~Advice ~ Spec Check Pretty Please??

dave2245

dave2245

dave2245

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~Advice ~ Spec Check Pretty Please?? (Updated)

Hi,

EDIT 05/07 -
Please Critique my Updated build outlined below based on the advice provided by the good people in this thread!!

I'm looking to build my first Mid Range Gaming rig.
Budget - Around £800.
Initially i was going to go with the GTX 970, so that's what i've attempted to gear my components towards, but i've seen good things about the 1070 and was wondering if someone can help me with my build and suggest if its worth going up to the 1070.
I would prefer nvidia over amd.
Type of Games: League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Arma 2, Dayz, Division, Witcher 3.


My updated build:

GPU - GeForce GTX 970 SC ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Expres
Power Supply - Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black (Any Alternative suggestions here?)
CPU & Mobo Bundle - Z170XP-SLI - Intel Core i5 6600K Bundle
CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Seidon 120V Ver. 2 AIO CPU Cooler (Any Alternative suggestions here?)
RAM - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (Any Alternative suggestions here?)
HDD - WD Blue 1TB 7200rpm SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD
SSD - Kingston 240GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive

Case - NZXT H440 New 2015 Edition Case - Matte Black & Red
Fans - Enough fans appear to be included with the case.

------------------

Any advice would be great.
Cheers guys!

Also - Any suggestions on a monitor would be great.
 
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Hi Dave,

The i5-6600K is unlocked/overclockable but the motherboard isn't. So you could save a wee bit of money going for the regular i5-6600 (still 3.9GHz turbo) or even the i5-6500 (3.6GHz turbo) as you're not going to see any real difference.

The motherboard also cannot do SLI, so a 750W PSU is way overkill, and the CX range isn't ideal for mid-to-high end gaming systems. A 550w would be more than enough, even a 450W would easily cope too (if you're not going to overclock).

The Antec GX300 comes with two fans, the GX500 comes with three. No need for more if you want to maintain a positive air pressure. You may have to change the fans at the top to the front for this, unless the top fans are intaking, which would be weird.

A 970 is great for 1080p @ 60Hz. So really it depends on your monitor.
Click to expand...

Cheers for the response and feedback!
Ideally i think i'd like to have the option to overclock because its something i haven't done yet and would like to learn / gain experience of. Especially if its only a few quid more. Im not even looking for the performance boost really, more just the experience of doing so. Performance boost would just be a plus.

Even though the PSU is overkill, its only £3 more expensive than the one suggested.
Would there be any disadvantages to having such a powerful PSU? If there aren't it could prove to be usefull in the future as i upgrade??
(First time building, so if theres an obvious reason im missing, please feel free to explain like im a child! )

As for the last point, i actually need to buy a new monitor. (Im currently using a laptop attached to my old TV 42" tv using the TV as a main monitor, so it doesn't look great atm, but it gets the job done. (I'd probably end up buying 2 decent monitors, so if you guys have any suggestions for a monitor too, that would be awesome).


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can fit an overclockable CPU/mobo into the budget, with a nice cooler:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
1 x Antec GX500 Midi-Tower - Black= £39.95
1 x Team Group Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16D= £44.99
1 x Kingston 240GB SSDNow UV400 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SUV400S37/2= £47.99
1 x Gigabyte Z170-Gaming K3 - Intel Core i5 6600K Bundle **£10 Saving**= £285.98
1 x Antec H600 Kuhler 120mm AIO Liquid Cooler= £39.95
1 x Toshiba P300 1TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache High Performance Hard Drive (HDWD110UZSVA)= £37.99
1 x Super Flower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black= £59.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £249.95

Total: £806.79
(includes shipping: £0.00)


The MSI 970 cooler is fantastic and they tend to overclock very nicely.

With that Z170 motherboard, I would spend a bit more on faster 3000/3200 RAM if possible, just in case you come across a game like FO4 that really does benefit from it. Actually, I think the Arma series falls into this category.

Not sure about liquid-cooling support for the top of the Antec GX500, the top area looks iffy in that sense. The rear ought to be fine though.
Click to expand...

With regards to the RAM, do you mean something like https://www.overclockers.co.uk/avexir-blitz-original-red-16gb-2x8gb-ddr4-pc4-24000c16-3000mhz-dual-channel-memory-kit-red-light-my-111-ar.html
Will i actually see a difference? Im sure i was told to just go for normal ddr4 ram because i wouldnt actually be able to see a difference?

Liquid cooling would be a nice thing to go for in the future, but at the moment, im not looking to do anything with it.
If you know of any cases in a similar price range that would work then id like to consider it, but its not something im looking to do atm.

