Approx $2000 Build (At the Current Exchange rate)

1341 Views 31 Replies 6 Participants Last post by KazuoKiriyama, Jul 16, 2010

KazuoKiriyama

Discussion Starter · Jun 29, 2010

Hey guys, I wont go over the top on the ***-kissing but I am truly impressed by these forums and as someone who is considering building their own PC for the first time or at least assembling the components you guys are a godsend - thanks for all the input you put into the many threads on these forums.

So, with that out of the way - I am looking to replace my current gaming machine with the best I can afford which right now puts my limit at about 1200 pounds or roughly $1950 though it is slightly flexible as I can simply wait longer and spend more if I need to. I live in England so US only sites wont be much use for me and my preferred components are produced by Asus, Nvidia, Intel and Corsair however I am open to new ideas.

Here is a proposed build, all the customer reviews seem excellent and ... well here it is, usually with 2 options for each:

Motherboard

Asus Rampage III Extreme £288
Asus P6X58D-E IntelX58 £168

Graphics Card

GeForce GTX 480 £400
GeForce GTX 470 £230

Processor

Intel Core i7 980 £840 (God I wish I could afford this)
Intel Core i7 960 £460
Intel Core i7 950 £375

Memory

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM £96
8GB 2 of the above £192 (any reason why I cant buy 2x4?)

Harddrive

500GB Samsung HD502HI Ecogreen F2 £35 (I know very little about HDs)

Power Supply

550W Corsair CMPSU-550VXUK £70 (Is this sufficient to power this build?)

Operating System

Windows 7 Home Edition £100

Cooling System

Corsair Hydro Series H50-1 CPU Watercooler £62 (Never used watercooling)

CD/DVD Drive

Sony AD-5240S-0B 24xDVDR 12xDVDDL £15

Case

Coolermaster CM-690 V2 Dominator Black Midi Tower £60

Sound Card

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE7.1 £22

Current exchange rate is 1.5 Dollars to the pound

If I type much more you will all be asleep but basically I would very much appreciate your input on this build - which I mostly use for gaming (looking forward to the new final fantasy XIV mmo for example) and I want it to last for at least 3 years - remaining very powerful throughout.

Thanks for your time, any clarification that you need dont hesistate to ask and ill answer.

Simon.

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1 - 20 of 32 Posts

KazuoKiriyama

Discussion Starter · #2 · Jun 29, 2010 (Edited)

Additionally I forgot to mention that I do intend to SAFELY overclock this system and so I appreciate that the cooling and power supply may be massively insufficient - I simply dont know enough about it yet to make an informed decision - though im learning more all the time

Found this power supply: 650W Corsair CMPSU-650TX, single 12V rail

for the same price (£70) but cant edit my original post - so ill probably run with this.

Tyree

· #3 · Jun 29, 2010

A 650W PSU would be OK for the 470 but you will need a 750W for the 480.
4GB of RAM is more than sufficient for any game and most apps. But, both of the Mobo's you have posted use Triple Channel so you will want a 3X2 GB set.
Air cooling is quite capable.
WD Black series wuld be a better choice for a Hdd.
Have you looked at out suggested builds?
http://www.techsupportforum.com/f25...evised-2010-and-updated-regularly-448272.html

greenbrucelee

· #4 · Jun 29, 2010 (Edited)

I live in the UK where did you get the prices from?

I always use overclockers and sometimes novatech.

If you are gonna overclock the system I would suggest going for the 750 even if you go for the 470 graphics card then you should be able to do extreme overclocking without any bother. I got one of those 960's to 4GHz the other day on air

and I reckon I could have got it more but the customer was happy at 4GHz so I couldn't do it.

As said by Tyree no need for more than 4GB but since its triple channel 3x2 is best and will also be your best betfor overclocking too.

If you can afford it I would suggest the rampage extreme, I have the rampage formula and it overclocks like a beast so the extreme should be even better.

Also the sound card that comes with the formula is very good so I would say the one that comes with the extreme will be even better so you may not wish to persue getting a sounds card (might give a bit extra cash for the gpu or cpu

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KazuoKiriyama

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 30, 2010

Thanks for the info on the PSU, will adjust accordingly.

I will now take 3x2gb RAM as both of you made the same point but as a newbie im afraid I dont understand what triple channel is and why that would suggest a 3x2gb RAM, could either of you explain that please?

Would everyone agree that air cooling would be sufficient for this system? I know almost nothing on the subject other than my last 2 computers have had overheating problems even when not overclocked which was what made me want to spend a bit more on cooling.

