Let's talk computers

[Sam17]

So I've been saving my cash for the past few months from my shitty nightclub job and I plan to build myself a gaming computer (I refuse to call it a 'rig'), I am in the UK and I have roughly £700 to build one.

I already have a nice 1680x1050 monitor, as well as an 800w PSU and an XFX Radeon HD4890, I'm planning to use Windows 7 and I'm probably going to go for a 500GB hard drive

So far I've picked out the following:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 8MB L3 Cache 125W Retail Box Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/186428

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 870 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/218937

Antec 900 Nine Hundred - Gaming Case
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/118268

Seagate ST3500418AS 500GB Hard Drive
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158860

I still need a keyboard and mouse as well as speakers, unless I've missed something

I'm not very tech-savvy, would any of these cause problems if used together? Am I looking at something that's too expensive for what it is?

Any advice and what I should and shouldn't do would be very much appreciated

Thanks

Note: Okay thanks for the info guys, took it into consideration and I think I've got everything sorted, got RAM, keyboard, mouse, speakers, thanks for the help!

 

[Kabutos]

Those are great parts; and they're compatible with each other.

As far as other parts go, I'd recommend a Samsung Spinpoint F3 HDD, standard 4GB of RAM, and as for case, the CM 690 II.

As far as your GPU goes, since you're playing at 1680x1050, the HD 4890 is still a fine card. However, if you want to upgrade to 1920x1080 or above, I'd recommend upgrading to an HD 6950, and then unlocking it into a 6970.

Also,

gaming computer (I refuse to call it a 'rig')

I completely agree.

 

[Weaver]

I don't know UK pricing very well. However, Intel will be announcing their new sandy bridge archetecture on January 5th (and then releasing it). I don't know how much it costs there, but you could give it a look. It should blow a Phenom out of the water.

Likewise AMD has their bulldozer architecture coming out, but no one is quite certain as to when.

 

[JoshGod]

I'm not interested in a super-computer that would run Crysis, I'm just looking for a setup that will run most games these days well

My £600 laptop runs crysis very well, so you shouldn't have any trouble.

 

[e2density]

Looks fine.

I'm not interested in a super-computer that would run Crysis, I'm just looking for a setup that will run most games these days well

My £600 laptop runs crysis very well, so you shouldn't have any trouble.

That is around 950USD...and my 760USD PC runs Crysis VERY well 8)

 

[Fenring]

Get a 1TB HDD, you'll need it. Also, drop the 4890. You can get a really good deal on a GTX460 or either of the 68XX series chips. They're great. And you have no RAM. And lol @ screen res. 1080 or higher is what you want.

 

[Siuki]

I don't know UK pricing very well. However, Intel will be announcing their new sandy bridge archetecture on January 5th (and then releasing it). I don't know how much it costs there, but you could give it a look. It should blow a Phenom out of the water.

Likewise AMD has their bulldozer architecture coming out, but no one is quite certain as to when.

Happy 5000th post! Hope you're getting a Neo badge.

OT: Those two parts shouldn't be too bad.

 

[piesandwich]

You can get cheaper am3 motherboards from scan.co.uk, just be sure to get a big enough case for the one you pick in the end. Otherwise as far as power for your pound goes, that CPU is a good choice at the moment.

 

[Berethond]

I would check out tigerdirect and newegg for parts as well, I found them very cheap.

 

[ad4m101]

Sorry to thread hi-jack. but what do you guys think of this one am planning to build.

http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/60bbf0c1b6394ab9957a999dca615d5d

Is it worth upgrading this motherboard http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...-e-20-ddr3-1600-1800-1866-sata-6gb-s-raid-atx
planning to OC the processors to 3.1 or 3.2 and it looks sexy =]

 

[Kabutos]

Sorry to thread hi-jack. but what do you guys think of this one am planning to build.

http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/60bbf0c1b6394ab9957a999dca615d5d

Is it worth upgrading this motherboard http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...-e-20-ddr3-1600-1800-1866-sata-6gb-s-raid-atx
planning to OC the processors to 3.1 or 3.2 and it looks sexy =]

AMD hexacores aren't worth it. i5's and i7's are better for the price, especially with SB coming out.

 

[ad4m101]

Sorry to thread hi-jack. but what do you guys think of this one am planning to build.

http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/60bbf0c1b6394ab9957a999dca615d5d

Is it worth upgrading this motherboard http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...-e-20-ddr3-1600-1800-1866-sata-6gb-s-raid-atx
planning to OC the processors to 3.1 or 3.2 and it looks sexy =]

AMD hexacores aren't worth it. i5's and i7's are better for the price, especially with SB coming out.

Yes but i7's are more expensive don't want to spend much over £150 on cpu.

 

[Kabutos]

Yes but i7's are more expensive don't want to spend much over £150 on cpu.

Then get an i5. Most games won't use more than 1 or 2 cores anyway.

EDIT: Especially the new i5 2400. That looks pretty nice.

 

[piesandwich]

Looks like a nice build . However considering you are planning to over clock, I would look up some of the similar priced gigabyte motherboards. This is more my personal opinion than anything, but I don't find Asus to be as reliable. Not only have that, the gigabyte range tended to have an 8 pin power socket at that price, instead of a 4. Might be unnecessary, but it?s nice to have the peace of mind. Nice G card <3

 

[ad4m101]

Yes but i7's are more expensive don't want to spend much over £150 on cpu.

Then get an i5. Most games won't use more than 1 or 2 cores anyway.

EDIT: Especially the new i5 2400. That looks pretty nice.

That dose look quite nice, thanks for pointing that out not buying for about of a week might of missed it.

 

[Sam17]

Thanks for the advice guys, I've updated my first post to show what I'm looking at

I'm looking for some advice on what RAM I should be getting, I know I need DDR3 but I'm not sure what the MHz business is all about

 

[ad4m101]

Thanks for the advice guys, I've updated my first post to show what I'm looking at

I'm looking for some advice on what RAM I should be getting, I know I need DDR3 but I'm not sure what the MHz business is all about

Its the clock speed of the ram. 1600mhz is what am going for and its not that expensive.

also not interested in NZXT phantom case? its a beast and one of the best looking cases on the market in my opinion, comes in black,white,red. Very large tough.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/nzxt-phantom-enthusiast-white-full-tower-casew-o-psu

Also i have never felt that happy around sea-gate drive few of my friends internal and external drives have failed.

 

[Kabutos]

I've also heard about Seagate drives having a fairly high failure rate; I'd recommend going with a Samsung Spinpoint F3 or WD Caviar Black.

Then again, I've got a Seagate myself, so what do I know.

 

[ad4m101]

Thanks for the advice guys, I've updated my first post to show what I'm looking at

I'm looking for some advice on what RAM I should be getting, I know I need DDR3 but I'm not sure what the MHz business is all about

That motherboard supports,
DDR3 - 1066
DDR3 - 1333
DDR3 - 1866(OC)
DDR3 - 800

Id go with DDR3 - 1333