Help a Brit build his PC!

[Bags]

My PC under full load + 2 monitors and speakers doesn't draw more than 350w through my surge protector/battery backup.

With OC'd CPU and GPU.

[Ailos]

Originally Posted by Bags

My PC under full load + 2 monitors and speakers doesn't draw more than 350w through my surge protector/battery backup.

With OC'd CPU and GPU.

Fair enough.

[Bags]

But there's always future proof for sli desirability soo...

[Ailos]

True, an extra 200W (175W if not OCd) would put that pretty close to a 500 W PSU's limit... that thing would make quite a bit of noise at such a load.

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by Ailos

I don't claim to be knowledgeable about the best UK retailers, OCUK just came up as one of the top Google results, and I've seen it mentioned here before. And the CPU is out of stock at that site.

Also, since he is overclocking his rig, and wants to get the most out of it, I'm going to assume that he isn't going to overclock just the CPU. I would recommend more than 580W PSU for that - if you hit your PSU's limit, the best case scenario is instability; the worst case is that the PSU dies, and takes a few other components along for the ride. This is one situation where overkill is a good thing.

Other than that, I don't see too much difference in what you recommended. And I will be paying attention to the partpicker site in the future.

I know, I wasn't trying to slight you, I was just saying it's a bad site. Also, it wasn't out of stock when I linked it, albeit there weren't many left.

As for the OC, the be quiet! PSU calculator on their site puts his rig at 68% load at stock for the PSU I recommended. I figured 12-22% headroom for a PSU of that calibre would be sufficient, but admittedly I'm not partilcularly knowledgeable when it comes to overclocking.

Edit: And obviously he'd probably want a higher-powered PSU for SLI, but considering how long an OC'd 670 would last him, by the time he felt he needed the additional horsepower, the 700/800 cards would probably be out, being even more powerful and even more efficient, making 670 SLI look like a complete power hog by comparison...Not to mention the temperatures (can you tell I'm not a fan of CFX/SLI?)

Oh I forgot to say, I was mainly just trying to find better prices for what you'd posted, but apart from the things I changed I would recommend the same things, except for the case (personal taste) and possibly the motherboard.

[Pella]

Originally Posted by Vancha

Really? Buying the parts individually (including Windows), with a better GPU and CPU cooler, I can buy the rig separately for £65 less than the combo they offered (Battlefield War Rush).

Overclockers has always been known as a bit of a rip-off merchant, so I was surprised to see someone advocating them. Do any of their bundles actually save you money?

People seem to forget warranty.... and there returns policy.

Most People/Gamers i know buy direct from OCUK for that reason.

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by Pella

People seem to forget warranty.... and there returns policy.

Most People/Gamers i know buy direct from OCUK for that reason.

Most of their policy just seems to be following the sale of goods act and distance selling regulations?

[Pella]

Originally Posted by Vancha

Most of their policy just seems to be following the sale of goods act and distance selling regulations?

That yes. But if your mobo fried after you installed it, Other firms would make some of excuse or tell you to contact the manufacture.

OCUK you just send you gear back no hassle and they will ship a replacement.

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by Pella

That yes. But if your mobo fried after you installed it, Other firms would make some of excuse or tell you to contact the manufacture.

OCUK you just send you gear back no hassle and they will ship a replacement.

Which firms? Also there's plenty of horror stories about OCUK.

It also just occurred to me, that if my mobo fried after I installed it, I could buy a new one out of pocket and still have it work out cheaper than buying the whole lot from OCUK. In fact, the same thing applies to all but the CPU and GPU. I could even receive broken ram, a broken optical drive and the CPU cooler sans fans, and replacing them all would still be cheaper than if I'd gotten my rig from OCUK.

I'm not saying they're terrible, but a £100 premium is a lot to ask for a slightly higher chance of a good returns experience on the off-chance that you get particularly unlucky.

[Pella]

What i linked was there Overclocked bundles. Which have to go through lots of tests for 3 days before they ship it to you. So expect to pay a premium. Also if a member of there forums you get free shipping.


Honestly out of all the gamers i know. They soley use OcUk.

But have a look at Scan.co.uk there main competitor.

[Mutant]

I have not used OCUK for about 8 years, they are never the cheapest and i have now spoken to a couple of people who know the owner and say he is a total prick; so I avoid them now.

I would have to say ebuyer is the no1 uk site atm.

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by Pella

What i linked was there Overclocked bundles. Which have to go through lots of tests for 3 days before they ship it to you. So expect to pay a premium. Also if a member of there forums you get free shipping.


Honestly out of all the gamers i know. They soley use OcUk.

But have a look at Scan.co.uk there main competitor.

I was talking about the rig Ailos linked.

[Pride]

I'm back from my trip, thanks for all the advice. If you have any questions i'd be glad to get back to you.

I did take a look at those overclockers bundles, this one didn't seem too bad but i'm sure I'd be able to get the components cheaper elsewhere.

But at the moment Ailos's recommendations with Vancha's upgrades seem pretty swag and are probably what i'll end up getting. My parents said they will buy my current computer off me for an additional £300 so I should definitely be able to grab those extra upgrades to boot.

[Vancha]

With the even larger budget and your plans to overclock, you may well want a better motherboard, but I don't know much about them.

The CPU cooler, GPU and HDD could all probably be improved too.

CPU Cooler - ,
Thermalright HR-02 Macho (buy this from Scan if you don't get the case at Specialtech) or be quiet! Dark Rock 2

Prime will be quietest but cool the least, Dark Rock 2 is still nigh-silent but cools better, while I think Macho would be the coolest, but louder at load.

GPU - I'd suggest the ASUS 670 (avoid the "TOP" version), it's the quietest of the third-party coolers and it cools better than reference, but the Palit one's so cheap it kind of makes all the third-party coolers look extortionate by comparison. Kikatek might have a Gigabyte one for £320 that's slightly cooler, but louder (still quieter than reference), but the site's down so I can't make sure.

HDD -
Better 1TB
Fast 2TB

Low-power 2TB

Keeping in mind, you probably don't have much use for "faster" in the HDD scheme of things considering you have an SSD, though if you think you might end up using the HDD for games as well as the SSD, avoid the Western Digital (or get the 256GB SSD if you think it's worth the extra £58).

Edit: Why the hell does linking to Amazon mess this forum up so badly?

[Ait'al]

I know you said you were reusing your monitor. But if you can afford it... This is my dream monitor. I have the normal 60hz version. This is the 120hz 3d version! Have to look at reviews to compare to other 3ds. I just drool over it. Pricey though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236206 Asus 27" 120hz 3d monitor with glasses.
Youtube preview

Side note: I ran into this problem... If you are upgrading check for compatibility with non SATA stuff in the computer like HDDs and CD/DVD etc on the motherboard. I found that out the hard way. It was the one thing I didn't catch when I updated my hardware last. They have switched to non EIDE as a standard for SATA hookups internally now, commonly. Though you may be able to find EIDE/parallel hookups as well.