2262 replies to this topic

[The Comfy Chair]

Hi all,

I'm currently focusing on releasing build guides every 2-3 months on my guilds site. So i'll put a link here whenever there's been a new article for you. It saves a lot of time over maintaining the two guides seperately!

March 2013 (~£600 build): http://www.tkot.co.u...30306-MBG.shtml

Edited by The Comfy Chair, 10 March 2013 - 12:40 PM.

[Dream Catcher]

Excellent idea Comfy, I totally agree with this thread and it's purpose, I will look into putting some builds together and will list them for you to pick at later. Hopefully a Mod will sticky this and keep it up with the PSU buying guide so it remains easily accessible for all users old and new.

[Undead]

Was thinking of doing this, you beat me to it. :)

[Dream Catcher]

A little build I just ran up all from one website in the UK (aria.co.uk), pick through what you want etc. (Note prices don´t show VAT until the total at the end)

Coolermaster Elite 370 Mid Tower Black (No PSU) £26.20
LiteOn IHAS124-19 24x Internal DVD±R/RW SATA Drive - Black £11.45
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) Processor £126.40
MSI 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £161.69
Samsung HD103SJ SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 3.5" Hard Drive £34.85
Asus M4A89GTD Pro AMD 890GX (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £ 80.53
G.SKILL RipJaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz £59.57
OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply £38.99

Cart Total £539.68
Approx. Delivery £12.32
VAT £96.60
Total £648.60

Edited by Dream Catcher, 29 October 2010 - 02:42 PM.
alter details

[The Comfy Chair]

Thanks dream catcher, definitely some nice parts there, i'll do a cross check on prices with CLL (apart from GPU's they seem to always be cheaper somehow) and then i'll use your suggestions towards the basis of the extreme PC, i was thinking more along the lines of a dual hd6850 for that price point too. I'm definitely not against having two builds per price point though if there's a nice choice to be had, especially when multi gpu's get involved.

Additionally, you mentioned that you have found some gtx470's from some e-tailers for sub £180, could you link them as they'll definitely be a great option for a £600 PC at that price! [EDIT: Located a palit one for £187 from scan.co.uk and with the price explosion of the hd6870 since last week, it's a great buy).

Also, thread is stuck.

Edited by The Comfy Chair, 29 October 2010 - 03:05 PM.

[Geikamir]

First of all, thanks for the guide! Very helpful. It's perfect timing. I was randomly deciding to buy a new PC and thought I'd check these forums to see if I could get advice, and then BAM! This was posted today! Craziness.

Ok, using this as an outline I went to newegg and got what was listed, or something similar. The only problem is that the motherboard listed is not available. Would you guys help me pick out the right one for these items I have added to "my cart"? Also, if you see any discrepancies or have any advice, please let me know! Also, to note, I already have a case (Antec 300 I think it's called), monitor (Acer 22''), and Power Supply (I forget, but I remember getting one that was more powerful then I needed a couple years ago). Mouse and Keyboard aren't a priority to me, currently.

So far I have:

Video Card: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125333

Processor: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103656

RAM: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231253

OS: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16832116754

HDD: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822152185


Let me know if I've overlooked something, or messed up somewhere.

Thanks in advance!

Edited by Geikamir, 29 October 2010 - 03:42 PM.

[The Comfy Chair]

Looks fine Geikamir :) In terms of the motherboard i'll go about having a second option in the cheaper build. Therefore my other, second option, is the asus m4a77t. It's £20 more and doesn't add much except the chipset overall but it's still a great buy and more common.

Edited by The Comfy Chair, 29 October 2010 - 03:51 PM.

[Dream Catcher]

Drop the RAM and get this combo from newegg. if it's above your budget let me know and I will have another look. I'm guessing you also have an optical drive lying around, or was that something you may have missed out?

http://www.newegg.co...st=Combo.539864

Edited by Dream Catcher, 29 October 2010 - 03:55 PM.

[Geikamir]

Ah yes, I do have a DvD drive in my current that I am switching over, forgot that :P.

Ok, that combo deal seems pretty good with the discount given. Thanks for showing!


I went with the Phenom II x4 instead of the Athlon, as you guys noticed I'm sure. Is that a good option to do? I used the comparison chart in the other thread and it seemed that the price difference was small in comparison to the performance boost. I just wanna make sure that's an accurate observation.

Also, an important feature for me (and most gamers) is making sure I get the right video card for the price/future-proofing. I just noticed their is a thread that is speaking of the 460 becoming out-dated or something? Should I get another option instead?

Edited by Geikamir, 29 October 2010 - 04:33 PM.
Spelling

[Dream Catcher]

Yes Phenoms outperform Athlons so you made a good decision there. As to the video card you could always go for this http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102909  a little bit more expensive but certainly a much better performer and much newer tech.

Edited by Dream Catcher, 29 October 2010 - 04:34 PM.

