£700 - £800 Upgrade

[Wizzfizz]

Hi all,

This is going to be a bit of a mammoth upgrade from my current PC (10 years old)..

AMD 3400+
Assus K8VSE Deluxe motherboard
1gig Corsair RAM
Nvidia 6800 Ultra


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Anyhow, let's move on to the build! A few things about the build and what i'll need included: -

- I'm looking to spend £700 - £800
- Main use will be gaming.
- Going to need a new OS, Windows 7 or Windows 8?? (I'm thinking Windows 7 64bit?)
- New PSU (Modular?)
- New Case (looking at the Corsair 300r, is this spacious enough?)- Other alternatives?
- SSD
- Third party cooling for CPU
- Which thermal paste for CPU?
- Intel build
- Looking to overclock the CPU

I've been out the game for so long, I really have no idea what's good and what is not!




Cheers peeps

 

[Wizzfizz]

Sorry I should have included in my op that i'm looking for an Intel build!

 

[Wizzfizz]

Other than the price, is there any difference between the motherboard that you've listed and the following board (in terms of performance and overclocking)?

Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard ?

That CPU cooler that you've listed is not in stock, any other suggestions? Of course it has to into the Shinobi case?

I've come up with the following spec so far:-

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 280X TurboDUO "BF4 Edition" 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £259.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £143.99
1 x Corsair RM Series RM 650 '80+ Gold' 650W Power Supply (CP-9020054-UK) £99.95
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £65.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £39.95
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £865.93 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Cheers

 

[Wizzfizz]

I'm just trying to get a feeling for different combos and appreciate any feedback from yourself and the community. Nothing is final at this moment

I'm not really digging the looks of that sniper board to be honest! I would like to try and get parts as close together in terms of colour.

With the RAM, do I need that 2400mhz stuff? I'm looking for some sort of colour matching with the motherboard, but will still let me overclock to say 4.4ghz - What about this 1600mhz stuff -

YOUR BASKET
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £55.99
Total : £59.90 (includes shipping : £3.26).

 

[Wizzfizz]

Yes it's already starting to add up! lol - What the heck, I've not upgraded since 2004!

Budget might have gone up slightly but I'm coming up with the following rig now:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Rev2.0 WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Battlefield 4 PC Game £289.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Corsair Graphite 600T Midi Tower Case - Limited Edition White (CC600TWM-WHT) £145.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Corsair RM Series RM 650 '80+ Gold' 650W Power Supply (CP-9020054-UK) £99.95
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £65.99
2 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £55.99 (£111.98)
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,036.87 (includes shipping : £12.50).



I'll more than likely purchase the motherboard and PSU elsewhere as it's cheaper. I'll purchase a third party CPU cooler at a later date.

As for the case, what are people's thoughts on these? Are they good? Anything better that's cheaper or around the same price?

Cheers

 

[Wizzfizz]

Errm yeah I meant it to be 8gig of RAM!

I'm really not sure about the Corsair Carbide 300R! The 600T looks nice, but it does seem a tad expensive and I could put the money elsewhere into the build hmmm!!

 

[Wizzfizz]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Rev2.0 WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Battlefield 4 PC Game £289.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Corsair Graphite 600T Midi Tower Case - Limited Edition White (CC600TWM-WHT) £145.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £99.95
1 x Corsair RM Series RM 650 '80+ Gold' 650W Power Supply (CP-9020054-UK) £99.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Avexir Core White Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CIW) - White Light £71.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,110.83 (includes shipping : £12.50).



I've upped my budget some more. Changed the RAM from that Team Group orange 2400MHz to Avexir Core White Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz, reason being is that I'm wanting to colour match. Few questions: -

- Would the 2400mhz stuff have made much difference?
- What sort of overclock can I expect with this system?
- I've gone with the Corsair Hydro H100i, Is this a good choice for overclocking?
- Any other alternatives for the PSU? Ideally i'm looking for full modular to make the build as neat as possible.
- Will be adding white braided cables in thefuture, which pre-braided do I use?
- Any other build suggestions? (Intel)


Much appreciated!

 

[Wizzfizz]

I was looking at that RAM but was thinking if I'd have enough room, I guess I will as the case is quite chunky? Plus it mentions this in the description "Based on the memory architecture evolution on Intel Core i7, Team raises the frequency of the Xtreem" so wasn't sure if it'd work in an i5 build.. (I've been out of the game for far to long! lol).

What about the rest of the build?
What sort of overclock can I expect?
Is the CPU cooler good?
PSU good? (Any other alternatives that is full modular?)

Cheers

 

[Wizzfizz]

@RJC

Yeah there is no doubt that's good value on that Team Group RAM, the only reason why I don't want it is because of the colour.

@stulid

And to lower the speed, I can do this through the Gigabyte bios? Apologies for asking such noob questions

 

[Wizzfizz]

Cool thanks!

Just having another look at the motherboard..

Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard

or

Gigabyte Z87X-SLI Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard

?

 

[Wizzfizz]

Yeh I cant be having black and green lol

 

[Wizzfizz]

What sort of overclock can I expect on the above rig?

Nothing wrong with a bit of green

It wouldn't be a problem if it was part of the theme!

 

[Wizzfizz]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Rev2.0 WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Battlefield 4 PC Game £289.99
1 x BenQ XL2411T Rev2.0 24" TRUE 144Hz Flicker FREE 3D Vision 2.0 Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £269.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Corsair Graphite 600T Midi Tower Case - Limited Edition White (CC600TWM-WHT) £145.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £99.95
1 x Corsair RM Series RM 650 '80+ Gold' 650W Power Supply (CP-9020054-UK) £99.95
1 x Corsair Vengeance Pro Silver 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CMY8GX3M2B2133C9) £89.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £52.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,460.93 (includes shipping : £20.10).




Ok I'm getting there, hopefully make an order tomorrow sometime.

1. I've chnaged the RAM based on the idea that it'll look better (colour match), it's slightly slower than the Team Group stuff but I'm thinking I can still overclock pretty good still with this stuff?

2. I'll be using a Corsair H100i cooler. As I understand, I'll only be able to use two fans with the radiator as there isn't any extra room in the case that I've chosen (Corsair 600T)and I'm pretty dead set on using this case.

3. I've read up about the stock fans on the H100i being quite rubbish with people changing them? Can someone point me in the right direction to which Corsair ones to get? (AF120 quiet/performance - SP120 PWN High pressure / low noise high pressure - SP120 performance/quiet.

4. Will I have enough clearance in the case, what with the cooling (H100i) to use the above RAM?

Cheers

 

[Wizzfizz]

Hi there,

I've come down to what I think could be my final build!

Few questions though..

1. I've gone with this 2400mhz geil memory, as it'll colour match the rest of the rig. Is this RAM decent? As in fast and good for overclocking? Will I have trouble fitting it into the system in ragards to the heatspredders on them?

2. Any other recommendations for the psu? I'm looking for a fully modular which is decent. I'm unsure if this Corsair psu will work with the case, as ive read up about the case needing a molex connection and modular psus don't have this??

4. I'm after nzxt white braided cables, which ones do I need?

3. Does everything look ok and will work together?


Cheers