Opinions on new computer spec please

Les McLean

Les McLean

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My current system is 3 years old, and although a decent spec (dual core 4Gb Ram etc), I've decided to upgrade.

This is the spec (and price) I'm looking at (from www.pcspecialist.co.uk )

Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Processor i7-860 (2.80GHz) 8MB Cache + HyperThreading
Memory 8GB CORSAIR XMS3 DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY!
Motherboard ASUS® P7P55D DELUXE: DDR3, S-ATA II, 3 x PCI-Ex, 2 x PCI
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium 64-bit + Windows 7 Upgrade Voucher
1st Hard Disk 250GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
Graphics Card 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 9500GT PCI EXPRESS
Power Supply & Case Cooling 350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling STANDARD CPU COOLER

Total price (inc del)-£820.00

I'm aware I could self build possibly cheaper, but have decided to go this route.

Is there anything I'm missing, anything important I need to add?

I don't need more storage as I have 1.5 TB of sata drives I can transfer over.

Any thoughts woud be appreciated.

NB, I looked at purchasing a computer from the place I got my present comp from, and the price had risen by £75 over the last couple of days, when I rang to query, the response was that memory prices are beginning to rise considerably :eek:
 
8 Gigs of RAM! Holy Moly
What possible need could you have for that much?

Also, just how good is that PSU? 350W should just about suffice, but I bet that Gfx card is a bit power hungry. I assume you're a gamer.

Personally, with that kind of budget I'd buy a kick-ass case and PSU. Both of which will last for years. About £200 the pair.

I'd spend the rest on the other bits and build it myself.
 
I will echo what budfox says- 350w is rather low depending on the number of hard drives/disk drives you will also be putting in there
 
Looks like a nice spec, i agree on the PSU though, might need something a little more powerful.
 
budfox said:
8 Gigs of RAM! Holy Moly
What possible need could you have for that much?

Also, just how good is that PSU? 350W should just about suffice, but I bet that Gfx card is a bit power hungry. I assume you're a gamer.

Personally, with that kind of budget I'd buy a kick-ass case and PSU. Both of which will last for years. About £200 the pair.

I'd spend the rest on the other bits and build it myself.
Click to expand...

aligibbs said:
I will echo what budfox says- 350w is rather low depending on the number of hard drives/disk drives you will also be putting in there
Click to expand...

andy_m said:
Looks like a nice spec, i agree on the PSU though, might need something a little more powerful.
Click to expand...


Thanks for that-that's exactly the kind of informed advice I was looking for-would a 450w Dual Rail PSU be a better option?
 
neil_g said:
what are you going to be using it for?
Click to expand...

CS4 mainly, a bit of video editing, excel, and having the usual 120 browser windows tabbed.

I'm not a gamer though, therefore is the graphics card a bit OTT?
 
Les McLean said:
Thanks for that-that's exactly the kind of informed advice I was looking for-would a 450w Dual Rail PSU be a better option?
Click to expand...

Get the biggest and best you can afford, that way you won't have to upgrade it later if you expand your system. It's one of the most critical yet overlooked parts of a PC... I'm a huge fan of Corsair PSUs (I run an 850w in my OC rig at home), Silverstone and Enermax are highly regarded as well.

Carl
 
CReid said:
Get the biggest and best you can afford, that way you won't have to upgrade it later if you expand your system. It's one of the most critical yet overlooked parts of a PC... I'm a huge fan of Corsair PSUs (I run an 850w in my OC rig at home), Silverstone and Enermax are highly regarded as well.

Carl
Click to expand...

Thanks-so perhaps a 700W Quiet Quad Rail PSU would be a better option?

And possibly reduce my graphics card to 512MB NVIDIA GEFORCE 8400GS? (From 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 9500GT) ?
 
Yes its a good choice. Seriously I still repair a lot of PCs and quite a number of odd spurious faults end up being a crap PSU. For the difference in price go for the 700W and just forget it. Seems a reasonable spec of machine for a few years. 8Gb might sound a lot but with Windows 7 64 bit and CS4 you will actually be able to feel the difference.

Oh one other thing Slap a Samsumg 1Tb F1 7200rpm drive in it. It must be an option somewhere and it will be much quicker than the other drive. The extra size comes from an increased areal density which has the side effect of increasing the speed of which the drive can read and write data. They only cost about £50 so the upgrade price should not add more than £20-30
 
cowasaki said:
Oh one other thing Slap a Samsumg 1Tb F1 7200rpm drive in it.
Click to expand...

