Spec me a PC to replace my Xbox please!

ya, i was reading reviews on some modular psus since the cm silent pros are no eta atm.
think im gonna change my psu recommendation to:

YOUR BASKET
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 530W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £66.98
Total : £76.88 (includes shipping : £8.25).


A friend has got that Psu an swears by it after his old gave up the ghost

I have the 630W Bequiet L8 in my Zalman Z9 case. :D

As good as the Z9 is for the price it's PSU vents are pants :( Unless you mod the case it's best to mount the PSU "fan up". The silentwings fan in the Bequiet is really good and seriously quiet. It will improve your temps because it is sucking air out of the case when mounted "fan up" and it looks pretty cool i must admit. There isn't really a lot of room between the mobo tray and the back side panel. The fewer cables you have coming out of the PSU the better really. If you don't go modular you have a mess of cables sat in the HDD bay blocking the intake fan :(

I cut the PSU vents and fitted mine fan down. Temps inside raised slightly but the PSU was now breathing fresh air so to speak. I prefer this setup mainly because the "hardwired" cables are now closer to the mobo tray and can be hidden away much better, improving airflow. They are also the thickest cables, when "fan up" you have to bring them over the bottom fan mount, essentially blocking it and airflow from the front intake.

I'll stop waffling now lol But hopefully I've shown that there can be a lot to consider when doing a custom build. If he wants a "console killer" he could consider a mini-tx build if it will definately be sat by the TV. The Xbox controllers can work on PC too btw ;)
 
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Wow, that is a HUGE response, thanks for taking the time to reply guys!

There have been a lot of comments, so I have tried to reply to each person individually in the order of the comments received and as such have repeated myself a lot. I hope you guys can understand me.
(I have put post times to help see what I am replying to)

Stulid 00:40
after doing some more research I think that SLI in future may be a good idea as it will mean I don't have to sell my existing card. Does the extra card affect anything other than the PSU? Will I need a bigger case/more cooling?
Also, are any cards capable of SLI or only certain ones?

Honosuseri 01:01
Does the Z9 U3 need any 'tweaks'? Also how much can I expect to buy it for?

Case Query:
I heard that due to my build being fairly high-spec there will not be enough space for efficient air circulation in the Zalman Z9 because it is a midi tower. Is that true? Are there different size classes? which size should i get?

GPU Query:
Whilst part of me wants to splash out £300 on a beast of a GPU, I will only be playing at 1080p and I realy want to spend as little as possible.... There seem to be quite a lot of other capable GPUs for much less money than the GTX 670, including the Saphire 7850, and the GTX 570.
According to Tom's Hardware's graphics card benchmarks the GTX 570 should play batman and GTA IV:
1080p at medium settings at 136fps and 65fps respectively.
Or at 2560x1440 on full settings at 24fps and 47fps.
What could I expect on full settings at 1080p?
My understanding is that xbox games run at 60fps so that should be my minimum. Choosing either the 7850 or GTX 570 would save a considerable amount of monies. Are both of them SLI compatible? Which card is better? - one card has 1.25gb of memory the other has 2gb. Is that a big deal?

Stulid 01:02
someone on a different forum said that if I do consider SLI in future then 750w-850w would future proof my system. Is that overkill or does it seem ok?

Orcvader 01:03
Ahh, right. I would still like to get things straight in my mind as to what I need, then when I time comes to buy I will check that there are no better alternatives. To be honest, the more I think about it, the sooner I want to buy!

Honosuseri 01:11 I probably won't be buying a 3D tv, so that's not realy a concern. It would feel like a bit of a fail if I could only play at 720p on a 1080p TV at good Hz/fps. Are there any TVs you would recommend? (<£400, about 42inch LCD/LED).

Thekwango 01:21
I guess another option would be to postpone the TV and buy a gaming monitor to start me off. Are there any 23'' or 24'' monitors that you would recommend?

Honosuseri 02:06
I haven't got the TV yet, it would be a purchase separate from the build, it is not to save money.
The original plan was to use the standard 17'' 4:3 monitor I already have to use for browsing and work, then a big 42inch TV for games and films.
If I found a TV with DVI in then would that be acceptable?

