New Build for Gaming and General Purpose

Bcfaigg

Bcfaigg

Bcfaigg

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Joined
23 Feb 2013
Posts
10
Folks,
Time for a new PC… I have the monitor and Windows 7, so just need the tower. I can re-use the 1TB Hard Drive from my existing PC, but nothing else.

I am not a 'hard-core gamer', but do enjoy playing the latest 1st person shooters. I am happy to compromise slightly on e.g. Frame Rates as long as games like Far Cry 3 will be playable. I managed adequately with my old Core2Duo and a 256MB graphics card, although games like Crysis 2 and BF3 were starting to struggle a bit, so I imagine pretty much anything is going to be a marked improvement...

I have a maximum budget in the region of £600, so trying to figure out the best combination of kit to allow me to play games at fairly high settings, and also be reasonably ‘future proof’. I would prefer to go down the ‘intel route’ and although I have never done any overclocking in the past, am curious about that sort of thing, so might give it a try in future (although I realise that means an i5 ‘k’ processor rather than the cheaper i3s).

I have been offered a six month old OCZ 128MB Vertex 4 SSD drive for £70 from a mate (who is upgrading). Is that a good deal – or should I use a larger portion of my budget and get a new 256mb?

Assuming it is worth going with the 128mb drive, that leaves about £500-£530 to build the rest of the rig. Having read a few posts on here, the preferred mid-range card seems to be the AMD 7850 range, and the i5 3570k seems to be the processor of choice. I fear that I may struggle to get both into the build on that budget, but would like to hear your suggestions…

Any thoughts?
Gopes
 
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £187.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showd (GX-100-GI) £129.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £44.99
1 x Xigmatek Achilles II SD1284 CPU-Cooler - 120mm (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366 AMD AM2/AM3/FM1) £23.98
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £614.84 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Hello and welcome to the forum :)

The SSD is a average price (cant talk to much about pricing) I would hold off a little while as the budget can be put else where on the build:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £164.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U1600GC4G9-2G) £37.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 REV A CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £24.98
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £628.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Wow that was fast.
If I absolutely had to keep the budget to a maximum of £530 (i.e. I was to go ahead with the 128mb SSD purchase), thus needing to compromise on ever the GPU or the CPU - which would you guys recommend?

When I first started thinking about a new build, I was thinking £400-£500, but decided to increase the budget to £500-£600 - but I really don't want to exceed this.

Like I said, I am not a hard-core gamer, so would a lesser card than one of the 7850s work? Alternatively, if I don't go for the i5-3570k, then I guess the i3-3220 would be the logical choice - I guess I could always upgrade to the i5 at a later date...

Thanks for your prompt responses...
Gopes
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

RJC's build looks good to me. I'm by no means an expert but I have done a LOT of research lately buying my own setup and this looks solid..
Get the retail processor for the longer warrenty!
And if you want to skimp, do so on the GPU, not the CPU as you can always swap out later on, selling the old card bcos Cards hold their value better than O.C'ed processors.

You can overclock non ''k'' series processors but they are a bit harder to keep stable.

Do you need a case also? Or will the old one do? Just check the size of components if you have a small case from previous.

£70 for a ssd is only £10-£15 less than a brand new one of the same brand, but money saved is money earned! Tell him you'll give him £60 or get a new one! ;)
 
Bcfaigg said:
Wow that was fast.
If I absolutely had to keep the budget to a maximum of £530 (i.e. I was to go ahead with the 128mb SSD purchase), thus needing to compromise on ever the GPU or the CPU - which would you guys recommend?

When I first started thinking about a new build, I was thinking £400-£500, but decided to increase the budget to £500-£600 - but I really don't want to exceed this.

Like I said, I am not a hard-core gamer, so would a lesser card than one of the 7850s work? Alternatively, if I don't go for the i5-3570k, then I guess the i3-3220 would be the logical choice - I guess I could always upgrade to the i5 at a later date...

Thanks for your prompt responses...
Gopes
Click to expand...

Forget the SSD, you can add one later, perhaps larger than 128GB. The 2GB 7850 is the only new "budget" gaming GPU I'm happy to recommend (nice that RJC tweaked his build so you got the games). The 7750 and 7770 are poor value in my eyes as they are thrashed by old GPUs like the Nvidia 1GB 460 or the AMD 6850 which you can find cheap 2nd hand.

I used the Z9 U3 as it's packed with kit. I'm not a fan of the Merc cases as they are sooo basic (no usb3 and only one fan). Had I used the NZXT 210 I would have been bang on £600 and you would have USB3 and a couple of fans in the case. I won't pay £200 for an i5K. The OEM is cheaper and we can use the saving to help pay for a heatsink to overclock it (tis dead easy to do), yes it has a shorter warranty but to be fair CPU failure is very rare.
 
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+1 for the heatsink if you will be doing an overclock!

Thank goodness for these forum!

Like I said, I'm still learning, so listen to the pro's!
At the end of the day is all only advice and you gotta weigh your own pro's and con's.
 
honosuseri said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £187.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showd (GX-100-GI) £129.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £44.99
1 x Xigmatek Achilles II SD1284 CPU-Cooler - 120mm (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366 AMD AM2/AM3/FM1) £23.98
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £614.84 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Click to expand...

Thanks guys. Am leaning towards this build, as I like the look of the Zalman case, and take the point about getting loads of kit for the price.

Bit over budget, so need to figure out how to slip this past the missus ;)

With the 'B Grade' GPU, if I am reading correctly, O/C provide a 90 days warranty, and in addition, there should be most of the manufacturers warranty left. At nearly £40 cheaper (albeit without the games), it is probably worth the risk. I realise that there are a lot of different manufacturers of the 7850 - are any of the more 'budget options' reasonably reliable and hence worth considering?

