Gaming System £800 Budget

[Krassotti3]

Hi All,

it's been years since I last build a system. Haven't followed the tech craze for several years now and bought a Dell last time, so getting familiar with all the GPU and CPU is quite a learning experience.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: as soon as possible

BUDGET RANGE: ~£800

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: watching movies, gaming, internet

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

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: ebuyer.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom

PARTS PREFERENCES: I'm only really settled on wanting an i7 Intel processor

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I would like a powerful but quiet PC

Some parts I have looked at:

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz Socket 1366 D0 stepping 8MB Cache OEM Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161171/

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-GA-EX58-UD3R-Motherboard-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B001P65NF0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259619409&sr=8-1

ASUS HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160921

Corsair 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz XMS3 Memory CL9(9-9-9-24) for i7 motherboards
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152640/

Western Digital 1.5TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160649/

Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Mid Tower Case - With 500W EarthWatts PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128045

Akasa Nero Intel Socket 1366, 775, 939, AM2, AM2+ Processor Cooler
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152658

Samsung SH-S223 22X DVD±RW/RAM/DL Serial ATA Black Bare Drive - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145450

I am not sure about the case, the 500W PSU might not be enough? Also, will that massive heatsink fit?

Do you guys see any issues with the above build. Any improvements?

Any input welcome, thanks!

 

[Silvune]

Yea, nothing wrong with that build. Although you might want to think about putting a 5770 into it instead of the 4870, chances are it will deal better with higher resolutions.
Either way you can get away with a 500W PSU, especially from a good brand such as Antec.

 

[Krassotti3]

Good point. Seems power consumption is a lot lower with the 5770 for essentially the same performance. Will definitely make that swap.

Another case I first looked at was the Antec 300. How does that one compare to the Sonata III in terms of noise and cooling?

What type of HDD would be good for just the OS to install on?

 

[Silvune]

Well, only from looking at the specs mind you, the Antec 300 will be much better in terms of cooling because it has space for 5 fans, whereas the Sonata III only has space for 2. If you were to fully load each case with it's maximum number of fans, then the 300 would be the loudest of the two, but the top 140mm fan on the Antec is very good at keeping things cool, while being probably the quietest fan on either case. I thought about buying the Antec 300 when I was building my system, the only reason I didn't get it was because I didn't like the front panel buttons, but for the saving it gives you and the room in your budget to get a better HDD it's worth it and better overall than the Sonata III imo.

If you go with the Antec 300, then you could go with the combo suggested on ebuyer, which is a decent PSU, but you can get cheaper ones. Either of these should do you:
Corsair 550W VX Series £60.
Coolermaster 500W Extreme Passive PFC PSU £42
I picked these out because firstly they are from good reliable companies, then it seems that Bloomfield mobos needs an 8pin CPU power connector, the 5770 only needs one 6pin connector, and both have enough connectors for HDDs and peripherals.

For a boot drive a Caviar Black or a Samsung Spinpoint F3 are usually touted as being the best performance drives. If you had the money an SSD might be an option, but probably not.

 

[Silvune]

Another reason why I suggested the 5770 was because I saw some that were less expensive than the 4870 that you linked.

 

[Krassotti3]

Thanks for the help.

Do you reckon the above build would be ok with just the one fan in the Sonata III or should I definitely get a 2nd fan to plug in at the front.

What's a good 120 quiet, slow spinning fan?

 

[Silvune]

Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 800 RPM £11.50, 9 dBA, 30CFM

This is the quietest on ebuyer Enermax Magma 120mm Fan £9.19, 1500RPM, 18 dBA, 69CFM

I have the 500RPM version of the Scythe, and it's very quiet, but I think 9dBA is quiet enough and you'll benefit from the extra airflow that the 800RPM version gives you, considering that the Sonata isnt very well ventilated.

 

[Krassotti3]

That's very quiet!

The Antec Tri-Cool fan which is built in would run at 23dBA to get 30CFM so I might replace that one.

I've not been able to find many reviews on the Enermax Magma fan... just 18dBA to get 69 CFM sounds hard to believe. I wonder if that actually plays out like that in real?

Another I've looked at is the Sharkoon Silent Eagle 1000 120mm... tests have shown 36CFM with 20.7dBA.

Too many choices, can't decide =)

 

[Krassotti3]

Actually, how much CFM do you actually need to properly cool a system such as the above with the 2 fans?

Is 30 more than enough?

 

[Silvune]

Suppose it depends on how cool you want your system to be.
I think 30CFM will be the sweet spot considering it would have to move air past your harddrives.