[Geikamir]

As for comparison purposes, what is the power difference between the video in my original post, the one you posted, and this one: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102908

The price difference is about $60 between the 6850 and the 6870. Is it worth it in your opinion?


I really appreciate all the help, very helpful.

[Dream Catcher]

The 6870 vastly outperforms the 6850 however the GTX 460  outperforms the 6850 too (while the GTX 460 is well outperformed by the 6870), the only problem with the GTX 460 is it will show it's age a little sooner than the 6870 - 6850. The GTX 460 1GB version will be more than capable of playing Guildwars 2 at pretty high settings, if that's your main concern then you don't really need to pay out the extra cash unless you seriously feel you need to increase the performance of your new P.C.

Edited by Dream Catcher, 29 October 2010 - 05:32 PM.
add information.

[Lord Sojar]

Dream Catcher said:

The 6870 vastly outperforms the 6850 however the GTX 460  outperforms the 6850 too (while the GTX 460 is well outperformed by the 6870), the only problem with the GTX 460 is it will show it's age a little sooner than the 6870 - 6850. The GTX 460 1GB version will be more than capable of playing Guildwars 2 at pretty high settings, if that's your main concern then you don't really need to pay out the extra cash unless you seriously feel you need to increase the performance of your new P.C.

Actually, the GTX 460 doesn't outperform the HD 6850, other way around.  However, once you max out the overclocks on both cards, the GTX 460 can pull ahead.  

Age has really nothing to do with it.  Both cards have the same feature sets, so both will go out of style at the same time.  If you are an advanced user who is able to overclock a GPU very well (hi voltage mods), the GTX 460 is probably a better choice; same applies if you are a Linux user.  Otherwise, the HD6850 is the better option.

[Dream Catcher]

I stand corrected, but happy to be so. It's always an advantage to have your mis-informed errors corrected.

[The Comfy Chair]

Indeed, however market changes have made the gtx460's quite a bit more competetive now, with the hd6850 costing about the same as the gtx460 1GB. Unfortunately it was achieved with AMD card price rises as opposed tot he nice way round.

[derek1240]

ahhhh when are the 5850's gonna drop in price cause i wanna xfire them........

[The Comfy Chair]

They probably wont derek, they'll just disappear and be replaced by the hd6950.

[Dream Catcher]

The Standard Machine has been calculated wrong Comfy, without Windows the AMD build using the Antec Three Hundred as a case comes upto £602.32 + £10 with delivery, with Windows it comes upto £675.32 +£10 with delivery. Maybe a mistake was made when calculating. Just thought I would point it out before people started complaining :p.

Edited by Dream Catcher, 31 October 2010 - 06:18 PM.
correct detail

[The Comfy Chair]

Dream Catcher said:

The Standard Machine has been calculated wrong Comfy, without Windows the AMD build using the Antec Three Hundred as a case comes upto £602.32 + £10 with delivery, with Windows it comes upto £675.32 +£10 with delivery. Maybe a mistake was made when calculating. Just thought I would point it out before people started complaining :p.

Thanks for pointing that out :D

Fixed and i've added the two changes people should do if they need it sub £600 (changing to a phenom II 955 and a hd6850).

Edited by The Comfy Chair, 31 October 2010 - 09:14 PM.

[Undead]

I really think the extreme gaming build should consist of an i7.

[Lord Sojar]

Undead Cheese said:

I really think the extreme gaming build should consist of an i7.

I tend to agree with this sentiment, but what do I know?

[The Comfy Chair]

Undead Cheese said:

I really think the extreme gaming build should consist of an i7.

True, i think i should rename the build, as it's not so much 'extreme' as 'very high end' so i've changed the build accordingly.

I just don't have it in me to recommend a system costing over £1k for gaming :D But if one of you guys want to put together a good i7 build (probably including SLi gtx470's or gtx480's) then i'll add it :) In terms of the additional cost it'll probably be about £120-150, so just about £1k.

Edited by The Comfy Chair, 01 November 2010 - 07:44 PM.

[Kamatsu]

Q - Is this only going to be for the UK/Europe market? Any plans on adding either to this thread, or making another thread for say US markets? (I don't shop US, but I'd say a big chunk of the userbase is from the US)

If you need, or would like, the pricing from Aussie stores.. just lemmie know and I'll list them out for you.. always glad to help out (and yes, I'll check multiple stores for best prices/parts actually stocked... not just the 1 I usually deal with.. lolz)

Quote

I just don't have it in me to recommend a system costing over £1k for gaming

Any particular reason? I think you should have a build for the "extremists who want the best, and don't care for the cost." Trust me.. they exist. lolz (Umm, I'm prolly considered one.. lolz.. since I have like a ~$3k comp.. lolz (that's roughly $2k Euro at current exchange rates... lolz.. damned comp prices here in Aus are terribad.. lolz)

[The Comfy Chair]

Indeed, i was adding the i7 option yesterday but the servers were having a hissy fit. So i'll add in the section now (which basically is just it's around £150 more to step up to the i7).

