3 Years and 1 Laptop later its time to build that gaming PC

dashel

dashel

dashel

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Joined
6 Jan 2009
Posts
21
Hi guys! built my previous Pc from OC so I’m back, got a build in mind but would like some alternatives and perspectives from you fine folks.

Case: Corsair Carbide 500r White/Black - iv noticed most ppl go for Corsairs here so I have as well although wouldn’t mind a cheaper version....
Processor: Intel Core i5 3550 - Get me that Ivybridge :)
Cooler: Cool Master Hyper -Thinking nothing too big
M-Board: ASRock Z77 Extreme4-m
Memory: 8gb 2*4 DDR III Corsair XMS3 2000Mhz
Solid State: 120GB Intel 330 Series... Last time i built my pc these were just being released and by that i mean the realy small ones they started with so some help here plz.
V-Card Geforce GTX 670 Thinking of going for the gigabyte version over the kfa2. Will upgrade in a years time to run Sli... hopefully (my friends have told me to get the 560ti but I’m very dubious, its a guilty pleasure spending money on your graphics card.
PSU: 650W Corsair Tx650-m with the detachable cables for better management. Always had Corsair fans and thev nvr let me down so far.

Got a DVD drive and 500gig hard which il utilize from my old pc. So the only thing i would plan on updating within the year would be a new hard disk for a terabyte or 2 and another 670, but i think 650w should be enough

Plz comment rate and suggest alternatives hoping to order 2morow after your input so I can get busy on the weekend.
 
Drop the RAM to 1600Mhz, it's the sweet spot for IB, anything faster and there's not much performance gains: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-290-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Consider a 850w PSU if you plan to go SLi in the future.

This Samsung SSD is better: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-146-SA&groupid=701&catid=2104&subcat=1427

Personally I find this Gelid cooler to be better: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-GD&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
 
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YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £323.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £167.99
1 x Plextor M2S 256GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (PX-256M2S) £124.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £103.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 500R Midi Tower Case - Black/White £99.95
1 x OCZ ZT 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £89.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH100) £83.58
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £43.19
Total : £1,052.66 (includes shipping : £12.50).



As stulid says check your optical and HDD to see if they are indeed sata.

I do love the look of those Asrock mobos, if however you are serious about dual carding you ideally want a ATX sized mobo. You are spec'ing a mATX mobo, the shorter board means the GPUs are closer together.

I've offered an alternative mobo from GB with a UK based 3 year warranty and it is still Xfire/SLI capable. I've used the OEM CPU as it's cheaper and you don't need the stock cooler (the case was pretty much designed for the H100). It does have only a year warranty but this is all that is offered on the pre-overclocked bundles, so technically you are still better off.

Hope this helps, any questions or problems you know where to find us
 
Yup Samsung dvd-drive and Western Digital Caviar are both sata thanks for checking tho.

Any ideas for a Psu? 800w-850w preferably not too expensive, thinking with sticking to corsair. What about the case guys?

Also any other alternative to the samsung ssd, got a samsung laptop atm and although not ssd it slow and its just stuck with me.....
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £109.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 850W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-850TXV2UK) £104.99
Total : £226.98 (includes shipping : £10.00).




Crucial M4 is a highly rated SSD, using one myself and it's still full speed after a year: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-009-CR

As for the case, this is heavily down to personal preferences, but the Corsair 500R is a pretty good case to have.
 
 
Think il stick with the case then and i hear you on the GB board. I think il pair it with the GB v-card too. Not sure if i should go for the 750 PSU as you suggested hono, Checked out the PSU links you provided stulid and the 850 corsair review nicely. So its iether go for a cheap (550W-600W) now and then up the psu when i buy a new card. tbh im tempted just to get that 750 ocz yeah there you go pursuaded myslef unpluging everything then plugging it back in is silly..

Also any tips on the watercooling always wanted to try but i get this image of pipe bursting and my pc making that sizzling sound like when u pour water into a hot pan....
 
dashel said:
Think il stick with the case then and i hear you on the GB board. I think il pair it with the GB v-card too. Not sure if i should go for the 750 PSU as you suggested hono, Checked out the PSU links you provided stulid and the 850 corsair review nicely. So its iether go for a cheap (550W-600W) now and then up the psu when i buy a new card. tbh im tempted just to get that 750 ocz yeah there you go pursuaded myslef unpluging everything then plugging it back in is silly..

