£750 Rig

LiamMP

LiamMP

LiamMP

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Joined
4 Apr 2013
Posts
6
Hey everyone.

I'm looking to make a new rig for around £750 (Though could probably stretch another 100 or so if needed) I won't be needing an operating system or any other bits n whistles, just the tower.

If at all possible, it would be nice to have a 60g SSD in there for fast boots, but I guess that's luxury.

I consider myself a full time gamer and part time 3D animator, so it would be great to have something that could manage future titles like Battlefield 4, but still give me some strong render times (although I accept this could be very difficult on a budget, so not essential!)

I came up with a few ideas for parts, but haven't built a PC in 5 years so I'm a little outdated. Plans were instantly shot down by a friend of mine, who could come up with no reasonable replacements! So any help you guys can give is hugely appreciated.

Thanks for your time!

Liam
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £259.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series 7mm 60GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH060GCST) £61.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £51.95
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40.00
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £855.85 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £269.99
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £161.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series 7mm 60GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH060GCST) £61.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x **B Grade** Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £40
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £852.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Went for the i7 instead and a slightly cheaper version of the case, however everything is instock.
 
Last edited:
YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795F3G2M) with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £173.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x BeQuiet Efficient Power F1 400W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £51.95
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40.00
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
Total : £827.96 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 
Without going to the max you allowed.....

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7870 XT rev2.0 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-255-SE) £62.40
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40.00
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x Akasa USB 3.0 internal adapter cable (AK-CBUB09-15BK) £5.99
Total : £803.30 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Z9 U3 is a great value case and is improved over the Z9 Plus. I've used it and own the Z9 Plus, ideally you want the USB3 header i've included for the U3. A modular PSU is advisable too, especially on "budget" cases as there isn't much room behind the mobo tray to hide the cables.

As it has plenty of fans you could consider getting THIS as a cooler down the road to overclock. You could hook the two LED fans upto it for push/pull. For better cooling you could get some Static Pressure fans and return the Zalman LED fans back to the chassis. You can fit a variety of air coolers anything upto 163mm tall is fine, you'll find plenty in the £25-30 price bracket.

This 7870XT is closely related to the 7950, so isn't really a 7870 at all. With a little bit of overclocking you net 7950 performance :) 128GB SSD as going 60GB is poor value for money really, 2TB HDD is B grade but saves you £20. You said £850 max so you could get a 7950 or add a heatsink to the spec or whatever.

Hope this helps, look forward to seeing what you settle on :)
 
Last edited:
Though i have used a few *B grade* components this is the BEST you will get for £750 and its better than most the specs here (no offence)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x **B Grade** HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) with FREE Sleeping Dogs, Nexuiz, & CODMW2 PC Games £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £45
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40
1 x **B Grade** Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £37.16
1 x **B Grade** Be Quiet! Shadow Rock Pro SR1 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £24.98
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £753.59 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 
Doomedspeed said:
Though i have used a few *B grade* components this is the BEST you will get for £750 and its better than most the specs here (no offence)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x **B Grade** HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) with FREE Sleeping Dogs, Nexuiz, & CODMW2 PC Games £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £45
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40
1 x **B Grade** Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £37.16
1 x **B Grade** Be Quiet! Shadow Rock Pro SR1 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £24.98
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £753.59 (includes shipping : £13.75).

Click to expand...

Before you get too cocky.......The GPU doesn't fit the case for a start. I'd want the modular PSU as well as I already said. Bargains can be had going B grade for sure, the 2TB HDD was a no brainer to me but of course there are more bargains to be had.

That Bgrade GPU will sell quick (only 2 in stock) but if I use one of those then this perhaps......

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x **B Grade** HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) with FREE Sleeping Dogs, Nexuiz, & CODMW2 PC Games £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-255-SE) £62.40
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black £49.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40.00
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £789.91 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the fast responses, I think I will be going with your choice honoseseri

honosuseri said:
Without going to the max you allowed.....

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7870 XT rev2.0 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-255-SE) £62.40
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40.00
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x Akasa USB 3.0 internal adapter cable (AK-CBUB09-15BK) £5.99
Total : £803.30 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Click to expand...

It will probably be a few days before I can pick it all up, so unfortunately won't be able to take advantage of that B grade gpu, but a real bargain.
It would be good to see more if anyone can think of some different options, I'll probably buy it all early next week.

Will keep you all updated, cheers!
 
LiamMP said:
Thanks for all the fast responses, I think I will be going with your choice honoseseri



It will probably be a few days before I can pick it all up, so unfortunately won't be able to take advantage of that B grade gpu, but a real bargain.
It would be good to see more if anyone can think of some different options, I'll probably buy it all early next week.

Will keep you all updated, cheers!
Click to expand...

No worries. Check back nearer the time as prices do change as well as the offers. It would be nice to have a heatsink to overclock but you don't have to spend silly money on one. The U3 has plenty of fans for cooling you should get to 4Ghz easy enough on the stock heatsink. A CLC would look nice through the window but I'll let you choose how best to balance the build :)
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x **B Grade** Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-255-SE) £62.4
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x Akasa USB 3.0 internal adapter cable (AK-CBUB09-15BK) £5.99
Total : £828.30 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-255-SE) £62.40
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40.00
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 REV A (BW) Performance CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £24.98
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x Akasa USB 3.0 internal adapter cable (AK-CBUB09-15BK) £5.99
Total : £858.29 (includes shipping : £12.50).



or if you aren't bothered about the side window

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-255-SE) £62.40
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black £49.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40.00
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £849.91 (includes shipping : £10.50).



Cases are out of stock but you can still place the order. It will all be dispatched once in stock
 
honosuseri said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-255-SE) £62.40
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40.00
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 REV A (BW) Performance CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £24.98
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x Akasa USB 3.0 internal adapter cable (AK-CBUB09-15BK) £5.99
Total : £858.29 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Click to expand...

All bought and paid for! I'm a sucker for a side window.

Should receive it early next week, I'll post some pictures when it's all done!

Thanks again for all the help guys, massively appreciated, I would have been lost without y'al!
 
I've done a lot of builds in the Z9 chassis so have achieved Z9 Zen lol

Few tips whilst you wait.....

Mount the PSU fan up. It looks cool through the window, the PSU case vents are filtered but the slots aren't great so that gives you the excuse to show off ;)

The case comes with the power button disconnected, some peeps don't read the book and get caught out. The LED fans should be hooked up to the fan controller behind the mobo tray (adjust for lower noise and LED brightness). The SSD can be mounted back there too, so easy to hide the cables. The digital temp display is powered by molex and just daisychains with the fancontroller molex plug.

If you have a spare 120mm fan in an old case you could rob it to mount in the bottom of the case to help cool the GPU some more. I look forward to seeing the pics, with a modular PSU life will be much easier for cable management.......should look really nice through the window :)
 
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