~Advice ~ Spec Check Pretty Please??

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~Advice ~ Spec Check Pretty Please?? (Updated)

Hi,

EDIT 05/07 -
Please Critique my Updated build outlined below based on the advice provided by the good people in this thread!!

I'm looking to build my first Mid Range Gaming rig.
Budget - Around £800.
Initially i was going to go with the GTX 970, so that's what i've attempted to gear my components towards, but i've seen good things about the 1070 and was wondering if someone can help me with my build and suggest if its worth going up to the 1070.
I would prefer nvidia over amd.
Type of Games: League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Arma 2, Dayz, Division, Witcher 3.


My updated build:


GPU - GeForce GTX 970 SC ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Expres
Power Supply - Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black (Any Alternative suggestions here?)
CPU & Mobo Bundle - Z170XP-SLI - Intel Core i5 6600K Bundle
CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Seidon 120V Ver. 2 AIO CPU Cooler (Any Alternative suggestions here?)
RAM - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (Any Alternative suggestions here?)
HDD - WD Blue 1TB 7200rpm SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD
SSD - Kingston 240GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive

Case - NZXT H440 New 2015 Edition Case - Matte Black & Red
Fans - Enough fans appear to be included with the case.

------------------

Any advice would be great.
Cheers guys!

Also - Any suggestions on a monitor would be great.
 
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Soldato
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Hi Dave,

The i5-6600K is unlocked/overclockable but the motherboard isn't. So you could save a wee bit of money going for the regular i5-6600 (still 3.9GHz turbo) or even the i5-6500 (3.6GHz turbo) as you're not going to see any real difference.

The motherboard also cannot do SLI, so a 750W PSU is way overkill, and the CX range isn't ideal for mid-to-high end gaming systems. A 550w would be more than enough, even a 450W would easily cope too (if you're not going to overclock).

The Antec GX300 comes with two fans, the GX500 comes with three. No need for more if you want to maintain a positive air pressure. You may have to change the fans at the top to the front for this, unless the top fans are intaking, which would be weird.

A 970 is great for 1080p @ 60Hz. So really it depends on your monitor.
 
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You can fit an overclockable CPU/mobo into the budget, with a nice cooler:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £806.79
(includes shipping: £0.00)



The MSI 970 cooler is fantastic and they tend to overclock very nicely.

With that Z170 motherboard, I would spend a bit more on faster 3000/3200 RAM if possible, just in case you come across a game like FO4 that really does benefit from it. Actually, I think the Arma series falls into this category.

Not sure about liquid-cooling support for the top of the Antec GX500, the top area looks iffy in that sense. The rear ought to be fine though.
 
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Hi Dave,

The i5-6600K is unlocked/overclockable but the motherboard isn't. So you could save a wee bit of money going for the regular i5-6600 (still 3.9GHz turbo) or even the i5-6500 (3.6GHz turbo) as you're not going to see any real difference.

The motherboard also cannot do SLI, so a 750W PSU is way overkill, and the CX range isn't ideal for mid-to-high end gaming systems. A 550w would be more than enough, even a 450W would easily cope too (if you're not going to overclock).

The Antec GX300 comes with two fans, the GX500 comes with three. No need for more if you want to maintain a positive air pressure. You may have to change the fans at the top to the front for this, unless the top fans are intaking, which would be weird.

A 970 is great for 1080p @ 60Hz. So really it depends on your monitor.

Cheers for the response and feedback!
Ideally i think i'd like to have the option to overclock because its something i haven't done yet and would like to learn / gain experience of. Especially if its only a few quid more. Im not even looking for the performance boost really, more just the experience of doing so. Performance boost would just be a plus.

Even though the PSU is overkill, its only £3 more expensive than the one suggested.
Would there be any disadvantages to having such a powerful PSU? If there aren't it could prove to be usefull in the future as i upgrade??
(First time building, so if theres an obvious reason im missing, please feel free to explain like im a child! )

As for the last point, i actually need to buy a new monitor. (Im currently using a laptop attached to my old TV 42" tv using the TV as a main monitor, so it doesn't look great atm, but it gets the job done. (I'd probably end up buying 2 decent monitors, so if you guys have any suggestions for a monitor too, that would be awesome).


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can fit an overclockable CPU/mobo into the budget, with a nice cooler:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
1 x Antec GX500 Midi-Tower - Black= £39.95
1 x Team Group Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16D= £44.99
1 x Kingston 240GB SSDNow UV400 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SUV400S37/2= £47.99
1 x Gigabyte Z170-Gaming K3 - Intel Core i5 6600K Bundle **£10 Saving**= £285.98
1 x Antec H600 Kuhler 120mm AIO Liquid Cooler= £39.95
1 x Toshiba P300 1TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache High Performance Hard Drive (HDWD110UZSVA)= £37.99
1 x Super Flower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black= £59.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £249.95

Total: £806.79
(includes shipping: £0.00)


The MSI 970 cooler is fantastic and they tend to overclock very nicely.

