11 replies to this topic

[TheDR]

Afternoon people of the forum. A friend has asked me to help him build a computer. He isn't going to overclock and he just wants a computer that will last for a few years and play new games on med to high.

Here are the parts so far, are they acceptable or a bit naff?

NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Full Tower Case - Orange/Black
(£114)

Arctic Power 700W PSU - 4x SATA 1x PCI-Express
(£43)

Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor [OR] Intel Core i5 2400 3.1GHz Socket LGA 1155 6MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
(£170) [OR] (£147) Is it worth the extra money?

G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V
(£36)

Asus GTX 560 DirectCU 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card
(£136)

Seagate 2TB 3.5" SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - 5900RPM 64MB Cache
(£110)

Any chance someone could recommend a good motherboard as I have absolutely no idea what to buy. Price range is £100 (unless you think it would be worth spending more).
Also does anyone know anywhere to acquire Windows 7 for a good price, or is £70 the best I'm going to get?

Thanks for your time

[Gen.Kenobi]

I would go with an i7 2600k or 2600 since he don't want to overclock. Dunno about the price range, but it's worth. I have one here.
Go for 2x GTX 560. The price may sound a little bit too high, but at least his machine would survive on HIgh for at least a year. Or, if he can afford go for a GTX 590.

The motherboard should be compatible with the processor's Sandy Bridge technology. Both Gigabyte and Asus are excelent motherboard manufactures. You should chose one that is in his price range and shall support what you are buying.

[Camille]

that's some serious overkill right there kenobi... there's really no need for such immensely pricey hardware when lower tier equipment will do the job just fine.

the 590 is really not needed for that price since the 560 and even 570 are waaaay better priced and still offer great performance. keep in mind that the guy just wants to play on med-high. not high-ultra. also, dual 560's require yet again a pricey motherboard plus it's really overkill since a single 560 or 570 will be just fine and will save a huge load of money compared to dual setups or the ridiculousness that is the 590.

about the cores: again, there's no need to go to such lengths as that. the core i5 is just as good for gaming and offers virtually the same performance and higher clockspeeds for less money. you won't have that fancy multithreading but that's pretty useless anyway for gaming.

the i5 2500k can be overclocked really well when the need would arise (in a year or so, if things get more demanding). the 2400 is slightly cheaper but he'd better get the 2500k anyway since the price difference is minimal and you get a vastly superior cpu in terms of flexibility.

those are my two cents

Edited by Camille, 27 December 2011 - 23:56.

[Libains]

Just adding in a few notes of my own:

I'd go with a named brand for the RAM (Corsair/Kingston/Crucial) as lower-end ones tend to have a habit of being a bit temperamental.

Camille's right with the 2500k - there's no need to go for a 2600/2600k unless you're really looking to future-proof it.

I've always found the 560 to be a bit middling. I ended up going for the Nvidia GTX570, and I've yet to have a single framerate issue with it, and that's running BF3 on Ultra, so I'd imagine it'll cope pretty well for a while

Also, tbh, does he need such a pricey case? You could get him a medium-sized tower, or even a small one, and it'd probably be perfectly adequate, and save about £50.

[TheDR]

Thanks for your replies.

AJ, on 28 December 2011 - 12:41, said:

Also, tbh, does he need such a pricey case? You could get him a medium-sized tower, or even a small one, and it'd probably be perfectly adequate, and save about £50.

This is non negotiable

[Libains]

TheDR, on 28 December 2011 - 13:14, said:

Thanks for your replies.

AJ, on 28 December 2011 - 12:41, said:

Also, tbh, does he need such a pricey case? You could get him a medium-sized tower, or even a small one, and it'd probably be perfectly adequate, and save about £50.

This is non negotiable

He's a bit of a muppet then, that said, the NZXT cases are pretty swish. If it's anything like mine though, it's a slight pain to set up all of the additional ports that they're sporting.

[Raven]

I agree with Camille and AJ here. Regarding the VGA, if the friend is playing on higher resolutions, its better to go for a 570 IMO.

As mentioned earlier, ASUS and Gigabyte seem to be the best when it comes to durability. I can vouch for Asus personally since my ASUS components did not fail after so much abuse. The P5N32-E SLI Mobo failed after being abused for over 3 years. But the 2 VGAs are still going strong. I guess ASUS would be the best in terms of durability.

I have heard about Gigabyte's durability also, but I haven't used it personally.

[ΓΛPTΘΓ]

I would go get a cheaper case and a better PSU. Better stay away from generic PSU if you want your computer to last long.

[Amdrial]

Okay, what I'd suggest would be to completely ditch the concept of a full tower if he wants to just use it for general gaming. Take an m-ITX board, put a decent card in it, take a 500 watt powersupply, since you're going for a semi-budget gaming rig, take an i5/i7series processor (i5 2500 or i7 2600) without the K behind the series number (since the K just means it has an unlocked core, which is only useful for overclocking)

Honestly, if he gives that much about the case, put the m-ATX board in the big tower. it should fit, as I've checked it with the manufacturer's website. (he's still an idiot though, but whatever)

For future reference Doc, if you're buildinge a computer, start with the processor first, then match the socket with a motherboard and then find expansion items which fit the PCI(-e) slots on the motherboard like a GPU.

when I get to my desktop, I'll put something together for you. (working on an iPad 2 atm)

Edited by Amdrial, 28 December 2011 - 20:38.

[Amdrial]

Okay, so I've browsed around on that website of yours (Not a bad one, might I add), and I've compiled the following setup:

NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Full Tower Case - Orange/Black
(£114)

Intel Core i5 2500 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
(£162.05)

Asus P8H67-M PRO R3 H67 Socket 1155 8 Channel HD Audio mATX Motherboard
(£87.87)

OCZ ZS Series 650W 80+ Bronze PSU with 135mm Fan & single +12V Rail
(£59.99)

Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz CL9 1.5V Non-ECC Unbuffered
(£41.67)

MSI GTX 560 Ti 1024MB DDR5 TWIN FROZR II OC Edition Dual DVI Mini HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card
(£182.60)

TP-Link TL-WN751ND Wireless-N150 PCI Adapter
(£13.98)

Seagate 2TB 3.5" SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - 5900RPM 64MB Cache
(£110)

LG GH22NS70 22x DVD±RW with DL & RAM SATA Optical Drive - OEM Black
(£14.01)

Windows 7: Home Premium/Professional/Ultimate 64 bit English:
Home Premium
£70.73
Professional
£103.77
Ultimate
£137.91

I've taken the liberty of adding an optical drive (Since he's probably going to use DVDs and other kinds of discs no?) and an operating system.

The rig without the operating system and optical drive will cost: £778.30
The rig, with Windows 7 Ultimate as an operating system and the optical drive will have a total cost of: £930.22

If you want my advice on cutting the price: Get a case which has exclusively an m-ATX formfactor and can also hold the GPU.

Edited by Amdrial, 29 December 2011 - 01:49.

[Gen.Kenobi]

...just make sure that the case has a nice Cooling and Ventilation

[Dauth]

Shop around. From what I recall OCUK were overpriced compared to other stores. If your friend is a student you can pick 7 up fot about £25 on software-4-students.