Gaming/Business PC

PatL23

Hello everybody, I have somewhat lost track in the past few years of tech, simply because i have not had any need to upgrade. So i could do with someone help picking new parts.

1. What is your budget? 900-1000eur ideally, but can go to 1100 if need be.

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming/Internet/Business Stuff

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? Yes, Corsair 750w power supply, writemaster cd drive/rewriter, Triton 180 mid-tower(Not certain/unsure, i might upgrade because of no USB 3.0)

5. Do you need a monitor? Yes, but i have to sell my 19" acer first.

5a. If yes, what size do you need. 24" HDMI, perhaps a 27" but depends on price

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Keyboard and a Card reader

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes, but only when I need to increase framerates .

8. How can you pay? Bank Transfer/Laser

9. When are you purchasing? 2 months

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? No, id say i can manage it.

11. What would i like/need? an i5 or i7, perhaps a i7 for 3-5 years future proofing? I am unsure whether to go with a hd7950 or a gtx680. An SSD for OS and a few games and certain applications, 1tb hard drive for storage. 8gb ram.

That is all i can think of for now. Looking forward to your input

Edit: What is the expected release date of the next series of graphics cards? like the GTX7xx and HD89xx? I have a GTX260, so that might do me until then?

marco_polo

I'll leave the decision on a case or not up to yourself, but something like the following wouldn't be bad at all.

There are unlikely to be any new GPU released until at the least very late in the year, so I feel that the HD7870 XT edition, which is a cut down HD7950 is good value and would be very capable gaming GPU at the resolution of the Dell for at least a couple of years before you would feel the need to upgrade.

Once you overclock the CPU at some point in its lifetime it should last you for a good 4-5 years.

You could certainly consider taking a punt on one of the Korean 1440p IPS monitors, like the Catleap, on your budget in which case I would go with at least a HD7950 for sure.

Item|Price
Dell UltraSharp U2412M (schwarz)|€256.87
ASRock Z77 Pro4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€97.64
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€202.90
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€28.99
Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT Boost, 2GB GDDR5, DVI, HDMI, 2x Mini DisplayPort, full retail|€215.02
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€100.72
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€58.79
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€979.92

EDIT: Missing RAM apologies, factor in another 40-45 for that.

PatL23

Thanks for the reply marco_polo.

I doubt it would be a wise choice to go for a cheap new brand like the ones you mentioned. Id rather go with the tried and tested brands like the samsung syncmaster or acer, lg etc.
How does the hd7950 fare against the gtx670 when it comes to overall performance? It is its rival isnt it?
Now im just going by newegg and reviews and the gtx670 seems to get better overall performance reviews.

What about an i5 vs an i7, you said a i5 overclocked would do me 3-5 years, would an i7 not be a better long term investment? Or does hyper-threading make much of a difference?

How long do you recon will it take for the new 6 core processors to come down to i7 and i5 prices?

marco_polo

PatL23 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply marco_polo.

I doubt it would be a wise choice to go for a cheap new brand like the ones you mentioned. Id rather go with the tried and tested brands like the samsung syncmaster or acer, lg etc.
How does the hd7950 fare against the gtx670 when it comes to overall performance? It is its rival isnt it?
Now im just going by newegg and reviews and the gtx670 seems to get better overall performance reviews.

What about an i5 vs an i7, you said a i5 overclocked would do me 3-5 years, would an i7 not be a better long term investment? Or does hyper-threading make much of a difference?

How long do you recon will it take for the new 6 core processors to come down to i7 and i5 prices?

Hyperthreading give a performance boost in certain applications, but is is rarely anything near the 50% price permium that it carries, for gaming it has pretty well no impact on performance.

Not sure about the Intel roadmap but I don't think 6 core consumer CPUs are planned for Haswell (1050), and there will definitely never be a six core on the 1155 platform. I am unsure what the plans are for the successor to X79 which is the only platform where you can get a 6 core Intel currently, but I suspect they are unlikely to get too much cheaper in the near future.

Not much between the GTX670 and HD 7950 at stock but the HD7950 is a great overclocker and better value for money IMO. On the other hand AMD do have some frame latency issues but hopefully these will be resolved with driver updates in the near future.

Its not the sort of choice I'd lose too much sleep over either cards would perform very well indeed

PatL23

What is the significant difference between this Acer and this Samsung, same size but its 105euro cheaper o.o
The Acer has a 2ms responce time and the samsung has 8ms. Am i just paying for the brand when going with the samsung in this case.

marco_polo

PatL23 wrote: »

What is the significant difference between this Acer and this Samsung, same size but its 105euro cheaper o.o
The Acer has a 2ms responce time and the samsung has 8ms. Am i just paying for the brand when going with the samsung in this case.

That Samsung is a Dell.

Its dearer mainly because it is an IPS panel as opposed to a regular TN one, so has more vibrant colors, wider viewing angle etc.

It would make a very capable gaming monitors, 8ms is a reasonable enough response time, and its input lag, which is the more important number is very low.

The dell would also have better all round build quality and features for example it can tilt/rotate/pivot in every conceivable direction, has a 16:10 aspect ration, and has a built in USB hub.

Personally I'd definately get an IPS monitor everytime nowadays, in order of how much you want to spend I'd probably go with the following.

Dell U2412M
Dell U2312HM
LG Flatron IPS234V

The LG is prety much the same monitor as the 23" dell just slightly more barebones.

uncle_sam_ie

That Dell IPS is a very good monitor. If you want a good gaming monitor then go for this,
http://www.hardwareversand.de/60+cm+%2824%29+/52539/BenQ+XL2420T.article
If it was me I'd go for the Dell IPS over the 120Hz