Can I have comments on this build?

Associate
Joined
26 Oct 2012
Posts
17
I just did the Configurator thingy. I am buying a new PC for my son for Christmas. He mostly (currently) plays games on his current clapped out one like Guild Wars 2, Battlefield 3, Minecraft, Starcraft II, etc and watches loads of videos.

I dont want to scrimp on what hes getting quality-wise and lifespan-wise as this is intended to last him for a good number of years, but on the other hand I had hoped to keep it under £1K. Its currently coming up at £1069.75 incl shipping and VAT (£875.96 nett).

- NZXT Phantom Enthusiast USB3.0 Full Tower Case - Red
- Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM (temporarily out of stock)
- Stage 3: Overclock of CPU - 20% Overclock (Proceesor speed x1.20)
- NZXT Havik 140 CPU Cooler (Socket 1366/1155/1156/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) (temporarily out of stock)
- Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
- Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML16GX3M2A1600C10)
- Sapphire HD 7850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games
- Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001)
- OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
- PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply
- Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) **FREE SHIPPING**
- Tech Labs Zaward OEM 120mm Golf Ball fan SI (temporarily out of stock)
- Full Cable Management
- Onboard Sound Card (ZERO COST)

Comments:
1. The case is basically what he'll see and so I have gone for a real "looker" for him.
2. I was hoping to go for a watercooled CPU cooler like I did with mine a year ago but it wasnt an option so went for the best fan because of the overclocking option.
3. The 16Gb RAM could drop to 8Gb RAM I guess but as I have decided not to go for an SSD drive I figured that Win 8 & the 2Tb HDD would appreciate the benefit of the additional RAM.

I hope that the out of stock items are not on long lead times though.
 
There are some improvement that can be made.

Are you only looking for a pre-built machine or are you willing to have a go at self building? You will get more for your money if you self build.
 
There are some improvement that can be made.

Are you only looking for a pre-built machine or are you willing to have a go at self building? You will get more for your money if you self build.

Well after building my own a couple of times in the past I don't have any problems doing it, but I bought my most recent PC from OC last year and I've been really impressed with it and their service, plus lack of free time now means that I would rather get OC to build it for me.

I can see your point about saving money self building though, but it would be a last resort tbh.

I forgot to mention that he has an "Iiyama 24" Full HD 1920 x 1080" monitor which might make a difference to which Gfx card he needs?
 
The problem with those configurators is that your are very limited in component choice, especially graphics card (there are no 7950s which would be an ideal card for your budget).

Have you looked at the other pre-built system?

I would However recommend an SSD, it makes a big difference to how the computer feels. For gaming 8Gb of RAM is plenty.
 
Cracking spec from Petey tbh


Obviously you can tinker it to your own preference I assume your boy is of an age that he knows where his presents cme from


Why not order all the parts and once they arrive do a quick build up outside the case to make sure it's all working then Xmas eve or similar take a couple of hours to build the rig with your boy?


Great way to spend a bit of quality time with him educate him in how a of goes together and win some extra brownie points
 
Back
Top Bottom