Number 25 07:06
Thanks for the spec!
I will leave out the SSD at first to lower costs and buy when I can afford it.
I will also leave out the Hard Drive as I have one which should start me off.
Also, I will skip the DVD writer from the 'basket' as I can steal one from one of my old PCs.
Losing these 3 items brings the total down to £767.92 which isn't TOO bad. Do you know of any cheaper graphics cards that will play the above games in 1080p in full quality?

Tamzzy 09.05
As above, I will remove the SSD, HD and DVD drive, which brings the total down to £896.67, which is still high to due me reconsidering whether I really need the GTX 670. Also as I have now decided I would like to be able to SLI in future I will need a more powerful PSU.
P.s. I would like a modular power supply so that I can make a tidy build.

Olivier Renault 10:56
thanks for the info. As mentioned above, I am starting to reconsider the 670 due to cost. The 7850 is almost £100 cheaper, are they both similar in performance?
I won't buy a HD as I have one, I will also buy an SSD asap after the PC is built.
Thanks for the cooler tips, I will look into the True Spirit 120, Hyper 212 evo and A50.

Honosuseri 16:25
Please be patient with me changing my mind, lol.
SLI is back in the window :P
And yeah, I definitely want a modular PSU.
I LOOK FORWARD TO IT TOO!!!!

Wozzsta 17:50
The 570 is considerably cheaper than the 670, which I like. Would it still run the games in the settings I want?
As above, I will knock off the SSD, HD and DVD drive, bringing total price down to £774.87 which is not bad considering it has a monitor. Although I think due to my indecisiveness (and choosing to build a PC capable of SLI) I may need a different PSU (and a modular one preferably).

Honosuseri 21:09
As it is my first build I would really like as little 'modding' as possible, unless it is simple.
There certainly is a lot to consider!
The PC won't be solely for TV use. I will also work and web browse at a monitor at a desk, so I think a standard tower would be more suitable. Thanks for the suggestion though!

So to refresh the original post:
I will probably lower the £1000 budget :(
Is the processor overkill or is it worth getting?
Which GPU should I get? 670 is expensive, 7850? GTX 570? any others?
When speccing the build, please exclude DVD Drive, Hard Drive and SSD, although if you have recommendations for those components, list them but not in the 'basket'
The power supply is still a bit unknown as I have now decided to SLI (although not for a few years).

WOW, that was an essay, hope I didn't bore/lose any of you guys. Your help is much appreciated.
 
hey i have gtaiv thankyou and my 7850 runs it perfectly haha. also martin qoute peoples responses, makes it easier to read

also dont skimp on psu mate, if they go boom then your whole rig can go with it and non modular are not terrible to keep tidy, if you want help building it and making it neat then ill pop over and give you a hand
 
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Stulid 00:40
after doing some more research I think that SLI in future may be a good idea as it will mean I don't have to sell my existing card. Does the extra card affect anything other than the PSU? Will I need a bigger case/more cooling?
Also, are any cards capable of SLI or only certain ones?
.


Its just the PSU power requirements needed, your choice of motherboard is good (proper SLI/Crossfire support at 8X/8X) dont get that Asrock board Honosuseri linked to, its not that great, the warranty is worse (2 years vs 3 years) and the two slots on it are closer together, so GFX cards with big coolers will be sitting ontop of each other.
 
Its just the PSU power requirements needed, your choice of motherboard is good (proper SLI/Crossfire support at 8X/8X) dont get that Asrock board Honosuseri linked to, its not that great, the warranty is worse (2 years vs 3 years) and the two slots on it are closer together, so GFX cards with big coolers will be sitting ontop of each other.

when you say 'my choice' you mean the one in the first post? >
Motherboard - Gigabyte Z77X-D3H = £113
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MB-390-GI

what spec PSU would i be looking at?

also thanks for pointing out the distance between the slots, that's not something i could research.
 
hey i have gtaiv thankyou and my 7850 runs it perfectly haha. also martin qoute peoples responses, makes it easier to read

also dont skimp on psu mate, if they go boom then your whole rig can go with it and non modular are not terrible to keep tidy, if you want help building it and making it neat then ill pop over and give you a hand

i'm learning! :P

how much should i spend on the PSU?
 
Generally speaking, £60-£70. That gives you a good PSU that will take any graphics card.

The 670 is more performant than a 7850. It's more comparable to a 7950 / 7970.

