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**Kongster** · 23-08-2010, 13:13

I'd change the HDD to a 1tb F3 Samsung Spinpoint. Also add a decent after market cooler if you intend to overclock. The I7s overclock like a beast, but think they are a bit too expensive.

The I5 750/760 is the best bang for buck cpu at the moment. Very good for a gaming build.

12gb ram is overkill imo.

The 1366 and 1156 sockets are being replaced as Intel will unleash Sandy in the near future, and ATI will launch the 6000 series around November time. There's always something better around the corner when building/buying pcs

**abigsmurf** · 23-08-2010, 13:33

I'd go an 1156 mobo + i5 860 over a i7 930 if I was going for an upper-mid range personally. Especially given as it's what I'm running

You'll save a tenner on the CPU, £40 on the motherboard and it'll run cooler. The performance difference will be small for the savings. As Kongster said, a 750/760 at the moment is the best bang:buck though and that's way too much ram. I'd say 6-8gb is more than enough (make sure you're running a 64 bit os). If you go 1156, remember the ram is dual channel, you need pairs, not trios.

on the HDD front, you may get more more performance for less putting the OS and most frequently played games on a 64gb SSD and buying a 1tb hdd for less frequent games and files.

If you're not desperate you could wait for the 6000 series (cooler and faster for similar money). You could also buy a 'cheap' 5770 for now and stick it on ebay to get back 2/3 of what you paid for it when the 6000 series comes out.

**capcom_suicide** · 23-08-2010, 13:54

Thanks guys.

I see I can save a lot and just go "Mid" with this: (40% cheaper)

Kr10701

Upgrade Bundle:
kr4995
?586108 - Intel Core? i7 Quad Processor i7-930, Quad Core, 2.8Ghz, Socket 1366, 8MB, 130W, Boxed w/fan
?601184 - Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R, X58, Socket-1366, DDR3, ATX, USB3.0, SATA 6Gb/s, 2xPCI-Ex(2.0)x16, Revision 2.
?492633 - Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333MHz 6GB CL9 Kit w/3x 2GB XMS3 modules, CL9-9-9-24, for Core i7
?303162 - Antistatic Armchain 180cm

kr1045
Cooler Master Silent Pro M700 700W PSU

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=482849

kr568
Antec Three Hundred Midi Tower Sort

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=354717

kr199
Lite-On DVD?RW burner IHAS124-19

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=494479

kr379
ACE MOUSE GAMING EDGE 3200 LASER 3600D

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=513291

kr2990
Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=584721

kr525
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=496258

But if I cut back like this, will this rig already be on "Medium" settings at 1080p, before we even look at games in 2010?

**Hohum** · 23-08-2010, 15:06

I'd change the PSU to a 550w ish variant (700w is overkill), and perhaps change the 5870 for a Geforce GTX460. The 5870 is faster admittedly, but the 460 has a better price/performance ratio. Will certainly be able to play stuff on high at 1080p, although do bear in mind there will always be the odd game that runs like crap on highest settings unless the PC is a multi-card powerhouse (*cough* Crysis).

Edit: If you did consider a 460, then a) get the 1GB version as it's faster, and b) try and get a Gigabyte-branded version - comes with a dual fan cooler which is supposed to be very quiet.

**capcom_suicide** · 23-08-2010, 15:30

Originally posted by Hohum View Post

I'd change the PSU to a 550w ish variant (700w is overkill), and perhaps change the 5870 for a Geforce GTX460. The 5870 is faster admittedly, but the 460 has a better price/performance ratio. Will certainly be able to play stuff on high at 1080p, although do bear in mind there will always be the odd game that runs like crap on highest settings unless the PC is a multi-card powerhouse (*cough* Crysis).

Edit: If you did consider a 460, then a) get the 1GB version as it's faster, and b) try and get a Gigabyte-branded version - comes with a dual fan cooler which is supposed to be very quiet.

Ok. Crysis is the one game I really want to play with ultra high settings mods, despite its age, it still looks awesome. Wont the 5870 be better? The other game top of my list is arma2, which i think needs some juice for 1080p.

