1st Project £700 Gaming Build for a friend! (photos)

buchtis · 29 Dec 2011 at 14:13

My mate set me a budget to build the best PC that £700 can buy.

He was fine with 2nd hand bits though the majority of stuff here is new from OcUK.

Be prepared for bad pictures!

Code: Green = New, Red = 2nd hand.

Here's the list and rounded up costs of items:

Case:
Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black
£64

Motherboard:
MSI P67A-GD65 B3
£75

CPU:
i5 2500K
£130

GPU:
2 x XFX 5850 Black Edition
£180

HDD:
1TB Seagate SATA HDD
£50

DVD Drive:
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter
£16

PSU:
OCZ ZT 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply
£90

CPU Cooler:
Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler
£47

RAM:
G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
£42

Extras:
x2 OcUK Value Blue LED 120mm Fan
£6

x2 OcUK Value SATA-II 45cm Yellow Data Cable
£5.20

Total: £705.20

buchtis · 29 Dec 2011 at 14:17

1st thing that came was the Sammy DVD rewriter, nothing special to see really:

Then the sexy MSi P67A-GD65 B3 Mother board:

The build quality is excellent. Everything looks and feels solid and overall this is a very good looking motherboard with a excellent amount of features. It arrived with all the gubbins intact including a PCIE USB3 add on. Not fitting that as I doubt he'll have a shortage of USB's, the mobo comes with 10 on the back and 2 on the front of the case.

Just waiting on the other bits to arrive, then it'll properly kick off!

buchtis · 30 Dec 2011 at 14:35

The majority of the stuff has finally come today.

Now we've got the CM 690 II Lite. Was looking forward to this and it did not disappoint. I was thinking about upgrading from my current, cramped Antec 300 and I will for sure now after seeing this beast.

buchtis · 30 Dec 2011 at 14:38

The build quality is second to none on this. There's plenty of space and the bottomn half of the HDD bay is removable to either fit a 120mm rad, 120mm fans foot long + 3D cards.

The removable bit for fitting a rad/long cards.

So far got the follwoing:

Hyburnate · 30 Dec 2011 at 14:58

Looking good so far.

James J · 30 Dec 2011 at 15:27

Just a note with that case. Make sure you measure up your 12V CPU cable from the PSU as most PSUs aren't designed for bottom mounting in cases (still -.-) and I had issues with my OCZ 600w reaching in the advanced version of the same case back in march. OcUK sell the extenders though for about £2, just better to know if you actually need one before building it all lol.

buchtis · 30 Dec 2011 at 16:16

Excellent, thanks for letting me know James. Once i've got all the bits and I actually start building it properly i'll have a look.

Thanks again.

SMed · 30 Dec 2011 at 16:22

Nice, I quite like the look of that case.

buchtis · 30 Dec 2011 at 16:25

Yeah it's a beautiful, spacious case. With a 240mm rad I think it'll looks quite stuffed but other than that it'll be fine. Deffo getting this as an upgrade over my Antec 300.

iB CoMpL3XiTy · 30 Dec 2011 at 16:51

Looking forward to seeing this built, awesome parts

100% fully modular PSU's = WIN.

panyan · 30 Dec 2011 at 17:32

1) are you sure that is the removable bit of the case? i thought it was the lower section?

2) what is the black cable in the case? can we have a better pic please?

i have two of these cases and they seem to have recently changed them a bit

panyan · 30 Dec 2011 at 17:36

buchtis said:

Corky20 · 30 Dec 2011 at 18:29

Looking good. The MSI motherboard is a brilliant choice!

James J · 1 Jan 2012 at 11:02

panyan said:
1) are you sure that is the removable bit of the case? i thought it was the lower section?

2) what is the black cable in the case? can we have a better pic please?

i have two of these cases and they seem to have recently changed them a bit

Not sure what that wire is as the CM690 II doesn't have whatever that is inside it. However the removable bay is the bottom part of it, leaving you with 2 hard drive caddys left. Personally I was forced to upgrade when I found that out as I have 3 hard drives.

panyan · 1 Jan 2012 at 14:54

James J said:
Not sure what that wire is as the CM690 II doesn't have whatever that is inside it.

hopefully we can be provided with a better pic

However the removable bay is the bottom part of it, leaving you with 2 hard drive caddys left.

yeah, i thought it was the bottom part as the top part has rivets holding it together and the bottom has screws

buchtis · 1 Jan 2012 at 17:25

Sorry guys been busy with Xmas & New Year. Will update and post more picture once everything arrives which should be either tomorrow or the day after. The black cable i'm assuming is the HD audio cable?

buchtis · 3 Jan 2012 at 13:59

Apologies as the rest of the stuff (CPU & HDD) have not arrived yet. Not starting properly till they do.

Cards have finally arrived after Parcelforce decided last week they couldn't be arsed to deliver it last week:

Old cards I know, but still very capable even these days and I think budget/performance wise these are very good.

Stoner81 · 3 Jan 2012 at 14:07

Going to be one nice looking build when it is finished, keep those piccys coming!

Stoner81.

iB CoMpL3XiTy · 3 Jan 2012 at 14:53

Please don't place ESD sensitive components on the OUTSIDE of Anti-static bags! The outside of the bag deflects electric fields, so protects what is inside, not outside.
Might as well just rub it along a carpet...

buchtis · 6 Jan 2012 at 20:51

Alright i've done the whole lot today as the CPU and the HDD came. Apologies for the abysmal pictures but it's been horrible and grey all day outside and i've got crappy energy saving bulbs which doesn't help either.

Anyway, the i5 and the 1TB HDD:

2) what is the black cable in the case? can we have a better pic please?

HD audio cable:

It was time to take the bottom half of the HDD cages out:

Came out with ease and the case looks much more spacious with it.