Cheers
Gopes
 
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snips86x said:
You can get the Grade-B 7850 for £129.....
Click to expand...

Yes, I realise that. What I meant was that given there is a slightly greater risk with a B grade. At nearly £40 cheaper (albeit minus the games), it is probably a risk worth taking. However, if there were any reasonable 7850 manufacturers in the £140-£150 price bracket, the price differential is probably not worth taking the risk on the B grade...
 
Also, there seem to be a lot of different options for CPU coolers, starting from about £10 and up. A couple recommended above seem reasonable at about £20-£30 are these fairly quiet / good for overclocking?

Are there any other cheaper alternatives that might be suitable?

Cheers
Gopes
 
Bcfaigg said:
Yes, I realise that. What I meant was that given there is a slightly greater risk with a B grade. At nearly £40 cheaper (albeit minus the games), it is probably a risk worth taking. However, if there were any reasonable 7850 manufacturers in the £140-£150 price bracket, the price differential is probably not worth taking the risk on the B grade...
Click to expand...

You will only find 1GB cards in that price range.

Bcfaigg said:
Also, there seem to be a lot of different options for CPU coolers, starting from about £10 and up. A couple recommended above seem reasonable at about £20-£30 are these fairly quiet / good for overclocking?

Are there any other cheaper alternatives that might be suitable?

Cheers
Gopes
Click to expand...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Cooler Master Hyper T4 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £20.99
1 x Xigmatek Gaia CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366/2011/AM2/AM3/FM1) £19.99
Total : £50.88 (includes shipping : £8.25).




Your only saving a few quid with these.
 
Bcfaigg said:
Thanks guys. Am leaning towards this build, as I like the look of the Zalman case, and take the point about getting loads of kit for the price.

Bit over budget, so need to figure out how to slip this past the missus ;)

With the 'B Grade' GPU, if I am reading correctly, O/C provide a 90 days warranty, and in addition, there should be most of the manufacturers warranty left. At nearly £40 cheaper (albeit without the games), it is probably worth the risk. I realise that there are a lot of different manufacturers of the 7850 - are any of the more 'budget options' reasonably reliable and hence worth considering?

Cheers
Gopes
Click to expand...

You are right about the B grade. GB has a 3 year warranty based in the UK, obviously this is better than buying a B grade GPU that only had a 2 year warranty originally. You could buy a GPU new and sell the game codes to recoup some cash.

There is the Adata XPG RAM which is £7 cheaper (The kingston Beast isn't low profile so I'd avoid that). It is possible to make a USB pendrive bootable and install the OS from that. So you could ommit the optical drive and add one later if really needed.

The heatsink I used doesn't have wire clips, instead it uses rubber to absorb the vibration. I did consider the Coolermaster 212S but that's more cash. I do like the 612S (£30ish), it's a hefty heatsink at 163mm tall but it does fit in the Z9.
 
honosuseri said:
You are right about the B grade. GB has a 3 year warranty based in the UK, obviously this is better than buying a B grade GPU that only had a 2 year warranty originally. You could buy a GPU new and sell the game codes to recoup some cash.

There is the Adata XPG RAM which is £7 cheaper (The kingston Beast isn't low profile so I'd avoid that). It is possible to make a USB pendrive bootable and install the OS from that. So you could ommit the optical drive and add one later if really needed.

The heatsink I used doesn't have wire clips, instead it uses rubber to absorb the vibration. I did consider the Coolermaster 212S but that's more cash. I do like the 612S (£30ish), it's a hefty heatsink at 163mm tall but it does fit in the Z9.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Will I need to buy thermal compound for the heatsink, or does it come included?

Also, I note that the only review for the Adata RAM is only 3*. Are the Geil EVO Leggera memory sticks significantly better?

Choices choices choices...
Gopes
 
Bcfaigg said:
Thanks. Will I need to buy thermal compound for the heatsink, or does it come included?

Also, I note that the only review for the Adata RAM is only 3*. Are the Geil EVO Leggera memory sticks significantly better?

Choices choices choices...
Gopes
Click to expand...

Nearly all heatsinks come with a sachet of paste.

Just because a heatsink uses wires to hold a fan in position it doesn't have to mean any vibration is carried over, I have a Alpenfohn Sella (OcUK stock only fits socket2011) here and there are little rubber feet in the four corners of the fans frame where it sits on the actual heatsink, then two wire clips are used to hold it tight in place.
 
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Bcfaigg said:
Thanks. Will I need to buy thermal compound for the heatsink, or does it come included?

Also, I note that the only review for the Adata RAM is only 3*. Are the Geil EVO Leggera memory sticks significantly better?

Choices choices choices...
Gopes
Click to expand...

I must confess I do tend to spec/recommend what I have experience with. I've not used the Adata but I know forum members on here that do use it (Bacon? might be lurking around to answer you). I've used the Geil and I can't lie part of me spec'd it as it does colour code with the mobo, the Z9 U3 has a nice window after all ;)

Heatsinks tend to have paste supplied if not preapplied. Whilst Stulid is right some heatsinks have rubber stoppers on the fan itself I was looking more at ease of installation. I've done plenty of builds but I still think wire clips are the devil. The Achilles uses the rubber stoppers to hold the fan in place, the 612S has easy fit snap on brackets......as a nice touch you get a spare bracket to mount an additional fan. The Matterhorn is a similar price to the 612S but uses wire clips and only the one pair to fit one fan, even though the heatsink can have a 2nd fan mounted.

Choices indeed lol
 
honosuseri said:
The Matterhorn is a similar price to the 612S but uses wire clips and only the one pair to fit one fan, even though the heatsink can have a 2nd fan mounted.
Click to expand...

It also has rubber anti-vibration pads along side the wire clips.

I have used one.
 
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