ADVICE NEEDED: To buy or to build?

awinchurch

awinchurch

awinchurch

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4 Jun 2011
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529
Location
Wolverhampton
I have been browsing the OCuk website as I am in need of a new computer.

I play games online, mainly MMORPGs but occasionally other stuff too.

I was thinking about building a system but because I would need everything I wasnt sure if I would be better off buying a prebuilt and overclocked system straight away.

This is what I have come up with so far:

MSI GeForce GTX 580 OC Twin FrozR II 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £371.99

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £239.99

Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (CSSD-F120GB3-BK) £147.98

Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £144.98

OCZ ZX Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £134.99

Corsair Vengeance Blue 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B) £107.99

Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £39.98

LG GH22NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99


Total : £1,264.88


I would need to add cabling and a cpu cooler to this system for oveclocking but would go for watercooling so would need to do more research for that but thats the basics..

OR.......

would I be better off going for one of the OCuk pre built i7 gtx580 systems and adding an SSD then upgrading ram if needed at a later date?

I have never built a computer before.. Is it difficult?



Any thoughts?

Anything im missing or that would not be compatible or any better matched components I should consider?
 
I have never built a pc before but I do have the confidence to do it myself.

I have changed out components in pc's I have had in the past.

Im guessing that most of it is pretty basic

but like I say I have never actually built my own computer before but it is something that has always interested me.
 
Where abouts do you live? Could perhaps get someone from the forums to come and help you build it? That way you learn how to do it yourself and save the money on buying prebuilt.
 
If you've changed components then with a little guidance from on here I'm sure you'll be fine with building a system.

If you want a P67 motherboard I would go with the MSI GD53 and it's SLI compatible for future upgrade routes. For gaming the i5 2500K is more than enough as Stulid has pointed out. Most games are fine on 4GB RAM so 8GB should cover you for the future rather than 16GB. I would start with something like:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 580 OC Twin FrozR II 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £371.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £161.99
1 x Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (CSSD-F120GB3-BK) £147.98
1 x Lepa G-Series 900W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £129.98
1 x MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £104.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT51264BA160A) £41.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £40.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £1,101.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Could upgrade to a Z68 or a PCI-E Gen3.0 motherboard but if you were getting a GTX 580 then I wouldn't expect you to be switching it any time soon apart from maybe SLI if you had extra cash in the future. The above PSU would be good enough to cover SLI 580s. I've went with the cheapest 1600Mhz 8GB RAM but you could spend a little more and opt for Kingston HyperX or Corsair XMS3 sets. Also added a good air cooler, would recommend the Silver Arrow @ £50 but its out of stock

EDIT* Forgot to ask but do you have 64bit OS?
 
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I have Windows 7 64-bit but it is installed on another system so I may have to buy another copy.

That system looks good mate.

I guess you are right. I was a bit overkill on the ram but being new to this I feel like if I am spending good money I want it to be amazing :)
 
With windows 7 and a 1TB drive and also changed the RAM to slightly better sticks, don't know if I trust the new Ballistix, I'm sure it'll be fine but just seems so cheap.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 580 OC Twin FrozR II 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £371.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £161.99
1 x Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (CSSD-F120GB3-BK) £147.98
1 x Lepa G-Series 900W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £129.98
1 x MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £104.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £79.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £53.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £40.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £1,193.87 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Or could go for a bundle with a 500GB drive to save a little cash as you'll have the 120GB SSD.


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 580 OC Twin FrozR II 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £371.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £161.99
1 x Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (CSSD-F120GB3-BK) £147.98
1 x Lepa G-Series 900W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £129.98
1 x MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £104.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £53.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £1,172.77 (includes shipping : £13.75).



What keyboard and mouse are you using? What monitor also as these are what you use and look at all day so sometimes better to splash out a little more on these areas if you have excess budget that you want to spend.

EDIT* Also, I've suggested SLI but would this be an option for you further down the line, as if it's something you really wouldn't do then could choose a cheaper motherboard and PSU
 
I have a Dell U2311H monitor, a Microsoft sidewinder x6 keyboard and a Razer naga mouse. Im also using a Razer megladon headset for gaming which is why I have not chosen a sound card or speakers since it is a 7.1 headset and has a built in sound processor.

SLI is certainly a possibility depending on future budget and if I require an upgrade when more games come out.

EDIT: The reason I went for the 1TB is because im currently getting into video editing etc so I will be storing a lot of video files. Adobe after effects is really good :)
 
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Right, so really don't need to change monitor or mouse/keyboard :D

What I've specced above would be a great gaming system for the next few years and if it does struggle then a second 580 would bring it back to life without needing to upgrade anything else.

If you are going to be doing extremely heavy editing then a 2600k would offer some advantages as would 16GB RAM but only for the really intensive stuff.

EDIT* The 580 would only struggle if you had high resolutions, multi-displays or uber high settings on games. It will destroy everything else at reasonable settings. Bench
 
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Will definately look into that. It will have saved me quite a few quid.

The only thing i would probably change would be the processor but im going to look into and read a few things because if the performance of the i5 is on par with the i7 for games and I dont need a better cpu for my editing then I might as well save my cash.

Apart from a kettle lead and a sata leads would I need anything else?
 
awinchurch said:
I have never built a computer before.. Is it difficult?
Click to expand...
It very very easy......

The most difficult part is trying to make the wiring look tidy
Take me only about 20minutes to build my PC's ....But need to add about an extra 2 hours to make the wiring look tidy :D )

Just take your time and you be fine..
 
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Usually the motherboard will come with 2 SATA cables, no harm in having a few spare either. It's also hit and miss whether the PSU will come with a kettle lead so again nothing wrong with having a spare.

I'm trying to find out the lengths of the PSU cables in case you need extensions, the case isn't overly big so it shouldn't be a problem tbh. If someone else could confirm this? The case takes 290mm cards and the 580 is ~260mm so it will fit fine. Trying to think if there's anything I've missed.

EDIT* Will need 3 SATA cables so will need to get atleast one unless you have some spare from another machine.
 
Ah thanks a lot guys. Especially Jamie for respeccing the system for me.

I'll probably order the stuff in a few days incase I decide to go for a different case or something like that.
 
I thought 850W might be pushed close with SLI 580s. The anandtech bench has 850W for furmark alone, so with prime+furmark (like intensive game might push it) would be better to have a slightly higher overhead. The OCZ does state 940W peak but would it be able to hold that during games? Again, only relevant if you will go SLI down the line, if not could save a fair bit and go 600/650W.

EDIT* I iterate the SLI point as not many people end up going down that route so although it's nice to pay for the future proofing, could save if realistically you wouldn't do it.
 
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