Gaming Rig Advice

[Matt]

Corsair was and still is good memory, and will make a great PC. But Corsair don't make their own memory, they buy chips from Nanya, Elpida, Samsung, Hynix, etc, and stick these on their PCB's. If you are unlucky enough to mix one version with another, problems start.

With Samsung, it's Samsung memory on Samsung PCB's - straight from Samsung. We've only just recently started offering it and have gone through almost 10,000 pieces, and have had about 3-4 fail, and they we're DOA. There's not much that can beat that.

Fair play, Samsung for me in the future then.

 

[freefaller]

Hi all. The rig spec I posted previously is what I would like, however my partner is questioning my sanity on spending such amounts (despite stressing that it may work out better in the long run Re future proofing and upgradeablility).

Soooooo.....any suggestions on a suitable rig to play games such as the current total war series titles (and the new Shogun II out soon) with a budget of £800 (£900 max)?

I've never owned a gaming rig before, only standard desktops so I'm a novice when it comes to suitable cooling etc. My last slimline PC GPU fried after playing ETW for a few months (or the MOBO, or both; it had handled the other total war titles fine prior to this but only lasted three years). There seems to be issues with ETW's code anyway, with fantabulous specs still having issues with the game.

Obviously the lower budget will impact on future proofing and will be more directed to the hear and now, which is fine as long as it lasts longer than the last PC (say 5 years?).

Shame, I really liked that spec and the HAF-X case.

 

[PCS]

Here's a well balanced specification which also helps the bank balance

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 922 MID TOWER GAMING CASE (£82)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache)
Motherboard
ASUS® P7H55D-M EVO: MICRO ATX, USB 3.0 & SATA 3.0GB/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX460 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)
Power Supply & Case Cooling
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
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
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £839.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[PCS]

Here's another:

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE (£59)
Overclocked CPU
OverClocked Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-760 (2.80GHz @ max 3.80GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® P7H57D-V EVO: FULL ATX, TRUE USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0GB/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB CORSAIR XMS3 DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX460 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)
Power Supply & Case Cooling
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)
Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EXTREME DIRECT TOUCH COPPER CPU COOLER (£39)
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 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
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
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £906.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[freefaller]

Cheers for the two options PCS, very interesting and definitely something I'm going to have to consider (£441-£264 cheaper than my previous low).

With regards the MOBO's are they SLI/Crossfire ready? I take it if I added another 1GB GTX460 at a later date (if they are) that I would then require a larger PSU and better cooling (increasing the cost!)?

Or, do I have to come to terms with the fact that it isn't possible/worth it on a budget of £800-£900, would I have to stretch to £1000?

 

[Darko]

u will need at least 750 watt psu for sli, but i dont know if crossfire is supported on that motherboard hope anyone else can answer ur second Q
Great specs btw

 

[PCS]

With regards the MOBO's are they SLI/Crossfire ready? I take it if I added another 1GB GTX460 at a later date (if they are) that I would then require a larger PSU and better cooling (increasing the cost!)?

The P7H57D-V EVO supports SLi
The P7H55D-M EVO does not support SLi

u will need at least 750 watt psu for sli, but i dont know if crossfire is supported on that motherboard hope anyone else can answer ur second Q
Great specs btw

You don't need 750W for SLi - a 600W will suffice, but this is the minimum requirement.

 

[Darko]

i guess 600w does the job,, but i would recommend 750w.

 

[Gorman]

i guess 600w does the job,, but i would recommend 750w.

Ram and PSU, its not possible to overspec on these two items. When choosing a PSU i always leave headroom and go for the one up if you know what i mean.

 

[Darko]

got ur point!