[OT] Buying a new computer

[Dribble Joy]

Decided to start a fresh thread about this.

Budget: Around £1000. This is for the whole system: Case, PSU, Monitor, etc. (doesn't include mouse and keyboard). 120Hz+ and 1920x1200 would be nice, not too concerned about actual size, it's not going in the sitting room, but on my desk. ~£200-£300 or so.

Looking at an i5-3570K (K isn't entirely necessary however).
Probably looking at a Z77 mobo, no idea really about what features I need though (something like this?).

Ram: 8Gb+.

GFX: Something like a GTX 760/770.

Will be buying in early Feb, so got about five weeks to sort out what I want.

[Deno]

Hey man, I built a computer about 6 months ago on a similar budget. My advice:

CPU i5 2500-k (important to get k version as it's very overclockable)

CPU fan Cooler Master 212 evo (this beast let's u OC to 4.2GHz and higher)

GPU radeon HD7850

The rest is up to you, id advise a cheap ~£80 SSD for the OS, it's like night and day in terms of performance for general windows stuff. I got my case from NZXT. They're really nice and good value. As for monitor go for a samsung S24B300.

I can give you more detailed advice/links if u want (currently on my mobile so it's cumbersome to type).

My total build came in at £850 for absolutely everything. Performance is great for everything i use it for (mainly dayz and LoL)

[Agent L]

1920x1200 would be nice

Depends what you want it for. For work, the more screen estate the better. For gaming, the exact opposite - high pixel count puts tremendous stress on GPU for no real benefit.

I'd say go for K even if you won't OC. Because if you'll want to sell it in few years, non-K will be worthless.

[Dribble Joy]

Depends what you want it for. For work, the more screen estate the better. For gaming, the exact opposite - high pixel count puts tremendous stress on GPU for no real benefit.

The only really stressful thing I will be doing that needs screen space is HD video editing. If I can still do this with 1080p, then fair enough.

[Cursed Shadow]

If you need my help with this, I imagine the best way to do it is either make me commit to some sort of Teamspeak chat, or exchange PMs/Emails.

[Agent L]

The only really stressful thing I will be doing that needs screen space is HD video editing. If I can still do this with 1080p, then fair enough.

well, 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 is no big difference in performance, but quite noticeable for work comfort. If that's the only 2 choices, I'd go for 1200 anytime.
I ordered Dell U2412M. On paper it looks very impressive: IPS, matt finish, led backlight, pivot, DisplayPort, great price, no silliness like speakers or HDMI. 6bit depth with dithering is smth I probably wouldn't even notice. But if you need spot-on colour accuracy you probably already know what you need. People over internet are pissing their pants over this Dell, but it's all about the value for the price.

I imagine the best way to do it is either make me commit to some sort of Teamspeak chat, or exchange PMs/Emails.

William is another guy who's also buying, so I guess it's better to leave it public.

[Dribble Joy]

What do you think about the Asus PA246Q?

[Cursed Shadow]

What do you think about the Asus PA246Q?

I believe that monitor is End of Life.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/241-a...gb-card-reader

The Dell mentioned above is reasonably priced at £200 on Amazon.


I read some good things about these Yamakasi Catleap Q270 monitors which appear to be utterly amazing for the price. But they're pretty much Ebay order only as they're in the Asian market. Effectively it's a really decent 2560x1440 for under £300.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1225919/y...p-monitor-club

[Dribble Joy]

Yamakasi Catleap Q270

I read a bit about them too. Touted as a 120Hz IPS, apparently they actually just overclock them and don't go much above 100. Plus the ones you can find at the moment are unclocked.

I looked at the PA248Q, but it's not P-IPS and costs a bunch more.

[Divide]

http://www.overclock.net/t/1225919/y...p-monitor-club

A fellow OCN'er!

[Dribble Joy]

OK, almost a week to payday, so I need to sort a list of things.

Mobo:
I have no idea what I am doing here if I am honest. There's so many types, makes and prices for 1155 boards.
Found a few, but have no idea if they are any good.
MSI Z77A-G45 - Cheapo ~£75
Asus Maximus V Gene - Don't really want to go any more expensive really ~£130

CPU:
i5-3570K - OEM ~£170
(Seems the OEM is now discontinued, but loads still up for sale.)

Heatsink:
Again, too many to choose from. No more than about £50.

RAM:
Both the mobos above can take 1600MHz and more with clocking; go for 1600 or get something tastier?
16GB at 1600MHz looks to be ~£130, though there are a few a bit cheaper.

SSD/HDD:
64GB/1TB? ~£100?

Even if I spend £300 on the monitor, that leaves me about £175 for other bits like the case or upgrading the above. More if I go with the cheaper mobo.

[Drachenpaladin]

I see no GFX card. Also: i7 is where its at, no less.

Whats with the PSU? And 64 Gig for a Sys drive is already kinda really tight imho. Why not go for 100Gig?

[Dribble Joy]

I see no GFX card.

Whoops. Probably a 760.

Also: i7 is where its at, no less.

I got the impression before that the i7 wasn't worth the extra cost?

Whats with the PSU?

'Other bits'

Any good?

And 64 Gig for a Sys drive is already kinda really tight imho. Why not go for 100Gig?

Aside from NC, Windows and a few games, what else am I going to put on it?
I've only used about 60 gigs out of my current 150 gig drive and that's including all my videos and music that will be going on the new HDD.

[Drachenpaladin]

Then i'd rather invest in a GTX780.

[Dribble Joy]

*Looks at prices*

O_O

Anyway, going to go with 8GB, I can add more later.