£1000+ general use/gaming build

[LCpirate]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Late Dec to Jan BUDGET RANGE: Around 1000+ GBP

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: General/casual use (web, msn, music etc), Gaming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse and monitor.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: none preferred, most parts chosen from aria.co.uk but that's flexible

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe, but not anytime soon.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920 x 1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: If anyone has any comments, advice or suggestions: it's all welcome.

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ntel Core i7-920 Socket 1366 CPU D0 Stepping

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5

VTX ATI Radeon HD 5850 Graphics card

Corsair 6GB XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 1600Mhz Tri-Channel

640Gb Western Digital WD6400AAKS SATA

Titan TTC-NK85TZ Fenrir CPU Cooler

OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro Power Supply

That's what I have so far, didn't bother listing the OS (Win 7 most likely), DVD drive, speakers or fans as they seemed less important, but if you have any suggestions on those it's appreciated. Also you'll notice I haven't listed a case, which so far has been the hardest part to decide on, originally I'd planned on a Zalman MS1000 but I found no reviews (though there are some now) and the main feature was the hot-swap drive bays which I don't need so I changed to the Antec 300 but I figured it might prove too small. So the case is one of the parts I need suggestions on.

 

[dndhatcher]

For a 5850 an antec 300 illusion is a great case, unless you are planning on having 5 or more HDDs. Its not deep enough for a 5970 and even a 5870 might not fit without a slight bit of dremelling. If you cant get the 300 illusion model (which has 2 front fans pre-installed), you should consider buying at least one 120mm fan for the front to improve the front -> back airflow.

The Samsung F3 500GB and seagate 7200.12 500GB drives are single platter drives that will be faster and cheaper than the WD you listed.

The Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus is very close to the performance of the Fenrir at half the price. There is a reason its sold out alot of places.

 

[LCpirate]

For a 5850 an antec 300 illusion is a great case, unless you are planning on having 5 or more HDDs. Its not deep enough for a 5970 and even a 5870 might not fit without a slight bit of dremelling. If you cant get the 300 illusion model (which has 2 front fans pre-installed), you should consider buying at least one 120mm fan for the front to improve the front -> back airflow.

The Samsung F3 500GB and seagate 7200.12 500GB drives are single platter drives that will be faster and cheaper than the WD you listed.

The Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus is very close to the performance of the Fenrir at half the price. There is a reason its sold out alot of places.

Thanks for the input, especially on the case. I'm likely going to go for the 300, the Illusion model seems to be hard to get though. The only other case I was looking at, which I'd forgotten about, was the Cooler Master CM-690: http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/MIDI+Tower/Cooler+Master++CM-690+Dominator+?productId=28807 It's a little bit more expensive than the 300, but it's a little bit roomier too.

To be honest I hadn't put much thought into the hard-drive, so thanks for doing it for me: it was an oversight on my part. I'll consider the drives you suggested.

That cooler looks like a good alternative, so I'll consider that as well.

Thank you

 

[LCpirate]

Hate to double post and bump my own thread; but I'm planning to start purchasing some time next week so if anyone has any suggestions for my build I'd appreciate it greatly.

So far the build is the same as in the OP, except I'm going to get a Samsung F3 drive and possibly swap out the Fenrir for the cooler that was suggested earlier. Still not certain on which case, but it's between the CM 690 and the Antec 300, leaning toward the Cooler Master.

 

[dndhatcher]

Both are good cases. IMO both could use one extra fan to improve airflow.