Building a new PC- need help £700-800 please

hiroshu

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Jun 5, 2010
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18,510
Hey there. Im building a new pc for a friend of mine. The most important things is that he needs a 22inch HD monitor found a Samsung one for £150- but perhaps better ones for similar prices?
As for everything else, it's been 2 years since i looked at buying parts, so a bit behind the times i.e. knowledge of i5 core/i7-
All i think he wants- is a gaming system that can play SC2 and any upcoming games on ultra settings.
Aiming to purchase within the next 2-3 weeks.
Doesnt need Speakers, keyboard, mouse, doesnt need OS have windows 7
Any uk shipping based website for parts if possible.
Would like Intel CPU quad core, Asus Mobo, ddr3 ram, full tower case+ the 22 inch HD LCD screen.
Not specifically looking to overclock his pc, because i don't want him to waste his money- but could do slight changes if within safe levels.

Any help would be much appriecated. Thank you

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: (e.g.: this week (the closer the better)) BUDGET RANGE: (e.g.: 600-800) Before / After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: (e.g.: Folding@Home, gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: (e.g.: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS) **Include Power Supply Make & Model If Re-using**

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: (e.g.: newegg.com, ncix.com -- to show us selection & pricing) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: (e.g.: Grand Fenwick)

PARTS PREFERENCES: by brand or type (e.g.: I would like to use an AMD CPU & Biostar mobo with a 24" LCD and full tower case)

OVERCLOCKING: Yes / No / Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes / No / Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: (e.g.: 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: (e.g.: Need to have a window and lots of bling, I would like a quiet PC)
 
CPU: Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz £159
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172755

Mobo: ASUS P7P55D EVO £125
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173448

RAM: Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Ballistix Memory Kit CL7 (7-7-7-24) 1.65V £90
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/179278

GPU: HIS iCooler V ATI Radeon HD 5850 £233
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-004-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB £35
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158860

PSU: XFX 650W XXX Edition Single Rail Modular PSU £70
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191826

Disk Drive Anything £15
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145450

Case: Antec Three Hundred £41
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854

Total: £768

I'm not clear whether the £700-800 is supposed to include the monitor. If it doesn't then you've got an ideal gaming CPU, crossfire capable mobo, fast low latency RAM for a good price, ATI's second fastest single GPU - I changed site for this part as it is so much cheaper than you will find most other 5850s at other sites. A fast single platter 500GB drive. A PSU that can crossfire two 5850s and is high quality. Bog standard SATA DVD drive and a good budget case.
Ideally you would get this mobo: Asus P7P55D-E Pro £170, as it is higher quality, safer to OC on and has SATA 6Gbps and USB3, but it would put you over budget.

If you do need a monitor for the £700-800, then change to the MBOX version of the Phenom II X4 955 for ~£130 and a crossfire capable mobo, which ranges from £85 to ~£135, depending on whether you want SATA 6Gbps or not.

As you can see this is a saving of ~£120 which would be enough to buy a 5870 if you didn't need to buy a monitor. In gaming the GPU is much more important than the CPU, and the Phenom II X4 and Intel i5-750 are virtually equal in gaming. So to get higher detail settings and framerates it would be wiser to get the better graphics card. However you need to spend closer to £100 to get a 750W PSU that could crossfire two 5870s.

 
The budget is £800+£150 for the monitor? Here's an AMD rig with a HD 5870

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 870
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/218937
AMD Phenom II X4 955
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190673
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/178943
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146252
LG GH22NS50
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169683
PowerColor HD 5870 PCS
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/199781
Antec Basiq Power 550
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141007
Coolermaster CM690 Dominator
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131551
£785.05

Philips 231E1SB
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/199307
£159.59
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/199307
 

hiroshu

Distinguished
Jun 5, 2010
3
0
18,510
Thankyou for the replies so far :) been a BIG help. Ah he wanted the screen within the 700-800 quid budget... but and extra day worth of work to increase his budget by £50-100 wont be that bad!

Just asking a question about the i5 core- didnt i read something about no hyperthreading capability? or is it replaced by something else? Because i thought the i7 cores had that.

Thankyou (if anyone else has some alternatives would love to hear them)