First Gaming PC

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Joined
4 Apr 2013
Posts
90
Location
Essex
So, I know, I know, you get thousands of these 'Is this a good build' threads, and here I am adding to them.

I know a moderate amount about PC's and even less about Overclocking, but I am reading up on it all in the little spare time I get. So bare with me if I start saying really stupid things.

So I have put together a build which I am quite happy with, but then I did some more reading and found a few bits on my build that people are saying 'That's overpriced', 'That's only good because of the name' etc etc.

I guess it all comes down to personal taste and what I will be using it for at the end of the day.

So, to some up what I will be using it for. Light gaming mostly as it is something to do in my spare time. Also, moderate overclocking, a place to test out my skills and learn what to do and what not to do. Also just plain old browsing the internet and messing around with software if I get the time.

I have around £1000 to spend but can go over (if it's worthwhile) and can definitely go under!!

Well. Here goes nothing. Open to all criticism (and praise ;) )

Motherboard - Asus Z77 Sabretooth (This is the one that I have heard TOTALLY mixed reviews on)

CPU -Intel Core i5 3570K

Graphics Card - Asus Radeon HD 7870 2GB

SSD - Samsung 120GB Pro (Don't need anything bigger as it will only be for OS and one or two games)

HDD - Seagate Barracuda 2TB (Also have a 4TB external HDD)

RAM - Corsair Vengence 16GB (2 x 8GB)

PSU - Corsair TX650W

Case - Cool Master Elite 430

Cooler - Corsair Hydro H100i (Again, heard mixed reviews on this and Closed Circuit Coolers on a whole)

Fans - BitFenix Spectre Pro 120MM (x 2 as the case comes with 2 other fans)

In total this came to £1,038.

Hello to my fellow OC'ers and thanks for reading. :D
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £259.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £173.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Corsair Force GT 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CSSD-F120GBGT-BK) £105.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £1,001.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Great motherboard for overclocking with, and supports Crossfire and SLI, graphics card is one up from the one you specced, and has UK RMA so no hassels if it goes wrong. Same hard drive, put up a nice case for the price, comes kitted out and has a fan controller as a bonus, very good PSU, seasonic are one of the best and it's modular. Nice heatsink if you want to overclock past 4.4Ghz+, and low profile RAM for all heatsinks to fit over.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £259.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £173.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Corsair Force GT 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CSSD-F120GBGT-BK) £105.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £1,001.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Great motherboard for overclocking with, and supports Crossfire and SLI, graphics card is one up from the one you specced, and has UK RMA so no hassels if it goes wrong. Same hard drive, put up a nice case for the price, comes kitted out and has a fan controller as a bonus, very good PSU, seasonic are one of the best and it's modular. Nice heatsink if you want to overclock past 4.4Ghz+, and low profile RAM for all heatsinks to fit over.

I would change the SSD for one of these, £4 difference and doesn't use the Sandforce controller.
 
I would change the SSD for one of these, £4 difference and doesn't use the Sandforce controller.

I like the corsair 120GB as I have it myself and the read/write speeds are amazing! Plus it matched my colour scheme, guess it's just been a personal preference of SSD since purchasing.

The option is there for the alternative SSD if it performs/looks better.
 
Oh no. Now you have given me options. That's dangerous!

Thanks for the input guys. Amazing speed of response!

What is the difference between Sandforce and Non-Sandforce controlled?

I will probably take a combination of the listed above as I too am a bit of a neat freak in terms of wanting a colour scheme etc.

What fan's would you guys recommend or did the one I choose pass the mark?
 
Oh no. Now you have given me options. That's dangerous!

Thanks for the input guys. Amazing speed of response!

What is the difference between Sandforce and Non-Sandforce controlled?

I will probably take a combination of the listed above as I too am a bit of a neat freak in terms of wanting a colour scheme etc.

What fan's would you guys recommend or did the one I choose pass the mark?

Corsair AF/SP120 quiet edition fans are extremely good.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18447250

As for the SSD's, some people dont like Sandforce controllers, yet I have three Sandforce SSD's here and have had previous ones (including one of those ForceGT drives) and never had anything negative to say about them.
 
What did you decide on? Make sure you post in the project logs!

How do I post my Basket like you guys did?

I will show you what I have come up with and you can re-rate.

I will post a project log up when I have all the bits, hopefully I won't need much help as I like to do as much myself. Just incase though.
 
If you want to get a Fan controller then what about this case

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-107-CA&groupid=2362&catid=1489.

If you want to stick with the Z9 then get the USB 3 version. (Although it is out of stock at the moment.)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-056-ZA&groupid=2362&catid=736

Edit: If you are just going to use those extra fans as case fans go for the AF variants, they are quieter and you won't need the extra static pressure.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-003-CS&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4
 
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I like the look of the Z9 over the corsair. The Corsair just looks a bit bulky and bland. Sure it's a great case, just don't think its for me.

I just want the Z9 without the little fan controller? IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK! Haha!
 
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