BleepingComputer.com: Advice on Computer Spec

Hi, i recently decided to purchase a new computer online, a friend recommended either Overclockers or Scan, i have been through the process of customising a system on the Scan website but would like to see if i've made the right decision regarding the hardware.

- Coolermaster CM-690 V2 Dominator Black Midi Tower Case (£47.49)

- Intel Pentium Dual Core, E5300, 2.6Ghz @ 3.75Ghz (£42.69)

- Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro v2 (£15.89)

- 4GB (2X2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR PC2-6400 (800), CAS 5-5-5-18 (£56.51)

- 1GB XFX HD 5770, 850Mhz GPU, 800 SPs, 1200MHz GDDR5 (£115.57) (I'm torn between this and the 4890?)

- 450W Corsair VX Series PSU, ATX, PS/2, UK Version, 80 PLUS® certified (£45.57)

- 500 GB Samsung Spinpoint F3, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache (£31.97)

- Sony AD-7240S-0B - 24x DVDRW (£16.41)

With a 22" Samsung LS22MYKEBQ monitor this comes to £759 (Being about $1210, computers may be a bit more expensive in the UK!) and this is the maximum amount which i can spend, what do you guys think of this spec? Good value for money? Advice on different retailers?

Primarily i'm a Graphic designer, but i do enjoy playing games occasionally! Any help would be much appreciated before i go buying things!

Thanks alot,
Sam.

Also, i'm new to these forums! Hello! I wandered around a few years back under a different u/n and thought this would be a good place to ask for advice

Looks like a great setup I am also a fan of Corsair products, the only question is why not a little more processor.

Phil

Why not go for an AMD based system?
You'll get more horsepower for roughly the same amount.

Coolermaster CM-690 V2 Dominator Black Midi Tower Case (£47.49) OK

- Intel Pentium Dual Core, E5300, 2.6Ghz @ 3.75Ghz (£42.69) Better AMD option?

- Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro v2 (£15.89) OK

- 4GB (2X2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR PC2-6400 (800), CAS 5-5-5-18 (£56.51) With an AMD rig, you can switch to DDR3!

- 1GB XFX HD 5770, 850Mhz GPU, 800 SPs, 1200MHz GDDR5 (£115.57) (I'm torn between this and the 4890?) As far as performance goes, the 4890 clearly beats the 5770 but the latter consumer lesser power and supports DX 11

- 450W Corsair VX Series PSU, ATX, PS/2, UK Version, 80 PLUS® certified (£45.57) If you choose the HD 4890, get the Corsair VX550 instead

- 500 GB Samsung Spinpoint F3, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache (£31.97) OK

- Sony AD-7240S-0B - 24x DVDRW (£16.41) Get a LG/Pioneer Sata DL DVD Writer instead

- Motherboard ?

Thanks alot for your advice! I'm a little wary of my decisions and its the first new PC i'll have bought so is much appreciated I couldn't get as close to that Spec on the Scan website so i've had a look around and managed to put this together elsewhere..

It comes to £714.02 inc VAT, should i be suspicious? haha..

Motherboard
GigaByte MA790XT-UD4P AM3,DDR3,CFire,SATA2,GBLan,ATX

Processor
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition AM3 Processor

Memory Slot 1
4Gb (2X2Gb) Dual Channel DDR3 1333Mhz Memory

Memory Slot 2
4Gb (2X2Gb) Dual Channel DDR3 1333Mhz Memory

Graphics Slot Crossfire 1
Sapphire 1024Mb ATi Radeon HD 4890 PCI-Express VGA Card

Hard Drive 1
500Gb Samsung Spinpoint F3 7200rpm S-ATAII 16MB Hard Drive

Case
CoolerMaster Elite RC-335 Mid Tower ATX Case

Power Supply Units
EZCool Tornado 800W ATX, PFC PSU

It comes to £714.02 inc VAT, should i be suspicious? haha..
No, an AMD based system works out cheaper.


Motherboard
GigaByte MA790XT-UD4P AM3,DDR3,CFire,SATA2,GBLan,ATX Get the Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5 instead

Processor
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition AM3 Processor OK

Memory Slot 1
4Gb (2X2Gb) Dual Channel DDR3 1333Mhz Memory OK

Memory Slot 2
4Gb (2X2Gb) Dual Channel DDR3 1333Mhz Memory OK

Graphics Slot Crossfire 1
Sapphire 1024Mb ATi Radeon HD 4890 PCI-Express VGA Card OK, but don't forget it's a DX10 card

Hard Drive 1
500Gb Samsung Spinpoint F3 7200rpm S-ATAII 16MB Hard Drive OK

Case
CoolerMaster Elite RC-335 Mid Tower ATX Case Why the downgrade from the CM-690?

Power Supply Units
EZCool Tornado 800W ATX, PFC PSU Get the Corsair HX650 instead

Notes:

* The motherboard I have suggested supports memory modules upto 1866Mhz, so you could cut down on the capacity and get faster memory.
* A non-modular PSU should be alright for the CM-690 V2 case but with the RC-335, I suggest you get a modular PSU, like the one I've suggested.

Good luck with the build!

Thanks mate, alot of help! I'll let you know how it goes!

Sam.