view... I've always admired the HAF cases for the build quality and the fact that they work....

 

[pro xxx assassin]

As others have specified a good system , i would just like to add "scan.co.uk" Do some good today only deals which are really good value so i would recommend using their site.