New gaming computer

Technology and Gaming Help and Support
#21

SSD boot drives ARE a lot of money though. They look great, but even a 64GB drive is another 100 pounds (161 USD). Not to mention that I’ll still need a new 1680x1050 monitor, a keyboard and mouse. Boot times aren’t the biggest concern either, its not as if I’m in a race.

As for the CPU… The i5 continues to look better and better to me. The benchmarks for programs such as photoshop are better too: https://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/146?vs=288

The only thing I’m worried about is the motherboard issue. I know that Intel have said they’ve fixed it, but how can I be sure that I’m buying a working motherboard instead of one with problems?

#22

i think that goes on the warranty if it breaks… or am i wrong?

#23

Eh, you’re probably right. Still, an issue I could do without.

Now I’m just on to choosing WHICH motherboard I should pair up with the i5-2500k. Anyone have any advice?

#24

The fixed motherboards are stepping/revision B3(and they advertise the B3 pretty noticeably so it’s hard to miss)

EDIT: also i would advise you to get something like Asus P8P67 Pro or GigaByte UD4

#25

Yeah I do like the look of the P8P67 Pro. It seems like great bang for buck. I’m also wondering about the Sabertooth. Not sure how they compare.

#26

AFAIK the Pro is better than the Sabertooth

EDIT: Also if it makes any difference i ordered the Pro version (still waiting for delivery, but that is because noone has those fixed boards in stock ATM)

#27

Ok thanks. I’ve looked around and the only thing that the sabertooth seems to have is this heat shield, which to me just seems like it’ll attract a lot of dust.

Also, how would I know if its the fixed version when ordering it? I imagine the company won’t send out broken ones though :stuck_out_tongue:

OK, so now I’ll be having an i5-2500k and a P8P67 Pro, with a Sapphire Toxic HD Radeon 6850, 8GB DDR3 1600mhz dual channel RAM and a cooler master HAF 922… As regards to cooling, should I buy seperate cooler for the CPU? Or maybe just dish out the few pounds extra to have all of the optional fans installed on the 922?

Edit: Now thinking of the 932. Its not much more, but seems to have a lot more cooling potential and more space.

#28

Well if you are going to overclock(or just want your PC to be more quet) you should get a better cooler for the CPU and if the 932 isn’t much more i think you should go with that. Also the fixed motherboards have a huge B3!!111one!! sticker on them to make sure you know they are fixed. Also if you really want a quet PC i think you should look into Fractal Desing Define R3. It’s the best case in it’s price range(about $100)

#29

Ok thanks a lot for that info :slight_smile:

Heres my revised list of what I’m hoping to buy:

P8P67 Pro motherboard
Intel core i5 2500k SandyBridge quadcore 3.3ghz
Sapphire Toxic HD Radeon 6850 1GB GPU
Corsair 8GB DDR3 1600mhz dual channel RAM
Hitachi 2Tb HDD 6gbps 7200rpm
Cooler master HAF 932 OR HAF X
Edimax PCI Wireless 802.11n wifi card @ 300mbps with 3 aerials
DVD-RW
Corsair HX 750w modular PSU

#30

EDIT - Sorry was replying to an earlier post. The info is still good though.

Actually the i5-2500 is still faster than the 1090T the OP was looking at and the i7-2600 is about 30% faster. AMD just don’t have anything that will compete in the same price range.

If it will fit into your budget an SSD is a good idea but not if you have to compromise elsewhere.

#31

Looks pretty good. Make sure the RAM is rated @ 1.5v because that is the new sandy bridge standard and also if i were you i would forget about the 2TB drive and get 2x1TB instead(like the awesome Samsung Spinpoint F3)

#32

Ok I’ll have a look at alternative 2x1tb options, and I’ll check the RAM ratings.

Maybe I’ll get an SSD in the future. Not now though, its outside my price range.

Edit: Damn those Samsung Spinpoints look amazing. 2 of them are even cheaper and faster than just the 1 Hitachi. I’m definitely getting a pair, thanks for the advice.

How would RAID work with them? Would it mean a lot more money, or is it included in the motherboard? I’m unsure as to how it works.

#33

RAID is included in all P8P67 motherboards, so no extra cost. If you set up a RAID0 array you can use all the space on the disks, read and write speeds will be almost double compared to just one drive. But if one drive crashes, you loose all your data. That is why I choose RAID1 in my computer, at the cost of hard drive space.

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