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General discussion (archive)Help me build a PC!(22 posts)(22 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted May 04, 2011
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mehall: I'm now eyeing up a GTX 550 Ti after all.

Novatech barebones + Novatech gtx 550 ti + Spinpoint F3 500GB = £305.98 delivered

That, or I save myself about £25 and just get the 5770, which is still a damned good card.
Between the performance upgrade, CUDA, and PhysX, that extra 25 pounds would be well spent on the gtx 550.
Posted May 04, 2011
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mehall: For gaming, the benchmarks between the Athlon X2 and the Phenom X2 don't justify the price.

Add to that, if I save up more and decide to pump an extra £100 into the machine at christmas, I could always upgrade the CPU easily and simply, likely going to a Phenom II X4 955 BE
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Phc7006: I'm quite suspiscous about benchmarks when it comes to AMD processors. Most benchmarks are optimized for intel cpu's and may not reflect correctly the actual performance of Athlons and Phenoms.

As a matter of fact , Phenom X2s, especially 555 and 560, are quite attractive. They may offer less long term perspective than quad cores, but they offer solid performance compared to athlon x2s and don't heat alot ( heat management can be an issue on phenoms 2 X4 955 & 965.

Another option is the phenom ii X4 840. Actually, it's an improved Athlon, but it combines a fair performance and 4 full cores.
Add to that (in the case of the 555, which I have) core unlocking and its a good way to save cash. Doesn't work for everyone though, I just remember the lashing PCFormat gave the Athlon II processors, but hey, go for what suits you and your budget, that's the main thing
Posted May 05, 2011
I'd recomend going to http://pcper.com/hwlb
They list what you could get for different price ranges.
Posted May 05, 2011
Have you thought about ordering parts form germany? Hardwareversand.de has some great offers and after looking around a bit they're usually a bit cheaper than UK shops for example. Here's a cheap build I managed quickly after looking for the best "value-for money" options:

Sapphire HD 5850 Extreme 1GB 106€ (a bit expensive, but FAST and cheap at this price)
Cooler Master Elite RC-330 38€
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W PSU 52€
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Box CPU 100€
OR
AMD Phenom II X2 555 BOX CPU 71€
ASUS M4A77T Motherboard 54€
4GB-Kit G-Skill Ripjaws 1333Mhz 39€

A total of 360€ with the 555 CPU, and 389€ with the 955 CPU (323GBP and 349GBP, respectively). The motherboard is great, the memory is low-voltage overclocking kind, the graphics card is a lot faster than a 550ti but with the same price tag, and the case you mentioned earlier (cooler master 330) is here also. What do you think?
Post edited May 05, 2011 by Deus_Ex
Posted May 05, 2011
For reference, maybe have a look here as well:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/build_a_500_pc_play_crysis_40fps
Posted May 05, 2011
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Deus_Ex: Have you thought about ordering parts form germany? Hardwareversand.de has some great offers and after looking around a bit they're usually a bit cheaper than UK shops for example. Here's a cheap build I managed quickly after looking for the best "value-for money" options:

Sapphire HD 5850 Extreme 1GB 106€ (a bit expensive, but FAST and cheap at this price)
Cooler Master Elite RC-330 38€
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W PSU 52€
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Box CPU 100€
OR
AMD Phenom II X2 555 BOX CPU 71€
ASUS M4A77T Motherboard 54€
4GB-Kit G-Skill Ripjaws 1333Mhz 39€

A total of 360€ with the 555 CPU, and 389€ with the 955 CPU (323GBP and 349GBP, respectively). The motherboard is great, the memory is low-voltage overclocking kind, the graphics card is a lot faster than a 550ti but with the same price tag, and the case you mentioned earlier (cooler master 330) is here also. What do you think?
That starts off looking like a good deal, but it's close in how much I gain by pushing it the extra money, plus there's delivery costs to take into account. Doesn't seem to add up to enough, on my tight budget. :/
Posted May 06, 2011
Yeah, it's kind of borderline, isn't it? Well, the delivery costs are about 30gbp, so you still might wanna have a look around and see if you could lower the cost a bit by adjusting the graphics and PSU, for example? The 5850 sold out, by the way, since it was the same price as a 5770, for some odd reason :P

Edit:
Here's another one, this time WITH delivery costs, delivered by DHL
CPU: Phenom II X2 555
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD5850 Xtreme
Motherboard: ASUS M4A78LT-M LE
Memory: Ripjaws 4GB 1333Mhz
PSU: Inter-Tech Dragon Force DF-530GT (530W)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 331

322GBP, delivered! How does this one sound? It's from computeruniverse.net in case you're interested :)
Post edited May 06, 2011 by Deus_Ex
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General discussion (archive)Help me build a PC!(22 posts)(22 posts)
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