Build Spec Request

HDD's and SSD's use different modes in the BIOS. AFAIK if you want to put the OS onto the SSD from the HDD you need to do a complete install.

Just make sure you put the SSD in and install windows on it before connecting the HDD overwise parts of the OS can end up on the HDD.
 
RJC said:
The SSD will show up as a normal drive and as drive C and the mechanical as the next drive letter.

I use Win 8 for gaming and not come across any issues, but the choice is yours really :), but I would go with a SSD now and install the Operating System on that. All you need todo is enable ACHI in the BIOS before installing windows.
Click to expand...

I take it I install OEM version of Windows 8? I've installed windows lots of times, but never OEM on a newly built system. Is there any issues there? Is it a one time install, or can I format at a later date and reinstall?
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £249.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with FREE F1 RC Car & MSI HDD Enclosure £139.98
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 750W Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply (ST75F-P) £104.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £94.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £78.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £46.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £39.95
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 REV A CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £24.98
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £1,073.77 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Little over the budget but I added the OS too. Mobo does SLI/Xfire, has onboard wifi and bluetooth (plus some other little extras in the bundle). PSU is silver rated and modular, has ample power for dual GPUs should you want to go that route in the future.

Hope this helps, I look forward seeing what you settle on. Any questions or heaven forbid problems come build day you know where to find us :)
 
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honosuseri said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £249.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with FREE F1 RC Car & MSI HDD Enclosure £139.98
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 750W Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply (ST75F-P) £104.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £94.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £78.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £46.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £39.95
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 REV A CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £24.98
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £1,073.77 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Little over the budget but I added the OS too. Mobo does SLI/Xfire, has onboard wifi and bluetooth (plus some other little extras in the bundle). PSU is silver rated and modular, has ample power for dual GPUs should you want to go that route in the future.

Hope this helps, I look forward seeing what you settle on. Any questions or heaven forbid problems come build day you know where to find us :)
Click to expand...

Thanks! Great advice so far.

There have only been 2 graphics cards mentioned, the ice and sapphire. How do they compare, or are they much of a muchness?
 
honosuseri said:
The HIS is clocked faster and has a good cooler, which is why I plumbed for that one.
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Ok. I intend to build in stages, that is for example install the SSD and add the HDD later. Would I have that option with the graphics card? As in, does the motherboard have basic video output capability so that the card can be added later?
 
String said:
Ok. I intend to build in stages, that is for example install the SSD and add the HDD later. Would I have that option with the graphics card? As in, does the motherboard have basic video output capability so that the card can be added later?
Click to expand...

This board (specced above) has on board graphics

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
Total : £122.89 (includes shipping : £8.25).

 
Sure does bud :) Don't expect to do any gaming on it till you drop in the dedicated GPU though.

How you balance the build is up to you. Im sure you've been told already but having the dual GPU option adds to the cost of the mobo and PSU. It's often much easier/cost efficient to sell the GPU off and replace with a better one.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £249.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £98.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £94.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £78.98
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy 'Yin' Mini-ITX Cube Case - White/Black £64.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £39.95
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £995.41 (includes shipping : £10.50).



That's a mini-itx mobo which is much smaller, still has built in wifi though. The progidy case is smaller than a midi tower but still has room for large GPUs. I don't mean to confuse you just show what's possibubble for the budget :)
 
honosuseri said:
Sure does bud :) Don't expect to do any gaming on it till you drop in the dedicated GPU though.

How you balance the build is up to you. Im sure you've been told already but having the dual GPU option adds to the cost of the mobo and PSU. It's often much easier/cost efficient to sell the GPU off and replace with a better one.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £249.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £98.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £94.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £78.98
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy 'Yin' Mini-ITX Cube Case - White/Black £64.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £39.95
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £995.41 (includes shipping : £10.50).



That's a mini-itx mobo which is much smaller, still has built in wifi though. The progidy case is smaller than a midi tower but still has room for large GPUs. I don't mean to confuse you just show what's possibubble for the budget :)
Click to expand...

