First new PC in five years - should I ditch the XBOX?

[zman44]

Hi, I'm contemplating the following. I know the graphics card isn't great, but I'm not going to be gaming heavily. I'll probably be playing stuff like Civilization, Football Manager etc, I'm likely to keep the Xbox for the games such as Black Ops and Fifa. Am I being stupid doing this, considering the amount of money I'm spending? Would I be better to reconfigure slightly and use the PC as my games machine too? The price I'm paying is the very maximum I can go.

I need something which can deliver decent multi-tasking power, a typical session might have football manager running (which has historically been slow on any PC I've owned), an online poker window open, online radio playing and my browser with a few tabs. My old Pentium 4 system really struggles with this. The PC will also be my main DVD/Blue Ray player as well as music centre, I plan to put all of my 200+ CDs on the hard disk, then get shot of them as a lot on ebay. I'll be watching a fair bit of streamed TV too. I do a fair bit of mathematical computation...

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz @ max 4.80GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1GB ATI RADEON™ HD5770 - DVI,HDMI - DX® 11 ***SPECIAL OFFER***
Free Item
FREE Total War Shogun™ 2 with any AMD® Radeon™ Graphics card!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
60GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£48)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£49)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD OVERCLOCK THERMAL PASTE
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
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
NORTON ANTI-VIRUS 2011 - 1 Year Licence for 1 PC (£13)
Monitor
24" Wide TFT Silver/Black 1920 x1080 2MS D-Sub, DVI, 23.6" Panel (£119)
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK250 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£19)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 SPEAKERS - 30W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£45)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 12 NOON) (£19)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,299.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[zman44]

I should have added - I wanted to get the most future proof system I could afford.

 

[Fear]

If you are going to spend that amount then yes i would move your gaming over to PC as you will get better graphics which is always a plus point, if you want to stick with this or any other overclocked spec then you should get the better thermal paste, and i would also take out the SSD and put another caviar black in and with the saving increase the GPU (also if you are going to do that with your CD's then i would make sure that you have them backed up on 2 drives not on 1 because if that fails you will lose the lot) also don't get norton AV either use bullguard or 1 of the free AV's out there, have a look below i have done a spec with these changes and it's £9 more if you can manage that.

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz @ max 4.80GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 PRO (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0/SATA 6Gb/s, CrossFireX™ & SLI
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6850 - 2 DVI,HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Free Item
FREE Total War Shogun™ 2 with any AMD® Radeon™ Graphics card!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD6402AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£48)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£49)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC COOLING MX-3 HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
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
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
24" Wide TFT Silver/Black 1920 x1080 2MS D-Sub, DVI, 23.6" Panel (£119)
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK250 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£19)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 SPEAKERS - 30W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£45)
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 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,308.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-1155-overclocked/

 

[Fear]

Infact just checking the spec i did i forgot to change the motherboard down to the standard P8P67 as you do not need the pro so that will drop the price to £1277.00

 

[Teaz]

Not stupid to give up on your xbox but not much can be holded for the xbox console so its fine to have your xbox.

Fear has a solid spec you should go for but I would go for a non overclocked system especially if you want it being "future proof" for it to last you a long while. With a real good hard drive, cpu and ram, you will have no problems to fulfill your requirements without the overclock plus it saves you money and it can be invested in something else.

 

[zman44]

Thanks for the tips guys, I've been reading more into the overclocking and realise that there are long term reliability issues.
I've been reading that the SSDs are very good, especially to have the OS on... Is it not worth my while considering one for this system? I agree two hdds for the cds is a good idea, the SSD would not be used for this, just for the OS and maybe football manager and my office suite and whatever else i use the most that can fit on. It's just that I'm concious that the HD is often the bottlneck, even in a fast system.

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6850 - 2 DVI,HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Free Item
FREE Total War Shogun™ 2 with any AMD® Radeon™ Graphics card!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD6402AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£48)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
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
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY V10 - 1 Year, 1 User + 5GB Online Backup (£19)
Monitor
24" Wide TFT Silver/Black 1920 x1080 2MS D-Sub, DVI, 23.6" Panel (£119)
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK250 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£19)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 SPEAKERS - 30W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£45)
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 12 NOON) (£19)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,285.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[pr1s0ner]

Definately, Teaz is spot on. A six core i7 will come in at less with a similar spec

 

[Teaz]

well even if it was similar it would defo not be with a six core cpu as they dont come cheap. he is best off with the sandy build a part of the spend is being spent on the side stuff like monitor and speakers.

 

[zman44]

I've been reading that the SSDs are very good, especially to have the OS on... Is it not worth my while considering one for this system?

 

[LFFPicard]

The onyl issue with SSD's is price.
If your on a tight budget you can spend the money else where. You also have to consider SSD's have a shorter life than mechanical drives so if you going for future proof stick with mechanical.

This spec has a better monitor, hard drive capacity etc.

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6850 - 2 DVI,HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Free Item
FREE Total War Shogun™ 2 with any AMD® Radeon™ Graphics card!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD6402AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD20EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£48)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
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
Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 x HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK250 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£19)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 SPEAKERS - 30W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£45)
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 12 NOON) (£19)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,290.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/

Hope this helps!

 

[FlacidDonkeyGuy]

Question since you have a 360 do you have a HDTV? If so you could plump the money spent on your monitor, on a better GPU & run a HDMI to your TV. That's what I plan to do there's no way I am not using my 40'inch Sharp Quattron TV after how much THAT cost. (bloody thing went down in price a month latter too).

 

[zman44]

Question since you have a 360 do you have a HDTV? If so you could plump the money spent on your monitor, on a better GPU & run a HDMI to your TV. That's what I plan to do there's no way I am not using my 40'inch Sharp Quattron TV after how much THAT cost. (bloody thing went down in price a month latter too).

I don't have a decent TV. I use the PC for most of my TV viewing.

Question: is there really that much of a difference between the LED and TFT monitors listed on the site? Is it worth the £50? I could upgrade the GPU for that price!

Another question: if I get the i7 2600 is it right that there is no point in getting 1600Mhz Ram? Why is this?

 

[Gorman]

1600Mhz ram wont make that much difference to performance over 1333. Its only really useful for overclocking etc.

 

[FlacidDonkeyGuy]

LED are thinner use less power, have better a range colour & deep blacks, you also get better viewing angles. Is it a 2600, 2600s or 2600k? The K one is unlocked for overclocking and if that's yours if you choose a OC build you can't go down to 1333Mhz. So it must be for a vaild reason I guess, and if you don't go down that route you can only choose 1333Mhz. Also if you use already use your PC for your TV why don't you use your current monitor, or when you say PC do you mean laptop?