~£1000 GBP do it all machine

[bascadeo]

hello,

Just looking for a little advice, been browsing arround and think ive got a reasonable set up for my needs but the more and more i read the more i doubt myself so just looking for clarification and pointers really. I also have a few questions at the end.

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next 2 weeks

Budget Range: £800-£1200 GBP - i realise this is a big range but im not prepared to skimp if the price/performance is worth it.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Video Editing, Gaming, Software development.


Parts Not Required: Only need the base unit.


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Rather embarassingly ive only found two sites (ebuyer.com, scan.co.uk)


Country of Origin: England


Parts Preferences: Looking at a i5 / gtx460 combo. Open to suggestions.


Overclocking: Yes - first time ill be Oc'ing but ill be looking to get a good 30+%


SLI or Crossfire: Yes - if not immediate, definatly in the future.


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080


Additional Comments: Im really stuck on the case in all honesty, I'd like a side window,mid- big tower for good cooling and space for sli and other expansion, less than £90 (not alot ay...) i have a few other questions but ill pop those at the end as im sure your pretty bored by now. Just to cheer you up when you breach the wall of text.

My Proposed Build:

Intel i5 760 - £146

ASUS p7p55d-E-pro - £140

PALIT GTX 460 SONIC 1024MB - £154

850W-Corsair-CMPSU-850HXUK-ATX-EPS12V-Modular-UK - £130

4GB-(2x2GB)-Corsair-XMS3-DDR3-PC3-10666-(1333)-Non-ECC-Unbuffered-CAS-9-9-9-24-DHX-16V - £63

Prolimatech-Megahalems-Rev-BSuper-6-Heatpipe-Tower-Cooler-for-NEW-Socket-775-1156-1366-(Fanless) - £41

1TB-Western-Digital-WD1002FAEX-Caviar-Black-SATA-6Gb-s-7200rpm-64MB-Cache-8-ms - £67

looking at the antec 902 for a case... £80
TOTAL: £820

So thats my thoughts on a build, i was tempted to go dual gtx 460's. Still will long term unless you persuade me otherwise. Just wanted to know if everything would work well together and i havent got some good things that will be let down by others. Will it perform how i need or would i be better going for other parts, and is my price/performace good or am i paying too much/little for what i need.

Is it worth me waiting for sandy bridge? bulldozer? to me they look like a small increase in performace but will be a tad more epxensive requiring new boards that will have price hikes, and ati 6xxx seem weak from what ive read. should i man up and buy or wait?

 

[bascadeo]

Dont mean to be an impatient old git, but any feedback?

would be much appriciated, thanks.

there is also a super saver deal on scan.co.uk this weekend:
Intel Core i7 950 Bloomfield 45nm, 3.06 GHz, QPI 4.8GT/s, 8MB Cache, 23x Ratio, 130W, Retail
120mm Akasa Apache Black Ultra Silent Fan HDB bearing PWM fan *OEM Fan Only
6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3, DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.65V
Asus P6X58D-E, Intel X58, S1366, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 2000 (OC), SATA 6Gb/s, SATA RAID, ATX
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B,Super 6 Heatpipe Tower Cooler for *NEW* Socket 775/1156/1366 (Fanless)
£500, making an i7 build ~£80 more than my current one. worth it?

 

[obsidian86]

either way will be fine for gaming

but this is just as good as the hx850 but cheaper

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/850W-XFX-Black-Edition-70A-Single-Rail-Modular-Power-Supply-EPS12V-ATX12V-135mm-Quiet-Fan-80plus

 

[bascadeo]

its the video editing that worries me, im not sure if the extra threads will be worth the increased cost.

thanks for the PSU btw ill swap it over, appricaite the input.

 

[mosox]

hello,
and ati 6xxx seem weak from what ive read. should i man up and buy or wait?

No way. You can get your other stuff now but wait a couple of weeks for those. The prices for the current cards will go down anyway because of them.

PSU:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/750W-XFX-Black-Edition-Single-Rail-Modular-Power-Supply

That can drive two 460/470 two HD 5850/5870 or any single video card out there.

Get 1600 RAM, you may want to OC the CPU.

LE obsidian's PSU is also very good.

 

[infernox_01]

since you have a £1000 budget, why dont you just swap the i5 for an i7?

i7 950 for £239.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166528

or you could save a bit of money and go for the i7 930 for £221.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/193596

Asus P6X58D-E X58 Socket 1366 Gigabit Lan Triple PCI-E 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard for £153.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/219007

 

[bascadeo]

i was contemplating it, but the gains arnt huge for the extra money. however with that combo deal i listed i think it only adds up to be £83 more, with the mobo you listed and a 950. so completely contradicting myself i think i will go for that.

one last quick one, the HDD i listed (SATA 3 -- 1TB-Western-Digital-WD1002FAEX-Caviar-Black-SATA-6Gb-s-7200rpm-64MB-Cache-8-ms) or an sata 2 samsung F3 and then save up for a small ~60gb ssd in the future?

 

[davcon]

G-Skill 4GB Ripjaws DDR3 PC12800-1600Mhz Cas7 Kit - £77.03 inc VAT
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/home/product/42596/g-skill-4gb-ripjaws-ddr3-pc12800-1600mhz-cas7-kit

Asus P7P55D-E PRO - £133.96 inc. VAT
http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop/index.pl?prodID=B259275

Samsung HD103SJ SpinPoint F3 1TB -£39.94 inc. VAT
http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Samsung+HD103SJ+SpinPoint+F3+1TB+SATA-II+3.5%22+Hard+Drive+?productId=37726

 

[bascadeo]

thanks Davcon, given me a few more sites to sniff arround aswell as some speedy RAM

 

[Silvune]

Another option is to go for a Lynnfield i7, the i7-870 is cheaper than the i5-950 usually and you don't have to change motherboard or RAM. I don't think it's worth going up to an X58 build unless you want the option to add three graphics cards.

Definitely go for the Samsung Spinpoint F3 as the only area where it is slower than the WD is in booting and only by ~2 seconds according to this review: http://techreport.com/articles.x/19330/1

You know you're going to have to get a fan for that Megahalems don't you? Especially as you are OCing.

The Antec 902 is a good, popular case. You may wish to check out the Thermaltake Element S (which has a windowed version), NZXT Tempest Evo, CM 690 & CM 690 II Advanced (which both have windowed versions).

There should be some definitive news of AMD 6800 within two weeks, so I think you should keep your eye out for it before buying. I am under the impression that the 6870 is supposed to be a GTX 460 killer.

 

[bascadeo]

Ill be waiting for my GPU but im going to order the rest of the parts, I dont see those dropping drasticly in price in 2weeks.

to upscale from a 1156 build to a 1366 build, it will cost me £84 more, to go from an i7 870 to i7 950 its £32 more so from where i sit its either an i5 760 or an i7 950 build. My indecisiive mind will spend the good part of today arguing with itself as to which is better, like if im not using a sata 3 HDD and im very unlikely to use usb 3.0 why would i pay for it. but there nice to say i have incase i ever need them, such as the tri channel ram when in my heart i know 2x2 would suffice.

Thanks for all the help, very useful. ill post what i bought later this evening i assume if you would like to know. if not just tell me to walk.