New PC - Critique my spec?

Liquidfox

Liquidfox

Liquidfox

Soldato
Joined
26 Sep 2007
Posts
4,141
Location
Newcastle
Afternoon,

Looking to finally upgrade my rig after it's served me well over the past 4-5 years. It's only finally given up the ghost when it comes to Planetside 2, the game I've been waiting for ever since PS1 started to die.

My current and long overdue rig:
Intel C2D E6600
2GB RAM
8800GT 512 OC

I've been looking at the below components (except the RAM will be 8GB instead of 16GB, OcUK just don't stock it):
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £167.99
Kingston Blu 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C10D3B1K2/16G) £89.99
OCZ Agility 3 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (AGT3-25SAT3-120G) £79.99
Gigabyte H77M-D3H Intel H77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £75.98
Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £44.99

Sub Total : £536.61

I'll be using the SSD for my OS, with my existing 750GB drive being used for data. I've got an Enermax Noisetake 600W PSU from when I first built my current rig that I was planning on carrying across to the new build if people think that it's up to the task?

Unfortunately I'll not be buying from OcUK as I can get it Ex VAT and cheaper through a supplier with work, but they don't offer the advice that you guys do :D
 
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def get the samsung over the agility 3.

Also you've specced a micro atx board? any reason for this?

if you want to overclock then i'd recommend a Z77 chipset.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £83.99
1 x BitFenix Outlaw Gaming Case - Black £39.95
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9B) £35.99
Total : £610.49 (includes shipping : £10.50).



The Z9 suggested above is a good starters case which has lots of kit. There is a USB3 version available now which isn't stocked here unfortunately :( I've used the outlaw as an alternative here but it doesnt have USB3 either.

Z77 mobo to overclock the CPU. lucid MVP makes clever use of the IGP. It can use the IGP to save power and during gaming use the IGP to boost the GPU.

8GB of RAM is ample for gaming, you could add more later if you wanted, it's an easy enough upgrade to do.
 
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Thanks for the case recommendation, hopefully my supplier stocks them :) I'd definitely rather go for the plain Antec case over a flashy one. I've done that and the lights and stuff just annoy me :P

I've never been one to overclock, so will probably be sticking with the H77 board as I believe it does everything I need.

Will the stock CPU cooler on the 3570 be enough for standard gaming do you reckon?

A Micro-ATX board is for sheer size restrictions under my desk, and again, I don't need a bigger board as I've only got a sound card and GFX to go in there. I'll never be going SLI/Crossfire. My car wouldn't be happy if it saw I was spending any more of it's mod money than absolutely necessary :p

Is the Samsung SSD really that much better? In what way is it better?
 
The Antec 300 is a horrible case, I have one with my server in it. Get the Zalman Z9 instead, you will not regret it.
 
acme15 said:
The Antec 300 is a horrible case, I have one with my server in it. Get the Zalman Z9 instead, you will not regret it.
Click to expand...

Would you recommend the Zalman over the Antec 302 mentioned earlier in the thread? The Zalman looks a bit flashy for me and I'm really not too bothered by all that anymore.

EDIT: It will have to be the Antec, our supplier only really stocks Gigabyte and Antec cases it seems.

Bacon? said:
Why not order from overclockers?
Click to expand...

As Idleman says, I can't get it Ex. VAT if I buy it through Overclockers. Also, even if I could, it's cheaper at the supplier as they're a distributor and have a significantly higher buying power than OcUK.
 
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Liquidfox said:
Would you recommend the Zalman over the Antec 302 mentioned earlier in the thread? The Zalman looks a bit flashy for me and I'm really not too bothered by all that anymore.

EDIT: It will have to be the Antec, our supplier only really stocks Gigabyte and Antec cases it seems.



As Idleman says, I can't get it Ex. VAT if I buy it through Overclockers. Also, even if I could, it's cheaper at the supplier as they're a distributor and have a significantly higher buying power than OcUK.
Click to expand...

The 302 is a massive step up over the 300. I would personally say the Zalman is better, but the 302 has plenty going for it.
 
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Liquidfox said:
I've switched out the 300 for the 302, cheers :)
Click to expand...

The 302 basically fixed everything that antec 300 owners complained about. They enlarged the CPU backplate cutout, added holes for watercooling pipes on the top/rear of the chassis, added support for mounting PSU's upside-down and intake from the bottom, added cable management holes, added USB 3.0, re-oriented the HDD rack etc etc.
 
acme15 said:
The 302 basically fixed everything that antec 300 owners complained about. They enlarged the CPU backplate cutout, added holes for watercooling pipes on the top/rear of the chassis, added support for mounting PSU's upside-down and intake from the bottom, added cable management holes, added USB 3.0, re-oriented the HDD rack etc etc.
Click to expand...

That's great thanks :)

P0tenc said:
Depending on what screen you have and how much gaming you do, you might want to consider a better gfx card.
Perhaps:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-197-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2379
or
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-215-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

Enjoy the new system! :)
Click to expand...

Won't be needing a better card, budget is sort of being stretched as it is. I just can't face spending £200+ on a GFX card anymore, especially as that could be spent on power mods for the car :p But thanks anyways :)
 
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