With that Z170 motherboard, I would spend a bit more on faster 3000/3200 RAM if possible, just in case you come across a game like FO4 that really does benefit from it. Actually, I think the Arma series falls into this category.

Not sure about liquid-cooling support for the top of the Antec GX500, the top area looks iffy in that sense. The rear ought to be fine though.

With regards to the RAM, do you mean something like https://www.overclockers.co.uk/avexir-blitz-original-red-16gb-2x8gb-ddr4-pc4-24000c16-3000mhz-dual-channel-memory-kit-red-light-my-111-ar.html
Will i actually see a difference? Im sure i was told to just go for normal ddr4 ram because i wouldnt actually be able to see a difference?

Liquid cooling would be a nice thing to go for in the future, but at the moment, im not looking to do anything with it.
If you know of any cases in a similar price range that would work then id like to consider it, but its not something im looking to do atm.

Thanks for all the advice guys!
Any more help / answers to questions would be Greatly appreciated!! :)
 
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On the PSU front, the Superflower HX550W is a very good unit with good quality internals. The CX750 is a more budget-orientated PSU, which has cheaper internals. If you don't plan on having more than one graphics card, a good 550W unit is all you need - even if you're overclocking.
 
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On the PSU front, the Superflower HX550W is a very good unit with good quality internals. The CX750 is a more budget-orientated PSU, which has cheaper internals. If you don't plan on having more than one graphics card, a good 550W unit is all you need - even if you're overclocking.

Oki, perfect. Thanks for elaborating ;)
 
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The Corsair CX series aren't as bad as some people make out, but they are at the cheap end of the scale. They're better than some of the really cheap PSUs you find - CiT, Powercool etc.

Just a note of caution, you might want to remove the rainforest link because:
a) it doesn't work
b) it's against the forum rules
 
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The Corsair CX series aren't as bad as some people make out, but they are at the cheap end of the scale. They're better than some of the really cheap PSUs you find - CiT, Powercool etc.

Just a note of caution, you might want to remove the rainforest link because:
a) it doesn't work
b) it's against the forum rules

In all fairness, if its better build quality and i can overclock with it, i may as well just go with the 550.
Also fixed the link, cheers for the heads up!
 
Soldato
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With regards to the RAM, do you mean something like https://www.overclockers.co.uk/avexir-blitz-original-red-16gb-2x8gb-ddr4-pc4-24000c16-3000mhz-dual-channel-memory-kit-red-light-my-111-ar.html
Will i actually see a difference? Im sure i was told to just go for normal ddr4 ram because i wouldnt actually be able to see a difference?

I'm pretty sure Arma benefits from fast RAM, as well as FallOut 4. It is true you will not see a difference most of the time. Your call.

Cheaper than the Avexir:

My basket at Overclockers UK:




Liquid cooling would be a nice thing to go for in the future, but at the moment, im not looking to do anything with it.
If you know of any cases in a similar price range that would work then id like to consider it, but its not something im looking to do atm.

I meant the Antec H600 AIO liquid cooler in the spec. It may not be mountable on the top of the GX500 but it ought to be mountable at the rear. Confirmation from Antec would not be a bad idea before ordering, though.

What's the budget for the monitors?
 
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I'm pretty sure Arma benefits from fast RAM, as well as FallOut 4. It is true you will not see a difference most of the time. Your call.

Cheaper than the Avexir:

My basket at Overclockers UK:






I meant the Antec H600 AIO liquid cooler in the spec. It may not be mountable on the top of the GX500 but it ought to be mountable at the rear. Confirmation from Antec would not be a bad idea before ordering, though.

What's the budget for the monitors?
Nothing more than 150 each, but the cheaper the better.
At a push i'd spend 150, but as long as it's a decent size and i can see the nice HQ stuff, im really not that bothered.
Im not hard into the whole 4k / i need to have the best resolution ever.
 
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I really like these around that price-point:

My basket at Overclockers UK:




I ordered one in late 2013 as a spare monitor to use when building systems, then in 2014 someone was in urgent need of a screen so I sold it to them. Both myself and them were/are very happy with it. No noticeable lightbleed etc, lovely colours. Classy design.

Another option is to go for one 1440p screen around £225-ish for movies, gaming, any graphics work, etc. And a cheapo screen for other stuff.


