New Build

[Judderman]

Hi Guys/Girls,

I am looking at building a new PC and turning my current build into a server, I have a max of £1000 and already have monitor/keyboard/mouse/CD/DVD. So the build is only the case and everything in it

My only real specifications are that I would like to overclock the machine to at least 4ghz, have at least 4gb of memory. The machine needs to be as low maintenance as possible, so I think air cooling would be best. I have had a quick look around and have come up with the below:

CPU - AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1090T

Cooler - Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler

SDD - OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD7 AMD 890FX

RAM - G.Skill RipJawsX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C9 2133MHz

GCard - XFX ATI Radeon HD 6850 Black Edition 1024MB

Sound Card - Asus Xonar D2 7.1 PCI Sound Card

Case - NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Full Tower Case - Black

PSU - Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 750W V2

Total = £995.29

I know the SSD isnt the biggest or best on the market but I already have one and was planning to put them into RAID0 giving me 120gb, which is plenty as my server will have plenty of storage. If any one can recommend better parts for performance it would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

 

[ruthless_villain]

do you have a tight budget if not then go for this:

CPU - i5 2500k ( will easily clock past 4ghz)

Cooler - Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler

SDD - GET A SATA 6GB/S SSD 64gb is only £90 or so

Mobo - Msi-p67a-G45

RAM - Mushkin Blackline 1600mhz

GCard - 560ti

Sound Card - Asus Xonar 7.1 PCI Sound Card

Case - NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Full Tower Case - Black

PSU - Corsair Enthusiast Series HX (Modular) 750W V2

aria basket

is £80 cheaper so you could add a 1tb hdd, or upgrade gpu or add more ram or get a bigger ssd (you get the point, i could go on for hours)

(last one) or get a 22" 1080p monitor from aria!

 

[Karlos_the_n00b]

What's the rig for mate? Gaming, video editing, ect... (this effects how many cores you may want)

Also, out of interest what games do you play? (This effects what card)

Hope you don't mind me asking.

 

[rwiuviberwVFIUBER]

Whoa, I never understood getting a sound card tbqh, unless I really had the money left over. Also, how does this total 1k? Swear I could get that cheaper!

EDIT: I take that back. I thought 900 pounds was hitting the 1.8k mark. But honestly, why the sound card? You could probably save on that and get 2x4 ram, and a better GPU, like the 560, or 6950.

Also, like Karlos said, if this is for gaming I'd definitely swap the AMD for the new Sandy Bridge. They're definitely more bang for buck for gaming tbqh.

 

[Judderman]

Many thanks for the replys Guys,

I probably should of mentioned that this PC will generally be used for everyday stuff, I study alot using VMWare and also play the odd game (Battlefield 2/CoD). I am not a huge gamer but do like to tinker and overclock.

I was planning on setting up the server as a Hyper-V server and running a VM environment from there for all the Labs I need for testing/studying.

I would really just like to get the best performance alround for my money

Thanks for your time folks!

 

[SieB]

If you are going to be using VM's I would get at least 8gb RAM.

 

[Judderman]

Hi Endzy, your probably right on the soundcard tbh, at present I use the onboard sound which is good enough for me as I am no audiophile but do like my chunes

I would also like to future proof this puter for about 3 years or so. Any hints are appreciated, I currently have an AMD/ATI rig but really have no qualms with Intel/Nvidia, so have no preferance.

I havent really built a PC for a couple of years so I am a bit out of touch with the hardware market

 

[Judderman]

If you are going to be using VM's I would get at least 8gb RAM.

Hi SieB, the VM's will run on the server and have about 16gb of RAM but I will be running a console on my local machine just connecting to the servers in the vm.

TBH I can not see me needing much more than 4gb with the option to add another 4gb at a later date

 

[ruthless_villain]

Hi Endzy, your probably right on the soundcard tbh, at present I use the onboard sound which is good enough for me as I am no audiophile but do like my chunes

I would also like to future proof this puter for about 3 years or so. Any hints are appreciated, I currently have an AMD/ATI rig but really have no qualms with Intel/Nvidia, so have no preferance.

I havent really built a PC for a couple of years so I am a bit out of touch with the hardware market

well if you go with AM3 your pc will be latest technology for... 6 months

p67 count on 3 years or so

 

[SieB]

Hi SieB, the VM's will run on the server and have about 16gb of RAM but I will be running a console on my local machine just connecting to the servers in the vm.

TBH I can not see me needing much more than 4gb with the option to add another 4gb at a later date

Oh right, I thought you would be running them on this PC, never mind then 4gb will be enough.

 

[Karlos_the_n00b]

Whoa, I never understood getting a sound card tbqh, unless I really had the money left over. Also, how does this total 1k? Swear I could get that cheaper!

I understand where your coming from as a gamers point of view but if you really enjoy your audio then getting a good card can make a big difference. Tom's review of the SP2500's kinda touches on that if your interested http://www.overclock..._video_review/1

Edit: depending on what you use to listen to your audio ofc.

Many thanks for the replys Guys,

I probably should of mentioned that this PC will generally be used for everyday stuff, I study alot using VMWare and also play the odd game (Battlefield 2/CoD). I am not a huge gamer but do like to tinker and overclock.

I was planning on setting up the server as a Hyper-V server and running a VM environment from there for all the Labs I need for testing/studying.

I would really just like to get the best performance alround for my money

Thanks for your time folks!

Well, I'm out of my depth there then

In truth what you've put together seems pretty good to me then as it looks like the kind of stuff you'll be running may benefit more from a hex core processor like the 1090T over the quad core 2500K but please don't quote me on that

The board's got plenty of reviews so that looks like a good choice but I notice that it says it only supports memory speeds up to 1866MHz and you've chosen 2133MHz memory? I'm no good when it comes to memory so you may have done that for a reason.

