New PC build £600

[DT-525]

Firstly i loved that video on you Youtube channel about a PC for £600 and that got my thinking, is it time for my to update. The Computer iv got now is getting old and i want a PC with a little punch, a PC that can play game well. So i went on to Aria and put the package together the same one you mentioned in you video with a few tweaks of my own.

NZXT Vulcan Micro-ATX Gaming Tower Case - Black

Gladiator Core i3 540 Pre-Built Overclocked Bundle

• Intel® Core™ i3-540 Overclocked @ 4.20GHz - Dual Core CPU

• 4GB Mushkin Silverline 1333MHz 9-9-9-24

• MSI H55M-ED55 Micro-ATX Motherboard

• Coolermaster Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler

• Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

XFX Pro Series 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Single Rail

XFX ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

640GB Western Digital WD6402AAEX Caviar Black 3.5" SATA III Hard Drive

Now am not new at bulding PC's but what do you think of these components, are there suitable for the what i want them for (which is gaming) and do you think that any changes need to be made to it.

My current set up is a Intel Q8200 with 4gb of not very fast ram would i lose any performance going to a duel core set-up or is this chip better than the one i have. As well if anybody sees any changes they would like to make please share them, my budget is £600 - £650 any help would be fantastic.

Thanks Dean

 

[alienware]

with a few tweaks of my own.

XFX Pro Series 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Single Rail

Leave XFX psus well alone. They don't make them any more and there's a reason - they're tom tit.

XFX ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-137-GW&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1810

Will rip off the 6870's head and poo down its neck.

 

[Matthew McEwan]

I am not the most knowledgable person when it comes to PC's but if you watched the full video then you should have a pretty good idea of how this build will work. I dont think you will need a 750W PSU, a 650 should handle it. You should probably rock a Corsair PSU, just seen Aliens post and if you go for the 470 due to its power consumption I would stick with a 750W, if you go with the 6870 then just stick with a 650. Hope this helped somewhat.

 

[DT-525]

What's wrong with the ATI GPU the review says it a good GPU and i don't want a loud ass Nvidia in my rig i have to sleep in a room with it. And the PSU i want a powerful PSU just in case i ever decide to go SLI or crossfire but what would you recomend as a good PSU.

 

[Matthew McEwan]

Nothing is wrong with it, but if your into performance a gtx470 will beat it: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/10/22/ati-radeon-hd-6870-review/1

I dont know about the sound.... When I go with my build I am going to have a CM 690 II and max amount of silent fans so hopefully I wont get too much noise..But again you are going with a different setup.

Why would you sleep with the computer on?

 

[DT-525]

Nothing is wrong with it, but if your into performance a gtx470 will beat it: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/10/22/ati-radeon-hd-6870-review/1

I dont know about the sound.... When I go with my build I am going to have a CM 690 II and max amount of silent fans so hopefully I wont get too much noise..But again you are going with a different setup.

Why would you sleep with the computer on?

I just do the computer i have on now has been on continuously since i got back of holiday last year. CBA waiting for windows to boot and if you feel the need to brows the web its on already.

 

[Matthew McEwan]

Well, I no longer think I can help, I only started researching computers and hardware recently in anticipation of building my own rig. Just remember the purpose of that video was to gain as much performance for as little a price. I think if you turn down the GTX470 because you dont like the noise level (which I dont think would be extreme) then you are defeating the purpose of following the video and build.

 

[pcwhizzer]

I just do the computer i have on now has been on continuously since i got back of holiday last year. CBA waiting for windows to boot and if you feel the need to brows the web its on already.

I can imagine your carbon footprint already lol

 

[DT-525]

If you don't recommend the ATI 6870 would the EVGA GeForce GTX 470 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card be any better, the card you mensiond isnt sold at the shop am getting all my stuff from but is this better than the 6870.

Iv just been looking at PSU's and what you guys think of the OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular Silent SLI/Crossfire Ready ATX2.2 Power Supply

 

[Matthew McEwan]

I recommend both of them, it depends what price you are getting them for. If you can get them for the same price I would go for the GTX 470. If your budget allows Go for GTX 470 and 750W PSU, if not then a HD 6870 and a 650W PSU. I'm not sure if your case or Mobo allows for Crossfire if so, you may be better with the latter. then you can always add another 6870.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBAHNAbSzYE

EDIT: Just had a quick look at reviews for the 700W PSU. Seems like it will be fine for whatever card you choose.

 

[DT-525]

I recommend both of them, it depends what price you are getting them for. If you can get them for the same price I would go for the GTX 470. If your budget allows Go for GTX 470 and 750W PSU, if not then a HD 6870 and a 650W PSU. I'm not sure if your case or Mobo allows for Crossfire if so, you may be better with the latter. then you can always add another 6870.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBAHNAbSzYE

EDIT: Just had a quick look at reviews for the 700W PSU. Seems like it will be fine for whatever card you choose.

I was going to get two GPU's anyway not right away but maybe in a few month, that's why i got a 750w PSU i mean its about future proofing you equipment.

Thanks for all you help but keep the reply's coming am not getting it until the 29-30 of this month so many revisions can be my if you offer help.

 

[Matthew McEwan]

Well yeah, the 700W will be enough more than enough for 2 6870's, and they scale excellently.

 

[DT-525]

Ok been looking around all the post and the forums and iv found out that the ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024MB GDDR5 is better than the ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MBis this true and if it is is it worth getting instead. Will the card be just as long term as the 6870 or will the 6870 have more longevity.

 

[Matthew McEwan]

The 5870 *was* an immensely popular card, and probably still is. Since they have stopped producing them, and they have a reduced price the chances are that you wont find another one in a couple of months. I would stick with the 6870, you will easily be able to purchase another at a later date and I think that the 6870 will be around the same level if not better than the 5870 in crossfire.