Don't worry about possible confusion, it's up to me to get up to speed! Basically, you have changed MOBO and PSU to components that don't support xfire because there's a cost saving? Right? Are you saying that it would be more likely that I'd switch a single graphics card for a better upgraded single card as opposed to adding a second card? It's just that I was under the impression that it would be better in future to add a second card rather than upgrade to a better slingle card.

Hope that makes sense (what I just said).
 
The mobo is mini-itx which is the smallest, you then have mATX which is bigger and finally ATX which is bigger still, there are ATX-XL mobos but you wont be looking for those.

The prodigy case is smaller than a midi tower but it MUST have a mini-itx mobo to fit inside it. If you want a full sized case then ATX size is the way forward.

There are cheaper PSUs than the one I used but it is of excellent quality, is modular with a gold efficiency rating and not stupidly expensive
 
honosuseri said:
The mobo is mini-itx which is the smallest, you then have mATX which is bigger and finally ATX which is bigger still, there are ATX-XL mobos but you wont be looking for those.

The prodigy case is smaller than a midi tower but it MUST have a mini-itx mobo to fit inside it. If you want a full sized case then ATX size is the way forward.

There are cheaper PSUs than the one I used but it is of excellent quality, is modular with a gold efficiency rating and not stupidly expensive
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I understand. The case is smaller because it is only intended to house a single graphics card. As for the PSU, I don't see the point in shaving off on cost at the expense of quality as you say.

The big decision here, is whether to make allowances for 2 graphic cards in future. I suppose it comes down to one crucial question. Will it be more cost effective to have one powerful card in place of 2 less powerful cards?
 
The prodigy is very popular as it's relatively small and can house large GPUs. If you want a bigger case that's cool, I just like to point out alternatives.

The 7950 has ample grunt for gaming, sadly the AMD never settle game bundle offer has stopped :( The main reason for SLI/Xfire is for when people want to run games over 3 screens or a single panel at stupidly high resolution and maintain good FPS
 
Thanks for all the great advice to date. I'll have a think about it all, and I'll get a decision made and post back with what I'm going to build.

By the way, do these mobo's allow for installation of a better chipset in the future i.e. Intel i7?
 
The 1155 socket is coming to an end. While the CPU's are still great good there wont be anymore CPU's coming out on this socket. And for gaming the i7 is a pointless upgrade because it only adds Hyperthreading which games don't utilise.
 
Bacon? said:
The 1155 socket is coming to an end. While the CPU's are still great good there wont be anymore CPU's coming out on this socket. And for gaming the i7 is a pointless upgrade because it only adds Hyperthreading which games don't utilise.
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Perfect. Thanks again guys. Great forum for info!
 
Finally getting round to this and I'll be building in stages due to cash flow and work commitments. First choice for me is he case, and I'm thinking about this one...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-212-CM&tool=3

Is the blue led light in the image an optional choice? I wouldn't want it creating a lot of light. Also, the spec states USB 2.0 but I didn't think the case would dictate that, surely if I want USB 3.0 then that will be dictated by the motherboard or a pci slot?
 
String said:
Finally getting round to this and I'll be building in stages due to cash flow and work commitments. First choice for me is he case, and I'm thinking about this one...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-212-CM&tool=3

Is the blue led light in the image an optional choice? I wouldn't want it creating a lot of light. Also, the spec states USB 2.0 but I didn't think the case would dictate that, surely if I want USB 3.0 then that will be dictated by the motherboard or a pci slot?
Click to expand...

There is a button on the top which turns the blue illumination on/off.


USB3.0 uses a 19pin internal connector, this is different from USB2.0 connector, if you want a case with USB3.0, get a case that does have USB3.0.
 
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stulid said:
There is a button on the top which turns the blue illumination on/off.


USB3.0 uses a 19pin internal connector, this is different from USB2.0 connector, if you want a case with USB3.0, get a case that does have USB3.0.
Click to expand...

Thanks, the similar model with USB 3.0 isn't much more expensive. Seems to be decent case for price, with plenty of room for expansion which is what I need because no doubt this system is going to evolve!
 
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