Choosing a case

C4R1S08 · 31 Jul 2013 at 11:52

I have been looking at cases and i have no idea what i should be looking for. Im thinking of getting:

AMD Piledriver Fx-4 Quad Core 4300 Processor - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-339-AM

8GB Ram - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-033-TG&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

850w PSU - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-044-OK&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=2466

AMD 990FX Motherboard - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-175-MS

MSI AMD Radeon HD 7850 2 GB http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-191-MS

- I have never built a PC before and have been looking at reviews etc and this seems review wise like a semi decent build for my budget of between £500 - £650, i don't know what case i should go for or what case will fit these components. Can anyone give any advice plus advice on the other things like fans etc.

Don't worry about Monitor or Mouse/Keyboard etc.

Cheers

Doomedspeed · 31 Jul 2013 at 12:07

You could get a much better build for the money. Your build is overspending on the motherboard and underspending on the CPU..

THis is a build i specced for a simular budget sometime last week:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £185.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £143.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £48.95
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black £47.95
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £45.95
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £43.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x Silverstone Argon SST-AR01 CPU Cooler - 120mm (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1150 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £28.99
Total : £598.36 (includes shipping : £10.50).

That would be perfect for you..

ExRayTed · 31 Jul 2013 at 12:09

A case needs to be built to the 'ATX' standard. A standard ATX case will fit all ATX motherboards (micro and full sized).

Really it then just depends on what you want. If it's just a cheap enclosure then something like this will do the job

YOUR BASKET
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £43.49 (includes shipping : £8.75).

Some need better cable management options and a better overall quality of case. If that's the 'case' (excuse the pun) then something like this would be more suitable.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £61.99
Total : £73.09 (includes shipping : £9.25).

One thing to check for is that the case has room for the longer GPUs out there. Some cheaper cases won't have the space.

C4R1S08 · 31 Jul 2013 at 12:18

Doomedspeed said:
You could get a much better build for the money. Your build is overspending on the motherboard and underspending on the CPU..

THis is a build i specced for a simular budget sometime last week:

That would be perfect for you..

But would this be a decent gaming PC?

Doomedspeed · 31 Jul 2013 at 12:20

C4R1S08 said:
But would this be a decent gaming PC?

Yes.

Much better than the one you selected.

EDIT: i have a very similar build (the one specced will be a good (20% better than mine) and it blasts through every game i throw at it.

C4R1S08 · 31 Jul 2013 at 12:22

Im just looking a Gaming PC that will Play all the Latest Games well, i don't need to have the Graphics Maxed out, but i would like them decent and running well enough for the games to run smoothly without crashes or major lag.

Ripjaw · 31 Jul 2013 at 12:31

+1 Doomed build, you'll get a lot more performace with that. cases are actually a hard part of the build imo, windowed, non windowed, silent, high hirflow, low dust, big, small, green so on lol.

Im doing my own new build on the 21st of aug and will be getting this case idk how much help it is to you http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-144-CS&groupid=2362&catid=1489 its pretty well dust proof (as much as can be) silent and still has good airflow, according to corsair when they did there testing it runs only 2c hotter than there non silent version (300R)

Idleman · 31 Jul 2013 at 12:46

A bit of an update on Doomed`s spec. VTX3D can be OCed to stock 7950 speeds making it very good value. The Z68 board you will need to check with OCUK that it has the IB bios.

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £185.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £48.95
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £45.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
Total : £657.94 (includes shipping : £11.75).

C4R1S08 · 31 Jul 2013 at 12:47

Thanks doomed, i think i may look into this build, the reviews on each of the items is encouraging, im slightly worried about the PSU though, im not sure 450w is enough, although again im don't know much about them, but having extra in my eyes may be better.

David Bisset · 31 Jul 2013 at 12:59

The PSU is enough to run that system - if you want to get into overclocking the CPU and the GPU then you'll probably need more. If you're not going to do that then don't worry!

if at a later date you feel it is beginning to show its age and you decide to clock it up you can always change the PSU then.

People generally advise not to skimp on the PSU, but it is worth pointing out that they mean on quality not power. Picking the right level of power is better than getting a way overpowered one.

I'd probably look about 550W for that spec with overclocking in mind.

Edit: Here is a decent PSU at 520W: Seasonic S12II ... I'm sure there are cheaper options, it was just a quick search.

C4R1S08 · 31 Jul 2013 at 13:02

Thanks David

Doomedspeed · 31 Jul 2013 at 13:06

C4R1S08 said:
Thanks doomed, i think i may look into this build, the reviews on each of the items is encouraging, im slightly worried about the PSU though, im not sure 450w is enough, although again im don't know much about them, but having extra in my eyes may be better.

Thats fair enough 450W will be enough but it is better to be safe.

Check Idles spec below, the PSU from that would be a great choice. I have a thermaltake PSU myself and love it.

Idleman said:
A bit of an update on Doomed`s spec. VTX3D can be OCed to stock 7950 speeds making it very good value. The Z68 board you will need to check with OCUK that it has the IB bios.

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £185.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £48.95
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £45.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
Total : £657.94 (includes shipping : £11.75).

C4R1S08 · 31 Jul 2013 at 13:52

I think i will go for this when i get the funds up, im more a console gamer so not 100% sure on what i needed hence why i asked, but io do play X3TC an awful lot and was wondering if this setup would more than match the Specs:

Microsoft ® Windows ® XP (SP-2), Vista SP1™
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo or AMD® equivalent at 2.0 GHz
3 GB RAM
256 MB 3D DirectX 9 Compatible video card (not onboard) with Pixel Shader 3.0 support
Soundcard (Surround Sound support recommended)
10 GB free hard disk space
DVD-ROM Drive
Mouse and Keyboard or Joystick (optional support for force-feedback) or Gamepad

My Laptop meets most of these requirements but seems to lag up and slow way down and even crash sometimes when playing it, plus a new one is coming out "Soon" so i want to be able to run that along with the Fifa's, COD, BF, NFS etc

sastusbulbas · 31 Jul 2013 at 15:38

An 850w psu seems overkill. As for the graphics card, the badic Nvidia 660 is outperforming the 7850 and all most need for a single 1080p 60hz monitor.

Nightglow · 31 Jul 2013 at 15:56

500w- 600w psu will future proof you, if you decide upgrade graphics, or add other extras at a later date.

C4R1S08 · 31 Jul 2013 at 15:58

I was looking at that 660 last week so if it's the better one i shall go with it.

Yea i think i will go for between 500-600, 850 seems to be overkill by everyone so far.

Doomedspeed · 31 Jul 2013 at 16:56

C4R1S08 said:
I was looking at that 660 last week so if it's the better one i shall go with it.

Yea i think i will go for between 500-600, 850 seems to be overkill by everyone so far.

idles spec is spot on..

That 530w PSU will be plenty..

Yes the 660 is better than the 7850 (marginally) but its not better than the 7870 in idles spec.

C4R1S08 · 8 Aug 2013 at 08:42

Hi Guys, i have been doing a little bit of research and this Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard seems to have some common issues, the main one being that it turns on for a few seconds then turns off and keeps looping on, off, on off etc Plus i have read that its sandy and to get it to be compatable with the CPU which is ivy?? in that spec i will need to update its bios or something. Can anyone confirm or deny these issues?

Cheers