Building a New Gaming PC - Advice Please!

jamesearljones

jamesearljones

jamesearljones

Associate
Joined
15 Jan 2013
Posts
9
Hi Gang, I've been researching around building myself a new gaming PC and I've put together the following list of components:

Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz
Asus P8Z77-V LX Socket 1155 VGA DVI HDMI 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz
MSI GeForce GTX 660Ti TwinFrozr IV PE/OC 2GB GDDR5
SanDisk Extreme SSD SATA III 2.5" 240GB
WD 1TB HDD
Liteon IHES112-115 SATA Blu-Ray Optical Drive
Corsair 650W Enthusiast Series TX650 Modular Power Supply
Asus Xonar DSX PCI-Express 7.1 Channel Audio Card
Corsair Carbide Series 300R Gaming Case

Would anyone who's knowledgeable be able to tell me if all these items would work if cobbled together and if there are any incongruities or incompatibilities with the items I've chosen? Also if there are any redundant components please also let me know! The whole world of building a PC is new to me and obviously I want to try and get as much help as possible. Many, many thanks in advance to all who offer any help.
 
You have done really, very well there. That is a solid spec. If I had any gripe, it would be to switch the SSD for a Samsung or something, but I don't thing there's anything wrong with the Sandisk.

You might also want to consider going for an HD7950 instead of the GTX660TI, but it depends on what matters to you. They perform differently depending on the usage scenario (see here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/550?vs=647) the HD7950 will also perform better for bitcoin/litecoin mining if you are interested in that kind of thing, and the GTX660TI will perform better for folding, and it has the benefit of CUDA (which can be useful for rendering and such in 3D design work) and it supports advanced PhysX (physics effects available in some games) Personally I would go with the 660TI or save a little more and get a 670, but as I say, it depends on your requirements. Also bear in mind that the GPU's in the link I posted are at stock clocks. The power edition card in your spec would perform better, as would an overclocked edition of the 7950. :)

Now for the bit where I ruin everything haha. Intel's new socket (1150) and the new line of CPU's (Haswell) and along with them, the new Haswell i5 4670K are due to be released very soon, so it might be worth waiting to see what would be on offer once they come along. (a matter of days/a week or two now I should imagine)

That said the system you specced will last you a long time, and we dont know *exactly* how much of a performance difference or overclocking headroom the Haswell CPU's will offer.
 
Last edited:
Thanks a lot for the very swift and informative reply! I'm astounded that I managed to cobble together prospective components that would all work well together!

Now for the bit where I ruin everything haha. Intel's new socket (1150) and the new line of CPU's (Haswell) and along with them, the new Haswell i5 4670K are due to be released very soon, so it might be worth waiting to see what would be on offer once they come along. (a matter of days/a week or two now I should imagine)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I'm willing to hang on till I order the components, would the prices be very different? I know absolutely nothing about hardware, and what it does, I only researched what I'd need and looked around for recommended components. I want this PC to be an investment so I'm more than willing to hang on for some time to ensure I can get the best possible components at a good price.

Again, thanks for your help.
 
No worries :)

The pricing for Haswell is expected to be similar to the current pricing for Ivybridge. Perhaps slightly more.

When Ivybridge replaced Sandybridge (the previous generation, which I have in my PC) the pricing was very similar. :)
 
No worries. I'm beginning to wonder where the rest of the forum users have gone... There are usually several in these 'spec me'/'spec check' threads :confused:
 
Sorry, completely forgot about the concept of budget! I worked that spec in the original post to be around £1000. I think I can squeeze add a couple of hundred to that so let's say £1200 for the build. I've budgeted for OS & Monitor separately so they won't be a problem.
 
jamesearljones said:
Sorry, completely forgot about the concept of budget! I worked that spec in the original post to be around £1000. I think I can squeeze add a couple of hundred to that so let's say £1200 for the build. I've budgeted for OS & Monitor separately so they won't be a problem.
Click to expand...

For that kind of money i'd deffo wait for haswell in a couple of weeks and spec a system then :)
 
jamesearljones said:
Ok I'll be waiting for a Haswell then! Thanks for your advice! Do any of you know what the equivalent Haswell CPU will be compared to the original CPU I specced out in the first post?
Click to expand...

It should be called the i5 4670K. Performance difference is unknown as of yet. It will be better, but I don't think it will be tonnes better in terms of performance. It will be more energy efficient, have a better integrated GPU which should help with virtu graphics switching I believe, and of course the new socket which will support the remainder of the Haswell line of CPU's, and Broadwell after that. So if you fancy an upgrade, you could put a Broadwell i7 in it when it is released instead of being limited to a previous gen architecture.

The system will also keep it's value a bit longer I suppose :)
 
Thanks for your latest reply and information. Are you able to estimate what the price difference will be between an i5 & i7 as well as a brief list of pros & cons?

Also I assume that once the Haswell CPU's are out the Motherboards will follow? Or are some suitable Motherboards already available? Also I, being the complete fool that I am, will want to be using a wireless connection are you able to recommend a suitable network card if necessary?
 
Right, now that the Haswell's have been released I'm looking at either:

Intel Core i5-4670K

or

Intel Core i7-4770K

It's a £90 difference, is it worth the extra dosh, how much more (or less) can either be overclocked comfortably and how much longer (potentially) will the i7 last me?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom