New Build

TheAlmightyZeus

Hi guys,

Looking to build a new PC and this forum was recommended to me as the place to get the best parts and value for money. You have a lot to live up to

Budget: €800-1000

Looking for as high end as I can go with the available budget. Use the current PC for a lot of design such as Photoshop, gaming, browsing and downloading so needs a good bit of storage. Lot of multitasking usually going on so that should be something to take into account.

Depending on what's left over, I'd like a new monitor (currently using a 19inch) but it's not a must if we're running low on funds.

Monotype

Total build cost: €802.80 + €30 shipping
ASRock Z68 Pro3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX|€92.81
ASUS ENGTX560 Ti DCII/2DI/1GD5, 1024MB,PCI-E,2xDVI,HDMI|€199.76
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€52.04
8GB-Kit GEIL Value PC3-10667 DDR3-1333 CL9|€37.49
Samsung SH-222AB bare schwarz SATA|€16.22
LiteOn iHAS122-18 schwarz SATA|€16.92
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€183.70
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€33.50
Crucial M4 64GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€89.24
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ)|€47.24
Scythe Mugen 3, für alle Sockel geeignet|€33.88


Did you want windows in this?

Edit: Oops, there's 2 DVD drives in there.

TheAlmightyZeus

Very nice! And with still plenty of money to spare which I suppose I could put towards a nice monitor. Would you recommend upgrading to the i7 or keep it as it is?

Monotype

Remember that you still need windows.
Don't pay too much attention to Intel's branding. That's a very good CPU, especially when you overclock (which is extremely easy with this processor). The only advantage an i7 would give you here is hyperthreading. This is worthless in games performance and only comes into play with heavy encoding or programs designed to make use of it.

TheAlmightyZeus

No need to worry about Windows, have it sourced already.

A mate has had a look around and come up with this. Tell me what you think if you don't mind

Total build cost: €940.57 without shipping costs
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz LGA1155 8MB|€277.44
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz CL9 XMP|€102.42
Asus P8P67 REV 3.0 LGA1155 Intel P67 DDR3 ATX (B3 Stepping)|€126.27
Asus GeForce GTX 560 810MHz 1GB PCI-Express HDMI DirectCU|€160.31
Best Value LiteOn 24x Int. DVDRW Black SATA + S/W|€14.88
Kingston 64GB SSDNow V100 SATA-300 2.5" Solid State Drive|€80.35
Seagate 1.5TB Barracuda Green SATA-600 64MB 5900RPM 3.5"|€58.03
Corsair 500 Watt CX500 V2 Builder Series 80 Plus Power Supply|€51.23
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU Cooler|€17.39

Monotype

The 2600K is not worth the extra money unless you use the hyperthreading. The extra 0.1GHz and 2MB cache is largely irrelevant too. These processors are highly overclockable and you can easily get into the mid 4.X GHz.

Do you really need 16GB of RAM? First of all that's expensive for the RAM, but how much RAM do you need? You mentioned photoshop. Are you working with multiple, huge images? 4GB is enough for most people, even with the heaviest of games. 8GB is plenty for the power user. You can get it for cheaper and granted, €100 is a lot lower of proportion than was spent on RAM a few years ago, but I think the money is best allocated elsewhere. You can always get another 8GB later if you need it.

That board isn't really better than the one I picked out. The one above has the Z68 chipset which has a few additional features but the Asus has the extra PCI-E slot. This isn't really suitable for multiple graphics cards, if that's what you're thinking of as the second slot runs at half the speed of other boards.

The graphics card is a GTX 560, not a 560ti. It's slower.

DVD drive is a good price.

SSD is last generation.

Hard drive is a green drive and so it's slower. Although when you pair it up with a SSD, and have you're main programs there, it's not so bad.

PSU isn't as good.

Heatsink is a good heatsink (although more for light work) but has been superseded by the Freezer 13 Pro.

If you don't want to use hardwareversand, I recommend scan.co.uk instead.

TheAlmightyZeus

Very good points made. True that i5 will do the job I need and can be overclocked comfortably to 4.5GHz. Also makes your recommendations look a lot nicer too with the prices you're giving.. Free up cash for a nice 26 inch monitor as well. I really can't find fault with anything on your list to be honest.

Might end up ordering those parts this evening or tomorrow so!

Monotype

If you want more HDD space, you could get a 2TB green drive.
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46255
It would be a bit slower than the F3 though.

Freezer 13 Pro is probably a bit easier to install.
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=49255

If you want multiple graphics cards, you can bump up the board and PSU to accommodate future expansions.

TheAlmightyZeus

Already have the 1TB from the current PC which I'll drop in so should be alright for storage. Would you go for the Freezer 13 Pro over the Scythe Mugen 3?

deconduo

TheAlmightyZeus wrote: »

Already have the 1TB from the current PC which I'll drop in so should be alright for storage. Would you go for the Freezer 13 Pro over the Scythe Mugen 3?

