PC Hardware Buyer's Guide - March 2010

Gaming Workhorse

While our Enthusiast Overclocker system is built around maximising overclocking and gaming potential on a budget (well, as much of a budget as Lynnfield allows, at least), but for those looking for excellent all-round performance will want a 'proper' multi-tasking PC. Naturally this PC can take heavy gaming at 1,920 x 1,200 24" LCD resolutions, and is capable of processing a heap of RAW images or encoding video or audio.

We've opted for an LGA1156 CPU rather than LGA1366, but the fact the Core i7-860 has a higher native clock and better TurboBoost than the Core i7-920 counts in its favour and also keeps the price down. While the Core i7-860 is available for a shade less than the i7-930, a decent P55 motherboard like the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3R is far cheaper than its quality X58 alternatives, allowing for more money to be pumped in elsewhere for a rounded build. Add in our our favoured Titan Fenrir cooler, and there's easily a 4GHz or greater PC to be had.


We've dropped in "just" 4GB of 1,600MHz DDR3 memory here to fit to the sub-£1k budget, but if you really are building a workstation you should probably be looking at a 8GB to dive into, although we recommend seeing how you get on with 4GB first. It then goes without saying that you must then remember to choose a 64-bit OS (here, and in all our PCs) to make use of it all as well. Four 2GB DIMMs together are more common but this can limit overclocking, but it's taking a while for pairs of 4GB DIMM kits to hit the market. Be wary that we've found an "8GB kit" might not be the best value option, instead check out the cost just buying two 4GB kits instead because it will work just the same.


On the graphics front it has to be the ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB but be very careful how much you pay. Prices are fluctuating hugely right now, with as much as £40 difference from shop-to-stop, model-to-model. There is currently no Nvidia alternative available, still, and despite the announcement of new products later this month we doubt it will be until April that it's available in quantities to buy and the reviews are out telling us whether it's worth it. As we mentioned with the Enthusiast Overclocker, the competition comes from itself - a few readers have been investing in two HD 5770 1GB cards instead. We still recommend the faster, single card route, however if you do fancy CrossFiring it up, remember you'll need a compatible and more expensive motherboard such as the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4, Asus P7P55D Deluxe and MSI P55 GD65.

The excellent Antec TruePower New 650W gets the nod again for power provision, however if you can afford it - the Seasonic X-650/X-750 are about the best you can buy, but cost twice the price.

We've included in the same Fractal Design R2 case here again, or Cooler Master CM690 II for our State-side friends, however we realise people might still want something a little more upmarket as an investment when they are dropping nearly a grand on kit. Alternatives include the popular Antec Nine Hundred Two, 183, 193 or Twelve Hundred and Lian Li Lancool cases too. Going upmarket you might want to stretch to the Cooler Master ATCS 840 or Lian Li PC-9B. There's quite a bit of choice in this range and if you have other favourites or suggestions - let us know!


Finally drop in the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB hard drive and a SATA DVD-RW optical drive and you're all done. If you do have a bit more to spend it's a £250 - £300 128GB Indilinx-based SSD that should see your money. Depending on how frugal you are with your installs, you can get away with a 64/80GB drive again based on Indilinx or Intel and save some cash, but it's certainly worth considering as the next performance leap.

If you have a particular penchant for a Blu-ray drive for watching Blu-ray movies on your PC, then drop one in for £50-60, however no games or software come on Blu-ray so we don't really feel it's worth the cost.