Thanks for all the advice guys!
Any more help / answers to questions would be Greatly appreciated!! :)
 
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Borealis said:
On the PSU front, the Superflower HX550W is a very good unit with good quality internals. The CX750 is a more budget-orientated PSU, which has cheaper internals. If you don't plan on having more than one graphics card, a good 550W unit is all you need - even if you're overclocking.
Click to expand...

Oki, perfect. Thanks for elaborating ;)
 
Borealis said:
The Corsair CX series aren't as bad as some people make out, but they are at the cheap end of the scale. They're better than some of the really cheap PSUs you find - CiT, Powercool etc.

Just a note of caution, you might want to remove the rainforest link because:
a) it doesn't work
b) it's against the forum rules
Click to expand...

In all fairness, if its better build quality and i can overclock with it, i may as well just go with the 550.
Also fixed the link, cheers for the heads up!
 
Danny75 said:
I'm pretty sure Arma benefits from fast RAM, as well as FallOut 4. It is true you will not see a difference most of the time. Your call.

Cheaper than the Avexir:

My basket at Overclockers UK:


​




I meant the Antec H600 AIO liquid cooler in the spec. It may not be mountable on the top of the GX500 but it ought to be mountable at the rear. Confirmation from Antec would not be a bad idea before ordering, though.

What's the budget for the monitors?
Click to expand...
Nothing more than 150 each, but the cheaper the better.
At a push i'd spend 150, but as long as it's a decent size and i can see the nice HQ stuff, im really not that bothered.
Im not hard into the whole 4k / i need to have the best resolution ever.
 
Danny75 said:
I really like these around that price-point:

My basket at Overclockers UK:


​


I ordered one in late 2013 as a spare monitor to use when building systems, then in 2014 someone was in urgent need of a screen so I sold it to them. Both myself and them were/are very happy with it. No noticeable lightbleed etc, lovely colours. Classy design.

Another option is to go for one 1440p screen around £225-ish for movies, gaming, any graphics work, etc. And a cheapo screen for other stuff.


My basket at Overclockers UK:


​


There are TN's with faster refresh rate but not sure you'll benefit. Unlikely you'll get much higher than 60 fps @ 1080p with a 970, on demanding games like The Division and Witcher 3, unless you lower a lot of settings. For the 1440p monitor option, the extra detail of the higher resolution will compensate for the lowering of a few settings. Just my opinion. The monitor forum of this website is a good place to ask for more opinions.

I know you'd prefer Nvidia but AMD's 480 should be even better for 1440p, with the extra memory. 970 will be fine but 480 better. At 1080p then memory won't be an issue except in rare cases, but the 480 should still be faster, apparently.
Click to expand...

Think i'll probs just get 2x the first one. Looks decent and is a decent price, ill still keep an eye out for deals though (:

Cheers for all the advice!
Do you, or anyone else have any input on which GFX you think i should get ?
970 or 1070?
 
Danny75 said:
You're welcome, Dave.

970 is fine for 1080p. 1070 would be better for 1440p.
Click to expand...

Great, i'll just go for the 970 since the monitors ill be getting will more than likely be 1080p due to pricing constraints ;)


How many monitors would the mobo suggested above allow?
(2, 1 via dvi and 1 via hdmi?)
 
Danny75 said:
The two on the motherboard will use the iGPU (CPU integrated graphics). The ones on the graphics card will use the graphics of the card.

So you could hook up one monitor to motherboard for browsing or whatever, and another to the graphics card for gaming, for example.

I think you could use six, yes. Unless mobo doesn't like more than one of its two in use for some reason.
Click to expand...

So i would just connect using 2 of the display ports from the GPU, directly to the two monitors?

(thanks for all the help btw!)

Do you have any Recommendations on a case?
Ideally i'd like something with 3 or 4 usb sockets on the front?
Or alternatively i could setup a usb hub on my desk, im not quite sure which would be better?
 
Danny75 said:
You're welcome.

You just need to check what type of inputs the monitors you decide on have too. For example, those Asus 1080p IPS I specced have 2 x HDMI and 1 x Analogue/VGA/D-Sub (same thing, different names) each. Unless you want to bother with adapters, the easiest thing would be to hook up your gaming monitor to the graphics card's single HDMI port and your other monitor to the motherboard's HDMI port, because that graphics card only brings 1 x HDMI.

Unless your intention is to use both for gaming, in which case you need a solution which allows you to run both monitors from the graphics card. Or different monitors with other type of ports. Or another graphics card with 2 x HDMI.
Click to expand...
I cant see any on overclockers but a quick google has came up with a number of display port to hdmi cables. Would that suffice since the GPU appears to have 2 display ports.