A 7850 is a good gaming card. It's about as powerful as a 6950 / GTX 570, but uses less power, are generally quiet (Gigabyte Windforce 2X / Sapphire Dual fan, MSI Twin Frozr), and overclock better, up to almost GTX 580 levels.

Both the 7850 and 670 are the sweet spot for graphics cards. Both have plenty of VRAM for whatever games can throw at the system.

If you want a system with good quality components, either a 670 or a 7850 + 128GB SSD. Then you can spend on a good case, PSU, CPU cooler. If you don;t need to buy a HDD, then it may be possible to get a good 670 and a SSD around the £1000 mark.

The 670 will be a bit more 'future proof' due to its higher performance.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £323.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x Fractal Design Define R4 Midi Tower Case - Black Pearl £89.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128D/EU) £83.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £62.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £41.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £929.40 (includes shipping : £11.25).



EDIT : Hey. even room for a OS or HDD.

BTW I'm not a fan of dual GPU support. You wouldn't ever need SLI / Crossfire for 1080p.
 
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Its just the PSU power requirements needed, your choice of motherboard is good (proper SLI/Crossfire support at 8X/8X) dont get that Asrock board Honosuseri linked to, its not that great, the warranty is worse (2 years vs 3 years) and the two slots on it are closer together, so GFX cards with big coolers will be sitting ontop of each other.

I never knocked the GB mobo. I prefer the mATX Asrock over the entry level (non SLI) GB mobos. It's a lil more cash but looks more stylish in my eyes (I hate all the blue on the "cheap" GB mobos) and it also has Xfire and SLI support. Think of it as a compromise between the two obvious GB mobos.

The warranty is a fair argument. I don't buy into the spacing argument though. He is talking of using a midi tower case. If you use a ATX mobo then the second GPU would be butted up against the PSU which is hardly ideal either. Maybe he would rather use a bigger case than the Z9 then?

I don't just spec random stuff, hopefully people can see there are reasons why I balance the build the way I do. It's my opinion and everyone is welcome to their own. It's important we point out the pros and cons so the OP can balance the build himself. I don't really want to argue over specific parts now, I'd rather do it in a couple of months just before he intends to buy.
 
The warranty is a fair argument. I don't buy into the spacing argument though. He is talking of using a midi tower case. If you use a ATX mobo then the second GPU would be butted up against the PSU which is hardly ideal either. Maybe he would rather use a bigger case than the Z9 then?

Its the spacing between the the two cards thats more important so the top card is not starved of air flow into the cooler, the bottom card fans will not be blocked by a PSU case body in any where near the same level.
 
Okay, well it looks like i almost have all the components specced - that is unless something changes before i am ready to buy in a couple of months (e.g. price drops or new cards out).

Here is the hardware i am certain on:
CPU - i5-3570K £180
GPU - HD 7850 £200
PSU - XFX PRO 750W £83
RAM - Teamgroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £29.99

some things i want clarification on:
CPU Cooler - which is better out of the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo or the Corsair A50? - are both very quiet?
Case - are there any other cases as good as the Zalman Z9 with a similar price worth considering?
Motherboard - the original one in my spec is the ''Gigabyte Z77X-D3H'' for £113, is this better than the ''MSI Z77A-G45'' for £105?


thanks in advance :)
 
cpu cooler: get the hyper 612s instead ;p
case: not really, the z9 is really at the top for value for money
mobo: its about the same. gigabyte has a uk rma if anything goes wrong though
 
In that case...
What do you guys think of this:
CPU - i5-3570K £180
GPU - HD 7850 £200
PSU - XFX PRO 750W £83
RAM - Teamgroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £29.99
Case - zalman z9 £54.98
CPU cooler - hyper 612s £32.99
Motherboard - MSI Z77A-G45 £105
 
In that case...
What do you guys think of this:
CPU - i5-3570K £180
GPU - HD 7850 £200
PSU - XFX PRO 750W £83
RAM - Teamgroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £29.99
Case - zalman z9 £54.98
CPU cooler - hyper 612s £32.99
Motherboard - MSI Z77A-G45 £105

Well I think the PSU is overrated by at least 3-400w lol

You have pretty much the same system as me but with a slower CPU, I use this PSU: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-167-CM&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1103

Its a Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W and is on offer this week for £50, the thing really is pretty much silent, I can't hear it at all. If you get one of them you will have plenty of overhead and lots of room for upgrading at a later date.
 
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