**Hohum** · 23-08-2010, 15:41

It would, but either card would still struggle to run it at max. See here:

NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 460: The $200 King

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3809/nvidias-geforce-gtx-460-the-200-king/6

At a lower resolution than you plan to run (1680x1050) the 460 gets around 41FPS, and the 5870 achieves 47FPS. Once you also factor in that those benchmarks aren't even on the max settings, plus it's the more performance-optimised sequel they've benchmarked (Crysis Warhead), then you'll see what I mean.

Pretty much all other games will run amazing though, regardless of which card you choose.

**neoboy259** · 23-08-2010, 16:37

You won't get any card running Crysis at max settings, maybe if you run a multiple GPU setup? Its a good game, but it doesnt justify the expense.

If you really want to run all the newest titles at "max" settings you'll probably need to spend a fair whack more, and even then, it'll only be another 6 months before more demanding titles appear. Make the most of what's in your budget. Even "medium" or "high" settings will make your 360/PS3 games look like Nintendo Gameboy Black and White edition in comparison.*

*May have slightly exaggerated.

**capcom_suicide** · 27-08-2010, 08:38

Thanks everyone for their time & comments.

I got scared by the whole thing as I would never have been satisfied. I thus took a complete new change of heart and decided that I'd love to try a mac, and that these days you get one that will be "OK" for older games, that I missed the past 5 years.

I posted about it here: http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showpost.p...3&postcount=28

Maybe in 3 years I'll consider proper PC gaming again, but for now I can't commit.

The imac will allow some gaming (At no-where near the levels you guys play!) but will also be useful for other tasks we do at home. (wife works in publishing, and I love video editing.)

**Malc** · 27-08-2010, 11:22

Reading this thread has made me realise how far behind the times I am on computers. I'm still rocking a 1.4GHz single core, 512mb RAM, 128mb ATI card. Maybe I should upgrade somewhen...

Problem is I wouldn't know where to start, it seems like older PC's never lower in price, only new PC's keep coming along with better spec's.

Strange market for PC's.

**Kongster** · 27-08-2010, 11:46

Originally posted by Malc View Post

Reading this thread has made me realise how far behind the times I am on computers. I'm still rocking a 1.4GHz single core, 512mb RAM, 128mb ATI card. Maybe I should upgrade somewhen...

Problem is I wouldn't know where to start, it seems like older PC's never lower in price, only new PC's keep coming along with better spec's.

Strange market for PC's.

Researching components and building your own PC can be good fun.

**capcom_suicide** · 09-09-2010, 12:32

Took delivery of the iMac this week. It's a nice machine and I'm impressed so far.

Games actually run better than I thought. Crysis with all settings to "Very High" and then shaders dropped to medium, running native at 2560x1440 manages 25-30fps (average 28) and for a machine that is mostly about non-gaming, I think that's not bad.

Stuff like COD & all valve games run at maximum settings 2560x1440 at >30fps with vysnc. HL2 never looked so good!

But obviously not a good choice for a pure gaming build.

I like the fact that mini displayport PC's can connect to it too, so I might use the imac as a "Screen" in the years to come.

In the meantime it will be used for work, and the odd game!

**Unwell Cat** · 12-09-2010, 07:36

This is exactly the thread I need except I need something mid range rather than mid to high range. Am I being unrealistic to expect to be able to build something for around £500 (excluding monitor)

**abigsmurf** · 12-09-2010, 11:37

You can build a reasonable gaming system for £500:

Shouldn't be any bottlenecks, should get a reasonable frame rate at high settings for almost everything.

If you want 1080p resolutions you'll need to bump the gfx card up to 1gb though.

**Unwell Cat** · 12-09-2010, 13:54

Thanks mate, which vendor was that kit from?

Originally posted by abigsmurf View Post

You can build a reasonable gaming system for ?500:

Shouldn't be any bottlenecks, should get a reasonable frame rate at high settings for almost everything.

If you want 1080p resolutions you'll need to bump the gfx card up to 1gb though.

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