Opinions on a new gaming system

cupofjava

cupofjava

cupofjava

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22 Jan 2012
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This is the system i've spec'd out as a gaming system to last quite a while, being as future proof as possible whilst on a budget. Just hoping people could give their opinion, see if everything checks out and that there's nothing i should consider changing:


Sapphire HD 6950 OC "Dual Fan Edition" 2048MB
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-299-SP

Intel core I5 3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4Ghz
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-404-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=567

NZXT Phantom Enthusiast White Full Tower Performance
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-022-NX

OR

ANTEC 1200 V3 Ultimate Gaming Case
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-165-AN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=160

Corsair Memory Vengeance Black 8GB PC3-12800 C9 DDR3 1600 MHz
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-299-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Asus P8Z77-V Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-513-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-364-WD

Thermaltake Smart 630W '80 Plus' Power Supply
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-122-TT&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=2219


thanks!
 
My budget was going to be around £700, although it has gone a bit over already. its also possible I'll be able to source a PSU from elsewhere for free, so that could be taken out of the budget.

Has anyone had any experiences with those particular cases? I'm struggling to choose between the two? I hear that although the NZXTs look nice, they can be a bit plasticy and the paint can flake?

cheers,
 
cupofjava said:
My budget was going to be around £700, although it has gone a bit over already. its also possible I'll be able to source a PSU from elsewhere for free, so that could be taken out of the budget.

Has anyone had any experiences with those particular cases? I'm struggling to choose between the two? I hear that although the NZXTs look nice, they can be a bit plasticy and the paint can flake?

cheers,
Click to expand...

This is a bit over, but includes an SSD, and a better graphics card.


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £179.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £173.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £88.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £77.38
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £56.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £45.98
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £44.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
Total : £723.79 (includes shipping : £11.25).



7850 vs 6950
How to overclock a 7850 past 1050MHz?
The 7850s overclock very well too, as you can see in the above thread.
 
Wow, thanks for that...would you recommend the MSI board over an ASUS board for overclocking? I've had an MSI in the past and found it to be a poor overclocker, and sometimes unstable
 
cupofjava said:
Wow, thanks for that...would you recommend the MSI board over an ASUS board for overclocking? I've had an MSI in the past and found it to be a poor overclocker, and sometimes unstable
Click to expand...

You'll find with Ivybridge and Sandybridge (i5 2500K/3570K) that is more depends on the chip than motherboard, so reaching ~4.5ghz shouldn't be an issue if you have a reasonable chip.

This would require some better cooling though (you can get ~4Ghz on the stock cooler).

e.g.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-086-AK&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
 
Without Psu. Can you tell us what Psu you are sourcing for free.
Better mobo, should you wish to sli/xfire in the future, which is the only real difference to beej`s spec.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £179.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £173.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £104.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £88.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £56.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £45.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
Total : £705.52 (includes shipping : £10.50).



An aftermarket cooler can be added later.
 
Last edited:
The PSU is a similar Thermaltake 675W handed down from my a friend.

I can't see myself planning on utilising SLI/Xfire anytime in the future, I've always thought it better to spend the money towards getting a better standalone card, so if thats the only difference then a cheaper board would make sense!

is there much difference between the Gigabyte D3H and an Asus P8Z77-V LX? (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-514-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261)

thanks guys, you're being a great help!
 
cupofjava said:
The PSU is a similar Thermaltake 675W handed down from my a friend.

I can't see myself planning on utilising SLI/Xfire anytime in the future, I've always thought it better to spend the money towards getting a better standalone card, so if thats the only difference then a cheaper board would make sense!

is there much difference between the Gigabyte D3H and an Asus P8Z77-V LX? (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-514-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261)

thanks guys, you're being a great help!
Click to expand...

The Asus lacks proper crossfire/SLI support and only does CF at 16x/4x which isn't ideal.

For a single GPU, no reason to spend more than this MSI one:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-202-MS

That PSU should be fine, so you can save some money there.
 
But the Gigabyte board does? The only thing i'll 'require' out of the board is some decent overclocking and stability (nothing that pushes the boundaries though), I'm also going to buy a third party cooler
 
unfortunately as after adding the 7850 to my basket it shot up quite a lot in price :( - can you reccomend a possible alternative for £30-40 less that offers the best bang for buck? would the 6950 be the best option?
 
Negative on the OS.

Good idea, I might wait and see what crops up... having said all that, I am still slightly torn between the 560Ti and the 6950 OC - just not sure if its worth the price difference!
 
I would get something with more than 1GB memory. At minimum a 560ti 448.

The 6950 is worth £160 for sure. But I would spend a little (£20) for a 7850, albeit a good one (Twin Frozr, Sapphire custom cooler).
 
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