Assess my Build

Ethereal2011

Ethereal2011

Ethereal2011

Associate
Joined
20 Dec 2011
Posts
104
Location
Aberdeen
I have just gathered all the necessary bits and pieces (I believe) for a 'future proof' gaming PC for myself.

Could you please asses it for me and check if I have everything I need? I would also like to know if the power supply is sufficient as I have doubts.

I don't believe I will need to overclock anything or go crazy as I will really only be playing WoW with the odd dabble in other things like Skyrim.

The monitor and other bits and pieces I will buy separately.

Guts:
Processor: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-430-IN
Graphics Card: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-286-AS
Motherboard:http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-391-GI
Hard Drive: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-366-WD
Power Supply: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-146-AN
RAM: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-114-GL
Heatsink: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SY-000-AN
Cooling Fans: 4x http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-036-AK and 1x http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-045-AK
Fan Clips: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-053-AK

Case:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-046-BX

PS: I am temporarily hijacking my boyfriends account as mine has yet to be approved. This is also my first time building a PC so if you do have better options for me please explain them like "X is better than Z because blah balh etc, etc."
It took me a long time to pick everything above because I read into them all and tried to find the best for me. I am trying to learn by myself (with some hints and tips from my boyfriend) so if you could take the time to explain things I would very much appreciate it! :)

Thanks!!

L
 
Yes I have picked blue mesh and a sliver logo ;D I thought I might as well make it pretty while I was going to all the trouble, haha!

Thank you for the suggestion :) I feel a weird loyalty to NVidia, i believe it made me slightly biased in my choice. :P
 
It's a solid list of parts, I'm not completely sure you need to spend that much on fans (could get an even better case?).

You certainly don't need that Antec spot fan at all, there will be ample airflow through the case. If you thought that it was actually a "proper" heatsink to replace the stock Intel item supplied with the CPU? you are mistaken.
 
Last edited:
Ohhh, I see! I didn't realize that Intel supplied it with a fan >.<

The case I like, it appeals to me :) I would prefer to keep the blue led fan also, as it's a windowed case it would add to the aesthetics. Is there any issues with the case that I haven't noticed?
 
I think you are just ordering a few to many.

Maybe two of the blue ones and that one LED fan is sufficient?

Then ditch the Antec spotcool fan and add a proper heatsink to the order.
 
Mostly fine however i would change a couple of things, firstly the CPU is not overclockable so unless you plan on an upgrade in the future a H77 saves £20 with no real loss.

Would swap the PSU as well, its not all that bad but will limit what you can run in the future, this one is out of stock but should be in soon enough there is also an CZ one at the same price.

GPU wise i would go for the 7850, 1Gb if its all you can afford but the 2Gb one will give more longevity. the 7850 is far more powerfull than the 650 and not many more pennies, the only downside is the lack of Physx support for the 5-10 games that support Physx, you can however run Physx on cpu's now.

I very much doubt you will need the fans so if money is tight drop them from the initial build and get a better all round rig, you can always add a couple of fans later.

HDD, as your only going for 1Tb its not a great deal of storage so it may be worth getting an SSD now and get a storage drive at a later date, you will notice the difference

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £161.99
1 x ASRock H77M Intel H77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £62.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite Power 500W Power Supply £32.99
Total : £269.96 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 
Last edited:
stulid said:
I think you are just ordering a few to many.

Maybe two of the blue ones and that one LED fan is sufficient?

Then ditch the Antec spotcool fan and add a proper heatsink to the order.
Click to expand...

I do have pets, and they pretty much live in the same room we have our PC's in, hence why I added the extra fans 'as back up'. I though dust, heat etc I may need them. Then, if I needed them in the future I could simply turn them on. Is this just me being naive?

What would be a proper heatsink? Any suggestions?
 
Gav_881 said:
Would swap the PSU as well, its not all that bad but will limit what you can run in the future, this one is out of stock but should be in soon enough there is also an CZ one at the same price.
Click to expand...

That Xigmatek doesnt even have an efficiency rating, also it may say 500w, but the 400w Antec is more powerful as it has more Amps.

Also I think I just found a review - http://translate.google.com/transla...-500-watt-araliginda-guc-kaynagi-psu-krizi/7/

Load testing a disaster. Full load test up to the beginning of a period of 3 minutes and 30 seconds after the burst of sparks died in series. I quickly got up to a few steps away from the chair to await the test Your Pilot and Line of Elektronik'teki friends "Brother, you're jumping festival will travel" jokes caused. :)

Comment: This power supply failed the test of the full load. Values ​​are labeled on the box above and think it is misleading. In addition, the value of freight claims etmeyip even bother to shut itself, moreover, salt and pepper on top of the explosion was a burst of sparks.
Click to expand...