Really good HDD's, got a couple in this machine, quick and quiet as well :)
 
dod said:
Really good HDD's, got a couple in this machine, quick and quiet as well :)
Click to expand...

I have 2 in the mac pro brilliant drives and really good value oh and 2 in the NAS as well :)
 
I'd buy this:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152606

and this:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131551

That's £120 of your budget well spent. The rest is up to you, but those two will last for your next few upgrades.

4 Gigs of RAM is plenty, and I'd try to find a passively cooled graphics card. You only need good 2D performance, and a gaming card will just get hot, pull a lot of power, and make some noise.

A few years ago I would have said a Matrox G550 but these days I know nothing about GFX cards. What I would say is that NOTHING improves your working ability like a big screen or better still, two big screens. You can have all of the number crunching in the world, but if you have to keep switching windows you aren't working efficiently.

So, grab a pair of these:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169167

And a modest dual-head card that will blast through 2D stuff with ease:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141131

We're up to £420 now, leaving plenty of cash for the rest.
 
Adjusted specs to reflect advice


Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Processor i7-860 (2.80GHz) 8MB Cache + HyperThreading
Memory (RAM) 8GB CORSAIR XMS3 DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz
Motherboard ASUS® P7P55D DELUXE: DDR3, S-ATA II, 3 x PCI-Ex, 2 x PCI
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium 64-bit + Windows 7 Upgrade Voucher
USB Options 8 x USB 2.0 PORTS (6 REAR + 2 FRONT) AS STANDARD
1st Hard Disk 1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st CD/DVD Drive 22x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Graphics Card 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 9500GT PCI EXPRESS
Sound Card ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)
Case COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Power Supply & Case Cooling 700W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)
Processor Cooling STANDARD CPU COOLER
Firewire & Video Editing 2 x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE PORTS (1 onboard, 1 at back panel)

This information is absolutely great-really appreciate this help :)

I've upgraded the spec-1TB sata drive instead of 250GB (will be adding 3 extra 500GB sata drives from old system)+2 USB hard drives.

Power supply from 350w to 700w

Left graphics card as is.

Forgot to mention, am running two monitors, one a dell 24 inch and other cheapo 19 inch.
 
Maplin has an offer on for 1TB hard drives at 69.99!
 
To be honest I would replace the 'desktop' spec with an equivalent laptop spec and drop the video card. 8GB is very handy however, I do a lot of programming and probably have CS3 on in the background + lots of browser tabs.

I realised a long time ago though that its portability that counts (I can take it anywhere) so I've pretty much the same spec as you in a 12.1" touch tablet (not that I ever use that function) connected to various big screens depending on where I'm working. I work in Basingstoke through the week so have an apartment there and then back upto the house at the weekend. I used to have a large tower spec back in the day equivalent to yours but I simply got sick of the noise of the fans and the fact I cant drag it anywhere I want within the house if I feel the need.
 
I have got the same Graphics Card and it seems to be performing very well editing HD in sony vegas with Photoshop in the background!
 
This all depends if you're overclocking.
I can build you a list which is cheaper than your above, but also give better returns for your money.

Get the i7 920 D0 stepping which gives a 2.66GHz.
Get a X58 chipset mobo.
Both are great overclockers, and save you at least £75 between the two.

Get 6GB RAM for tri channel.

All this performs better than what you had even without overclocking. I urge you to reconsider.

cart.jpg
 
should be ample for CS4 :)

if youre video editing thats where the graphics card will come in handy.

agree with the above about the 7.2k samsing F1's they are lovely and fast and quiet, im about to get another for my media center.
 
Thanks everyone for the help-it is genuinely appreciated :)

Snownation, thanks for that excellent spec, and I don't doubt it's a system with lots going for it.

I've ordered the system I mentioned in post #14, I know there's only around £100 difference in your spec and the one I've chosen (if you add in the OS price), for two reasons, firstly you get a years warranty, and technical support that's actually a technician at the company who responds to your phone call-not some helpdesk in Mumbai.

Secondly, the company has a good reputation, and finally, the company is in Yorkshire.
 
Computer up and running, and it does everything it says on the tin.

With an i7 processor and 8GB of ram, it's blisteringly fast.


Only real grumble is that some of my PS plug-ins (neatimage for example) won't run on 64bit.

And it's Vista 64bit (with upgrade to win7 later this month), as I've been running win7 on my old machine, it's made me realise just how much better win7 is compared to vista.

Anyway, once again, I genuinely appreciate all the help you guys provided, it certainly helped shape my final decision. :clap:
 
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