New PC - Quick check of my order?

AlBigGuns · 8 Mar 2013 at 06:39

Hi chaps,

I'm about to buy a new PC - would someone be able to check on my order and just make sure it's all compatible? If there is anything I can swap out for cheaper or a better build for the money then I'd be happy to rejig it. I don't know much about the monitor or graphics card. The computer will be used mostly for producing music but for some games too.

Many Thanks if you can help!

AlBigGuns · 8 Mar 2013 at 06:39

zakblood · 8 Mar 2013 at 06:43

this is your basket,

1 x Intel Core i5-3570 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £169.99
1 x **B Grade** Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99
1 x BenQ GW2250E 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £107.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £54.95
1 x Cooler Master Silencio 450 Midi Tower Case - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £715.37 (includes shipping : £11.25).

this is what i'd change,

1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £187.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
.

cpu to K version, and then add a cooler, if OCing go for K2, if not other one will be fine

also for a slight increase in budget,

1 x BenQ GL2450E 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £119.99
Total : £131.09 (includes shipping : £9.25).

just something to think about, (24" instead of 21.5") for a few quid more

AlBigGuns · 8 Mar 2013 at 06:53

Hi, thanks!

I looked at the other CPU but I couldn't work out what is different for the cheaper one. It says integrated graphics 4000 on it but do I need that if I have a graphics card?

honosuseri · 8 Mar 2013 at 06:55

zakblood said:
this is what i'd change,

1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £187.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
.

cpu to K version, and then add a cooler, if OCing go for K2, if not other one will be fine

Those coolers won't fit in the case because of the sound proofing

zakblood · 8 Mar 2013 at 06:59

Dimension (W / H / D) (W) 194 x (H) 451.45 x (D) 494.75 mm

k2 Size: 140x140x25mm

Matterhorn 120x120x25mm

why not hono?, sounding proofing isn't that think is it?

Maximum Compatibility: CPU cooler height: 6.16-inch (156.5mm) / VGA card length: 11.06-inch (281mm) / 16.61-inch (422mm) (Without HDD cage)

for me if those are max height, then either would fit?

honosuseri · 8 Mar 2013 at 07:03

zakblood said:
Dimension (W / H / D) (W) 194 x (H) 451.45 x (D) 494.75 mm

k2 Size: 140x140x25mm

Matterhorn 120x120x25mm

why not hono?, sounding proofing isn't that think is it?

That is the fan sizes lol It does say max heatsink height is 156.5mm (Matterhorn is 158mm), most of the common heatsink we spec are 160mm tall or there abouts.

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 BenQ GL2450E 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Cooler Master Silencio 450 Midi Tower Case - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper T4 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £20.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £775.56 (includes shipping : £14.75).

I've used that silencio case, it's not bad and is quiet but you really could do with a 19 pin USB3 mobo header adapter (should be around £5) otherwise you have to run the cables out the rear of the case. The Z9 U3 im a fan of but it has the same issue. Atleast it was supplied with a PCI-bracket with holes cut in to help with routing the cables out.

zakblood · 8 Mar 2013 at 07:05

well you learn something new again, thanks, never used one tbh, but i'd cut out the foam round it, as he may have to cut some for other stuff anyway

bit too small a case then for me

AlBigGuns · 8 Mar 2013 at 07:10

Thank you very much, is the corsair PSU quieter than the one I picked?

Do you mean there is no USB socket at the front of the case? That would be a bummer but I do have a small unpowered hub I can use.

AlBigGuns · 8 Mar 2013 at 07:11

zakblood said:
well you learn something new again, thanks, never used one tbh, but i'd cut out the foam round it, as he may have to cut some for other stuff anyway

bit too small a case then for me

Too be honest I just picked a silenced case, I didn't realise it was small. If there is a better one I'd be happy to have a look. I see the numbers creeping upwards though haha!