Also any tips on the watercooling always wanted to try but i get this image of pipe bursting and my pc making that sizzling sound like when u pour water into a hot pan....
Click to expand...

The OCZ had enough power for your needs, was modular and the price was reasonable. By all means switch it to a more powerful supply if you wish.

The H100 is a closed loop cooler. Less fiddly than a custom water loop to install and as easy to maintain as a air cooler. It wasn't a necessity just pointing out options for you to consider.

I look forward to seeing what you settle on :)
 
Friend of mine suggested the following:
Corsair 500r case
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz 8Mb Socket 1155 BOX - 10550
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
16Gig (4x4Gb) PC3-12800 1600MHz DDR3 DIMM Corsair 9-9-9-24 CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B
2048Mb Zotac GeForce GTX680 PCI-E DVI HDMI DP ZT-60101-10P Retail
ATX 900W HIPER M900--- whom iv nvr heard of before


So hes gone for an older but i7 processor, which im not too sure about. Gues i would rather buy a new i5 with the stock fan and get the lequid cooling later after iv had a bit of a read.

Since he saved on the processor and the cooler hes beafed up the Ram and GFX card. Hes also stuck in a random PSU which im not too keen on but its is 900w maybe overkill but will definately power a space ship.

With the GFX card however im not sure, if its worth paying the extra for the 680's atm because they dont test much higher then the 670 on benchmarks scores.

Please advice
 
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If the system is for gaming only, 16gb is overkill. 8gb is more than enough to last a long while.

Personally I would go with the i5-3570K. It does better per clock compared to the 2600K, and the new batches of Sandybridge overclocks pretty poorly compared to the original batch. And games doesn't even take advantage of Hyperthreading so those extra threads are pretty much useless.

Hiper PSU... Nope. Avoid. It's a low end brand. Using that will risk your system. Go for one of the PSUs stulid has recommended, he's the guy who always pick the reliable high quality stuff ;).
 
Orcvader said:
If the system is for gaming only, 16gb is overkill. 8gb is more than enough to last a long while.

Personally I would go with the i5-3570K. It does better per clock compared to the 2600K, and the new batches of Sandybridge overclocks pretty poorly compared to the original batch. And games doesn't even take advantage of Hyperthreading so those extra threads are pretty much useless.

Hiper PSU... Nope. Avoid. It's a low end brand. Using that will risk your system. Go for one of the PSUs stulid has recommended, he's the guy who always pick the reliable high quality stuff ;).
Click to expand...

You could have just +1'd my spec fella......you might notice my PSU made stulids list ;) Although I agree with your comments and those reasons influenced my spec :)

If we had a budget it would be much easier to suggest a spec
 
So i thought it would be nice to let ppl know they helped me out a lot and post on my new pc :))) Also thought id add some chat incase any1 was interested in the whole expiriance.
The build:
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 500R
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H
Processor : i5 3570k
RAM: DDR3, 16Gb (4x4Gb), Corsair Vengeance
GFX: Gigabyte GTX670
PSU: OCZ ZX Series 850W
SSD:OCZ Agility 3 240GB
Planned Upgrades: 2nd GXF Card and the Corsair Hydro H100 cooler atm im roching the box intel version.

First of the case is huge, my previous one was the antec tower with the upside down PSU and had no holes for cabel managment. So this was a vast improvement. Managed to route everything through the back although the PSU to CPU was hard just stretched enough. There is a funny connector at the front of the case when you open it up i say funy cos its 3 pins and wierdly shaped. Took me a few youtube videos to find that it doesnt actualy need connecting the the motherboard, was very puzzeling. Its very quite and with the ssd starts like Usain Bolt, if you want a cheap upgrade with and imediate noticable difference i suggest getting an SSD.

The 16GB ram may be overkill but it was time i went overkill with ram always been just on the line or below:)))

Im a bit gutted i didnt watch any videos of the case becuase otherwise i would have defo got the water cooling of the bat but it will just have to wait till i go for the sli.

I have a question and its sorta hard to formulate it..... Il give an example I tried to log onto my b-net account to start dl'ing diablo, inputed the login/password chrome went to next page to get my authenticator so i dualy obliged and then nothing the page sorta skips or reloads to the login page again with no chat as to why i didnt get in, no wrong password or anything just bought me to login screen again. Tried it with IE and same thing. Moved over to my laptop and i was in the first try. Also noticed this on some toher sites was trying to dl something and instead of taking me to the next screen i get a quick flash and im at the start of the process again.

Yup so thats me once again thnx for your help folks.
 
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