New PC?

The OP needs an i5, he does not need a k series, he will not (and judging from his level of tech knowledge ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT BE) overclocking. He does not need an i7, it'd be a waste of money for rFactor2.

He needs a good video card. I have an older 460GTX which is fine for a minimum, a 560 or better would be perfect for you.

-Save money by not getting "enthusiast" parts
-get 4-8GB RAM. You do not really need more than 4
-Spend money on good speakers, but save money and don't get a soundcard for gaming, onboard sound is good enough for most people.
-ATI or Nvidia is fine. Read up on reviews and spend as much on a video car as you can afford.
-The CPU is less important for gaming
-As for triple screen, I have raced with guys who have had triple screen set ups and it's a headache more than anything else. If you really want to be a serious sim racer, abandon this idea and go for 1 30" screen.

 

Are you serious about this and why?

 

I've heard a 3D setup is the way to go. It makes three screens look old school. 3D is the future man.

 

ASUS M4N98TD EVO
AMD Phenom II x4 980 BE
G.Skill RipjawX 8GB DDR31600
nVidia GTX 560Ti

A hella cheap combo and easily capably of running rFactor2.

 

Ivy Bridge or Sandy Bridge and if it doesn't have the K don't do it... demand the K.

 

I was just trying to help yes the k version is better but then again you need to spend more money as I was trying to help you with a good stable middle spec machine, now getting a more expensive k series will let you over clock, of course thats if you know what you are doing that said the sandy bridge cpus are much easier to clock than the old style quad and duo cores for stability purposes, also bear in mind if you overclock you will also need to buy a after market cpu cooler again more money, as I showed you this is a very good spec machine which will play the game pretty well at 1920x 1080 res good luck on your decision and if you need any help I will gladly be here And to add the other machine someone posted which was similar to mine apart from having the 2600k instead with less ram, but is 200 pounds more nearly, believe when i say that my machine on my link with a better gpu will beat the 2600k hand s down.

 

Few questions:

It looks as if there are different typres and makes of the Nvidia GTX 560. Why is this? there seems to be a lot of different makes out there and different sizes too, as there are smart editions and 560ti and 560 and so on?

With the processor (i assume this is the CPU?) there also seems to be a lot of different typres of each, for example there are the i5 2500 3.3ghz which seems to be the norm??? Then the 2500K means it has hyperthreading? On overclocking there are hundereds of typres on processors.

The motherboards seems to have a mindfield too, are certain makes better or are they all so so? What should i look for in a motherboard?

If i decided to go down the route of SLI can you do this with all GPUs or just certain ones? I understand you need an SLI compatible motherboard but unsure weather say 2x 560 gpus are as good as 1x 590? Nvidia or Asus or does it not matter?

I would love to have a go at building my own, but when i start adding up the components it seems to exceed the pre built rigs, or am i missing something?

Sorry for all this im new to the whole PC thing and really keen to learn, i would like to understand the gubbings a bit before committing.

Cheers for all the feedback.

Dan

 

Okay Handsy the first question with regards to the nvidia gtx 560 yes there are lots of different models in all graphic cards as the makers like XFX and gigabyte to name a few use different amounts of ram/ memory and some overclock the cards from factory and some also put there own fan coolers on them the ti version is the better one in the 560.
The proc or cpu yes again there are many many variants the main difference with regards to the K model and non K is firstly the K edition you can change the multiplier for overclocking and non K you cant but you can turn on turbo on the non K and raise it from 3.3ghz stock to around 3.7 ghz the K editions can clock to around 5ghz stable on a good cpu cooler and also the K edition has a built in graphics on the die of the cpu which is only really good if your not playing the new harcore games like rF2, it may play older games at an average res.
Again the motherboards there are lots of different ones from different companies, I will tell you one of the best in my opinion and probably lots of others is Asus one of the main things to look for in motherboards is to make sure if your ever gonna run 2 graphic cards that some support SLi and some support crossfire and a few also support both and of course cheaper ones dont support any so in mind to your question SLi refers to having nvidia cards and crossfire is made for ATi cards. On a final note building your own pc is a great feeling as you did it yourself and you know maybe if something goes wrong in the future where everything is which might help find the the fault if you get one, lastly the reason some companies like I showed you can do it cheaper than building your own is because they buy the parts in bulk and also maybe from america as they mostly get there stuff cheaper than us brits Also just noticed your question on what is best on gpus well the gtx590 as you stated is a dual card sandwiched together so its a very good card and very expensive, and as to the question which is best again some games that work well on crossfire or sli will beat the top end single cards like the gtx580 or the new gtx680, also with dual cards you may also need a more powerful power supply so again more money from your budget your talking your better off with the best single card you can afford it will be less problematic than maybe having 2 cards also

 

Well thanks for ll the info mate, lots to mull over. Just another quick one is whats the difference between crossfire and sli? Also would it be beneficial to get a motherboard that supports these features in case i upgrade at a later date?
With regards to cases, whats the difference between a midi case and a full height? How do you work out the power supply you need, or do you just go in extra high?

i will put a spec together later and post it here to see if i have chosen wisely on a spec, and maybe you could be so kind to check it for me?

thanks again for all the help.