If you're willing to go through a bit of effort to install it, the Mugen is well worth it.

If you'd prefer to avoid some hassle then stick with the Freezer.

TheAlmightyZeus

I like a challenge ;P Although I do remember helping my bro install a cooler a few years ago and it was the most painful experience of my life. Tricky bastards!

deconduo

TheAlmightyZeus wrote: »

I like a challenge ;P Although I do remember helping my bro install a cooler a few years ago and it was the most painful experience of my life. Tricky bastards!

First time I installed a proper sized one my fingers were ripped to shreds after it. Think of it like a blood sacrifice to the computer building gods :pac:

TheAlmightyZeus

Let's try and make this a clean sweep so, any recommendations on monitors under €200? Have a 19 inch Samsung Syncmaster at the moment but desperately need an upgrade.

Heard good things about the BenQ G2420

TheAlmightyZeus

Right, I'm only replying to this old thread because I still haven't actually ordered the new PC. Had to sort out some Internet banking issues :P

I have a better of idea of what I'll be primarily be using the PC for which is heavy gaming, web development and Visual Studio. Also just bought Skyrim and want to be able to run it comfortably on the highest graphics settings. I had previously said that my budget was up to €1,000 but willing to bump it up to €1,200. That should include either one really good monitor or a dual screen setup.

Monotype

Hard drives, graphics cards and CPU have all gone up but you might get a better value for money with the graphics card if you wait until the new series appears (top end this month, middle graphics cards next month) which should cause a shift in prices.

There's a few luxury items in there such as the bigger SSD and higher quality PSU so you might like to re-allocate some money towards a better case.

Item|Price
Total build cost: €986.49 + €30 shipping
MSI Z68A-G43 (G3), Intel Z68, ATX, DDR3|€90.63
LiteOn iHAS122-18 schwarz SATA|€16.72
Intel Core i5-2500K Tray, LGA1155|€194.73
BitFenix Merc Beta|€32.63
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€178.49
Scythe Mugen 3, für alle Sockel geeignet|€36.84
Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.D 1TB SATA 6GB's|€99.90
Club 3D Radeon 6950 2048MB, AMD Radeon HD 6950, PCI-Express|€229.28
Super-Flower SF550P14XE Golden Green Pro 80plus gold|€71.88
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL9|€35.39


Monitor:
http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_04RAND/16_MONITOR/01_MONITOR/productdetails/20097160/Dell_23_U2312HM_LCD_8ms_VGA_DVI_D_Port/859_10143/default.aspx

Serephucus

Nice build. My only change would be a nicer case maybe, with the budget he's got. The Define R3 is a lovely option, though it's very much personal taste.

Edit: And I see you've even mentioned that Monotype, right, job done so. :P

Monotype

I was think of the R3 too. Cutting the 128GB M4 to a 64GB would easily fit that in.

Serephucus

I'd be hesitant to sacrifice on storage, if it were me. With SSDs like that, it's at that annoying point where 64GB might get a bit small down the line.

It's €55 in the difference, so I'd say ditch the CPU cooler and the DVD drive (spare can be nabbed for Windows install I'm sure), and that's the extra pretty much covered. Much easier to pick up a CPU cooler and DVD drive than to sell off an SSD to buy another later on.

TheAlmightyZeus

Yeah, I'd rather get the right case than sacrifice the more important stuff. The Define R3 looks pretty nice too. I have an ASUS HD6950 2GB DirectCU II that I might just throw in it for now until the new cards are out in a few weeks time. Probably will up the RAM a bit more too.

TheAlmightyZeus

Right, so everything arrived yesterday and I began assembling it last night. Screwed in the motherboard, power supply, CPU and cooler, RAM and graphics card.

My main worry though when when mounting the CPU cooler, I could not the fan towards the front of the case as the RAM was in the was so I had to point it towards the back which means it's directly facing the system fan with about a half inch gap between the two. Is this a problem?

Serephucus

Are the four support spokes that hold the fan to the frame on the outside, or are the on the side of the heatsink?

TheAlmightyZeus

Here you can see what I'm talking about. I couldn't mount the fan on the other side as the RAM is in the way.

Serephucus

That wasn't what I was asking. If you were to look in the gap there, between those fans, toward the fan on the heatsink, does it look like this, or this?

TheAlmightyZeus

Not at home at the moment but mounted as in this picture

Serephucus

You'll need to pop the clips off the fan, and turn it around so that the airflow is going the same direction as the rear fan in the case, then you're good.

TheAlmightyZeus

Cheers dude

TheAlmightyZeus

Everything arrived last week but unfortunately the motherboard was defective (the first two ram slots don't work ) so will have to send it back to Germany and wait on a replacement! GRRRR!