I looked at the recommended builds - thanks for the link it was very helpful and lead me to agree with your hdd choice of the Western Digital one. I also saw that air cooler there - would you still recommend that particular cooler for this system?

@Greenbrucelee: I use www.scan.co.uk for my prices mostly although the rampage III at that price was from morecomputers.com which is a site I know little about. I would need to do some more searching for better prices on each part and will check out novatech as I hadnt heard of it before.

Thanks very much for your input and I look forward to anything anyone else has to add.

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greenbrucelee

· #6 · Jun 30, 2010

triple channel is when the ram is basically trebbled in speed so the ram must be a matching set and speed so you would buy a tripple channel set meaning you would get 3 RAM sticks

Air cooling will be fine.

Scan is good but dont know about more computers actuall I never heard of them and I have been buying components for years.

rmartz20

· #7 · Jun 30, 2010

Kazu - I Installed a gtx 470 on my system a month or 2 ago. Here is a link to another thread I had going with some more info on the psu. There is another link on that thread (not sure if it is still active) that talks about power supply info for the gtx 470/480.

http://www.techsupportforum.com/f15/cpu-bottleneck-gtx-470-a-479674.html

A little FYI - For me, it does seem to run hot at times but if you manually set the fan at 70-75% before doing a graphic intensive task/game you should be fine (at least for me with the 470). I also only have a fan in front and a fan blowing out in back of my case and that seems to work for me.

hhnq04

· #8 · Jun 30, 2010

Those cards are known to run hot. Just make sure you have a roomy case with some good cable management to maximize airflow, and you'll be alright.

Motherboards use either dual channel or triple channel sets of RAM. If you look at the specs for them, it will specify dual or triple channel, which tells you whether you need 2 or 3 sticks of RAM (buy as a set, not 3 separate sticks, for ensured compatibility together).

KazuoKiriyama

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jun 30, 2010

Ah ok I think I understand the triple channel thing now, thanks for your comments and I read up a little on it so I was more sure about it.

Thanks for the PSU info rmartz20 I checked out the link and read the info and am very glad I came here for advice as I would probably have bought a vastly insufficient PSU especially as I am planning to overclock it a bit.

In reference to you comment on the case hhnq04 does the case I mentioned in the build seem sufficient or would I be better spilling a bit more for a better coolermaster? Ive heard they are a solid make to go with - along with Antec.

Again, thanks for all the input guys - its amazing how much you learn just by researching all this stuff, im enjoying it.

greenbrucelee

· #10 · Jun 30, 2010

coolermaster Antec and Silverstone make very good cases. Some of them have a lot of fans to keep things cool but can be noisy it just depends if you can tollerate the noise.

I have antec 1200 it has 3 120mm fans at the from which you can control the speed and noise 2 200mm fans at the back which you can control speed and noise and a 200mm fan at the top which you cantrol the speed and noise. There is also an option to fit a side mounted fan to cool the graphics card and an extra one near the cpu but those two cant be controlled.

I have the normal fans plus the extra cpu fan and have them all on low you never notice the noise in games but it can be off putting if your watching a film.

KazuoKiriyama

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jun 30, 2010

Im not too fussed about the noise of the fans, I just want to make sure they keep the system nice and cool so I dont get problems with it. Ive had several noisy comps so im pretty used to it I guess, thanks for the case info.

greenbrucelee

· #12 · Jun 30, 2010

put it this way along with my antec 1200 and the tuniq tower cpu cooler having my cpu clocked to 4GHz the temps never get above 53 degrees and thats after 7 hours of running a maximum cpu stress test.

The hard drive never gets above 16 degrees which is actually quite cold

and the motherboard never gets above 30 degrees.

KazuoKiriyama

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jun 30, 2010

Ah well thats very good to know, thanks.

KazuoKiriyama

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jul 2, 2010

Ok so ive been in touch with Scan and their quote was way too much to supply and build so ive decided to build myself and to downgrade the processor to save myself a few hundred pounds. I have also made several other changes based on the advice from this thread.