Also, if you would like to add an australian price equivalent of the builds (or better builds if there are offers ect.) that'd be great, same as with the US market :)

[Dream Catcher]

Intel Core i7 870 2.93Ghz (Socket LGA1156) Processor £188.99
Asus P7P55D-E Pro Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 £119.99
Graphics Card: £273-£300 for whatever you feel like 6950/6970/GTX470 etc or even some cheaper cards in Crossfire/SLI.
G.SKILL RipJaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £55.31
Samsung HD103SJ SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 3.5" Hard Drive £35.25
Sony AD-7260S-0B 24x Internal DVD±R/RW/Ram Drive £10.99
Corsair TX Series 750W ATX2.2 SLI/Crossfire £74.99
Coolermaster CM 690 II Advanced Pure Black Gaming Midi Tower Case £57.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM £61.17

Cart Total £604.68
Delivery £13.89
VAT £108.25
Total £726.82  (With GPU/s £1,000 / £1,027)

This should be ok for the extreme machine, only thing I would add would be a SSD but that would take the budget to over £1,100. Hope this is ok for you Comfy. I know it's a little OTT for simply gaming purposes.

Edited by Dream Catcher, 01 November 2010 - 03:09 PM.

[The Comfy Chair]

Looks fine :) i'll use it in the thread later (got some work to do now), i'll pair it with 2 hd6870's though, may as well, otherwise their's just not enough gpu horsepower to bother with the i7 :D

[Geikamir]

Ok, that combo is no longer available. I didn't get it in time. Also, I made a couple changes anyway.

Currently I have this Mobo + CPU combo: http://www.newegg.co...st=Combo.526580

RAM: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820134718

Video Card: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102909

Also, does that new MoBo seem to have all the aspects I will need and match my other items well?


I'm wondering if I should downgrade my video card and get more ram? It's been a tough decision for me to decide between the 6850 and the 6870. Not sure if the performance to cost ratio is really worth it. Will getting more ram prove to give me a better boost to performance?


And I was thinking of possibly getting a Solid State Drive for loading Windows and a few games. Is it worth the cost to do that?

Edited by Geikamir, 01 November 2010 - 09:37 PM.

[dhatcher1]

Geikamir said:

I'm wondering if I should downgrade my video card and get more ram? It's been a tough decision for me to decide between the 6850 and the 6870. Not sure if the performance to cost ratio is really worth it. Also, will getting more ram prove to give me a better boost to performance?

For gaming, there is no performance boost over 4GB RAM.  If you expand your RAM by putting in a second pair of sticks, you often lose a percent or two.


There are lots of people without SSDs that say they are not worth the money yet.  There are many people who have SSDs that say they are the best upgrade they ever made.  I have yet to hear someone who bought an SSD say it wasnt a good upgrade, only that they paid too much.  Prices have come down alot in the past few months so thats not as much of a concern anymore.  

My plan is to pick up the first good black friday special on a sandforce SSD I can find. If it is better than sliced bread will try to pick up 2 more for my other machines during the xmas/new years sales.  I'll be looking at 60, 90 or 120GB Corsair Force, Gskill Pheonix, Patriot Inferno, OCZ Vertex 2 or Agility 2 SSDs for bargains.



@Comfy - you should look at the Antec 200 and new HAF912 as options for slightly cheaper cases with good cooling and features.  Also the Rosewill destroyer if you can get rosewill over there.


My feeling is that as soon as you are spending $600(US)+ on graphics cards, you should strongly consider dropping the 1156/p55 platform and going with an i7 950 and X58 motherboard like an ASUS Sabertooth for the better x16/x16 crossfire/SLI.  I guess in a few months its all going to change and NF200 may be on the cheaper motherboards anyway so its not worth much discussion now.

Edited by dhatcher1, 01 November 2010 - 09:53 PM.

[Gigashadow]

Geikamir said:

And I was thinking of possibly getting a Solid State Drive for loading Windows and a few games. Is it worth the cost to do that?

That is a value judgement, depending on how much you value the feel of snappiness.  I went from a 300GB Raptor to a 160GB Intel G2 SSD and feel it was well worth it.  Guild Wars map travel is a little faster, Photoshop, Vegas, Firefox, start up way faster, etc.  I keep my machines bare bones and fast, and have a low tolerance for anything getting into my machine startup via msconfig, etc., so for me an SSD is worth it.  For others, spending $500 on such a device feels like a waste of money.

[Geikamir]

So, to store/run (maybe 4-5) games and windows effectively and with plenty of head room, what size should I look into?

Also, about the mobo and processor combo, does it seem to fit the build well and is a good value for the money?