So my PSU 'sploded...

Blowfish

After flipping the circuitbreaker back on and airing out the flat so it no longer smells of burnt electronics, I figure now would be a pretty good time to hasten the upgrade plans.


1. What is your budget? About €1k, but lets just say I'm flexible.

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming definitely. I'm more of a Strategy/RPG/MMO nut than FPS though, so some of the stuff I play can be CPU heavy.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yep.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? Yes and no.

The plan is to rebuild the basics of my existing machine and hand it off to my dad as his 10 year old machine is long past it and he could do with the upgrade for AutoCAD (mainly 2d, but some not terribly hardcore stuff in 3d). Existing machine is:

MSI P7N Platinum
Q6700 @3.6ghz
2x 8800gts 512mb
4GB DDR2 - Can't remember make/model off hand.
2HDD's, 1tb Spinpoint F3 and a generic 250gb I can't remember details of.
Antec 900
Vista Home Premium

He doesn't need a whole lot of space so what I'm thinking is to keep the HDD's for my own build, get him a smallish SSD for OS etc and he can then use his existing HDD for what little storage he needs. Mobo only supports SATA II though, so that'll need to be taken into account.

Naturally it'll need a new PSU too, though he wont need SLI so supporting a single GPU is fine.

For my own build, the only games planned over the next few months is polishing off Skyrim and then SWTOR. Both of these are very GPU friendly and play fine on what I have so I may actually hold off on any new GPU's until the 7xxx series is out and just use one or maybe both 8800's until then. The budget actually excludes GPU(s).

5. Do you need a monitor? No.


5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? I actually ordered a 2560x1600 literally about 2 hours before the PSU went so I've that and an existing 1920x1200.

I only really intend to use the one for gaming though, keeping the second for when coding or for downtime in MMO's.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No, but I do have a Xonar Essence ST (PCI) which will need to be able to fit in too.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Naturally.

8. How can you pay? Bank Transfer, CC etc. is fine.

9. When are you purchasing? ASAP. I'm in withdrawal. A crappy laptop borrowed from work that struggles with Minecraft just doesn't cut it.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? I'll be self building.


Case wise, I'd like the option to go for watercooling eventually so large is fine and I'm actually not all that pushed on it having to look good aesthetically. Also, noise doesn't bother me too much as I use a closed headset so don't hear it much.

ShadowHearth

with this budget you are in cookie cutter zone of i5 2500k, 8gb ram, 6950/6970/570, ssd zone

i biult my system few days ago with 1k budget like you.

this is my thread and build

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056462547

Unfortunately i wanted more future prove build so i went over my budget, but it will be a good pointer for you to start on.

everyone here is using that german website, but i just could not be fudged with bank transfers and extra time for deliveries and payment to be cleared.

i used scan.co.uk and i was super happy with them. system might costed a wee bit extra to german website, but delivery times made it worth it. ordered on tue afternoon and had my system at my doorstep on thur afternoon.

Blowfish

The budget actually doesn't include GPU's as the plan is to use existing ones and wait until Jan for the 7xxx series. I'll also have to work out a seperate 'mini' budget for what I'm willing to spend on the ssd/psu for my existing machine to get it up and running again.

Definitely tempted by scan.co.uk though if they are that fast, I'll take a look at the price difference now.

Anyways, here's a sample build I'm looking at, any thoughts?

Item|Price
Total build cost: €1,007.29 + €30 shipping
Cooler Master HAF X, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€161.15
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€177.44
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance Low Profile blau PC3-12800U CL9|€33.94
Noctua NH-D14, Sockel AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1366/1155/1156|€67.99
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€84.94
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€191.31
ASUS P8Z68-V, Sockel 1155, ATX, DDR3|€143.81
Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800 Watt|€146.71

ShadowHearth

lads might not agree with me, but i would get gen 3 mobo with pcie 3.0

socket 1155 will support ivy bridge, so you might aswell get a mobo which will have pcie3.0 ready for your gpu upgrade.

spending extra 30eu now, but you will have a peace of mind and wont need upgrade mobo later on.

Serephucus

RE: case, have a look at Cooler Master's ATCS 840. It's almost identical to the HAF internally, but has very different exterior styling. It also has room for a 360, 240, and 120 rad, all without modding. You can actually do 2x360+120 if you get the right rads.

What GPUs are you thinking of? You may very well not need 800W. I'd look at the Silent Pro M800. Not quite as efficient, but quieter, and cheaper.

And I'd change the motherboard to the Gen 3 version.

Eamonn Brophy

Blowfish wrote: »

The budget actually doesn't include GPU's as the plan is to use existing ones and wait until Jan for the 7xxx series. I'll also have to work out a seperate 'mini' budget for what I'm willing to spend on the ssd/psu for my existing machine to get it up and running again.

Definitely tempted by scan.co.uk though if they are that fast, I'll take a look at the price difference now.

Anyways, here's a sample build I'm looking at, any thoughts?

Item|Price
Total build cost: €1,007.29 + €30 shipping
Cooler Master HAF X, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€161.15
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€177.44
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance Low Profile blau PC3-12800U CL9|€33.94
Noctua NH-D14, Sockel AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1366/1155/1156|€67.99
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€84.94
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€191.31
ASUS P8Z68-V, Sockel 1155, ATX, DDR3|€143.81
Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800 Watt|€146.71

This is perfection bar the motherboard, go gen 3, pcie 3 and get something that supports up the 3 cards in sli/cf as you have the money.

Blowfish

GEN3 it is so, cheers all!

Seems scan.co.uk are out of Crucial M4's and haven't found any other Irish retailer that has them in stock at a reasonable price, so looks like HWV it is.

Serephucus wrote: »

RE: case, have a look at Cooler Master's ATCS 840. It's almost identical to the HAF internally, but has very different exterior styling. It also has room for a 360, 240, and 120 rad, all without modding. You can actually do 2x360+120 if you get the right rads.

Definitely tempted by that now after reading up on the reviews of it.

Serephucus wrote: »

What GPUs are you thinking of? You may very well not need 800W. I'd look at the Silent Pro M800. Not quite as efficient, but quieter, and cheaper.

Well it would depend on price/performance between the 7950 and 7970, but ideally I'd have the option to stick a second in later if needed.

ShadowHearth

I got corsair 60gb drive which is in same bracket as the one you mentioned from scan.co.uk Working perfectly.

Come to think of it, I look like corsair fanboy as most of my stuff is corsair and I did not even intended that lol.