New gaming PC

thiefofalways

thiefofalways

thiefofalways

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18 Jul 2013
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17
Hi all,

Fairly new to the forums. I am currently putting together a gaming PC and would love some advice. First I was looking into bundles to upgrade my current PC but now I think I am going to pick out the components individually but still upgrade what I already have.

So far I have this planned:

Asus Crosshair V Formula Z AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard

AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4100 Black Edition 3.60Ghz (Socket AM3+) Processor

Asus GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Akasa AK-CC4008HP01 Venom Voodoo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) (already purchased)

Akasa Venom 750w Modular '80 Plus' Power Supply

Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD

Can you see anything I have missed out or any compatibility issues with the parts selected? Or are there any parts here that should be avoided.

Thanks in advance.

Dean
 
No compatibility issues as far as I can see.

I can't see the sense in spending £150 on a motherboard for that CPU though. I'd lower the motherboard a bit and up the CPU to a piledriver..something like this..

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £124.99
1 x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
Total : £226.38 (includes shipping : £9.50).



You'll get more performance for your cash. The Bulldozer is not a good CPU. Plus an added bonus is Gigabyte have a UK base for RMAs should anything go wrong.
 
About £600. Fairly flexible though.

Already purchased the Akasa AK-CC4008HP01 Venom Voodoo CPU Cooler though. I also already have 2 monitors, keyboard, mouse, case, 6mb Ram, optical drive.

Could still use my current hard drive but it might be a good idea to get a fresh new one seeing as I am going to be putting a new OS on and it might help me have a clear out of junk.

I'm pretty new to all this but I have done a lot of tinkering inside my current PC over the years so I have a picked up a little understanding of what to do.

Dean
 
AMD is not a great choice. I would recommend this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £169.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785Q2G2M) £169.99
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 Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
Total : £621.95 (includes shipping : £10.00).



550w is fine, 750 is overkill for a single card.
AMD Chips are hot, less efficient and don't overclock as well.

edit:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 OC BE 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7950-3GD5/OC BE G) £227.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £109.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
Total : £659.35 (includes shipping : £9.50).



Better CPU & mobo is the best budget board currently. You also get UK RMA.
G/Card gets you £150 of free games
Faster RAM (2133+) is preferred as it makes the system more efficient and responsive, but what you have should be fine until you get something quicker. Whatever you do, don't invest in a AMD system, you'll not get performance for money.
 
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Yeah I see a lot of people recommending Int over AMD on the forums so I will go with your knowledge.

What's the deal with the hard drive. Like I said I have one on my current PC (obviously). Can I just use that or should I invest in a new one. Seen a lot of people suggesting SSD.

Dean
 
thiefofalways said:
About £600. Fairly flexible though...
Click to expand...

With the above in mind I'd suggest going Haswell. Also the 660GTX is the better card than the 7850, although there isn't much in it, plus you get free games with the AMD card.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £191.99
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 WindForce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £155.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £64.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
Total : £654.90 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Can't see the sense in staying with an out of date platform in the 1155 socket..if you have the cash may as well go Haswell.
 
I wont be able to purchase the parts for another 5 weeks so I will post again on in closer to that time and see if anything has changed.

Really appreciate all the advice.

Is the Venom cooler ok that I already purchased?

Thanks again,

Dean
 
With an OS. Z68 mobo, you will need to check with CS to see if it has the updated bios for IB chips.
Gpu comes with 8 free games. http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18524378

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 OC BE 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7950-3GD5/OC BE G) £227.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £45.95
Total : £645.90 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Or you could use Win 8 Enterprise for 3 months, this will give you time to save and buy an OS. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 OC BE 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7950-3GD5/OC BE G) £227.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
Total : £609.95 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 
Why stick with Ivybridge? The socket is dying. I know the CPU is a good one, but when Haswell is almost equivalent on price I can't understand why you'd recommend it.
 
My 2 cents, quick question mind.... I take it your HDD and optical drive are SATA and not IDE ..... also what case do you as my mainstream PC manufacture's use strange motherboard sizes like Dell does with its BTX designed.....

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 670 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £30 Cashback £233.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £60.00
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
Total : £585.36 (includes shipping : £9.50).

 
snips86x said:
That's how it is mate. The faster the RAM, the more efficient the system will be.
Click to expand...

Rubbish. Faster ram does not make a system more efficient. It makes it faster. The jump from 1600 to 2133 is simply not worth the extra cash. He'll only notice the difference in benchmarks, not in everyday applications.

Link

Link
 
ExRayTed said:
Why stick with Ivybridge? The socket is dying. I know the CPU is a good one, but when Haswell is almost equivalent on price I can't understand why you'd recommend it.
Click to expand...

Budget and better performance. My spec will out perform yours in just about any game. I mean, this thread is for a "New gaming PC", so a decent 3570K and a 7950 is better than a 4670K+660 playing the same games at the same resolutions. I know which one I would buy.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/856?vs=783
 
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Idleman said:
Budget and better performance. My spec will out perform yours in just about any game. I mean, this thread is for a "New gaming PC", so a decent 3570K and a 7950 is better than a 4670K+660 playing the same games at the same resolutions. I know which one I would buy.
Click to expand...

Have to agree here. There is little difference between the 4670k & 3570k. The 3570k is ideal and still capable. The fact it's being labelled as 'dead', doesn't mean it's worth forgetting about.
 
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