Dan

 

Crossfire is ATI's multi GPU solution, while SLI is NVidia's.

Midi case vs full height is the case size. If you have the space I would go full height. It allows you to get a full ATX sized motherboard, and shouldn't have any issues fitting loads of goodies inside it.

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
This will calculate your basic PSU requirements, I normally add on a couple hundred watts to be safe. Also, when choosing your GPU, check what ampage it needs on the 12V rail, and make sure the PSU you get can supply this.

 

yes as Racer said he is right, and of course I come here everyday checking new posts and I will give you my honest opinion on your final choice

 

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2550K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £175.99
(£146.66) £175.99
(£146.66)
Asus P8Z68-V GEN3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £144.98
(£120.82) £144.98
(£120.82)
Asus GeForce GTX 550Ti DirectCU 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
Corsair Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-600GUK) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
LG CH10LS20 10x BluRay-ROM / 16x DVD±RW Lightscribe Drive - Black (Retail) £54.98
(£45.82) £54.98
(£45.82)
BitFenix Shinobi "Core" USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £46.98
(£39.15) £46.98
(£39.15)
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Single Channel Module (CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10) £45.59
(£37.99) £91.18
(£75.98)
Asus Xonar DG 5.1 PCI Sound Card with built in Headphone Amp - OEM £22.99
(£19.16) £22.99
(£19.16)
Akasa AK-195-WH White Illumination 140mm Fan £7.99
(£6.66) £15.98
(£13.32)
BitFenix Mesh Stripes for Shinobi Tower Case - White £6.98
(£5.82) £6.98
(£5.82)
OcUK Value AT/ATX "Kettle Plug" Mains Cable £2.39
(£1.99) £2.39
(£1.99)
BitFenix Logo for Shinobi Tower Case - White £1.98
(£1.65) £1.98
(£1.65)
* Sub Total : £674.51
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £137.15
* Total : £822.91

 

bigger power supply like 750-800 at least. and get a ssd for your main drive and a regular harddisk for storage and programs that don't need to be fast.

 

Also, I would not go for a 550 Ti, If you can afford it go for a 560 Ti.

Also, go for 2 4GB sticks of RAM instead of 1 8GB, this will allow you to run in dual channel which is better.

 

You need no tech knowledge to overclock MSi, OC Genie is one button, no software.

Course you need someone knowledgeable to set up bios for you or you come on here, give mobo model # and someone will help him set Bios up in a few posts to his specific needs........... shops don't do that anyway. ?

I could not justify building a performance sim tower with a non K Sandy mate.

I would get a 2500K@4.5GHz + Corsair Hydro60 for same money as a stock 2600K/2700K.

 

yeah you can overclock the i5 2500k to 4.8 with the press of a button in windows.

 

Can you?? I had to overclock mine via the motherboard bios menu and install an aftermarket cooler...

 

I have chosen 2x 8gb ram will this not run in duel channel?

What does my mono choice look like? Really unsure on all the options for this, so I went with a mobo that supports Ssd i case I upgrade later.

Yes I will go for the 560ti as it does seem a lot better, but why is the cards running the 560ti so different by differ makes, for example the Msi card is more expensive and seems to run more mb but its still a 560ti?

Is a ssd essential?

Dan

 

I didn't see you had 2 8GB sticks there, that will be fine.

RE: mobo choice, I'm not sure sorry I'm not an Intel guy.

The cards differ between manufacturer's to try get you to buy their product.

The MSI 560 Ti 2GB is a good card, I was looking at getting one. It has a good amount of RAM which is good for running high resolutions.

SSD is not essential, although it would definitely help with loading times etc.

 

it's a turbo... only on when needed. not a true overclock like what you've done through bios... and although I did run a bios overclock on a stock intel cooler, I suggest you use aftermarket and water if possible.

I'm at 5.0 ghz right now... Bios overclock