Also I've added windows 8 home edition.

zakblood · 8 Mar 2013 at 07:14

for me how quiet do you want it?

as you pay for silence

1 x Seasonic 520w FANLESS '80 Plus Platinum' Modular Power Supply £129.98
1 x Seasonic 460w FANLESS '80 Plus Platinum' Modular Power Supply £109.99

80PLUS® Platinum Certified Super High Efficiency
Full Modular Cabling Design
Fanless- 0dBA

7 year warranty

and that's just the psu, same for cases tbh, sometimes you do get what you pay for

honosuseri · 8 Mar 2013 at 07:15

AlBigGuns said:
Thank you very much, is the corsair PSU quieter than the one I picked?

Do you mean there is no USB socket at the front of the case? That would be a bummer but I do have a small unpowered hub I can use.

I used a 450W XFX PSU in that case and I couldn't hear it, the sound proofing does help, especially for the optical drive. The corsair PSUs aren't loud, it is modular and a little cheaper with enough power for a single GPU setup.

The case does have front USB ports but they don't plug into the mobo. You have to run the cable out the rear of the case and plug them in the back of the mobo.....hence me saying to buy an adapter to internalise the USB3.

I own a Bequiet L8 PSU in my Zalman Z9 case, I love it but I can't comment about the L7 PSU

AlBigGuns · 8 Mar 2013 at 07:21

Ok, I think I understand what you mean.

I guess price wise I'm already at my limit really. I'm going to pick up the better monitor and graphics card that you guys suggested for a little extra money. If there is a better case that is close in price range to the one I chose then it may be worth upgrading.

Is 500W enough power these days? I have a couple of external HDs, USB M&K, couple of USB dongle keys, Xbox wireless controller, external soundcard, wireless internet dongle and PODxt rackmount unit all connected up

zakblood · 8 Mar 2013 at 07:23

i have these 2

1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 650W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020038-UK) £78.98
1 x Antec VP550P 550W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £54.98
.

under 50% load both are quiet, stress either of them and the noise ramps up to a max of 21dBA

450 /500 is plenty for one card use

honosuseri · 8 Mar 2013 at 07:34

AlBigGuns said:
Ok, I think I understand what you mean.

I guess price wise I'm already at my limit really. I'm going to pick up the better monitor and graphics card that you guys suggested for a little extra money. If there is a better case that is close in price range to the one I chose then it may be worth upgrading.

Is 500W enough power these days? I have a couple of external HDs, USB M&K, couple of USB dongle keys, Xbox wireless controller, external soundcard, wireless internet dongle and PODxt rackmount unit all connected up

The Zalman Z9 U3. Is my favourite case for that price range. It's packed with kit, has 3 fans that are quiet and does have a fan controller.

The i5K allows you to overclock but I wouldn't pay £200 for the retail version, the OEM is cheaper but needs a heatsink bought for it. 500W is ample for the system. Use MSI afterburner to overclock the GPU for gaming, you can also set custom fan speed profiles to help lower the noise at idle and find a setting you like for gaming.

AlBigGuns · 8 Mar 2013 at 07:54

I presume though that the zalman case won't be as good at reducing the sound emitted from the internal components? I really don't like computer noise

zakblood · 8 Mar 2013 at 08:02

true, but with quieter parts, the noise will be less anyway

AlBigGuns · 8 Mar 2013 at 08:18

zakblood · 8 Mar 2013 at 08:29

1 x Intel Core i5-3570 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £169.99
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 BenQ GL2450E 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £54.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper T4 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £20.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £852.72 (includes shipping : £19.10).

yes

honosuseri · 8 Mar 2013 at 08:36

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
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 BenQ GL2450E 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £837.97 (includes shipping : £20.10).

Used the sandybridge i5K. Don't worry about an aftermarket heatsink you can add one later for overclocking. The Z9 case can take taller i.e better heatsinks than the T4. £30ish will get you a good one....would make an ideal gift from someone