[Silent Mug]

After a bit of advice from the techies please.

I am after a new unit (minus monitor) for under 2k. This is mainly for gaming with the latest releases. Low noise is important to me as well as upgradability and cross fire.

This is what I have come up with.



Any comments/suggestions on improvements or compatibility issues would be greatly appreciated as I am new to this and have only really upgraded the odd component before.

[dgee]

pretty much sweet but i would add a 1tb samsung spinpoint f3 leave the ssd for your op system and vitals. also if you spending that much you might aswell get the 4 gig overclocked i7 bundle . oh the corsiar h 50 kit if it does leak you have to prove that it was at fault or no compo this is hard to do. i was gunnna get one but this is what led me away from it as a few (although not many ) have had problems with it. sometimes the screws arnt flush on cpu plate and other little bits and bobs. worth thinking about. maybe the noctua or a Prolimatech Megahalems Performance CPU Cooler


the case is about as good as you can buy without going silly.

cards is sweet this is another reason for overclocked cpu . the top new cards want a quad over 3.0+ so if you get yours stock you still need to overclock it. the bundle will come with a bios saved you just enable it and you will be at that setting if you get it.

blue ray drive you must want this for films cant say much other than do you already have a dvd rw spare.

would add a decent soundcard xfi gamers are the minimum id suggest.

memory take into consideration the size of the cpu cooler with these. some very big cpu coolers block the first two slots on some boards or memory with heatsinks might catch not fit.

power supply sweet .

hope you have at least a 24 inch monitor or its a total waste

[Wiking]

Good hardware Rich.

But I wont buy a 24" monitor. ( 1 size to big ) Unless you need him to watch TV.

[dgee]

22 inch does 1680 x 1050 even a oldish card like a ati 4850 or 4870 can max that out even in crysis and hes getting two of the fastest cards there are .if you aint getting a 24 inch monitor or above dont bother with the two cards a total waste. you d get someone with alot lower card at that res getting same fps and youd be pissed.

24 is 1920x1080 res alot of difference and stuff is alot better looking. for not much more than a good 22

[Tank]

I would get this setup for gaming on upto a 24" monitor, its fully compatable with the new standards like usb3 and 6gb/s sata and the new 6 core-32nm processors just about to come out.

[TheCodfather]

That's a pretty sweet rig man, but check out pcspecialist.co.uk. I just bought my new rig form them before Xmas and I'm delighted with it, very reasonable too with great testimonials.

I got the same motherboard as you (but I think the deluxe version), the same processor, GTX 285 2MB card, 6GB Corsair RAM (the 1600 MHz version not the 1333), Logitec wireless gaming mouse and keyboard, additional sound card with 2.1 speaker system, 2 x 22x DVD RW Drives, Windows 7 Home Premium, 1TB Internal HDD, AND a 23" full HD monitor, for £1600!

Check them out before making a final decision, but your rig below looks the mutts nuts to me!

Happy gaming,

Chris

[Dethpikabel]

would add a decent soundcard xfi gamers are the minimum id suggest.

I wouldn't bother with a dedicated sound card tbh, for all the difference it'll make it's just not worth the grief tbh, especially the X-Fi cards. They're frankly just **** boxed.

24 is 1920x1080 res

Only the cheap ****** 16:9 ones, proper ones are 1920x1200 (16:10)

its fully compatable with the new standards ...

Except DX11

Apart from that, all looks good but if you're not desperate to upgrade right now I'd wait until summertime when Intel release their new 6-core CPUs and nVidia their new Fermi architecture cards - if nothing else it should drive prices down. I definitely wouldn't invest in nVidia's last-gen gfx cards now. Utter waste of money tbh.

Also make sure you've using Win7 and that SSD supports the TRIM feature or it'll be pointless having it. Arguably pointless anyway - 300 notes to make Windows load quicker? I'll just wait the extra 20 seconds thanks

[dgee]

yeah the soundcards are preference really but i wouldnt be without one i can notice difference straight away. as for problems some have problems with xfi cards but never had any with ones ive owned.


the monitor yes lol . you can get like a new benq off 24 for like 145 quid which is supposed to be very good. the res if you running a top gaming pc is what its all about. no point in having a superb machine and a small medium sized monitor. youll be wasting all the power you have under the hood .


i agree on the direct x and the graphics card. the ati cards youve picked are level on performance with the 295 and as always its just what game it favours. the ati cards newer tech so i would go with that. would i go with two cards? probably not. i would probably if got budget aside do this . buy one of them now put the money you were gunna spend aside for the other and if so orientated by another card 9-12 months down the line.

that way you have the very fastest graphics option for a longer period of time if you get my meaning but still spend the same. it takes 18 months to double speed. two cards are fast but they also bring microstuuter in some games and other little annoyances like heat problems sometimes and noise.

the solid state is preference they still are pricey was gunna buy one at christmas but like deth i thought i could use my money better and just got a spinpoint for now until prices come downn a little. when the 120 gb drives are 120 ill buy and i think that will be this yr easy.

as for the new cpus dont kid yourself on how cheap these are gunnna be the first 6 cores will make you spit on your monitor how much they cost . they aint cheap.


i see you put your post on ocuk . hope the nabs reply and give you a little scope. also ring uo and ask about the rig and budget as they normally suggest if something is better or worse when building a system.