Here is the updated build:

Motherboard

Asus Rampage III Extreme

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus...(2200-OC)-SLi-Xfire-USB3-SATA-6Gbps-8Ch-Audio

Graphics Card

GeForce GTX 470

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_470_us.html

Processor

Intel Core i7 920

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Inte...Hz-QPI-48GT-s-8MB-Cache-20x-Ratio-130W-Retail

Memory

6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/plus...0-(1600)-Non-ECC-Unbuffered-CAS-9-9-9-24-165V

Harddrive

Western Digital Caviar Black 750GB SATA II

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-092-WD&utm_source=froogle

Power Supply

950W Corsair CMPSU-950TXUK

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/950W...-Power-Supply-massive-78A-single-plus12V-rail

Operating System

Windows 7 Home Edition

http://www.pc-expert-uk.com/WINDOWS-HOME-PREMIUM-7-RETAIL-BOX-p99142.html

Cooling System

Megahalems Prolimatech Rev B. Intel CPU Heatsink

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8807/?campid=bmr

CD/DVD Drive

Sony AD-5240S-0B 24xDVDR 12xDVDDL

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Sony-AD-5240S-0B-24x-DVDR-12xDVDDL-DVDRW-x8-RWx6-SATA-Black

Case

Coolermaster RC-932-KKN1-GP HAF 932 Black

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

Ok, so ive chosen the rampage over the other one as it just seemed so good.

I chose the geforce 470 over the 480 mainly for the price drop with minimal difference in performance as far as I could see.

The main downgrade is the i7 920 from the 950 but I simply cant afford the £270 difference, this wont bottleneck the system will it?

Chose 6GB RAM to account for the triple channel mobo.

Upped the power supply to a 950w Corsair to allow for no problems even when overclocking to 4Ghz.

Switched to the megahalems prolimatech air cooling instead of water cooling as recommended - very glad of this now im planning to build it as i havent got a clue where to start with water cooling.

Upgraded the case slightly to one with better air flow as this was mentioned and the price difference wasnt too bad.

When I sent my request to Scan they sent back a quote but included (without my request) a fan and a fan extension cable - is this something definitely required that I had missed, or do I need several fans/cables? (I assumed they came with some components/the case.)

My final question is again re: cooling (sorry to go on about this) but I looked at the air cooling system that was recommended here and its a CPU cooler, do I not need cooling for the GPU and other components also other than a couple of fans? Sorry for the newbie-ness of the requests but I wanted to be sure - thanks guys.

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rmartz20

· #15 · Jul 2, 2010

From my build, I have not had any problems with heat. I don't have an aftermarket cooler either. I just have 2 fans; one blowing in on the front and one blowing out in the back. You might want to manually set your fan speed for your gpu when you are going to do graphic intensive tasks. These cards (470) are made to run hot so don't be surprised if it gets over 90c.

KazuoKiriyama

Discussion Starter · #16 · Jul 2, 2010

Ok thanks, ill go ahead and get ordering this system then - ill almost certainly be back with some building questions as this is my first time doiung it but for now - I cant thank you all enough for the help with the component decisions.

KazuoKiriyama

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jul 13, 2010

Ok, time for a bump as all of the parts have arrived and I have started my way towards my first BIOS load from a bench test.

Couple of questions regarding the building:

Using the prolimatech megahalems cooler and that all attached smoothly, and I got a 120mm Coolermaster fan to go with it but im not sure which side of the heatsink it should go (the side of the gfx card or the other side near the edge of the card) and also which way round it should go (push or pull air).

Also very confused about all the cables coming out of the 950w Corsair PSU ive so far plugged the main 20 or 24 pin (cant remember) into the mobo (Asus Rampage III Extreme) and two others marked PSI 3 which were the only ones that would fit into the gfx card (GTX470).

Im guessing many of the others are to be attached to the case fans etc? Its the coolermaster HAF case. Any input on any of this would be much appreciated and many more questions to come as im finding all of this quite tricky to begin with

Thanks.

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greenbrucelee

· #18 · Jul 13, 2010

air flow should come in at the from and out at the back. If you have a side fan it should be blowing in.

So in the case of cpu fan it should be blowing toward the back of the case.

Your gpu should be fine with heat

Molex connectors will connect the fan
PCI-e will go in the graphics card
remember the four pin connector by the cpu

build the system outside the case on top of the motherboard dont put the motherboard on an anti static bag.

Put the stand offs in the case

After a succesful post switch off

put in psu
Screw in motherboard
replugg everything back
install winodws and motherboard drivers.

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KazuoKiriyama

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jul 14, 2010

Excellent summary, will do and get back to you, thanks.

KazuoKiriyama

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jul 14, 2010

Ok I plugged in the PSU and connected it to a monitor and tried to load it up for the first time.

The mobo is powered up with various LEDs, most yellow, one red.

The CPU fan is working fine, as is the PSU fan.

However nothing is getting to the monitor which is fine on my other computer but when plugged into my build I get No VGA Signal and then it goes automatically to standby.

I took some pictures of the build, ill try to upload now.

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