Source
r/buildapc•
APock

[Build Suggestion] It's been nearly 10 years since I last bought a Desktop, need advice.

Sup /r/buildapc? It's been nearly 10 years since I bought my last desktop PC and I'm officially tired of laptops (heating problems, they are expensive and suck for gaming, etc).

I want a PC for "soft" gaming and software development, by soft I meant I game a lot but almost never are they top of the line games like BF3 for example (no interest in it), but whatever games I do play I want them to run as smooth and crisp as possible and as a premature build I came up with this:

  • CPU Intel Core i7 2600K 3.4GHz skt 1155 8mb Cache - 299€
  • Cx Thermaltake V9 BlacX Edition (Dual Bay Docking) - 114€
  • GSkill Sniper DDR3 1600MHz 2x 4GB CL7 - 125€
  • ASUS ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5 Graphics Card - 344€
  • MB ASUS P8P67 DELUXE REV3.0 SK1155 - 196€
  • Corsair ATX TX650W V2 14cm - 97€

Like I mentioned, I'm never again going to buy laptops, so I intend on spending about 200€/year + whatever I can get for the part I'm replacing on upgrading this machine. How am I doing? Is this overkill? Since I'm planning to constantly upgrading, should I go for more middle range parts? Is the i7 too much? (probably...). Help me out /r/buildapc, thanks.

EDIT: Added the PSU

Posted Nov 8, 2011, 3:46 PM UTC · edited

59
Legitimidget•

Overall it looks pretty good. Unless you're going to be using Hyperthreading a bunch though you'd just need the i5. And I'd also drop down to a 560 Ti instead of a 570; if you're not a hardcore gamer it's all you'll need.

3
TactFully•

Agreed. APock: i7 is significantly overkill unless you do serious work that requires the 8 threads. Save $100 and get the i5. In fact, you don't even need to OC, a stock i5 2400/2500 is a very good CPU. Also agreed on the GPU choice, 570 offers not that much more performance over the 560ti (or HD 6950 1GB for that matter) for a lot more $. If you don't plan to go dual-GPU you can also get a much cheaper mobo (there are also cheaper ones that still support 8x 8x dual GPU) and cheaper PSU.

2
desirecampbell•

As you guessed, almost every one of your picks are more expensive than they need to be.

CPU: get an i5 2500K. Best performance without spending a stupid amount of money. There are a lot of reasons why, but don't worry about it; this is the second easiest decision you'll have: get a socket 1155 i5 2500K.

RAM: This is the easiest decision: get 2x4GB of DDR3 1333 RAM for around 40 euros. You may have people suggest lower latency or higher frequency but, like the i5 to the i7, the price jump doesn't justify the minimal performance increase.

CASE: This is up to you. If you like that case, get it. The bug things to look for is cable-management holes/guides, maybe a bottom-mounted PSU, but most cases are pretty adaquate.

MOBO: Another area where you don't need to spend so much. I just picked up A MSI P67A-G43, and you can pick that (or its big brother the G45) for half the price of the one you picked.

PSU: Looks good to me.

GPU: Depending on how much you're willing to spend, and how much power you need the 570 might be a good fit - but I'd look into the ATI 6950 - you'll get the same performance as the 570 if you keep the resolution below 2560x1600 - and you'll save a hundred euros.

HDD: you don't have a hard drive listed, so you might be planning on using your old one, and as long as it's SATA you should be fine. If you need a hard drive, normally we'd suggest the Samsung 1TB F3 but with the flooding the prices have skyrocketed (if you can find it at all).

You should also check out PCPartPicker.com, it's an easy way to search for parts and prices.

And it gives a handy list!

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor£168.18 @ Scan.co.uk
MotherboardMSI P67A-G45 (B3) ATX LGA1155 Motherboard£83.60 @ Scan.co.uk
MemoryG.Skill Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory£34.45 @ Amazon UK
Hard DriveSamsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive£45.70 @ Buy.com UK
Video CardXFX Radeon HD 6950 2GB Video Card£199.99 @ Dabs
CaseThermaltake VM400M1W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case£106.17 @ Amazon UK
Power SupplyCorsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply£64.99 @ Dabs
Total
Prices include shipping and discounts when available.£703.08
Generated 2011-11-08 17:38 GMT+0000
2
APockOP•

This is excellent advice, thank you. I would rather stick with an nvidia card though, any particular reason you recommend the 6950?

1
desirecampbell•

Better performance to dollar ratio. Negligible performance difference for 2/3 the price.

-ninja edit- To expand, in real world gaming performance, both cards will let you set games to 1920x1080 (I assume your monitor isn't bigger than that) at the maximum settings and never see a frame rate stutter.

Check out these: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/08/29/sapphire_toxic_hd6950_video_card_review/7 http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/12/14/amd_radeon_hd_6970_6950_video_card_review/6

I love HARD OCP for video card reviews because they don't just compare how each card does against each other, they'll test the cards against actual games and find out what settings are the best the card can do.

1
APockOP•

OK, I might opt for the 6950 then since I wont be gaming above 1080p. One more thing, is there a specific version of the 6950 in the market that can unlocked to a 6970? Or are those pretty much gone by now?

1
desirecampbell•

I'm not the guy to ask, but this article might point you in the right direction

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

1
Froot_Pug•

I just bought that exact same graphics card a month ago, love it so much. Easy driver installation, 2gig of VRAM for future proofing the card for more graphically intensive engines. Runs any game currently on the market maxed, and a very good price point compared to nvidia cards with similar speeds.

1
CreeDorofl•

you're probably already well covered by the advice posted so far, but this guide (linked on the right) is quite well done and very up-to-date. If you want to explore your options and see where the sensible tradeoffs are... check it out: http://tinyurl.com/FalconGuide

1