a quick and dirty base unit

[cd_rom]

I need a basic but gamable PC as cheap as possible because uni starts again soon and i can't wait till bulldozer out next year. When its out, i probably build another one base on it with 3x monitor!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Play games like GW, CS:CZ and maybe Starcraft 2 + web browsing

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
£400+tax+shipping

3) Where do you live?
UK
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
PSU
Motherboard
CPU
Case
Ram

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Reusing: ATI HD 4850 1Gb

6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, a little bit

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Already have Benq 24'' 1920x1200

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next week

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
None in particular

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
I can get OEM Vista student version

Here is my prim build after reading this section everyday for so long (you start to get the drift!):
AMD Phenom II 955 BE - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190673
650W-Corsair-CMPSU-650TX-SLi-XfireSingle - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/650W...l-80plus-Efficient-120mm-Quiet-Fan-ATX12V-v22
Coolermaster-RC-331-Elite-Black - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Coolermaster-RC-331-Elite-Black-Silver-Midi-Tower-Case-w-o-PSU
4GB-(2x2GB)-Corsair-Dominator-DDR3-PC3-12800-(1600) - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-...600)-Non-ECC-Unbuffered-CAS-9-9-9-24-DHX-165v
Asus-M4A87TD-EVO-AMD-870 - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus...-(x16)-DDR3-2000(OC)-SATA-6Gb-s-SATA-RAID-ATX
500-GB-Western-Digital-WD5000AAKS-Caviar-Blue - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/-SATA-300-7200-rpm-16MB-Cache-89-ms
Total: £420.39 including delivery

Im not sure about the motherboard, saw it suggested on other thread on an AMD build.
I got a feeling that PSU might be a bit overkill and its not a modular one.

Lastlly, I suggest that there is a stick thread for Danni's master case list so he can link or maintain it from there!

Any things i should re-consider or change?

Cheers

p.s. If you suggest alternative part(s), i will look it up and do the price comparasion myself.

 

[bastage]

PSU is a little overkill along with the Motherboard. I like the 555 be though. & memory is pretty much always high pricd (for the dominator)

I tried to find alternate prices, but that scan.co.uk has to be one of the worst sights I have seen for organization & I couldnt even find the original part when drilling down.

 

[cd_rom]

For £77 on that pair of ram, i think its quite decent! the cheapest I seen is
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-Corsair-DDR3-PC3-10600-(1333)-Non-ECC-Unbuffered-9-9-9-24-15V
for £65 at lowest speed 1333 (1.50V) instead of the listed dominator ram 1600 (1.65V)

PSU wise, how much lowest should i go for? I can think of this one
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/550W-Corsair-CMPSU-550VXUK-ATX-PS-2-5-year-Warranty
Cosair 550w with 5 years warranty for £66 instead of the listed PSU 650W for £76.

Damn, i realise I forgot a HD...

 

[Dangman]

The Dominator RAM is still not worth it for tight budgets like yours. Just go for the cheapest DDR3 1333 RAM set you can find. Timings do not matter at all.

That Corsair 550VX will be enough.

 

[cd_rom]

Right, i picked a cheaper version of the ram and total cost is £401.96 but I believe I dont have to pay carriage fee so that brings it just below £400!

 

[Dangman]

Looks good to me.

 

[cd_rom]

i told a friend this afternooon about my temporary new build till bulldozer is out and he made a very good point which is something like...why wait for it? i would build an i7 system right now because i rather wait for 2nd generation of bulldozer as its a new architecture, there will be bugs and it will be cheaper by then.

I know its his opinion but i think he has the point and i do think that makes sense, at least to me anyway. With that in mind, i come up with this new system:

I pick that motherboard out because it supports sli/cf for future proof, i deliberately left out graphic card because atm ATI 4850 1Gig pass me by just fine. I heard there is an ATI graphic card out in october so im waiting for a price cut then either Nvidia 460 or ATI 5850

I dont do imagine/video editing nor multi-threaded graphic apps so i feel an i7 is a waste of power so instead save some money to get another graphic card or more storage or w/e in future. I do software engineer/coding but that more to do with CPU power so i think i5-760 is adequate and anandtech review says its suitable for general purpose tasks.

That leaves me with just one question, what cooler should i get to overclock?

Cheers

 

[Dangman]

I recommend this HSF:
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

By your friend's logic, we shouldn't have recommended the Core i5 750 CPU and P55 motherboard or the Core i7 920/930 and X58 motherboard for the past year since they're essentially first-gen parts since they were new architectures as well. By your friend's logic, we should have waited until the second gen of parts to come around.

 

[Skull_Angel]

I only wait when I don't have the money. sadly, I don't have enough to start building my x58 rig yet... hahaha

 

[cd_rom]

Ok, thanks Dann! I will order the parts today.

@Skull_Angel: all in good time uh ^^