First Time Budget build <£600/$990

[Pureferret]

Hi everyone, I just spend 40 minutes posting my choices/reaosning behind a new computer I want to buy and build. The following post will be shortened and tempered with my frustration at my current Laptop.....

Here is the C/P form the sticky.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: In a few months?
BUDGET RANGE: £500-£650(abs max)/$800-$1000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming/Movies, web browsing (whilst doing those maybe), programming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Anything with affordable postage to the UK, i.e Ebuyer.

PARTS PREFERENCES: I had a long list of stuff with description, will try to 'prettify' it later, but here is a froogle list:

http://froogle.google.com/shoppinglist?a=SWL&email=Pureferret%40gmail.com&id=2289534520456338870

OVERCLOCKING:No
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Sorry for less good post. Started writing at 2200 and now it's gotten late. Mainly need to know if I've picked the right PSU (listed several that I noticed) Mem and Mobo. Happy with the Pross and Mobo.

*sleep time*

N.B thirsd attempt at posting, is Tom's Hardware forums *always* like this?

Fourth attempt now.

 

[nofun]

Not familiar with UK vendors, so I'll just rattle off some parts that should be within the price window:

Phenom II x4 955
AM3 Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H or similar
RAM: 4 GB (2GB x 2) set of DDR3 1333 with CAS Latency of 7. G.Skill makes a nice set, but there are others too.
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
GPU: HD 5850
Optical Drive: (Anything)
Case: Anything from a good brand. Antec 200, Antec 300, Coolermaster Centurion 5, or Coolermaster RC-690 are all good choices.
PSU: Anything from a name brand: Corsair, OCZ Fatal1ty, Antec EarthWatts, etc... so long as it's 80+ certified, it should be fine. 500W will be enough.

All of this would run about 900 USD, but of course there are combo deals, mail-in rebates, and shipping costs to consider. Does the UK tax online vendors?


PS - I looked at your froogle list. Do not go for that Crucial RAM, go for something with better Timings (CAS Latency) and go for a 4 GB pack if possible. The Samsung Spinpoint F3 comes in a 500 GB or 1 TB size, and is an excellent drive (will outperform that WD hard drive you selected). Raidmax does make some nice products, but it's not of the same caliber as Antec or Coolermaster. Those cases I listed aren't expensive, but are solidly built and definitely worth the money. The HD 4890 is a great card, but you should have room in your budget for the HD 5850. They are hard to find now, and scarcity has driven prices up, but if you can wait a month their prices will come back down. The HD 5850 was introduced around 260 USD, and is now about 300 USD due to demand.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Go with either the Corsair or Antec PSU.

That RAM is all kinds of wrong. First, it won't fit in your motherboard. Look for 240 pin DDR3. Second, it's not dual channel. Dual channel is two sticks of the same RAM, and will run at a higher bandwith and be a lot faster than a single stick, if the board uses it. You should be looking for DDR3 1333 CAS Latency 7 RAM. Its usually around $100 (not sure on the English equivalent).

Ditch the WD HDD for a Samsung Spinpoint F3. It will be around $5, but will be faster.

Rest is good.

 

[Pureferret]

Not familiar with UK vendors, so I'll just rattle off some parts that should be within the price window:

Phenom II x4 955
AM3 Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H or similar
RAM: 4 GB (2GB x 2) set of DDR3 1333 with CAS Latency of 7. G.Skill makes a nice set, but there are others too.
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
GPU: HD 5850
Optical Drive: (Anything)
Case: Anything from a good brand. Antec 200, Antec 300, Coolermaster Centurion 5, or Coolermaster RC-690 are all good choices.
PSU: Anything from a name brand: Corsair, OCZ Fatal1ty, Antec EarthWatts, etc... so long as it's 80+ certified, it should be fine. 500W will be enough.

All of this would run about 900 USD, but of course there are combo deals, mail-in rebates, and shipping costs to consider. Does the UK tax online vendors?


PS - I looked at your froogle list. Do not go for that Crucial RAM, go for something with better Timings (CAS Latency) and go for a 4 GB pack if possible. The Samsung Spinpoint F3 comes in a 500 GB or 1 TB size, and is an excellent drive (will outperform that WD hard drive you selected). Raidmax does make some nice products, but it's not of the same caliber as Antec or Coolermaster. Those cases I listed aren't expensive, but are solidly built and definitely worth the money. The HD 4890 is a great card, but you should have room in your budget for the HD 5850. They are hard to find now, and scarcity has driven prices up, but if you can wait a month their prices will come back down. The HD 5850 was introduced around 260 USD, and is now about 300 USD due to demand.

In £ the 5850 is about £195, or about $325, which is out of my price range but is the 5770/5750 a happy medium(£135/224), or is DirectX 11 not that important? Also you think the price will go down? Do I jsut play the waiting game?

