£1400 Budget PC

[ashmista]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: In the next two weeks
BUDGET RANGE: £1400 maximum maybe a little more if I can stretch

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, 3d graphic design, surfing the internet, watching movies, folding@home

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor, speakers and OS

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.ebuyer.com, www.scan.co.uk, www.novatech.co.uk

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England

PARTS PREFERENCES: I prefer to use intel cpu's, graphics card I do not have a preferance between ati or nvidia. Which ever offers me the best for money with my budget, I'm pressuming ATI.

OVERCLOCKING: I may overclock my cpu to give me an extra boost

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: I may buy another graphics card when they become cheaper and I need extra performance

MONITOR RESOLUTION: I would like to run as best I can on full 1080p I have a monitor that offers full HD

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Case size isn't a bother to me, i'd like it to be quiet though and have great cooling and fit all my equipmet. 1TB hdd atleast and a bluray rewriter

Thanks in advance for all your help

 

[Alvin Smith]

Hullo, Ash ...

Would you please share the titles and versions of any graphics tools or major plug-in libraries that you intend to use, during the life of this proposed system?

1400 British pounds = 2 124.08 U.S. dollars

That is a sufficient budget. Any other lifestyle/usage details ? Family, etc?

Win7 Pro-64 ?? What OS ? Transcoding? Suites? Volume and Frequency?

WHY are you doing this NOW? Any urgent compulsion? What is it about your current setup that is "not acceptable"? ... Long render times?

Any product pages links, etc., will help us to research any language extensions and hardware features which are typically addressed and utilized by your preferred toolset(s).

Tell us what you want your improved computing experience to provide (like cutting 7 hour renders in half?) ... Having faster loads? ... Large storage? .... Much faster storage? Resources for modern input or plotting peripherals?

Any special peripherals or "usage modes"? Other duties .. Other users ??

Thanks for this info.

= Alvin =

 

[ashmista]

I would most likely use it for my college work I use alot of adobe afterworks and photoshop for that. I'm 18 so I doubt I will be letting my mum or anyone else use it . I use 3ds max 2009. To improve my performance in games and shorten render times. I currently have a pentium 4 3.4ghz so yeah I think I am in need of an update. I do need alot of storage yes,
I store some Hidef movies on my current system so yeah more storage is needed. I will be using win pro 64 bit, but over here in the UK if you're a student you can get it for £35 straight from microsoft.

 

[Alvin Smith]

very cool ...

Looks like you want a decent gaming card, rather than a workstation card ...
Prob I see is the Radeon Catalyst drivers may have trouble with CS4 but the nVidia cards (way better for CS4 and 3Dmodelling) does not sport DirectX-11

Any thots about games vs. Graphics priorities ???

PS: nVidia will have DX11 cards out on March 26th, I think.

= Alvin =

 

[ashmista]

Yeah I know. Oh really? I didn't know the catalyst drivers had problems with cs4. I have always used nvidia cards, but atm ati is leading am i right? Oh they are? Any news on how they will perform compared to the current market? Games vs graphics priorities by that i mean will i prefer to play games or work on my graphic design? Well my graphic design is only a hobby not a job although I will be seeking a career in it, but atm games will be my main priority.

 

[Alvin Smith]

nVidia should be releasing new cards March 26th ... DX11 would be nice.

Most games are not doing DX11, right now, but will, soon (enough).

nVidia cards most closely mimmic the QuadroFX WS cards so I suggest the GTX260 and up, when 3D or codec renders are heavy, but games are priority+1.

*********************************

Make sure the ATI 5000 driver issues are resolved if you're using one of these programs:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/2d-w [...] 810-4.html

For Which Programs Did We Find Concrete Issues?

* CorelDraw, Adobe illustrator, Adobe Freehand MX, Nemetschek AllPlan (2D functions)
* Adobe Photoshop CS3/CS4 (general vector objects on various layers)
* Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft PowerPoint, and various home layout packages
* Microsoft Excel when rendering larger charts, or big spreadsheets with area fills
* Various construction tools, including those for electrical, plumbing, and HVAC drawings
* Various industry-specific tools (drawing annotations, site plans, landscaping plans, etc.)

THG reported that it had a beta fix but I dunno if it's hit the streets or to what extent it fixes the problem....

------------------------------

 

[ashmista]

Would you be able to build up a rig based on my specifications with current hardware ? And then tweak it from there on when new cards become available

 

[Silvune]

Probably something like this:
CPU: Intel i7 930 £233
Mobo: Asus P6X58D Premium £237
RAM: 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic, DDR3 1600Mhz PC3-12800 TR3X6G1600C7 7-7-7-20, 1.65V £178
GPU: 1GB XFX HD 5870 £340
PSU: 750W Antec EarthWatts £79
Case: Coolermaster CM 690 II Advanced £82 Will fit cards up to just under 11"/~28cm. So the 5870 will be a tight fit.
HDD: Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB £61
BR: LG BH10LS30.AUAR10B 10x Blu-Ray Writer - Retail £146
Heatsink: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus £19 If you buy from ebuyer, get the Scythe Mugen 2 Rev.B.

