New Desktop questions

[Malc]

Feck it. In the end I'm going round in circles.

I just ordered with PC Specialist for the Intel i5, 4GB Ram and the 1GB 5770.

In the end there will always be a better deal out there, but I figured you've got to jump in somewhere, and the i5 will give me a little more processing omph down the road when software gets even more intensive.

Thanks again for all the help everyone, if i've not got the best deal then don't let me know about it.

[abigsmurf]

Noooo if you'd waited 5 more minutes you would've caught their "80% off of everything" sale!!!

[speedlolita]

You can wait forever with technology!

[Brad]

Did you get the 2500k i5? They can be overclocked like crazy. I've taken mine to 4.7ghz but you need a better cooler for that.

[speedlolita]

Not that they need overclocking, but if you're benchmarking why not!

Hell, I don't overclock my Q6600 because I've no reason to currently. Only overclocked my E4400 because it was bottlenecking my 9800GTX+. lol

[Brad]

Same here. My 2500K is just stock as I only have the standard Intel cooler on there.

[speedlolita]

Heh. I've got my Q6600 under a Thermalright Ultra Extreme with a Scythe Ultra Kaze 3000 strapped to it, can happily run at 3.2GHz @ 1.4v, but as I say, no real need.

I never like overclocking GPUs, but if I did I'd do it via BIOS too. I don't trust software overclocking..

[Malc]

Hmm, still pondering whether or not it would be best to upgrade to the 650w Corsair for ?79; considering I'm now going with the intel i5 2400?

I'm still waiting to hear back from PC specialist about what brand they use for their 'standard' 450 w PSU.

[speedlolita]

The CPU usage between i3 and i5 will be very similar.

But if it's a bad brand then yeah, the Corsair might be worth considering. Do you know exactly which model it is?

[Malc]

Not yet, I e-mailed them, but will phone them up at 9am and just ask.

I think i've caught the PC bug, as I'm starting to consider upgrade costs further down the line. if I bought a better power supply now, then upgrading my graphics card later on if I wanted to wouldn't be as much of a problem right?

[speedlolita]

Exactly right.

Being a PC enthusiast can be expensive and sometimes frustrating but it's really satisfying too. Hell, I sanded a few mm from my CPU so it has better contact with my cooler. Gave me a drop in temps by about 5c for an hours work. haha

http://www.tech-forums.net/pc/f10/cpu-lapping-guide-228558/

[Malc]

Reading about it, it doesn't seem too difficult to replace the power supply with a new one.

I think i'll save the money for now providing PCSpecialist use a good brand for their 450w power supplies (use to use FSP years ago apparently).

EDIT: PCSpecialist list this info on their website:

A Popular question

Q. I think I need a really powerful power supply, and I have seen a 600W or above model for around ?20 - ?30 in the shops. Why are your power supplies more expensive?

A. There are no rules that are set in stone governing how you can rate the wattage of a power supply, and naturally people think that more power is better. The rated wattage of power supplies we sell are the true, constant power output and not the peak output. (Peak output is that power that a power supply can output for a few seconds.) Not naming any brands, if you search the high street, you can purchase what apparently appear to be 600W or even 700W power supplies for around ?20, but be warned - these are likely to be power supplies that have been rated on their peak output and not their constant output. Some power supplies do not even give their stated output at peak. For a 600W or above power supply with a true constant output using reliable components, you should be looking at paying anything from ?50 upwards.

Our high end power supplies (even though they may only be 400W - 500W) are tried and tested to give your computer a constant supply of quality power. Component manufacturers, such as graphics card manufacturers often over label the power supply requirements of their cards to cover for PSU manufacturers who have labeled power supplies as peak output and not constant output.

[Malc]

Right, just phoned PCSpecialist and they said all the unbranded PSU's are made by 'FSP Group'.

Good brand?

[abigsmurf]

Replacing a PSU doesn't really need much skill or care, it's just a time consuming pain in the arse, especially in tight cases or if you find that some of the power cables aren't long enough to stretch to a component.

*edit*

FSP have a pretty good reputation. They make a lot of the Antec and Corsair PSUs.

[Brad]

For super cheap upgrade down the line get an i5 2500K now for ?25 more than the 2400. You can then splash out ?30 down the line on a better CPU cooler and add a whole GHz+ of overclock by running the i5 at 4.5GHz or even more. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that the non K version cpus have limited O/C facilities?