Please Check my Spec :)

[Josh011]

Hi there, first time potential PCS customer here. I have for the last few years owned one version of a Medion PC and then bought the second version of that PC, but after 4-5 years it is no longer able to play the latest games out there, at least on any grahical level I'm satisfied with.
It has 3Gigs of RAM, quad core processor which is wasted on Windows Vista and an old motherboard which we think does not allow for uprades really. So I am now looking to build a PC within the budget of £650 max which will set me up for a decent/capable gaming rig to play the latest titles out there such as Shogun 2 Total War and Battlefield 3...

So this is the current build I have, though my questions would be, is it better to keep the current 1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6790 - DVI,HDMI,mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable Graphics Card or switch to the NVIDIA Geforce GTX 550 TI 1GB also supporting Direct X 11?

Case:
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU):
AMD PHENOM II X4 965 (3.40GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard:
ASUS® M5A78L-M/USB3: M-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM):
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card:
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6790 - DVI,HDMI,mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk:
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive:
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader:
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply:
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling:
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card:
Sound Blaster® Audigy™ SE (£19)
Network Facilities:
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options:
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System:
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software:
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus:
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE (I use my the free Avast software)
Warranty:
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery:
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time:
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days


£495.83 ex VAT.
£595 inc VAT and Delivery.

I have a monitor, keyboard, headphones, mouse, joystick, speakers and mouse mat already


Any suggestions, thoughts or ideas?


Thanks

Josh

[Corfate]

You could firstly drop to 4GB of RAM. It's easy to upgrade in the future if you need too, and it'll save you some money now Also, go for a Caviar Black as your first HDD as it's got faster boot times and loading. You could also drop the soundcard, as the onboard sound will be fine, unless you're an audiophile, but you'll struggle to notice the difference. Also, go for the Silver warranty, it's only £5

I'd be tempted to go for the 550ti..

[Josh011]

How about this one?

I removed the soundcard, went for Caviar black HDD, downgraded to 4GB RAM. Different Motherboard though and better intergrated soundcard than the last one

Case:
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU):
AMD PHENOM II X4 965 (3.40GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard:
ASUS® M5A87: AM3+ PLATFORM, DUAL DDR3,SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM):
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card:
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 550 Ti - DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk:
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive:
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader:
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply:
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling:
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card:
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities:
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options:
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System:
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software:
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus:
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty:
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery:
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time:
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

£510.00 ex VAT.
£612 inc VAT and Delivery.


More PCI slots incase I did decide on a soundcard at a later date, and room for up to 16GB of RAM.


OR:

This one is using the AMD selection, NVIDIA SLI Gaming £800-£3000 budget selection
For this I have gone over the original budget, but I do not mind spending a little bit extra for a better graphics card and PSU.

Case:
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU):
AMD PHENOM II X4 955 (3.20GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard:
ASUS® M5A99X EVO:USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, Quad CrossFireX™/SLI™
Memory (RAM):
4GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 2GB KIT) Graphics Card:
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item Free Item:
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk:
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive:
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader:
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply:
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)
Processor Cooling:
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card:
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities:
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options:
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System:
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software:
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus:
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty:
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery:
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time:
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days


£595.00 ex VAT.

£714 inc VAT and Delivery.



What are your thoughts?

[Petchi b]

I would go for this. You will have no problems playing games with the 6950, it's a very strong card.

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X4 965 (3.40GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A87: AM3+ PLATFORM, DUAL DDR3,SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD6950 - 2 DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £715.00 including VAT and delivery.

[Josh011]

Thanks for the specs! Loving them!

Was just reading up on that Card, noticed the minimul PSU was 650W, both of us have had 600W in our specs. It doesn't come up with an issue so I'm sure it is fine, but this won't cause me any lack in performance?

[Petchi b]

Thanks for the specs! Loving them!

Was just reading up on that Card, noticed the minimul PSU was 650W, both of us have had 600W in our specs. It doesn't come up with an issue so I'm sure it is fine, but this won't cause me any lack in performance?

No, not at all. My spec above needs about 560W so 600W will be fine. If you want a bit of leeway you could go for the 650W Corsair, they are generally better and more reliable but if you can't stretch your budget the 600W will suffice.

[Josh011]

Ah cool

Last question, after much reading and research I am still no better decided over the question of AMD vs NVIDIA.

In this case the AMD RADEON™ HD6950 vs the NVIDIA Geforce GTX 560ti and whether or not I want 1GB or 2GB.

I understand 2GB only really helps if I want to multiscreen, but otherwise has no real affect, is that right?

So my decision is the 6950 or 560 (or 560ti if I go for the 1GB versions).


Thanks!

[Petchi b]

Ah cool

Last question, after much reading and research I am still no better decided over the question of AMD vs NVIDIA.

In this case the AMD RADEON™ HD6950 vs the NVIDIA Geforce GTX 560ti and whether or not I want 1GB or 2GB.

I understand 2GB only really helps if I want to multiscreen, but otherwise has no real affect, is that right?

So my decision is the 6950 or 560 (or 560ti if I go for the 1GB versions).


Thanks!

Yes that's right regarding the VRAM. Go for the 560ti if you choose NVIDIA over the 6950. You cannot go wrong either way, they are both very good cards. I think the 6950 would be better value with double the VRAM but the choice is yours.

[Josh011]

Thanks guys, I've decided I rather like this build. Spending a little bit more than the £715 build above it ensures the ability to upgrade over time like two G-cards, better PSU/cooling.

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X4 965 (3.40GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A99X EVO:USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, Quad CrossFireX™/SLI™
Memory (RAM)
4GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days



£774 inc VAT and Delivery.


Or of course cheaper if I go for a lesser case.

Idea is that I can upgrade with RAM, PSU, second Graphics card with a motherboard that supports that along with SLI