Middle-range gaming rig, bit more pricey than anticipated

  • Thread starter Seismica
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1TB is probably more than I will ever need. I could get 500GB or so of a faster drive for similar price. I think i'll change that too then 👍 thanks for the advice. SSDs are too pricy but a good HDD will do. I just chose this one for the price and capacity.
 
nick09
A WD Blue(8MB to 16MB cache) drives most of the time have a 7200RPM speed motor or a 5400RPM motor.
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7200RPM for regular 3.5 desktop drives. Their performance is usually pretty close to the blacks. The cache for the 750GB Blue is 32MB.



Seagate doesn't seem to be doing so well in the last couple of years, so you should probably avoid them.
 
Thank your for the correction. Just mentioned 5400RPM since the laptop drives had 5400RPM.

Seagate is pretty odd since the last few years. The hard drive in my laptop nearly died after a year and a half after use. Though the Hitachi hard drive I got for my laptop is working well.

I've looked at a 500GB WD Blue drive and it costs $50. Maybe it might be worthwhile to look for deals on WD Blue drives.
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
7200RPM for regular 3.5 desktop drives. Their performance is usually pretty close to the blacks. The cache for the 750GB Blue is 32MB.



Seagate doesn't seem to be doing so well in the last couple of years, so you should probably avoid them.
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I went for the 750GB Black. I doubt I will need anywhere near that, as i've only barely filled my 160GB laptop drive and i've had it for almost 4 years.

I also requested they change the CPU cooler, I don't plan on using the one that comes with retail. The one that I had selected was for 'space saving', so i'm glad you recommended a better one as that would have been more of a money-sink than anything else. I got the retail for £155.99 and the normal price for the OEM on Scan is £159.78, so I got a pretty good deal there (If I waited for good deals on every individual part i'd be waiting until Christmas). The scan bundles seem to have deals on the i5 2500k but when priced up they often turn out to be just as expensive as all the items individually, they were even knocking on the door of the i7 2600k deals, which made me tempted to go for one of those :P But I thought not, an extra £60 is not worth it when i'm trying to work to a budget.

Has anyone dealt with Scan's customer service before? They don't work Sundays it seems, but i'm anxious to find out how helpful they will be, i.e. whether they will go out of their way to exchange the items or force me to make a new order and pay more postage, and then return the other products.

Just need the OS now, there are ways of using the upgrade version without having a previous version reinstalled right? I have an old Windows key and disc but i'd rather not infect my new PC with Vista.

Then theres building it. I don't even know what a BIOS is so this is going to be fun.
 
DQuaN
Probably a bit late now but one of Novatech's Barebone Systems would have been a good place to start.
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I found it was better to make my own from scratch to fit my needs, but they do look good :) If I was going for the i7 2600k that would be a good bet however there doesn't seem to be any for the i5 2500k, though I didn't check if it was an option on the next screen. Funnily enough there does seem to be a big price gap in between the i5 2400 and the i7 2600k systems where my build would have fit nicely.

I've ordered my OS ( Windows 7 Professional 64-bit Upgrade edition from software4students, £40 - I can either use my Vista disc/key or use a workaround. I don't see why the full version is 2-3x the price, it deters customers) and the amendments to my Scan order went ok without a hitch, it's being delivered tomorrow. It's going to be fun putting it together with a sprained wrist :nervous: Might wait until the weekend when it should have healed enough to use my hand properly.
 
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Has the OS already been shipped?

£40 seems a bit pricey for a "Upgrade edition," I think you could find an OEM Copy for around that price..
 
bergauk
Has the OS already been shipped?

£40 seems a bit pricey for a "Upgrade edition," I think you could find an OEM Copy for around that price..
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I searched but did not have any luck. If you find somewhere I have until I open it to return it. But the upgrade edition is fine and I do have a Windows key so it will work.

Slight hitch with my order though. I just got a text from Scan saying that the 750GB WD Caviar Black Hard drive I ordered (That I amended and they changed for me earlier today) is out of stock. I mean wtf, if it wasn't in stock why didn't they inform me at 9.30 this morning when they made the change over the phone? Now I have to wait until at least Wednesday as they held back all my other components so they can save on delivery. They say it will be back in stock on the 10th, but that is too long so i'm going to amend it again and get the hard drive elsewhere. Anybody know of any good hard drive deals for ~£50?
 