Swapped in the Samsung as recommended, and swapped for a new case with built in PSU but it doesn't say who makes it. It's a CoolerMaster Case though so is it good? http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143125 Checked out some new Ram too. This looks right but still not sure:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/180490 G-Skill
http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop/index.pl?origin=gbase2.4&prodID=B250942 OCZ

Go with either the Corsair or Antec PSU.

That RAM is all kinds of wrong. First, it won't fit in your motherboard. Look for 240 pin DDR3. Second, it's not dual channel. Dual channel is two sticks of the same RAM, and will run at a higher bandwith and be a lot faster than a single stick, if the board uses it. You should be looking for DDR3 1333 CAS Latency 7 RAM. Its usually around $100 (not sure on the English equivalent).

Ditch the WD HDD for a Samsung Spinpoint F3. It will be around $5, but will be faster.

Rest is good.

I think my main problem with suggestions is that if I could buy from the US I would get huge price cuts but the good shops I find don't ship (NewEgg) Things are more expensive here, not just cos of the exchange rate

 

[MadAdmiral]

I wasn't particularly suggesting that you buy from the US, just that the parts I mentioned are cheaper than what you had in it over here. I have no idea where to look for parts in England. Regardless of the pricing difference, they are better quality and offer better performance. If they're not much more expensive over there, they woudl be a good choice.

The 5850 will not likely be a lower price anytime soon. It's brand new. DX11 is important for furture proofing, but not for playing current games.

Case+PSU: I'm always skeptical when a case comes with a PSU. I'd check out reviews of Coolermaster 500W units before deciding.

RAM: Either is good.

 

[nofun]

In £ the 5850 is about £195, or about $325, which is out of my price range but is the 5770/5750 a happy medium(£135/224), or is DirectX 11 not that important? Also you think the price will go down? Do I jsut play the waiting game?

Swapped in the Samsung as recommended, and swapped for a new case with built in PSU but it doesn't say who makes it. It's a CoolerMaster Case though so is it good? http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143125 Checked out some new Ram too. This looks right but still not sure:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/180490 G-Skill
http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop/index.pl?origin=gbase2.4&prodID=B250942 OCZ

In that case, go for the HD 5770. The HD 5000 series are reasonably priced, and they are the best way to go right now. If you want more performance than a 5770, but can't afford a 5850, then look at the 4890. DirectX11 does make a difference (get it if it fits your build), but it's not essential.

The PSU is a CoolerMaster eXtreme 500W PSU. That case is good, and the power supply is acceptable (although not terrific). Getting a PSU which is 80+ certified would be better. That setup looks alright for the money. You will be happy with the case, I just wish it came with a better PSU.

See this list from NewEgg (a little dated, but still relevant):
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

A better option (although slightly more expensive) would be http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135159/show_product_overview with a case in the 30-40 pound range. Several Antecs and Coolermasters are in that window (as are other decent choices). If you want to see the quality of a particular case, just google the case name followed by "review" and you should find something reasonably objective. I would trust anything from Antec or CoolerMaster just from the name brand, but that doesn't mean that other brands can't make quality products too.


Either RAM kit would be fine. Anything beyond DDR3 1333 is superfluous for AMD, but both kits are reasonably priced and have good Timings.

 

[Pureferret]

I wasn't particularly suggesting that you buy from the US, just that the parts I mentioned are cheaper than what you had in it over here. I have no idea where to look for parts in England. Regardless of the pricing difference, they are better quality and offer better performance. If they're not much more expensive over there, they woudl be a good choice.

The 5850 will not likely be a lower price anytime soon. It's brand new. DX11 is important for furture proofing, but not for playing current games.

Case+PSU: I'm always skeptical when a case comes with a PSU. I'd check out reviews of Coolermaster 500W units before deciding.

RAM: Either is good.

I wasn't suggesting you were suggesting that =p But it turns out things are much cheaper across the pond after converting the prices won't match, that is to say my budget in the US would get me more than over here.

After picking out a good supplier for the 5770 I have spare cash for a good Case and that Corsair PSU mentioned before, Tier Two ftw!

In that case, go for the HD 5770. The HD 5000 series are reasonably priced, and they are the best way to go right now. If you want more performance than a 5770, but can't afford a 5850, then look at the 4890. DirectX11 does make a difference (get it if it fits your build), but it's not essential.

The PSU is a CoolerMaster eXtreme 500W PSU. That case is good, and the power supply is acceptable (although not terrific). Getting a PSU which is 80+ certified would be better. That setup looks alright for the money. You will be happy with the case, I just wish it came with a better PSU.