Budget being around £40 like the Antec GX500?
Click to expand...
yeah say around the £50 mark, give or take a tenner.
I've been told to look for something with decent cable management for decent air flow. And ideally i'd like something thats easy to clean, if it needs it?
 
danny75 said:
1 x Antec H600 Kuhler 120mm AIO Liquid Cooler= £39.95
Click to expand...
I just realised that this is a liquid cooler. i'd never even considered a liquid cooler as i had NO experience with it at all.
I've just done a bit of research now, in your opinion is this low end one definitely worth it over similar priced mid-range air coolers?
Also do you think water cooling is definitely something worth working into my build? (I assume so for only an extra £40) ?

Laputacake said:
I'll second the P400, getting one myself soon and for the price it's a really nice case. For the GPU the RX 480 is being released, well the NDA is being lifted and so you could grab the 480 or find a cheap 980 or 970. As for power supply the fully modular 550w is on sale right now https://www.overclockers.co.uk/supe...lus-gold-power-supply-gunmetal-ca-048-sf.html
Click to expand...
I do like the look of that case to be fair, is the fan on the front/top efficient / good enough? Just seems to be in a weird place haha.
I think im going to be getting the 970.
Hoping it will drop a bit more in price within the next month or so then i'll pick one up. It just appears to fit my price range better than the others (also, i'd prefer a nvidia card over amd).
 
Danny75 said:
Check out the feedback thread for those Antec coolers: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18705983

I bought and tried one myself and was very impressed other than the mounting system for 115X (which they are going to improve, if they haven't already done so).

Hard to say whether it can beat every air cooler priced the same. That didn't use to be the case with 120mm AIO's in the past but from feedback I've seen here and there, seems people with similar-priced or cheaper air coolers are struggling to get 60C Cinebench/RealBench temps with i7-6700K @ 1.37 Vcore (which is what I was getting). I did notice the pump ran at 3000+ RPM (couldn't hear it) as opposed to the pump on my H100i running at 2,300 RPM. So maybe that's one reason for the seeming improvement of some 120mm AIO's like this one. Probably water block improvement too. But as I said, hard to say because it depends on other things like case airflow. All I can say is the H600 and H1200 are great value for money, and I don't see a hugely compelling reason to go for more expensive ones.
Click to expand...
Yeah i'd love to get my feet wet with some basic water cooling as its something i've wanted to do but never thought i'd be able to. I always looked at it as only used for high end gaming rigs with tubes of neon blue liquid flowing everywhere, so i think a basic AIO is a good way to start. :D
I'll have a look around and check out some reviews, but may end up just going with the one you suggested unless you think theres others i should be looking at. (For a similar price).

Yes, fan is fine there. If you use a 120mm liquid AIO and have it on the rear, you can move the rear fan to the front for 2 x 120mm there.

RX 480 prices starting at £175 today.

If you're going to go with Nvidia, there have been pictures of the upcoming 1060 which may be better than 970, but no idea when they are due for release.
Click to expand...
Can you clarify how the air flow should work.
Is it in the front / top and out the back?

And as for the water cooler, that would be getting fitted to the GPU, not the CPU, right?
Ended up picking up a GTX 970 from scan for £205, so im pretty happy with that. :)
 
Hey peeps, just an update.
So far i've purchased:

CPU: i5 - 6600k
Mobo: Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2x8gb) 3200MHz
GPU: GTX 970
HDD: 1tb WD
SSD: 240Gb Kingston


Still Need:
Case
Fans(If Necessary)
CPU Cooler
GPU Cooler????

I'd like to dabble in some basic water cooling to get my hands wet (Not literally). But not sure where to go.
I'd also like a case with decent air flow.
Do i need a cooler for the GPU, would it help?
I do plan on overclocking too! (New to all this so figured it was a pretty good time to start).

Any advice on the components required or anything else would be really cool! :)
 
Poneros said:
Basic watercooling = AIO (all-in-one) unit, e.g. for cpu like Corsair H110i. But that's just plug and play really, can't say it's worth the expense. Real watercooling requires a lot more money & tinkering with. I'd say read about it some more before making a decision and do it in a year or so if you still feel like it.
Click to expand...

Yeah? so just get a normal air cooler for now and maybe come back to it later?
Can i still overclock fine with an air cooler?
 
Borealis said:
You've got a good hardware spec for sure, but that doesn't guarantee you'll get an amazing OC.

What groovesection is referring to is known as the "silicon lottery". The 6600K is a good chip for OCing, but some chips are better than others. It's down to the way that they're manufactured.

