Check my spec please!

Amoeba

Amoeba

Amoeba

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Hi

Putting together a spec for a new PC and have come up with the following:

CPU: Intel i5 2500k Socket 1155
Motherboard: Asrock Extreme4 Gen3 Z68
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB 12800/1600MHZ Dual kit (x2 = 16GB)
Cooler: Zalman CNPS10X Flex
Cooler fan: Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 120mm
Graphics: Asus GTX 570 1280MB
Sound: Creative X-Fi Titanium HD
Disks: WD 1TB Caviar Black
Optical: Pioneer BDR-206DBK
Case: Lian Li PC-X500FX
PSU: Enermax Modu82+ 650w
Monitor: TBC
Mouse: TBC
Keyboard: DAS Model S Ultimate Silent EU

Anyone got any points for me? Been a while since I specced up a PC (read 7 years) so I'm a little behind the times :p. I was particularly unsure about the memory and PSU.

Cheers
David
 
Yeah the Corsair I have gone for has those tall heatsinks.

What makes those components better than what I chose? Just price or is there a performance difference?
 
change the graphics card to avoid SLI problems due to triple slot cooler: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-129-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010
(even if you dont plan on going SLI it will still free up an extra PCIe slot)

also, change the PSU to this one to allow for SLI in the future: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-116-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=
(the PSU you chose is great, but just isnt powerful enough to cope with a second graphics card in the future)

*edit*
RJCs choices have exactly the same performance for a much lower price
 
Id get...


Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) [GEL-TRANQUILLO ]
£25.99 inc VAT

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-GD&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395




Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX) [KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX]
This Week Only Offer
was £74.99 inc VAT
£65.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-112-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517



XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
This Week Only Offer
was £89.98 inc VAT
£79.98 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-XF&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

PSU for sli, & id leave out the sound card untill you try the onboard sound.
 
I don't ever plan on going SLI, so that shouldn't be a concern. I take on board what you say about freeing up a PCI slot though.

Thanks for the ideas guys, going out now but will check back later :)
 
Amoeba said:
Yeah the Corsair I have gone for has those tall heatsinks.

What makes those components better than what I chose? Just price or is there a performance difference?
Click to expand...

The taller heatsinks may interfere with CPU cooler, the mechanical drive, the WD offered no performance increase.
 
Amoeba said:
I don't ever plan on going SLI, so that shouldn't be a concern. I take on board what you say about freeing up a PCI slot though.

Thanks for the ideas guys, going out now but will check back later :)
Click to expand...

in that case go with the £80 gigabyte Z68 board from OcUK. the reason the asrock is so much more expensive is because it can do SLI and crossfire at proper speeds
 
I'd say something like


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI ATI Radeon HD 6970 2048MB Twin Frozr III GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with Dirt 3 & Deus Ex PC Games** £269.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £161.99
1 x Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD Sound Card (70SB127000001) £157.99
1 x Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold £109.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £86.99
1 x Pioneer BDR-S06XLB 12x BluRay RW / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black Retail £79.98
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.98
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £71.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £69.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX) £65.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
Total : £1,180.86 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
Ok done some rejigging

CPU: Intel i5 2500k Socket 1155 Retail
Motherboard: Asrock Extreme4 Gen3 Z68
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB 1600MHZ Grey (x2)
Cooler: Thermalright True Black 120 CPU Cooler
Cooler fan: Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 120mm
Graphics: MSI ATI 6970 2048 TwinFrozr
Sound: Creative X-Fi Titanium HD
Disks: OCZ Vertex 3 240GB SSD
Optical: Pioneer BDR-206DBK
Case: Lian Li PC-X500F
PSU: Seasonic X850

Some points to note:

I realise the case is super expensive, but I love Lian Li quality and don't want to change this out for anything else.

Being a bit of an audio buff I want the sound card, on board sound has always sounded guff to me.

Decided to go for an SSD as I already have a fileserver with 3TB in it, so don't need the storage. Went for a large one as I think <100GB would be restrictive :p

Gone for a Thermalright CPU (meant to do that originally, don't know why the Zalman got pasted up) as they are what I have always used and I tend to OC quite a lot ;)

Taken on board what was said about upping the PSU, but didn't go for an XFX power supply as I've had too many bad experiences to go for anything I know first hand are decent, so gone for a Seasonic.

Changed the VGA card to the MSI 6970. I know I said I wouldn't go SLI in future but could have second thoughts on that so went for something a bit narrower. I've always been an nVidia fan boy and the change to ATI makes me a little nervous, but first time for everything!

RAM changed for the Kingston stuff (grey though to suit my colour scheme :p).

Questions:

Do you think I will have any problem fitting the cooler next to the RAM?

The case accepts a maximum VGA card length of 315mm, and the card is 310mm. I know this is within the limit but in reality should it be ok?


Any revised comments now? Keen to get this ordered tonight so don't be shy!
 
would say silver arrow rather than true black.

xfx use seasonic as their oem so its a known quantity in terms of the quality tho the warranty rma is the unknown quantity.

crusical m4 seems to be the ssd of choice.

with the blueray make sure its retail not oem.
 
Thanks dude..

I will stick with the Seasonic I think, I've had PSUs literally go up in flames on me before so I am very wary. Maybe overly so but still.. :p

Why the M4 over the OCZ? The OCZ has better reviews and is slightly cheaper..

Why does the retail vs OEM thing matter for the optical?
 
oem doesn't come with software, unlike for dvd there aren't freeware(legal) for blueray playback etc. if you plan on buying/already have suitable software then fine go with the oem just a heads up incase you didn't know.
 
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