(That reminds me, thanks to Pat for that explanation the other day on the other thread

)

 

[rwiuviberwVFIUBER]

Yeah I can understand that Karlos. I use some Logitech 5.1s, they do the job real fine for me

But my main point was, you could get a motherboard with one built in if you really wanted?

I just did a quick search through the store I use in AUS, and here's what I came up with for a system, only stating what I changed.

CASE: HAF 932 - Brilliant cases, and they're cheaper then the Phantom.

MOBO: ASUS Crosshair IV - This thing will basically make you love your life, AND it has built in SupremeFX X-Fi 8 Channel HD Audio

SSD: Corsair Force 60GB SSD - OCZ don't have a very good reputation. I was originally going to get one as they're slightly cheaper, ended up with Corsair

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2x2GB @ 2000mhz - These things are pretty nice for overclocking, and they'll do what you need them to

PSU: Corsair TX850 - Best way to futureproof, an extra 100W! It all makes a difference

Comes out to be 920 pounds, so you save yourself a bit, or you could put it elsewhere (Upgrade that SSD, or even new speakers!)

Hope this gave you some help

 

[Karlos_the_n00b]

Ah, sorry. Misunderstood you. My bad.

 

[Junglerog]

If you are going for AMD hexcore build go for 1600 ram with the tightest timings you can get. It's been covered here on forum in multiple posts.

 

[Judderman]

Many thanks for the above advice, I have kinda revised my parts list from the advice given and I am now looking the below:

AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1100T

Asus Crosshair IV Formula AMD 890FX

Asus ATI Radeon HD 6850 OC 1024MB

NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Full

Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 850W V2

OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB

Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB)

Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler

This totals about £962, I am still not totally sure weather or not to go teh sandybridge route, the big questios is less cores more clock speeed, or lower clock speeds more cores

Will have to have a ponder as I am not in a rush to build his rig so gonna take my time and get all aspects right

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[Karlos_the_n00b]

I like what your doing with this rig but there is something you need to take a look at. The Vengeance memory and the D-14 aren't compatible. the heatsinks on the vengeance just won't go under the D-14. This is a list of compatible memory to help you out http://www.noctua.at...ts_id=34&lng=en

These are just things to think about

I put a Vertex 2 drive in the better half rig and I personal like them but she's using a board with sata 2 where you will be buying a mobo that supports sata 3 so you may want to have a look at the Crucial c300 which will give you better performance for the same money.

I've also noticed that you changed from a 1090 to a 1100. Just wanted to ask if you'd taken a look at Tom's review of the 1100T before doing this? If so than that's cool but if not it might pay you to do so.

http://www.overclock...00t_be_review/1

Last thing, and this is just completely my preference, and the Phantom is a great case but have you seen this case?:

http://www.bit-tech....t02r-w-review/1

Its just that I personally like to have a window in my case and I think with the red and black parts you've selected that they would look absolutely mint in this case, but that's just me and i do think that the case is always the most personal part of a build

Hope this helps

 

[Grizzly]

Many thanks for the above advice, I have kinda revised my parts list from the advice given and I am now looking the below:

AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1100T

Asus Crosshair IV Formula AMD 890FX

Asus ATI Radeon HD 6850 OC 1024MB

NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Full

Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 850W V2

OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB

Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB)

Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler

This totals about £962, I am still not totally sure weather or not to go teh sandybridge route, the big questios is less cores more clock speeed, or lower clock speeds more cores

Will have to have a ponder as I am not in a rush to build his rig so gonna take my time and get all aspects right

Thanks for the help guys!

Apologies if it's been said already but you should try and get a SATA III SSD if you can without breaking your budget, much faster and I believe the Crosshair is SATA III able. You may want to get one with garbage collection though as I'm not sure if the SATA III chipset on the crosshair has TRIM support.

 

[Stryker64]

Apologies if it's been said already but you should try and get a SATA III SSD if you can without breaking your budget, much faster and I believe the Crosshair is SATA III able. You may want to get one with garbage collection though as I'm not sure if the SATA III chipset on the crosshair has TRIM support.

Well correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought TRIM was due to the Windows 7 OS, not the SATA chipset controllers. Also maybe opt for the MSI Fuzion Power Edition Motherboard? It's an absolute cracker, at a low price =D With the money you save you can get a better graphics card, and a better PSU. Corsair HX, Seasonic M12 or an NZXT Hale90 would do nicely.

Also if you're going with Corsair Vengeance RAM and an AMD CPU, you might consider using a Thermalright Archon, unless you're willing to take the heatsinks off the RAM and void the warranty.

 

[Grizzly]

Well correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought TRIM was due to the Windows 7 OS, not the SATA chipset controllers. Also maybe opt for the MSI Fuzion Power Edition Motherboard? It's an absolute cracker, at a low price =D

Also if you're going with Corsair Vengeance RAM and an AMD CPU, you might consider using a Thermalright Archon, unless you're willing to take the heatsinks off the RAM and void the warranty.

I think the SATA chipset has to be capable of TRIM, if not then It's not going to be so much trouble for me to get an SSD in future.

Might need a second opinion on that though.

 

[Judderman]

Many thanks for the help guys, and big Kudos to Karlos for spotting the memory compatiability issue. Not sure how I give credit but when I find out their will be some coming your way

Anyone got any idea's on RAM that is compatiable?

I am after about 8gb. The below looks good:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...2x4GB)+DDR3+1600MHz+9-9-9-24+?productId=43961

I will definately look at the SSD issue. I was under the impression as well that TRIM support was native to Windows 7 so if anyone can clarify that it would be great.

Cheers for the help Guys!