Oops, I saw that pre-order sign on the website, which is why I suggested the 750 blue or 1tb black.
 
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ROAD_DOGG33J
Oops, I saw that pre-order sign on the website, which is why I suggested the 750 blue or 1gb black.
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I was sure it said in stock when I amended my order on sunday :confused:

I'm confused as to why they didn't inform me over the phone, or at least in time to change it to keep the delivery date as tomorrow. The 1TB black is £63 which is more than £20 over my original budgeted drive. The 750GB Blue is only a couple of quid cheaper than the black but at the cost of performance... I could just wait it out. There is a seller on Amazon with it at £40+£4 p&p but it has only had 10 review scores so it's not really a trusted seller in my eyes, and how can I guarantee they won't just order it in like Scan are doing?

It's a shame, I had my heart set on the Caviar Black :( I'd be willing to buy it elsewhere but everywhere reputable have it out of stock or at a significantly higher price. For example, Amazon say dispatch within 3-5 weeks.

Seismica
Has anyone dealt with Scan's customer service before?
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Now I have :ouch:
 
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nick09
Found a 1TB black for 50 pounds with free shipping(according to google).
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Unfortunately I don't think it's the same one. Product code for the caviar black is WD1002FAEX link.

Would this be a good substitute?

Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ

Apparently it has faster read speed despite being only SATA II (I think someone mentioned SATA HDDs can't take advantage of the SATA III bandwidth)

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/chart...s/h2benchw-3.12-Avg-Read-Throughput,1010.html

EDIT: On closer inspection the 750GB-1GB Caviar blacks were not on that list. I have read they have read speeds in the 120-125MB/s range. Hmm, tough one, be patient and get the better one or go for the cheaper one and get it sooner...
 
Yeah that was a different model. I found a 750GB for nearly 45 pounds. I've looked at reviews for that F3 HDD and they are good but I read that the warranty service is annoying. Should be a easy choice if you want a good warranty service from WD(Had mine replaced once before and it was easy to go through).
 
nick09
Yeah that was a different model. I found a 750GB for nearly 45 pounds. I've looked at reviews for that F3 HDD and they are good but I read that the warranty service is annoying. Should be a easy choice if you want a good warranty service from WD(Had mine replaced once before and it was easy to go through).
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I don't really trust the seller, especially when they undercut just about every site. Probably a returned/recertified drive.

I think I will either go for the 1TB Caviar black or wait it out. The Caviar blacks have a 5 year warranty and best in class performance, it's a no-brainer really. Just wish they had told me it wasn't in stock so I could have made my decision earlier. The chances are if I wait it out, it will be back in stock and delivered or dispatched next monday. I think i'm prepared to wait that long just that that little extra benefit I get from it :D
 
Well from that page you can get the 750GB for nearly 50 pounds with free 3-5 day shipping from amazon.co.uk.
 
Seismica
The Caviar blacks have a 5 year warranty and best in class performance, it's a no-brainer really.
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It depends on which benchmarks you look at. Here the Samsung does well in the defrag and winrar tests. In this one it also comes out ahead with the 750gb wd's being equal. With only two platters, it should do well in everyday use and reliability.
 
Seismica
Anybody know of any good hard drive deals for ~£50?
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The Samsung F3 is excellent, I use two and have never had an issue with them. Nice and quick, and at 1TB are pretty darn big :)

I've had them for over a year with no hitches so the warranty is a non-factor imho
 
That does not mean there won't be any bad seeds that fail after a year. The warranty is a huge factor.
 
nick09
Well from that page you can get the 750GB for nearly 50 pounds with free 3-5 day shipping from amazon.co.uk.
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It says 'Dispatched within 3-5 weeks though', which implies they don't have it in stock, they just order on request.

