Chalex new PC build

[Chalex4]

So yeah, the day finally came where my PC died all at once. Incidentally, it was also the day that I backed everything up! Basically I get exclamation marks everywhere on boot, which looks like a GFX card issue, and I can't get into Windows. I tried safe mode, system restore didn't work, ran an error check on C but that didn't help. In fact, it made safe mode not work any more! So yeah...

I need a new PC! Would appreciate help from those in the know regarding the best GFX and CPU out there, or whether I should limp on and wait until something even shinier. Also, am thinking I'll opt for something like an mATX or mITX case this time to help with portability, unless you all think that's a moronic thing to do. I'd the whole build to last for another 4 years ideally.

[Target]

budget?

[Chalex4]

Wouldn't really want to go over 1k. If I can get an awesome setup for £600 though, that'd obviously be preferable :).

[Colonel Mitch]

I suggest you get an nvidia 690 and no pc.

[tiny2tom]

Sounds like an article for hardware as we're 3 short on that section

[Colonel Mitch]

:D (Ill write one tomorrow or the day after theory :P ive made Wednesday my deadline)

[Chalex4]

Ha good joke Mitch. That 690 price is ridiculous.

Anyway, after a few extra hours of faffing, running more hard drive integrity checks, it seemed that everything apart from the GFX card was working fine. So I swapped out my 8800GTS 512 for a 7800GTX I've always kept around (just for this purpose), and everything worked fine! I installed the 7800 drivers, and all was good. But who really wants a 7800 in their case :P...so I removed it, put the 8800 back in, and everything seemed fine, until MSI afterburner launched then the PC refused to boot into Windows again. So, I uninstalled afterburner, removed and re-installed the 8800 drivers (safe mode), and now everything is working perfectly again!

Either way, my 8800 obvoiusly can't handle much stress any more, so I'm going to grab a new card. Am liking the look of the 670:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-095-GI.

Is there anything in the ATI camp worth considering?

[Calneon]

My GTX 560Ti can handle almost anything and is half the price of that 670. Depends on what you want ofc but consider getting one of those if you don't need the power of the 670.

[Colonel Mitch]

For AMD they just dropped the price of the 7970 / 7950. I think the 7970 competes with the 670. Worth a look but im not sure about the price difference

[Setsoru]

i got a 570 and its almost as good as the 560ti :) get what you can afford though :D

[Target]

You ordered it then chalex>?

[Chalex4]

Gone for a completely new rig :).


Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz
2GB MSI GTX 670 Overclocked
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3
240GB Corsair Force Series 3 SSD
Gelid Tranquillo Rev.2 CPU Cooler
750W Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750M
Fractal Design Define R4 Titanium Grey Case


Build day tomorrow!

[Chazlene]

Gone for a completely new rig :).


Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz
2GB MSI GTX 670 Overclocked
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3
240GB Corsair Force Series 3 SSD
Gelid Tranquillo Rev.2 CPU Cooler
750W Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750M
Fractal Design Define R4 Titanium Grey Case


Build day tomorrow!

Total cost?

[Chalex4]

£1k, which is a bit more than I wanted it to be, but as I only really upgrade every 4/5 years I reckon it's worth it.

Plus, I'll be selling parts of my old system so should get some back from that.

[Target]

what you selling from your old pc?
Your case up for sale + how much?

[Joe]

Sounds pretty damn nice :D

[Chalex4]

In all likelihood, I'll be selling:


Intel Q6600 2.4GHz - G0 stepping, 1.2v VID (excellent overclocker, I reached 3.6GHz easily)
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme (including Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan)
Asus Maximus Formula X38
Antec 900
Antec NeoPower 650 Blue
G.Skill 8GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (4x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit


All were going to go on the bay, but I guess it'd be easier if any of you were interested. I can then transport to LAN and save you the postage cost.

My special price for you Target would be £35 for the 900 :).

[Calneon]

That's one hell of an upgrade! Look forward to seeing it at i46.

[katakuna]

You could've built better for the price :p

[Chalex4]

Of course I could, if I'd found somewhere that was even cheaper than Scan, or if I'd just bought less expensive stuff :p.

Anyway, build is going swimmingly (after a PITA CPU cooler). Pics will be up soon.

[katakuna]

Well I got an i7-3820 with the gigabyte X79-UD5 motherboard and 16gb of corsair vengance racing red 2133mhz ram for roughly £600

EDIT: the ram btw is quad channel, not dual or triple.

[Chalex4]

Nice, but that doesn't include a case, cooler, ssd, psu OR graphics card ;).

[katakuna]

But surely you had a case psu and cooler before? :p an SSD is an unneeded but admittedly useful addition and you can add a 670 for the low cost of only £340

so budgeted properly you could've got a lot better for the same price, possibly a little bit more.

[Colonel Mitch]

You got the 3820????

Whats your clock?

For chalex to build around that it was gunna be £100 more coz i was trying to convince him to do it even tho the ivy cpu is very slightly faster

[katakuna]

I've no idea what my clock ACTUALLY is, but "My Computer" shows this: http://i.imgur.com/TNFq7.png
so I'm not sure if its 3.60 or 3.80

[Colonel Mitch]

Oh but you haven't overclocked it then?

You can get 5GHz on air if you know what your doing :P
4.5 in liek the press of 2 buttons xD

[katakuna]

I don't really know what I'm doing though that's the thing D: right now I don't really have the patience for it because I mean, it's not like its slow? :p I have the corsair H60 for cooling as well

[Chalex4]

As Mitch says, it would have ended up being more expensive. Anyway, pics!

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/9127/wp0001591.jpg

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5949/wp0001821.jpg

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/589/wp000167v.jpg

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/489/wp0001841.jpg

Am loving it :). Boots ridiculously quickly and plays BF3 at max woooooooo.

[Target]

nice

[Colonel Mitch]

Oh wow chalex you could have never fitted that RAM in there :P

[katakuna]

I don't like the black on white in there :/

[Chalex4]

Lol Mr. Negative Kata! I love it... clearly you have no eye for style :P.

And Mitch if I'd have listened to you I'd have had to buy mismatching ram to fit in all the slots! :D

[Colonel Mitch]

Lol Mr. Negative Kata! I love it... clearly you have no eye for style :P.

And Mitch if I'd have listened to you I'd have had to buy mismatching ram to fit in all the slots! :D

really? it doesnt look like it from the pic

[Chalex4]

Yeah man, there's about 5mm clearance even with the low profile ones.

[katakuna]

shouldn't have bought such a hideous CPU cooler :D

[Craigon]

Well my old PC is not working very well so I am unable to work properly. Now I am planing to purchase a laptop that could fulfill my requirements.