My basket at Overclockers UK:




There are TN's with faster refresh rate but not sure you'll benefit. Unlikely you'll get much higher than 60 fps @ 1080p with a 970, on demanding games like The Division and Witcher 3, unless you lower a lot of settings. For the 1440p monitor option, the extra detail of the higher resolution will compensate for the lowering of a few settings. Just my opinion. The monitor forum of this website is a good place to ask for more opinions.

I know you'd prefer Nvidia but AMD's 480 should be even better for 1440p, with the extra memory. 970 will be fine but 480 better. At 1080p then memory won't be an issue except in rare cases, but the 480 should still be faster, apparently.
 
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I really like these around that price-point:

My basket at Overclockers UK:




I ordered one in late 2013 as a spare monitor to use when building systems, then in 2014 someone was in urgent need of a screen so I sold it to them. Both myself and them were/are very happy with it. No noticeable lightbleed etc, lovely colours. Classy design.

Another option is to go for one 1440p screen around £225-ish for movies, gaming, any graphics work, etc. And a cheapo screen for other stuff.


My basket at Overclockers UK:




There are TN's with faster refresh rate but not sure you'll benefit. Unlikely you'll get much higher than 60 fps @ 1080p with a 970, on demanding games like The Division and Witcher 3, unless you lower a lot of settings. For the 1440p monitor option, the extra detail of the higher resolution will compensate for the lowering of a few settings. Just my opinion. The monitor forum of this website is a good place to ask for more opinions.

I know you'd prefer Nvidia but AMD's 480 should be even better for 1440p, with the extra memory. 970 will be fine but 480 better. At 1080p then memory won't be an issue except in rare cases, but the 480 should still be faster, apparently.

Think i'll probs just get 2x the first one. Looks decent and is a decent price, ill still keep an eye out for deals though :)

Cheers for all the advice!
Do you, or anyone else have any input on which GFX you think i should get ?
970 or 1070?
 
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You're welcome, Dave.

970 is fine for 1080p. 1070 would be better for 1440p.

Great, i'll just go for the 970 since the monitors ill be getting will more than likely be 1080p due to pricing constraints ;)


How many monitors would the mobo suggested above allow?
(2, 1 via dvi and 1 via hdmi?)
 
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Great, i'll just go for the 970 since the monitors ill be getting will more than likely be 1080p due to pricing constraints ;)


How many monitors would the mobo suggested above allow?
(2, 1 via dvi and 1 via hdmi?)

Yes, and the GPU has:

2x Dual-Link DVI, 1x DisplayPort & 1x HDMI
 
Soldato
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Could you explain the difference?
Like 2 on the mobo and 4 on the GPU = 6???

Can you explain how many of thoes i can actually use for monitors and how many it will handle?
Can i have 2? 3? 6?

The two on the motherboard will use the iGPU (CPU integrated graphics). The ones on the graphics card will use the graphics of the card.

So you could hook up one monitor to motherboard for browsing or whatever, and another to the graphics card for gaming, for example.

I think you could use six, yes. Unless mobo doesn't like more than one of its two in use for some reason.
 
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The two on the motherboard will use the iGPU (CPU integrated graphics). The ones on the graphics card will use the graphics of the card.

So you could hook up one monitor to motherboard for browsing or whatever, and another to the graphics card for gaming, for example.

I think you could use six, yes. Unless mobo doesn't like more than one of its two in use for some reason.

So i would just connect using 2 of the display ports from the GPU, directly to the two monitors?

(thanks for all the help btw!)

Do you have any Recommendations on a case?
Ideally i'd like something with 3 or 4 usb sockets on the front?
Or alternatively i could setup a usb hub on my desk, im not quite sure which would be better?
 
Soldato
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So i would just connect using 2 of the display ports from the GPU, directly to the two monitors?

(thanks for all the help btw!)

You're welcome.

You just need to check what type of inputs the monitors you decide on have too. For example, those Asus 1080p IPS I specced have 2 x HDMI and 1 x Analogue/VGA/D-Sub (same thing, different names) each. Unless you want to bother with adapters, the easiest thing would be to hook up your gaming monitor to the graphics card's single HDMI port and your other monitor to the motherboard's HDMI port, because that graphics card only brings 1 x HDMI.

Unless your intention is to use both for gaming, in which case you need a solution which allows you to run both monitors from the graphics card. Or different monitors with other type of ports. Or another graphics card with 2 x HDMI.


Do you have any Recommendations on a case?
Ideally i'd like something with 3 or 4 usb sockets on the front?
Or alternatively i could setup a usb hub on my desk, im not quite sure which would be better?

Budget being around £40 like the Antec GX500?
 
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