a bit confused, please help.

[fillus]

Hello everyone.

Around 1 month ago i was trying to build up a spec and finally i thought i got it right.
Unfortunately i had to put the project on hold... BUT now i'm back and (almost) ready to order
This is the spec i've come up with:

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB 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 NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD6402AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
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
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
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
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
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 11 to 13 working days
Miscellaneous
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!
Quantity
1

Price: £870.00 including VAT and delivery.


You should probably know that i don't intend to overclock or go SLI, my budget is around£850 and i will use this machine for gaming.

Now, i have a few doubts and i'm hoping you guys can help before i make my final decision:

1) i'm really confused about the mobo... i was going for the H67 (that could save me £50) but from what i've understood that one doesn't have Sata 6GB/s so my hard drive would not benefit from it..

2) given that i do not intend to overclock or go SLI, is the PSU enough/too much?

3)i've noticed that many of you sometimes suggest to drop RAM to 4GB... however (keep in mind that i'm no expert) i've heard many people (in forums) saying that today 4GB is the bare minimum and sometimes not enough...

4)I'm a bit uncertain about the CPU.... many people on the forum with my budget are going for AMD and maybe i should as well...

Hope you guys can help me

Thanks

 

[Maxi0]

With your budget, and the fact you won't be overclocking or adding a second graphics card, I'd definitely consider going with an Athlon and trade up to a GTX 570. I don't have the best connection atm (I'm on holiday woot) and the system builder isn't playing nice, but I'm sure someone out there can stick a well-balanced AMD system together on your budget.

 

[fillus]

mmm interesting..
i was told that 570 is not worth the money difference compared to the 560....

 

[Maxi0]

If your focus is gaming, the 570 gives you about 20-30% more performance. Plus, although you don't intend to SLI at the moment, a future 570 will scale nicely, giving you a cheap upgrade if you hit the performance wall.

 

[bg92]

You could also take amd 6950 into consideration. It provides very good performance for the money.

 

[Teaz]

1. If you talking about the "ASUS P8H67-M LX SI" then it does it does support sata 6, it has 2. (If not do correct me)

2. The psu is fine since you never know what else you could pop in the future besides another gpu like you said.

3. 4gb ram is minimum to run smoothly because its enough to managed most everyday based simple things. 8gb is indeed fine but that is always depending on an individuals needs, since they could be running extra loads of programs or processing more than just simple Word Documents. since 8gb personally isnt really overkill and is fine suited for gaming and future proof on the ram. Its only when someone does more than crazy experiments is where they will up the "Mhz" but you chose "Mhz1333" which is fine for your needs 4GB is at times to be money saving compared to 8GB for a majority or people.

4. Everyones budget is always similar in ways and have their reasons of use. if you do wish an AMD then thats down to you as both Intel an AMD will work well for whatever you do. Most likely of the times people choose AMD cause its Bang for Buck on the price while Intel at times take their prices too extreme (example: i7 990X) but both systems will work well. The Intel you chose is good and will certainly perform well so there really isn't any worries needed I'm sure

If you do prefer and AMD to save then just say the word and the guys/girls/women etc will sort something out for you

 

[fillus]

mmmh... i'v always had nvidia GPU in the past... also from what i understand the gpu is easier to upgrade than CPU or Mobo.... so i'd rather save a bit on that (and maybe upgrade it in a couple of years) and make the best choice regarding the CPU.... that's why i was going for a sandy bridge... it's new and it's faster and more efficient than phenom.. or at least that is what i've heard :turned:

 

[Teaz]

mostly at times it is the gpu that is easier to upgrade depending on your situation on how careful you could be or know what your doing compared to the cpu or mobo
Sandy bridge is worth sticking with down the lines coming as it does perform more well then most other cpu in benchmarks so its fine with what you have got. In future when you do upgrade or change ur gpu to a more powerful one, do check the psu requirement for it like for example the gtx 580 requires more power than the usual gpu.

 

[fillus]

i always tend to stick with the mid range graphic card (i never go for the ultra GPU).. so i think i will be fine even in the future with this PSU.
just another stupid question now : when it comes to networ cards, since i'm going wireless which one should i get?
the pci or the pci e?

 

[Teaz]

I honestly can't see much difference in them since i have not had experience testing them. I just think they are the same thing apart from they are different due to some motherboards dont have a pci slot and only pci e like the Asus Rampage motherboard or the reverse of that, or quite most likely of the times its either a gpu or something else is blocking a pci/pci e slot and it cant be used so they might make use of the pci e slot. for example a mb has 1 a pci and pci e slot but a big gpu is blocking the pci slot and cant be used so they will have to use a pci e instead. which ever 1 you pick it makes not much difference.

 

[Maxi0]

mmmh... i'v always had nvidia GPU in the past... also from what i understand the gpu is easier to upgrade than CPU or Mobo.... so i'd rather save a bit on that (and maybe upgrade it in a couple of years) and make the best choice regarding the CPU.... that's why i was going for a sandy bridge... it's new and it's faster and more efficient than phenom.. or at least that is what i've heard :turned:

This being the case, there's very little wrong with the build you've put together there. I'd still consider a more powerful PSU, but then I always tend to err on the side of caution as far as wattage is concerned. Someone on these boards used a great analogy recently, comparing a PSU to a car engine. As they age, they lose a bit of 'horsepower' - which can bite you on the ass if you're just under load.

 

[fillus]

hey MAXI, thanks for the info.....
However i thought i was already more than over my power usage with 650W... especially considering i'm not overclocking or going SLI..