See this list from NewEgg (a little dated, but still relevant):
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx[/quote]

Going for the 5770, it's cheaper than the 4890 in some places! That means I don't need to worry about that list too much, gone for an Antec 900

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135159/show_product_overview[/url] with a case in the 30-40 pound range. Several Antecs and Coolermasters are in that window (as are other decent choices). If you want to see the quality of a particular case, just google the case name followed by "review" and you should find something reasonably objective. I would trust anything from Antec or CoolerMaster just from the name brand, but that doesn't mean that other brands can't make quality products too.


Either RAM kit would be fine. Anything beyond DDR3 1333 is superfluous for AMD, but both kits are reasonably priced and have good Timings.

Gettingthe 166MHz ram incase I scavenge it later on....

Overal it comes to £609.81($990) which is OK...but need to get a monitor two which another £100. Should work out ok.

http://www.google.co.uk/shoppinglist?a=SWL&email=Pureferret%40gmail.com&id=2289534520456338870

p.s
Also something has come up, the Mobo I wantedwent out of stock so I looked for replacements, both of which are cheaper....
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/179183 ASROCK M3A785GMH
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176555 Ex display MSI 770-C45
And the on I spied first off:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167782 GA-MA770T-UD3P

P.P.S
How do I tell which manufacturer of GPU to go for, there is XFX, ASUS and Saphire, all about £5 from each other.

 

[nofun]

I'll have a better look at those mobos later when I'm a little more awake

MSI is generally of better quality than ASRock. ASRock is owned by Asus, but is targetted for the value-oriented crowd. Still, I have an ASRock motherboard in an old machine of mine. It's been running for 5 years straight and no issues what-so-ever, but then again, I didn't overclock anything on that board. If you don't plan to OC, and the ASRock is cheaper, then go for it. Otherwise, in general, MSI is a little bit better quality.

P.P.S
How do I tell which manufacturer of GPU to go for, there is XFX, ASUS and Saphire, all about £5 from each other.

All three of those vendors are great. XFX usually comes with a double-lifetime warranty. Meaning you can sell it once, and the warranty transfers to that person. Shows how much confidence they have in their products! All three brands, though, are rock-solid choices.

 

[Pureferret]

I've looked at the Mobos a bit, looks like The Gigabyte one has 2 fewer USBs on the back but more hardware protection in the BIOS. Thats only a quick skim, the Ex-display is missing a back plate though, but spare up enough money to go for that and another optical drive if I wanted...

 

[Pureferret]

Just realised if I want to cross fire in the future I can't on this motherboard....if a crosfire ready MoBo out of my price range?

 

[nofun]

Probably not. They aren't that much expensive. If you can afford one which gives 8x/8x on the two PCI 16x slots, that's the sweet spot you're looking for. The 16x/16x are too expensive, and the 16x/4x don't give as much performance.

 

[Pureferret]

I found this
Asus M4A79XTD EVO 790X http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=M4A79XTD+EVO+790X&oe=utf-8&hl=en&cid=8909588016073015527&sa=title&os=tech-specs

Looks good?

Also can I get away with just a Corsaid 450 VX?

 

[MadAdmiral]

I highly recommend that board. It's the one I use, and I consider it to have to be one of the best values.

I personally wouldn't go under a 500W PSU. If you might want to Crossfire in the future, you definitely want a 650W.

 

[Pureferret]

Right...This is all pushing the price up!

Will try and find some good parts about...Most keep going in and oout of stock on Ebuyer.


Thanks guys!

 

[Pureferret]

Think I might have solved it: The price is now down to £630 (~$1000), with a 650W TX Coarsair PSU, and this memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148323 The other lot is out of stock, plus this is cheaper. I'm going to use Asus M4A79XTD EVO 790X and in the future utilise it's XF capabilities

In terms of GPU, which has better cooling out of these three (reviews seem to say Gigabyte's cooling is poor)
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?page=2&cat=48&subcat=2999&q=HD+5770+1GB&sort=pricelow&limit=10

 

[Silvune]

Apparently the 'egg' cooler design is better at keeping the GPU temps down; by the review/comparison I saw by 7 degrees C, but it was not pushing hot air out of the case, so the rest of the components were heated up by less than a degree (again, according to the review I read). Whereas the other one was pushing the air out of the back of the case, but hotter. So as long as the case is well ventilated then the Asus from that list would be the better one.

 

[Pureferret]

Apparently the 'egg' cooler design is better at keeping the GPU temps down; by the review/comparison I saw by 7 degrees C, but it was not pushing hot air out of the case, so the rest of the components were heated up by less than a degree (again, according to the review I read). Whereas the other one was pushing the air out of the back of the case, but hotter. So as long as the case is well ventilated then the Asus from that list would be the better one.

Well I should have good cooling from the Case, and would like my GPU as cool as possible. I know the Mods form Saphire and asus can make 20 degrees difference at least, So will got for egg shape.

Also found new memory( http://www.ebuyer.com/product/179278 ), but want to double check it will fit the mobo ( http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172846 )?

 

[Silvune]

Consider it doubled checked.