Advise needed for new build please

[Dredd39]

Hi Everyone
It's been 6yrs since my last custom build. So I figured it's long overdue for a new one. I've been eyeing up the overclocked bundles for afew months, trying to decide which bundle. To be honest I found the overclocked bundles abit off putting as I'm not a overclocker. I guess their the more popular choice. After going round in circles, I stumbled across the forum. I realised after reading up I'm alittle out of sorts with the latest offerings. For reference I will be upgrading from a cough cough P4 machine. Planning on the build being as future proof as possible.

Budget is around £1500. After realising how outdated most of my current parts are. I'm going to need more then I thought. PC connected to Sony TV so no monitor needed, also have a wireless keyboard with touch pad which is fine still, have Win 7 as well. Use will be mainly general plus I play alot of browser-based games with multiple accounts running. Everything film,tv and music wise also gets watched on my pc mainly.


[CPU] Intel model[Mobo] ?
[CPU HSF] ?
[RAM] 16GB+, I tend to multi task alot which means many programs & browser windows open
[GPU] ?
[HDD] 3TB, I like to hoard my downloads
[SSD] 64/128GB ?
[PSU] ? [Case] ? Colour preference would be black or silver although not hugely important
[OS] Have Win 7 Pro
[Extras] Blu Ray Rewriter? Any thoughts?

Thanks to NickCPC for the helpful new build thread.

[Conscript]

Welcome to the site mate, loads of top guys here will help you put something special together for that budget!

Question is Ivy or Sandy!?!?

[slater]

Tbh, I doubt you'll need to spend that much if your only playing web based games.

[Spaceboy]

Tbh, you can get an extremely high-spec gaming rig for that price, but unless you're heavily into the games and eye candy then you could get a very capable rig for half that amount.

Do you really want to spend the full budget, or are there games you'd like to be able to play and haven't been able to on the current rig?


Case-wise, I'm thinking the Fractal R3 Titanium : http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=48408

16gb RAM sounds good for you, 128gb SSD easily in the budget. Do you have a backup drive? Might be worth doubling up the hdd's for backup ?

[Dredd39]

Few night owls on here, Didn't expect any replies til later on

Thanks Conscript, Was going to mention The Other but after reading afew posts, I decided I'm too young too die.

@Spaceboy Not into PC gaming and I prefer other eye candy. The budget was to cover all options but if I can get a decent build for half that then I'm fine with that. I've seen you recommend that case in other posts and it looks good. Back up drives are getting long in the tooth, The 3TB on the list was a want. Any thoughts on a Blu Ray Rewriter?

[Conscript]

Woot Woot! lol

£1500 is ultra gaming rig territory, I'm sure Spaceboy will fix you up a great rig and save you loads of money!

[Spaceboy]

£780 Inc Vat + Del. https://www.aria.co.uk/WishList/p99ojJ78p6Mkfw6jezsfBg,,

Thoughts...

Cpu / mobo has on-board graphics (HD4000) which will certainly play browser games fine and be more than enough for HD media

16gb Ram - you may as well
128gb SSD - great price on the m4 right now, and some people find 60gb a little restrictive.

2 x 2tb hdd's... I absolutely hate the thought of loading up >1TB of data on a single drive without any kind of backup. Run these 2 drives in a Raid-1 mirror, and your data is automatically saved to both drives - you "only" get 2TB of storage space though. Imho, 3TB drives are still a little pricey to stomach.
If you want 3TB, imo, grab 2, and mirror them

Saved loads, no need for a dedicated GPU, but if you want to add one in the future the PSU should be fine for a relatively decent model (GTX560 or so).

Hope that helps, and yes, the case is a bit of a favourite of mine... great cooling, easy to work with, very quiet, and stylish

and now I'm off to bed, work tomorrow

[dani87]

Great list by Spaceboy.

Dredd39, would u like fried with that?

[Dredd39]

Thanks Spaceboy
I'm abit behind the times but has onboard graphics taken that big a leap? Reason I ask is I pretty much watch everything through my PC, Films, TV etc. Always have youtube playing in the background while I'm working away as well.
Thumbs up for the raid configuration. I didn't think the prices of the 3TB drives was too bad to be honest, Although prices are high due to the flooding.
Lack of a dedicated GPU surprised me but as previous I'm behind with onboard graphics performance these days.
Only other questions are how much upgrade leeway does the PSU give me and am I right in thinking the Blu Ray drive is read only? Thoughts on a Blu Ray drive that can burn Blu Ray discs or are they yesterday now?

Silly question but how do I thank someone at the bottom of a post? Is it because I'm a newbie still?

[TheMadDutchDude]

The Intel HD4000 graphics will play 1080P movies on your tele without an issue. Built-in graphics have come a long way since the day of your P4.

Multitasking will be a breeze for the CPU too. No need to worry about running out of steam, especially what you will be using the system for.

[Spaceboy]

hd4000 review : http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33642_7...ip-from-intel/

BR writer... honestly, I don't see the value unless you specifically need to be able to write to BR discs. Media is expensive, and for backups it makes more sense to get an external hdd, or another internal hdd.

[Dredd39]

Thanks Spaceboy
Job done, Order Successful
Got to play the waiting game now, Hate that

[RandomPC]

"Ah, the waiting game sucks. Let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos!"

Homer Simpson

[Dredd39]

Order Dispatched

[Ironsoldier]

Have fun with the rig. Pics would be great.