First Time 500£ build, need review and feedback

[Shershan]

HI

so ive been asking along alot of forums for advice and been searching around parts on scan.co.uk as newegg dont ship to ireland

anyways its my first build and im really nervous because im 15 and this is guna be all the cash that i have into this and i dont wanna get it wrong i mostly play rts and an odd dabble into rpg...hopefully with this new build i can max out the settings.

Approximate Purchase Date:This month

Budget Range: 500£ After Rebates


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, web, school


Parts Not Required: Monitor


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Scan.co.uk

Country of Origin: Republic Of Ireland


Parts Preferences:


Overclocking: Maybe


SLI or Crossfire: No


Monitor Resolution: 1440 x 900


Additional Comments: i need this for a long time into the future for the tasks mentioned

any ways this is what ive come up with

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the mouse and keyboard dont really matter although i would lik to have at least one of them but thats a different topic

anyways any adive would be greatly appreciated

 

[striker410]

Hi there, welcome to the forums!
First, thank you for filling out the form. Makes things SO much easier
A few things I see.
-Get a better PSU! One from Corsair, Antec, XFX, or Silverstone. 650w will give you room for crossfire/SLI
-Get a mobo with am3+ support! Or, switch to the Sandy Bridge platform.
-You should get either a 560 Ti, 6950, or 6870. The 6870 is probably your best bet.
-Also look into a better case. The Coolermaster Elite 430 is a good case, and right around the same price.

Last thing. Get a better mouse! The MX518 is an excellent gaming mouse.

And that about rounds it off! Hope that helps

 

[Shershan]

thanks for the reply

i made a mistake it was sposed to be the xfx 6850 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...u-820mhz-960-stream-processors-2x-dvi-hdmi-dp

is the 6970 that much better?

also does the mobo need to be am3+ for the cpu? is that what the "s am3" means? im a noob at this so please forgiv if its stupid question

as for power supply i had a silverstone 500w picked out http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w...s-80-eff-sli-crossfire-34db-eps-12v-120mm-fan i dont think i have the funds for sli/cross at the moment so would this be sufficient? if i want to do sli/cross il kno to get a higher volt psu bu i kno i wont need to in the near future.

as for the case , its a funny thing because i had that case picked as my first choice but it wont be back on scan until 30 july and i think im ordering this before then but i may hold out until then or i could pay 50£ with an included psu which would be kinda pointless if im not guna use the psu http://www.scan.co.uk/products/cool...-side-window-with-coolermaster-elite-500w-psu

 

[Shershan]

edit: is the 6870 that much better?

 

[striker410]

Yes, the 6870 is worth the small price difference.
I suggested the 6870 over the 560 because of price. The 6870 outperforms the 560 by a small margin, and is cheaper.
That 500w silverstone will do. However, you will not be able to upgrade to Crossfire in the future. If you want that option, this PSU is a bit more but can handle 2 video cards: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-xfx-p1-650s-nlb9-core-edition-80-plus-bronze-85-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-fan

The mobo doesn't HAVE to be AM3+, but AMD is coming out with new processors later this year/next year that will use AM3+. It's only a bit more money, and can mean the difference between an upgrade and a new build.

You can find the case here: http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/MIDI+Tower/Coolermaster+Elite+430+Midi+Tower+-+Black+?productId=41176

That should clear things up

 

[Shershan]

thanks i found a xfx 6870 for just 5£ more

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-xfx-hd-6870-black-edition-4600mhz-gddr5-gpu-940mhz-1120-stream-processors-dvi-hdmi-mdp

thanks

as for the moBo ive looked for am3+ sockets but each one ive found <80£ (budget) is either mATX and/or doesnt support crossfire/SLI

as for the rest of my selection...would you say its good for the purpose i stated ?

 

[striker410]

Here's this one: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-870a-usb3l-amd-870-s-am3plus-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-2000(oc)-sata-6gb-s-sata-raid-atx It's certainly a good deal.

 

[metal orient]

I'd say save a few quid and get the AMD Phenom II 955 rather than the 965 as the only difference is the stock clocks.

If you do plan to overclock it will make no difference.

Also are you sure you need the gaming keyboard? If you don't use macro's you may as well get a cheaper keyboard.

I reckon that'd be a better build than the one you have up top, taken motherboard from striker's recommendation i have pretty much no idea about AMD boards.
The MSI TF III cooler is supposed to be incredible so i'd go with that rather tha the XFX one, i reckon the bitfenix case would be better than the coolermaster one. ALbeit more expensive.

Comes in at around £32 cheaper. BTW check SCAN's today only deals you can generally find good things there.

 

[Shershan]

i like that build alot...but the mobo is confusing...all of the am3+ mobos in budget at most only have hybrid crossfire ...does this still enable normal crosffire? if so then i am exteermely happy with that mobo but for now i am hesitant as if i wanted to crossfire/sli in future, lik striker said its the difference between upgrade and new build :O

thanks for replies

 

[Shershan]

Edit: just found out there two different things and it wouldn work i think that id be more inclined to go for crossfire upgrade than a cpu upgrade in future?

 

[Shershan]

sorry for the constant posting guys...after long thought i researched crossfire and if i thought id need it and i really dont so for am+3 boards which chipset shoold i move for?

 

[striker410]

Well, I would shoot for a an 870-880G as those are the cheapest boards that are still rich with features, like Sata3 and USB3.

 

[Shershan]

ok thans striker so now im with this

i think its the same as metals but a different case and ive stuck with the 965 bcos its in stock

arre these parts all compatible?

 

[striker410]

Yup! All looks good However, keep in mind you will not be able to crossfire. If you can stretch a little, get a mobo with Crossfire as it will let you upgrade down the line.

 

[Shershan]

okay il keep that in mind and try to stretch thanks for all the help

 

[metal orient]

I'd suggest you look in SCAN's Today only deals as you can knock off a few quid on the memory, hard drive and a few pence off the dvd writer.

The link is at the top of the website