Rate this PC

[MightyHaku]

I'm going to buy a new pc and I'm on a budget of £1500 which I've been saving up for 3 years now. I don't want to waste my money and I've tried to look for the best deals possible.
Here is what I came up with:-
PC:

Antec 1200 Black Case - 129.99
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143852

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz Socket 1366 8MB Cache - 207.83 : CAN OVERCLOCK TO 3.2GHZ (same as i7 965 but £400 cheaper!)
http://www.clickadeal.com/intel-core-i7-920-2-66-ghz-2-mb-l2-cache-8-mb-l3-lga-1366-socket-boxed-version-.html

XFX nForce 750i Motherboard Intel LGA 775 750i SLI RAID Gigabit LAN - 101.98
http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop/index.pl?origin=gbase11.4&prodID=B152630

Scythe Mugen (Infinity) CPU Cooler - 26.95
http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=HFS-MUGEN&af=50

Corsair 6GB i7 (3x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 for X58 - 159.99+
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152637

Seagate 750GB Hard Drive 7200RPM SATAII - 78.90+
http://www.saverstore.com/productinfo/product.aspx?product_id=20006399&pid=9&tid=5

Arctic Power 700W PSU, 4x SATA, 20+4, 8pin +12V Connectors - 41.66+
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124927

Nvidia GeForce 9800GTX+ 512MB DDR3 PCI-E Graphics Card - 147.07+
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/zotac-nvidia-geforce-9800gtx-512mb-gddr3-pcie-graphics-card-p-958584.html

LG Blu-Ray & HD-DVD-Rom Combo 16x DVDRW Black SATA - 81.99
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130280935564&cguid=6c97914c11f0a0e202a70327ffce2b3f

Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Audio Sound Card - 32.92+
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/121761

Total with VAT: ! ! ! ! ! £1072.39 ! ! ! ! !
===============================

Might need a nicer monitor compared to the one I already have.
Suggest improvements and remember £1500 budget!

Oh, and I want this system to last me for a long time (upgrading as I go of course)

[88Chaz88]

I know you've been waiting for 3 yrs but my advice is wait a little longer.

£ to $ isn't looking so hot now so just wait a bit then buy from US sites. You'll find your money goes a lot further.

[MightyHaku]

Hmm, yeah I'll most probably buy the system once this evil recession of doom is over. Plus I have exams coming up so it might just distract me. Anyway, do you think it's good value for money?

[Wonderboy2402]

I would also suggest waiting perhaps till april to do your build. Prices will be lower and there might be some new stuff on the market that will drive the prices down some.

I have a 9800gtx+ SLI with a regular 9800gtx and it works well. I would however suggest you buy single 1 gig card rather then a single 512 9800gtx+. While I am satisfied with my two cards performance, I wish I had done it differently... I had the regular 9800gtx and then 6 months later got the 9800gtx+. Even though their architecture is slightly different they SLI just fine and you can overclock the slower card to match the faster...
http://www.buy.com/prod/evga-geforce-9800-gtx-1gb-ddr3-pci-e-2-0-directx-10-video-card/q/loc/101/210461278.html

As always, research everything and read reviews.

Monitor? Yea, if you are using a 19" CRT monitor, its time to go flat panel. Be sure to look at the response time of the monitor (lower is better, like u want 2 ms for gaming). I have this one, and I like it.
http://www.buy.com/prod/hp-w2207-22-widescreen-lcd-monitor-1000-1-5ms-1680-x-1050-dvi-hp-w2207/q/loc/101/204326267.html

Keep in mind that a flat panel has 60Hz, so your FPS is actually capped at this display rate, so even with your card outputting something higher then 60+, you wont notice the difference.

[alfaroverall]

My thoughts:

That video card is nowhere near powerful enough for a gaming rig with an i7 and 6 GB of DDR3 RAM; the video card should generally be the most powerful component of a gaming rig, and here that is just not the case. Replace the video card with at least a GTX 280 for a rig like this, I'd say.
Don't get an SLI motherboard unless you plan to actually run SLI at some point in the future (which you might, so don't nix it just because you're getting just a single card).
That motherboard is also not LGA 1366, and so it will not run your i7 at all. You'll need a motherboard with a socket to match your i7, which is going to be a fair ways more than $100 even if you don't want SLI.
That case is overkill. It kicks ass, but it's overkill for 99.99% of users.
If you don't need Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, get a cheaper CD drive or pilfer one from your current rig. (I have an IDE (!) CD drive in this rig that I stole from my last one, for example, and it works just fine).
Get a better PSU. You would probably get away with that one with a 9800 GTX+, but I wouldn't trust it with a GTX 280 and everything else.
The 920 with an OC will not be as good as a 965. It just won't be. The huge price tag difference is not nearly as trivial as a difference in clock speed. The 965 still isn't worth the money, however.


The third one is probably the absolute most important of the bunch, since, to reiterate, THOSE PARTS WILL NOT RUN TOGETHER, PERIOD. You WILL need a different motherboard to use an i7.

[Wonderboy2402]

Alfar makes some good point about your MB. If you don't plan on running an SLI setup, then dont get the SLI board. I planned on running 2x sli and the other slot for my xfi gamer soundcard.

[MightyHaku]

Alright, here's the updated version. Thanks for noticing the compatibility issue. Also, I've replaced the 9800 with the GTX280 for a really nice price.
I've also added a nice 24" 2ms LCD for £194.35.
It's now £1329.68 including VAT and I think it's 100% compatible.

http://i42.tinypic.com/2ls7b4x.png

Oh, and I'm getting things from www.scan.co.uk because I trust them (I bought from them before and they delivered exactly when they said!)

[alfaroverall]

Wattage is not the main factor for PSUs, so I wouldn't trust a PSU that quotes a 1000W output, especially when you don't need that much. When I get home I'll find you an example of a good PSU (it's hard to explain in detail what makes a good PSU).

Otherwise looks good, though if you're even remotely short on cash I'd just go with onboard audio.

[Z31Turbo]

Get a dual core for gaming, quad core for servers.

[alfaroverall]

I think this would suit your needs pretty well:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

[Aragoni]

I think this would suit your needs pretty well:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

I actually have that one. It's lovely (L).

[Indah]

6

[Aragoni]

6

You just brought constructive criticism to a whole new level! Congratulations to you, sir!

[The Lost One]

But... If you don't get the 120Hz 22" syncmaster monitor how will you ever get to play with the 3D nVidia technology? :(