 

[Aurus_OC]

Just thought I'd hop in here. For your power supply go with a Corsair one (especially the HX or TX series), they are great quality and the TX is not that expensive either. Leave that OCZ PSU alone.

For graphics cards I don't think that the custom cooled GTX470 AlienALX showed will be load when not under full load at all. But if you don't like NVidia Cards and prefer AMD, there are plenty of cards for you to choose from. The 6870 is a great card but imho I would go with a 6950 since it is not that much of a premium to pay. It was 20GBP at Overlockers UK and it will in my opinion stomp on a 6870.

 

[alienware]

and if you go for the 470 due to its power consumption I would stick with a 750W

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/product_geforce_gtx_470_uk.html

Thermal and Power Specs:

Maximum GPU Tempurature (in C) 105

Minimum System Power Requirement (W) 550

Total overkill is 750w unless you're running something like a massively overclocked I7. Also remember that Nvidia way over spec the power you need to save them from being blamed for damage. A good (IE, good quality) 650w psu will be more than enough tbh.

Ok been looking around all the post and the forums and iv found out that the ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024MB GDDR5 is better than the ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MBis this true and if it is is it worth getting instead. Will the card be just as long term as the 6870 or will the 6870 have more longevity.

Yes it is completely true. The 6870 was called the 6870 to lead people to believe it was the replacement for the 5870 and was better. It isn't. The 6870 sits between the 5850 and the 5870. So it's nowhere near as good as the 5870. The 6850 also isn't as good as the 5850. What AMD did was bring out these new cards with their masculine model numbers at what seemed like very low prices. The fact is that it's all about pounds to performance. And the 6 series at the moment (all of them) cost too much. The only 'new' cards that are worth their money in pounds to performance are the 5 series Geforce cards.

If you are even contemplating Xfire 6870 I would rethink your strategy and get a 580. Simply as it's not much slower and will always work for you. It will likely use less power over all, make less noise and generate less heat (look up top card 10c or so hotter).

I would go with a 6950 since it is not that much of a premium to pay. It was 20GBP at Overlockers UK and it will in my opinion stomp on a 6870.

6950 stomp on a 6870 - of course it will. However.

470 GS one day special.

http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-137-GW

£187.99

Radeon 6950

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-027-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

£220. Will that stomp on the 470 GS? absolutely not. Infact, I would lay a bet the 470 will come out on top and costs over £30 less with a free game worth £20.

There is no reason to go AMD right now unless you absolutely and utterly can't help yourself. The 470 has features the AMD doesn't so the AMD has absolutely nothing to offer at that price point. But ho hum, each to his own and that. If you like inferior products that cost more then that's up to you I guess.

 

[Aurus_OC]

6950 stomp on a 6870 - of course it will. However.

470 GS one day special.

http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-137-GW

£187.99

Radeon 6950

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-027-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

£220. Will that stomp on the 470 GS? absolutely not. Infact, I would lay a bet the 470 will come out on top and costs over £30 less with a free game worth £20.

There is no reason to go AMD right now unless you absolutely and utterly can't help yourself. The 470 has features the AMD doesn't so the AMD has absolutely nothing to offer at that price point. But ho hum, each to his own and that. If you like inferior products that cost more then that's up to you I guess.

Totally with you there Alien just wanted to give him another option if doesn't want to go NVidia for whatever reason. Btw that is a great price for a 470 GS.

 

[alienware]

It is, and it's making me mad

Wish they'd bloody had them at that price when I got mine lol.

BTW just for the record. I benched my stock 470 on a stock 950 and came out with just shy of 19k vantage. That's a couple of hundred points under the test 6950 with a CPU OC, faster ram, more ram ETC ETC. Windows is only leaving me 2gb ram to play with.

I reakon that the GS will beat the 6950. Even if it doesn't with its 43mhz GPU OC it will when you overclock it.. And that's another point to be made. You can actually, like, overclock the 470

 

[DT-525]

Ok guys looked at all you suggestions and thanks for all the help, been revising all my components but ill think ill stick with ATI/AMD GPU's for the moment. All the Nvidia GPU's look good but from what iv seen AMD/ATI is what i want not because they are better cards just because they cost less and im trying to keep my cost's under £600. All iv changed is the PSU because guys say the XFX ones suck so ill go with a Corsair one instead. So my rig as it stand today 18/12/1010.

NZXT Vulcan Micro-ATX Gaming Tower Case - Black £52.86 inc. VAT

Corsair TX Series 750W ATX2.2 SLI/Crossfire Compliant Power Supply £82.24 inc. VAT

Gladiator Core i3 540 Pre-Built Overclocked Bundle £219.98 inc. VAT

• Intel® Core™ i3-540 Overclocked @ 4.20GHz - Dual Core CPU

• 4GB Mushkin Silverline 1333MHz 9-9-9-24

• MSI H55M-ED55 Micro-ATX Motherboard

• Coolermaster Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler

• Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

640GB Western Digital WD6402AAEX Caviar Black 3.5" SATA III Hard Drive £48.16 inc. VAT

Total cost without GPU £405.45 inc. VAT

Ok the GPU, im stuck on this one. Im not bothered about the make just as long as it is fast. I'm trying to keep my GPU cost under £200 so what do you guys think of these and which one should i chose.

Asus GeForce GTX 470 V2 1280MB GDDR5

EVGA GeForce GTX 470 1280MB GDDR5

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 TOXIC 1024MB GDDR5

XFX ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5

Again thanks for all your help and any more help you can give my until i buy my beast LOL. I will post pics when i get it. Thanks Dean <3

 

[Aurus_OC]

Imho I would say any GTX 470 is the way to go for you there.