For example, I know someone who's got an i5 4670K that will easily OC to 4.6GHz. Mine tops out at 4.2GHz, no matter what I do. We both have the exact same spec, so he's got a good chip and I've got a poor one.
Click to expand...

Ah right, i see what you mean.
Well i've heard good things about the 6600k and the mobo so hopefully should be ok.
I need a cpu cooler regardless as the one i've purchased doesn't come with one.
Do you think something like https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cooler-master-hyper-212x-cpu-cooler-hs-072-cm.html work ok?
I also need a case but theres so many to choose from! ;)
 
Borealis said:
For cooling, you have a lot of options. You can go air or AIO, or even custom water - I'd suggest air or AIO. With air coolers, you must make sure that there is sufficient height clearance in your case for the cooler and that it will clear your RAM (Corsair Vengeance LPX won't be a problem). Here's a few coolers to look at:

Rajintek Themis - compact but reliable. Won't let you get up to insane OC speeds, but very decent and good value.

alpenfohn matterhorn - bigger and better than the themis but not insanely huge.

Noctua NH-D14 - Huge cooler, but extremely good. Mine didn't fit LGA2011-v3, so I sold it to someone with a 6700K. He loves it.

Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Another monster cooler, but not beige/brown. It's equally as effective as the Noctua, just a more "mainstream" colour.

Antec Kuhler h600 - Decent 120mm AIO.

Antec Kuhler h1200 - Decent 240mm AIO.

On the case front, there's a lot of choice and it depends what you like. I'm a fan of Phanteks, as their build quality is great and they're not too expensive. This is what I've got, but I accept that not everyone will like it!
Click to expand...

I quite like the look of the H1200 but the socket compatibility doesnt list 1151 which is what i think my CPU is? (Please correct me if im wrong).

I like the look of trying a AIO, since its pretty much the same price as the good air coolers and id imagine performance is going to be the same as a good air cooler.

I quite like the look of the Phanteks to be fair, im looking for something fairly simple, maybe with a little bit of flair / style but nothing too flashy.
Build quality and cable management > design.
Theres so many to look through haha.
 
Borealis said:
Any cooler that fits 1150/1155/1156, will fit 1151 as it's the same hole spacing and height clearance. I think the manufacturers may have got fed up with Intel changing the last digit of the socket every year/2 years! I know some coolers now say "fits 115x".
Click to expand...

Ah ok fair enough! :)
I think i'll probs go with one of thoes AIOs.

Does the GTX970 require a cooler? (Would it be very beneficial / would i see the benefit) ?
 
Borealis said:
The GTX970 doesn't need a cooler, no. Although you might see a small benefit at this stage, I'd advise you not to mess around removing GPU coolers if this is your first DIY build.

Some people do remove the stock cooler/backplate and fit an AIO or custom waterblock though. That's usually if they're OCing it and/or running SLI. If you OC the GPU it can get pretty toasty. Likewise, SLI setups get hot due to lack of airflow between the cards.
Click to expand...

I'd like to try OC'ing as this is the first time i'd have a build capable of such. Hence why im buying components like the 6600k.

Do you think i can OC the GPU much with the stock cooler that it comes with?
 
Borealis said:
Which GTX970 are you getting? The card should handle a mild/moderate OC out of the box. For high/extreme OCs, custom water is the best method as a full cover (FC) water block will cover the GPU die as well as the VRMs and VRAM. AIO adapter brackets allow you to cool the die, but you end up having to add VRM/VRAM heatsinks.

Personally, I find GPU OCing harder than CPU OCing. Also, some manufacturers void your warranty if you remove the stock cooler.

Some cards OC better than others and like the CPU, you'll be playing with the silicon lottery again. No two 970s will be exactly the same.

When I had a Radeon 7950, I tried OCing it. It was stable, but my card had a bad cooler design, so the VRMs got way too hot, way too quickly. TBH, I didn't notice much difference in games.

With my 980Ti, I haven't bothered OCing it, as it does everything I want, straight out of the box. I've been running it for nearly a year now and it handles everything I play with ease at 1080p.
Click to expand...

The card i went with was - EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SC GAMING ACX 2.0
I dont think ill add any additional cooling to the GPU for now based on the advice given.

Just gonna get a AIO for the CPU (i5 6600k).
Not sure which one though, maybe the H600 or H1200 Kuhler.

EDIT:
I'm also seriously considering forking out some extra money for https://www.overclockers.co.uk/nzxt-h440-new-2015-edition-case-matte-black-ca-172-nx.html
I was initially intending to spend around £60 but this looks pretty damn nice.
Would i need to purchase additional fans or will the ones that come with the case be fine?
 
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