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£1000 Gaming pc - advice please!

Last response: in Systems
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Hi Guys,

A friend has asked me to put together a gaming pc for him. Budget is £1000.

Needs: Tower with all components + mouse and OS.

Does not need: Monitor, Keyboard.

I was think building one around a core i5 750. I have a fairly good knowledge of components and overclocking, and would be looking to OC it to about 3.6Ghz deepening on the quality of the chip i get and heat.

So far:

CPU: i5 750

MB: not sure - any recommendations? SLI and Crossfire would be useful. As are good overclocking abilities. I was thinking Gigabyte or Asus.

GPU: ATI 5850/5870 budget dependant. Looked at Crossfired 5770's but went for single GPU to aid crossfire in the future. Also, i don't like the 128-bit bandwidth on the 57xx's. Monitor resolution is 1600x1050, with the possibility of upgrade to 1900x1200.

PSU: Corsair HX 750W

HD: Samsung spinpoint F3 1Tb

RAM: 4Gb quaility kit (Corsair, OCZ, Crucial)

Cooling: Titan Fenrir + a few case fans.

Optical: Any decent brand dvd+/- RW

Case: not too sure. Large enough to fit a large GPU, understated and smart. Silverstone or LianLi would be ideal, but perhaps a bit pricey. I use an Antec 300 and love it, but it may not be large enough?

Gaming mouse: G9? something from razer? (I really like my G9)

Basically i'm looking for a few recommendations regarding components, plus any changes you'd make along the way. I know AMD have some nice chips out, but i'm really leaning towards Intel as (in my opinion!) they have the better options at the current time. Also I have a fair bit of experience overclocking them. Also, he wants it fairly soon, so waiting for fermi is out of the question. Plus I imagine they'll be very expensive.

Let me know what you'd keep/change. Thanks for any help.

More about : 1000 gaming advice

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Gaming Authority

Mobo: Asus P7P55D-E Pro. It's pricey, but has USB 3/SATA III support with Crossfire capabilities.

GPU: Both of those are overkill until the upgraded monitor. The 5770 performs extremely well for the price. I would consider getting one 5770 now, and a second with the monitor.

PSU: You could probably save a little by going with either Antec Earthwatts or OCZ. They both make quality units for significantly less than Corsiar.

RAM: I don't know about prices over there, but here in the US, Corsair is overpriced. Just make sure you get some CAS Latency 7 (Timings 7-7-7-x) sticks in either 1333 mhz or 1600 mhz.

Case: HAF 922 or Antec 900

MadAdmiral said:
Mobo: Asus P7P55D-E Pro. It's pricey, but has USB 3/SATA III support with Crossfire capabilities.

GPU: Both of those are overkill until the upgraded monitor. The 5770 performs extremely well for the price. I would consider getting one 5770 now, and a second with the monitor.

PSU: You could probably save a little by going with either Antec Earthwatts or OCZ. They both make quality units for significantly less than Corsiar.

RAM: I don't know about prices over there, but here in the US, Corsair is overpriced. Just make sure you get some CAS Latency 7 (Timings 7-7-7-x) sticks in either 1333 mhz or 1600 mhz.

Case: HAF 922 or Antec 900


Thanks MadAdmiral,

Couldn't find the exact MB you mentioned, but we have the Asus P7P55D and Asus P7P55D - EVO over here for about $230 and $280. God damn exchange rates and weak pound.... Looks like a nice board though.

GPU: Knowing him he'll take one look at Crysis/MW2/Borderlands/L4D2 maxed out and buy a nice monitor within the next month. Bear in mind his current gaming setup is an xbox 360.... 5770's come in at about $200 over here, and I cant help but think a 5870 (despite the overkill) would be better. Also, he's not that tech minded, so installing crossfired 5770's might be a problem since i'm quite a way from him. Perhaps he'll learn with time.

PSU: cheers, ill have a look at some reviews. What kind of wattage would you go for? 750W seems a safe bet to me.

RAM: I can get some 7-7-7-20 Patriot @ 1600Mhz for about $160. How does that sound?

Case: ill mention those to him and see if he like them

Thanks for your help!
Gaming Authority

GPU: Crossfire isn't too hard to do, but I see your point. The 5850 will struggle with Crysis on high at 1900x resolutions, but the 5870 is a huge expense. I would have him look into Crossfire, just so he knows it's an option

PSU: OCZ makes them in 700 and 800W. I would probably get either a 700 will be plenty if you don't Crossfire.

RAM: That's probably a good price, but if it's too expensive, you can always get 1333 mhz and it won't have much effect.
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MadAdmiral said:
GPU: Crossfire isn't too hard to do, but I see your point. The 5850 will struggle with Crysis on high at 1900x resolutions, but the 5870 is a huge expense. I would have him look into Crossfire, just so he knows it's an option

PSU: OCZ makes them in 700 and 800W. I would probably get either a 700 will be plenty if you don't Crossfire.

RAM: That's probably a good price, but if it's too expensive, you can always get 1333 mhz and it won't have much effect.


I'll mention Crossfire to him and its pro's and cons. It's his machine after all. I do admit that crossfired 5770's is a good option but i can really see him getting a nice 24'' monitor soon enough - i tried to get him to budget for it, but he needs to save a little more.

PSU sounds good. I'm not willing to compromise on quality (a cheap OEM PSU once killed a Maximus Formula board I had.....) but if they're just as good, and some cash can be spared, well that's just fine by me!

I only looked at 1600Mhz for ease of overclocking, but yes, if i'm low on cash I'll drop to 1333Mhz with tight timings as the difference is barely noticeable.

Silvune said:
This is the Asus P7P55D-E Pro: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-P7P55D-E-PRO-P55-Ex... £150 Out of stock atm, so for £10 more Asus P7P55D-E Evo £160
If that is this RAM you're talking about then it's good: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY... £83
PSU: This one is quality, cheaper than the Corsair and still modular. 750W Antec Truepower New PSU £97


Nice Silvune, thanks a lot for those links. I really like Antec stuff, and the RAM is cheaper than the stuff I found!
Gaming Expert

Having done a quick appraisal of the cost of the components you are likely to buy I don't think a 5870 will fit into the budget.
Cases that you might consider: Coolermaster CM690, Lancool K-58 or K-62.

Silvune said:
Having done a quick appraisal of the cost of the components you are likely to buy I don't think a 5870 will fit into the budget.
Cases that you might consider: Coolermaster CM690, Lancool K-58 or K-62.


You're right, it'll be very tight. I was looking at going for an Antec 300 case since he has said he doesn't want anything flashy or a case with a side window. A quick search revealed that a 5870 would fit inside, but just. I'll have to weigh up the options and possibly go with the 5850 and OC it for him.

MadAdmiral said:
Or show him how to use the Catalyst Control Center to OC it himself. It's very, very easy, and can probably turn a 5850 into a stock 5870.


I may well have to go the 5850 route. I just pray that with the release of Fermi ATI don't panic and drop the prices too much to compete, assuming Fermi is a strong contender. Of course i'll let him know the risks etc. I suppose it'll make crossfire 5850's cheaper, and that'd be an awesome setup.

I'll OC the cards for him, but of course i'll give him a complete run-down of what iv'e done, so that in the unlikely event of a problem, he won't be left pc-less for ages. From what iv'e read its is entirely possibly to get 5870-like performance with a decent OC on a 5850.
Gaming Authority

It shouldn't be a problem. The 5xxx series are very easy to overclock.

I'm not expecting the prices to change too much. Besides, that'll be in like 3 months. He'll have forgotten what he paid by then...
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