Total: £1375

 

[Alvin Smith]

Antec 300 Three Hundred Case
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854

Corsair 650W TX Series PSU - 120mm Fan, 80+% Efficiency, Single +12V Rail
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135514

Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135613

CoolerMaster Hyper TX3 Cooler LGA775/1156/AM2/AM3
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/195684

Intel Core i7 860 2.8GHz Socket LGA 1156 8MB L3 Cache OEM Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/199115

ASUS P7P55D Evo iP55 Socket LGA 1156 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173448

G-Skill
G-Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 Ripjaw Memory Kit CL7(7-8-7-24) 1.65V
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/180490

Gigabyte GTS250 1GB GDDR3 HDMI DVI VGA Out PhysX and Cuda ready PCI-E Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167792

LG BH10LS30 10x2x10 Blu-Ray Re-Writer & DVD±RW with LightScribe SATA Black - Full Retail Box With Software
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/195145

Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173804

Add it up ...

= Al =

 

[Alvin Smith]

Antec 300 Three Hundred Case 143854 107 in stock £43.00 £36.59 £43.00 £36.59

Corsair 650W TX Series PSU - 120mm Fan, 80+% Efficiency, Single +12V Rail 135514 183 in stock £71.96 £61.24 £71.96 £61.24

Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound 135613 147 in stock £4.24 £3.60 £4.24 £3.60

CoolerMaster Hyper TX3 Cooler LGA775/1156/AM2/AM3 195684 47 in stock £18.44 £15.69 £18.44 £15.69

Intel Core i7 860 2.8GHz Socket LGA 1156 8MB L3 Cache OEM Processor 199115 27 in stock £206.82 £176.01 £206.82 £176.01

ASUS P7P55D Evo iP55 Socket LGA 1156 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard 173448 48 in stock £148.09 £126.03 £148.09 £126.03

G-Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 Ripjaw Memory Kit CL7(7-8-7-24) 1.65V 180490 5 in stock £94.99 £80.84 £94.99 £80.84

Gigabyte GTS250 1GB GDDR3 HDMI DVI VGA Out PhysX and Cuda ready PCI-E Graphics Card 167792 8 in stock £121.57 £103.46 £121.57 £103.46

LG BH10LS30 10x2x10 Blu-Ray Re-Writer & DVD±RW with LightScribe SATA Black - Full Retail Box With Software 195145 87 in stock £144.99 £123.39 £144.99 £123.39

Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - OEM 173804 718 in stock £63.90 £54.38 £63.90 £54.38

(click if you have changed any details) Cart total inc vat: Cart total ex vat: £918.00 £781.23
Cart Weight: 20.50Kg (with shipping offer)


£918.00 £ Including VAT


£931.00 £ Including VAT & shipping

 

[Alvin Smith]

Make sure the ATI 5000 driver issues are resolved if you're using one of these programs:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/2d-w [...] 810-4.html

 

[ashmista]

I had read somewhere that the i7 920 can overclock better than the i7 8xx series? Is this true or not?

THe only other problem I seem to have with your choices are the ram ad the graphics. The ram seems to be good value for money with good timings for ddr3. But I think I would need 6gb of it, rendering requires a decent amount of ram especially with big long sequences. And I love to multitask alot I normall have a 3d program open with internet explorer and itunes and photoshop and a few other background programs running.

The graphics card I could improve on I think I mean you have built me a system which is £469 under my budget which is great, but I want the best I can get with my budget. Or was your choice of card due to the fact I should buy a cheap one and wait for nvidias new dx11 cards? OR was you thinking I would buy another of those cards later on for SLI?

Cheers for the help so far

 

[Alvin Smith]

My build choices were intended to allow you to make "concentrated upgrades" within your budget. I would certainly wait for 10 more days, to see what nVidia does w/new cards on March 26th.

I probably shouldn't tell you this (in public) but, for you, I really do not think that the 1366 is the way to go ... this year. The 1366 (to me) represents an "ALL IN" investment in platform architecture longevity. Most folks tend to ignore the fact that the next iteration of the PCIe Bus Standard is due out (on the market and for sale online) within 12 months. This new PCIe3.0 spec will almost double the bandwidth on all slots/lanes and I see the current standard as a bottleneck.

I have been on this forum doing research for over 8 weeks, now, and as for myself. I have decided to suck air (old system) for another year, in anticipation of that new standard. To go ALL IN for a socket 1366, right now, would be unwise because if you are going to invest in top-tier platform bandwidth and longevity, then it would make most sense to ride that newly released bus standard for 5 years, to allow for increases in upgrade component bandwidth and general "standards modernity".

So, if you MUST buy this spring, LOW-BALL the core-compute architecture and invest in nice case, psu, ssd, etc., and go for the "big gutz" when you have played out your smaller build. Get along on 4GB mem and a lower pin count.

For that natter, you could also go with the cheapest mobo in that 1156 class (rather than SATA-III & USB3.0 whiz-bang) or even to go with a snappy 3-core AMD/AM3 build, to save even further ... just to get you 18 months down the road.

Do 1366 chips clock better ?? Maybe give you a few 10ths of a GHz more.

This next year of waiting is going to be VERY painful for me but, I am going to scrape my pennies and be totally ready to do the perfect mega-build, a few months after PCIe3.0 has hit the channel, and all the reviews and initial BIOS fixes are under the bridge. That's just me.

SO ... lowball this system (as much as you can) with the thought that it will soon serve you as a home theater or utility server ... keep your ear to the ground and watch for convergence of PCIe3 and SSD and nVidia's new offerings (Quadro too).

You can go 1366 and be thrilled, right now ... to be sure. I just like to catch major 5 year bus standards in their youth. Certain logic to that... hope I can survive the interim !!!

As for you ? Given what I just laid out ... it might be a tough choice, given that you must make a move, at this juncture.

= Al =