66 replies to this topic

[Somerset_Bumkin]

Have a decent tower with an ASUS 650w PSU, a decent hard-disk, sound blaster sound card, Windows 7 disc and a DVD-ROM. So I figureI need a CPU, CPU cooler, RAM, Graphics Card (maybe a SSD but I think the money could be better spent on Gubbins).

Despite knowing my shit in the past I can't get my head around the new stuff, there's I5's and I7's which seem to have the same clock speeds??? Plus you can have Sandybridge and Ivybridge?? WTF! Also it seems AMD (who I've always used in the past) have nothing to compete with.

NVidea still seem to be the winners in the GC market with little coming from the competition.

Basically my current PC has lasted me 5 years and despite the BSOD errors whenever I game it still feels pretty competent, so I want this again,. Can you help?

[Tachikoma]

i5 = Quad Core Quad Thread

i7 = Quad Core Octo Thread  

 

So even with the same clock speeds, the i7 will be faster as it's essentially running the new HyperThreading system that makes it 8 cores. There's a lot of arguments over the benefits of the i7 as in certain tests the benefit is only marginal. Gaming for example wouldn't offer a huge benefit as the GPU will make more of a difference, but something like video editing/3d rendering will see more of a boost.   I would personally go for an Ivy Bridge (the newer one) i5 or a Sandy Bridge (the older one) i7 and spend the bulk of your money on a decent graphics card.

 

As for SSD's I would say go big or go home, there's plenty of people having problems with Steam and trying to move their library to a secondary drive, so just slap in a 7200rpm SATAIII drive and live with the fact Windows will take 14 seconds to load instead of 6 seconds. Cheap SSD's aren't big and big SSD's aren't cheap (or they won't be very good) so if you can't afford a 250/500GB SSD, don't bother.

[Somerset_Bumkin]

Ok mate, taht's cleared things up massively. Cheers. Are their much benefits to a large SSD? Or again, are you better spending the cash on an uber GC?

[Jusatsushi]

What's the make of your motherboard? Have you checked compatibility with newer processors/GPU's? Make sure it's PCI-Express x16 compatible as you'll need this for newer cards. I have a funny feeling you may need a motherboard though unfortunately.

What connection does your PSU have? Most modern GPU's need 2 x 6 pin connections (those plugs that liik like Lego).

Also, the best bang for buck cards at the moment actually seem to be leaning towards AMD, with mid-price being the 7850 (2GB) and high end being 7950/7970 (3GB).

http://pcpartpicker....amp;amp;sort=a5

Ash is totally right though - purely for gaming a newer gen i5 would see you better than an older gen i7 so watch out. If it were my buck, I'd chuck it at an intel i5 2500K.

http://pcpartpicker....-bx80623i52500k

If you get a decent CPU and don't overclock, the stock cooler will be fine. I have a stock in my i7 and heat has never been close to being an issue.

Throw in 8GB of branded RAM (Corsair/Crucial/Kingston etc...) and you'll be rocking.

[Ginja]

As for SSD's I would say go big or go home, there's plenty of people having problems with Steam and trying to move their library to a secondary drive,

 

 

Not an issue now as Steam lets you install games to a different drive to the one it's installed on. Or just install on a large secondary drive and whack steam straight on that.

 

I love having an SSD though as it boots in seconds.

 

If you look at the spec of the PC I got, you'll be able to pick up all that around your budget and won't have any trouble running all games at the moment on Ultra. Far Cry 3

[Jusatsushi]

Ginj, I still can't believe that Chillblast! You'd struggle to buy all that for the price and it's all top quality stuff. I know a guy on another forum who spent £900 odd putting together a PC and was furious that he couldn't max Far Cry 3!!!

What's the build quality like? Are the sockets flimsy at all? Have they used cable tidy's inside?

Ant - if it turns out you are going to have a hard time with compatibility (and I think you will trying to put new stuff in a 5 year old rig) could you not just break it down, sell the bits on ebay and grab the same deal Ginj got?

[Ginja]

Ginj, I still can't believe that Chillblast! You'd struggle to buy all that for the price and it's all top quality stuff. I know a guy on another forum who spent £900 odd putting together a PC and was furious that he couldn't max Far Cry 3!!!

What's the build quality like? Are the sockets flimsy at all? Have they used cable tidy's inside?

 

 

Everything is great quality and yes cable tidied to fuck. I'd highly recommend them, I had an issue with one of the sticks of RAM and they sent me a replacement I got the next day.  Since then running like a boss. Link below so you can check the specs Ant.

 

http://www.chillblas...hunderbird.html

[Somerset_Bumkin]

Ooooh, looks great. Might be worth stretching to I reckon! Are you running Ultra on everything you throw at it?

[Ginja]

Ooooh, looks great. Might be worth stretching to I reckon! Are you running Ultra on everything you throw at it?

Yes mate. Far cry 3 is the newest game I have and its 60fps on ultra. Sleepy dawgs and Skyrim with texture packs, the old republic, and guild wars 2. All run at perfect frame rates at top settings. I've only had 1 issue and that was with mirrors edge and screen tear. Turned off physx and that sorted that.

Couldn't be happier with it to be honest.

[Al]

Those Chillblast people are about 50ft from my work!

[Shufty]

Are you constantly chilly from the blast?

[Al]

yes, yes I am

[Ginja]

Those Chillblast people are about 50ft from my work!

 

 

I thought of you when I saw Wimbourne!

[Al]

I thought of you when I saw Wimborne!

aww, bless

[Somerset_Bumkin]

I've found a winner! http://www.chillblas...-Leviathan.html

[Al]

wow, 10K, I'm going to have to pop round and see one in action!

[The Penultimate Ninja]

Wow, that is some overkill. Beautiful, awesome overkill.

I could probably heat my house with the air coming out the back of that thing. And judging by the amount of power it'll draw (and that price), I'd probably need to.

Edited by The Penultimate Ninja, 23 January 2013 - 10:11 AM.

[Jusatsushi]

You'd have to be insane or rich beyond belief to even contemplate a PC like that. It would still be obselete in 2 or 3 years as different shader models and DirectX versions appear that that range of GPU can't handle despite there being like, four of them...

I wonder if they have ever actually sold one - Al, pop in and ask!!!

[Sly Reflex]

Buy it, and then play Solitaire on it.

[Shufty]

We had a guy at work who wanted us to block his PC from accessing any websites that allowed him to play Solitaire. Of all the things to be horribly addicted to.