Looks like a disaster.

Guess theres a reason its £32 for 500w;)
 
Ethereal2011 said:
I do have pets, and they pretty much live in the same room we have our PC's in, hence why I added the extra fans 'as back up'. I though dust, heat etc I may need them. Then, if I needed them in the future I could simply turn them on. Is this just me being naive?

What would be a proper heatsink? Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Sounds like you just need to ensure you keep the dust filters on the case cleaned regularly?

As for heatsink, you don't need to spend the earth,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-021-XG&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-012-XG&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-004-ZW&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=
 
Gav_881 said:
Mostly fine however i would change a couple of things, firstly the CPU is not overclockable so unless you plan on an upgrade in the future a H77 saves £20 with no real loss.

Would swap the PSU as well, its not all that bad but will limit what you can run in the future, this one is out of stock but should be in soon enough there is also an CZ one at the same price.

GPU wise i would go for the 7850, 1Gb if its all you can afford but the 2Gb one will give more longevity. the 7850 is far more powerfull than the 650 and not many more pennies, the only downside is the lack of Physx support for the 5-10 games that support Physx, you can however run Physx on cpu's now.

I very much doubt you will need the fans so if money is tight drop them from the initial build and get a better all round rig, you can always add a couple of fans later.

HDD, as your only going for 1Tb its not a great deal of storage so it may be worth getting an SSD now and get a storage drive at a later date, you will notice the difference
Click to expand...

Would I need to overclock the CPU by merely playing WoW? I really wont do a lot else with my PC. I was hoping with the Z77 that it could handle whatever gets thrown at it for about 3years by which point I would probably need an upgrade.

£70 is not really pennies in my world xD Plus that thing looks like it will snap any motherboard in half, lol.

I tried to understand the difference between SSD and HDD, do they really make a big difference? Could you perhaps go into more detail for me as I don't really understand the difference between the two.
 
Last edited:
A Z77 chipset will allow you to oveclock a suitable CPU should you wish to upgrade to one later.

• Either a "K" CPU which has an unlocked multpier.

• Or a CPU which has Turboboost so you can do whats called "limited unlocking" I.e increase the multiplier 4X faster than the max Turboboost value.

This - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500k,2833-9.html - is for Sandybridge chips, but is relevant for Ivybridge chips.


I tried to understand the difference between SSD and HDD, do they really make a big difference? Could you perhaps go into more detail for me as I don't really understand the difference between the two.
Click to expand...

A SSD has no moving parts, it uses very fast memory chips, thus its quick at access times and throughput, they are far faster than a mechanical harddrive.
 
Last edited:
stulid said:
Sounds like you just need to ensure you keep the dust filters on the case cleaned regularly?

As for heatsink, you don't need to spend the earth,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-021-XG&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-012-XG&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-004-ZW&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=
Click to expand...

So I should ditch the Intel supplied heat sink for one of these? Ok ty :)
I will go compare them all properly. Got a bit giddy reading that I would have to assemble the heat sink myself (bit of geek-freak going on) I think I would love to buy one JUST to put it together lol!

About the fan filters... when I was looking at the fans themselves, the filters were in the suggestions at the bottom. Do I need to buy those separately or do they come with the fans? The item description doesn't say.
 
Ethereal2011 said:
About the fan filters... when I was looking at the fans themselves, the filters were in the suggestions at the bottom. Do I need to buy those separately or do they come with the fans? The item description doesn't say.
Click to expand...

The case has filters at the front and for the PSU underneath.

Also if the case is to be placed on the floor, then you can fit the PSU with the fan facing up into the case, so its not sucking dust and crud up from the floor.
 
So I don't need to buy filters :D cool!

I've read that SSD have a 'time limit' to them, they can only read and write so many times before they kick they bucket, which means also losing all your data. I realize that this time limit would not be unreasonable but, if it's true, then wouldn't a HDD be more reliable and cost efficient in the long run?
 
Last edited:
Ok, those are pretty impressive stats. I will take them with a pinch of salt though as I seriously doubt Samsung have been able to warp forward 16, let alone 64 years in time to prove these tests.

I assume that I will need extra storage though, a lot of the SSDs I've seen don't have a lot of space on them. I guess because of the single disc.

Also would the Samsung SSD be hard to install? My bf had problems with his Crucial one.
 
Correct,

Use a SSD for the OS to run from and install as many programs/games as you can.

Get a HDD of a suitable size for you to use as storage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom