Gaming PC Thoughts

Flytebird · 31 Jul 2013 at 20:47

Hi Guys,

I'm just about to build my first ever gaming rig, and I was wondering if you would be so kind to look at the parts that I have chosen and offer your thoughts/tips/suggestions. This is near the top end of my budget, but I have around another £70 that I would be willing to spend if you thought that there was a better component. Here's the parts list:

- CPU: Intel Core i7-4770k
- Motherboard: Asus Z87-Pro
- GPU: VTX3D HD 7970 X-Edition 3GB
- Memory (RAM): Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB)
- HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB
- SSD: Samsung 840 Series Pro 128GB
- PSU: Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series 600W
- Case: Corsair Carbide Series 300R
- Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
- Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 5
- OS: Windows 7

My main areas of uncertainty are:
- whether the graphics card is the best 7970 (or whether Nvidia alternatives are better)
- whether 600W is ample power supply
- whether there is a better case for my budget (or if I need additional case fans)
- whether Windows 8 would be a better alternative to Windows 7.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this post (and hopefully replying

)

RJC · 31 Jul 2013 at 20:52

Added a 770, For gaming the 4760 is usually ample:

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 Geforce GTX 770 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (77XPH6DV6KXZ) with FREE GPU Keyring £329.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £109.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black £69.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £65.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £48.95
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £1,105.80 (includes shipping : £12.50).

i7 setup with the ability to add a second card later and the PSU todo so as well:

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 Geforce GTX 770 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (77XPH6DV6KXZ) with FREE GPU Keyring £329.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £275.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £131.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £74.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black £69.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £48.95
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £1,230.79 (includes shipping : £12.50).

honosuseri · 31 Jul 2013 at 22:58

What was the budget fella?

RJC has done some nice suggestions....maybe look at the 330R case too? There is a free trial for windows 8 you can use for 3 months, would save you cash now and let you see which OS suits you best

Flytebird · 1 Aug 2013 at 07:28

My budget is about £1300

RJC · 1 Aug 2013 at 07:45

Flytebird said:
My budget is about £1300

My 2nd build will suit

Doomedspeed · 1 Aug 2013 at 07:58

RJC said:
My 2nd build will suit

It will will, Though with the £70 id upgrade the cooling..

If so you disregard the Matterhorn pure (in the spec) you have £100.

Id buy the Megahalems (£50): http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-019-PL&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2349

And two fans (unless you have two 120mm fans lieing around) £20: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-057-AK&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4

Will make it look truely increible (Black and silver colour scheme) and perform amazingly well.

Still £30 under budget.

Hakanese · 1 Aug 2013 at 08:12

YOUR BASKET
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Blue (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £69.98
Total : £79.88 (includes shipping : £8.25)

I'd be tempted for one of these for an air cooler

Doomedspeed · 1 Aug 2013 at 08:15

Hakanese said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Blue (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £69.98
Total : £79.88 (includes shipping : £8.25)

I'd be tempted for one of these for an air cooler

I doubt you'd fit that in the 300R.

Corsair don't seem to have outlined a max cooler height but some places state 160mm-165mm, which is less that the TC14PE

Hakanese · 1 Aug 2013 at 08:32

ack, my apologies, didn't see the case.

Flytebird · 3 Aug 2013 at 14:47

OK, I've come up with my revised components list. Can anyone see any glaring errors that will be a real problem when I build it?

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 Geforce GTX 770 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (77XPH6DV6KXZ) with FREE GPU Keyring £319.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £275.99
1 x Asus Z87 MAXIMUS VI HERO Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £176.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7PD128BW) £115.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) HDD £76.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £65.99
1 x XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £64.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £61.99
1 x Prolimatech Black Megahalems CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £49.98
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,323.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).

flopper · 3 Aug 2013 at 14:51

Flytebird said:
Hi Guys,

My main areas of uncertainty are:
- whether the graphics card is the best 7970 (or whether Nvidia alternatives are better)
- whether 600W is ample power supply
- whether there is a better case for my budget (or if I need additional case fans)
- whether Windows 8 would be a better alternative to Windows 7.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this post (and hopefully replying )

windows 8, no reason with windows 7 as its not as fast under the hood.
its way better.
600w are plenty with a good psu brand.
7970 still the king.

setter · 3 Aug 2013 at 14:52

Looks like a great system, only problem id have is the wait to get it up and running and get my games installed. Be sure to post a few pics up of the completed rig.

Hakanese · 3 Aug 2013 at 14:52

Looks very nice, and has enough room to be able to upgrade little parts here and there as you desire.
Hope you have fun building that system

teppic · 3 Aug 2013 at 15:08

You can get a 7970 with custom cooler and free games on offer for £289 - I'd definitely do that.

Doomedspeed · 3 Aug 2013 at 15:53

teppic said:
You can get a 7970 with custom cooler and free games on offer for £289 - I'd definitely do that.

Great deal but personally if I could afford it id get the GTX 770.