ROAD_DOGG33J
It depends on which benchmarks you look at. Here the Samsung does well in the defrag and winrar tests. In this one it also comes out ahead with the 750gb wd's being equal. With only two platters, it should do well in everyday use and reliability.
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Looking at those benchmarks combined with ones I have already seen, I think there is very little between them. I've been taken in by SATA III, i'm such a tool :lol:

Sharky.
The Samsung F3 is excellent, I use two and have never had an issue with them. Nice and quick, and at 1TB are pretty darn big :)

I've had them for over a year with no hitches so the warranty is a non-factor imho
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Nice edit ;) But If you've had personal experience I think it adds more weight to the recommendation. It's cheaper than the Caviar Black and more importantly, it's in stock :D

EDIT: I really need to stop using the word 'but' at the start of every sentence...
 
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I also noticed that WD Blues were not on that comparison list. A 1TB WD Blue(44.37 pounds with VAT and for 8.55 pounds you get next day shipping) is a downgrade compared to a WD Black but it should not be that noticeable.
 
nick09
The warranty is a huge factor.
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No, it's really not a factor. You're basically implying that hard drives failing after two weeks is commonplace, which is nonsensical. Furthermore you're making the claim that Samsung's warranty procedure is sub-par from what you've read on the internet - unless you've personally had a Samsung drive fail on you and had to RMA it, your claim is precisely that, a claim.
 
nick09
I also noticed that WD Blues were not on that comparison list. A 1TB WD Blue(44.37 pounds with VAT and for 8.55 pounds you get next day shipping) is a downgrade compared to a WD Black but it should not be that noticeable.
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It is on one of them, rated at 785 as opposed to 875 for the Samsung, which is cheaper aswell. I've gone for the Samsung, already emailed Scan about the amendment.
 
Sharky.
No, it's really not a factor. You're basically implying that hard drives failing after two weeks is commonplace, which is nonsensical. Furthermore you're making the claim that Samsung's warranty procedure is sub-par from what you've read on the internet - unless you've personally had a Samsung drive fail on you and had to RMA it, your claim is precisely that, a claim.
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My reason behind it is that if I were to buy a hard drive I would want it to last a long time. More than 5 years is my preference. My laptop had a Seagate hard drive that went down the drain since the last month lasting nearly two years(short by 2 months). After the first year it was showing signs of going bad and slowing down and making more heat. The hard drive would of failed if I did not clone the hard drive and changed it with a Hitachi.

The old family computer WD drive is over 5 years old and it still works. A good reliable hard drive is one of the most important parts of a computer.
 
Everybody has some sort of hard drive story. I consider reliability luck of the draw. Usually I just check for a lot of terrible reviews on newegg and if so then see if they fixed the issue.
 
It's arriving later today :D But it may be arriving whilst i'm in a lecture... Hope the delivery driver knows to deliver to reception if i'm not in, that's what Amazon and royal mail always do.
 
Terronium-12
Good luck with the build. 👍

Post plenty of pictures too.
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Will do 👍

Sad news though i'm afraid. The delivery company was completely incompetent. They 'attempted' to deliver the parcel whilst I was in my flat as my lecture finished early. I have a view of my front door from my window and despite nobody carrying a package or looking remotely delivery driver-esque entering the building, they left a 'calling card'. So no attempt was made to deliver my parcel, they left a calling card, probably at reception. Now why didn't they just hand the parcel in at reception...? The signature is receipt of the package being recieved, anyone in reception or security could have signed it. Furthermore, they have my mobile phone number too. Why didn't they ring it? It's an outrage.

I have to wait until Friday now :mad: :banghead: This time they have specific instructions to ring me on arrival.

EDIT Any recommendations for a keyboard? I realise I don't have one. Should I get one with a USB connection or a PS/2 connection? I'll need this for booting up aswell as gaming. Though to be honest, Macros and stuff are not needed, but I need a good one for ~£20.
 
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Sorry for double post.

It has arrived, finally! I had to wait outside the block of flats for the delivery guy incase he left again, but I now have it in my room!

Pictures to follow.

Have already hit one wall though, My PSU didn't come with any cables (doh! shouldn't have bought one with 'ECO' in the title) as it says it's better for the environment if you re-use your old power cable and modular cables. There is a slight flaw in that I don't have any old PSUs lieing around :dopey:
 
Seismica
Have already hit one wall though, My PSU didn't come with any cables (doh! shouldn't have bought one with 'ECO' in the title) as it says it's better for the environment if you re-use your old power cable and modular cables. There is a slight flaw in that I don't have any old PSUs lieing around :dopey:
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Ouch. :lol:
 

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