2500k-based gaming rig

double-dragon · 25 Sep 2011 at 21:55

Hi guys,

First post here, I usually post over at computerforum.com, but wanted some more opinions on my proposed new build before I actually buy it.

My budget is strictly £1400 GBP (~$2150) since I have to stick to my credit card limit (I can go maybe £40-50 over budget and pay the extra with real money).

I am moving back to desktop to get back into OCing (and all that fun stuff) and for a number of games which are to be release in the near future (Skyrim, GWs2, BF3 etc).

So, after racking my brain and watching/reading countless reviews on bits of kit I pretty much settled on this rig:

Intel core i5-2500k CPU
Asus P8P67 Pro Rev 3.1 Mobo
Zotac GeForce GTX 580 1536MB GFX
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4) 1600Mhz DDR3
Crucial M4 128GB SSD
Seagate Barracuda 1TB SATA-600 7200RPM HDD
Corsair TX850W Modular PSU
CM Hyper 212+ CPU fan
Fractal Design Define XL Case
Lite-On 24x DVDRW
Dell u2311h IPS monitor
Windows 7 OEM

I'm a bit restricted by having to fit Windows 7 and a monitor into my budgetm which sucks, but I think I have a nice setup going on and would love some feedback before I buy anything!

Thanks in advance,

d_d

Reaper 392 · 25 Sep 2011 at 23:11

assuming you want an IPS panel monitor, and your buying from OcUK this is what i'd go for:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £359.99
1 x Dell UltraSharp U2312HM 23" Widescreen LED Monitor - Midnight Grey £219.98
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £139.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £94.99
1 x Cooler Master Silencio RC-550 Silent Tower Case - Black £69.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £47.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £56.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £1,389.49 (includes shipping : £16.85).

motherboard: has all the Z68 features, does crossfire/SLI properly and is under £100.

RAM: lower profile RAM to fit under the cooler

case: a week doesnt go by without a complaint about the build quality on the fractal XL, so i picked the closest thing i could find

cooler: quite a bit better for very little cost

if you are happy with a standard monitor (ie, not an IPS panel) then i would switch to something like this:

YOUR BASKET
2 x Gainward GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £233.99 (£467.98)
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £139.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
1 x OcUK V-Line 221V2SB 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £94.99
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £94.99
1 x Cooler Master Silencio RC-550 Silent Tower Case - Black £69.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £47.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £56.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £1,372.49 (includes shipping : £16.85).
the monitor is a phillips, so it should be very good. (its a very common recommendation from OcUK)

SLI 570's destroy a single 580, but obviously dont offer the upgrade path to SLI 580's, which are a lot better than SLI 570's

double-dragon · 25 Sep 2011 at 23:20

Great stuff! I shall look into those recommendations right away

<3

mickyflinn · 25 Sep 2011 at 23:38

The same can be said for a couple of GeForce GTX 560s in SLI, which, when combined, often outperform a single GeForce GTX 580 at a notably lower price.

Best gaming gpus for the money

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,3018.html

olivier renault · 26 Sep 2011 at 00:39

something left field.

YOUR BASKET
2 x Gainward GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £233.99 (£467.98)
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x LG IPS231P-BN 23" Professional LED Monitor - Glossy Black £155.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £139.99
1 x Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £122.98
1 x Lepa B-Series 850W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £94.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 400R Midi Tower Case - Black £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £47.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) £43.99
Total : £1,407.98 (includes shipping : £14.75).

olivier renault · 26 Sep 2011 at 00:44

or this?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £359.99
1 x Corsair PC Starter Bundle 2000c - 600TM Case / TX 850W V2 PSU / H80 CPU Cooler (Cooler Half Price) £269.98
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x LG IPS231P-BN 23" Professional LED Monitor - Glossy Black £155.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £139.99
1 x Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £122.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £47.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) £43.99
Total : £1,397.51 (includes shipping : £16.85).

I like the 600T white.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £359.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x LG IPS231P-BN 23" Professional LED Monitor - Glossy Black £155.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £139.99
1 x Corsair Graphite 600T Midi Tower Case - Limited Edition White £136.99
1 x Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £122.98
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 850W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-850TXV2UK) £99.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £47.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) £43.99
1 x Thermalright MUX-120 Black CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1156/LGA1155/LGA1366) £26.99
Total : £1,391.50 (includes shipping : £16.85).

olivier renault · 26 Sep 2011 at 00:48

Oh yeah, making sure the vengeance fits under the CPU fan.