Critique my build

BinnsY

BinnsY

BinnsY

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Joined
19 May 2009
Posts
1,511
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Nottingham
Hi All,

I'm starting to make plans for building a new PC in the next month or so and want some advice on a build. I currently have a pre-built system I purchased from Overclockers 5 years ago thats still going strong, but it is starting to show its age.

I've done quite a lot of reasearch and come to the conclusion that the below seems to be a good combination, but I'm wondering if theres anything I should up/downgrade.

MJGRz.jpg


I dont need a graphics card as for the time being I'm going to move the GTX470 from my current PC into my new build as I think it still holds its own. I'll most likely be looking to upgrade that around 12 months after buying all of this which I think should see me a bigger jump in overall performance.

I do want the system to be as quiet as possible which is why I was thinking of the pre noise dampened case. I don't need it to be silent, but the more I can keep the noise level down the better.

In terms of storage hard drives / optical drives, these will all be moving from my current PC. I have two 1TB and two 500GB hard drives that will all move across to give me all the storage I need.

I do currently have a wireless network card and sound card but they are both PCI which the board I've gone for doesnt support, so I figure I need both of those as well.

Any advice will be appreciated :) In terms of budget I absoultely cannot go over £1200.

Thanks
 
Probably should have mentioned that :P

The vast majority of its use will be gaming, the usual web surfing and movie watching. I do a little bit of video encoding but not enough to justify any large increases.
 
I've done a little bit of playing, and I think I'm going to drop the RAM to 16GB. I've been discussing this build with a few people and one of them asked me why I wasn't going i7. In explaining that I don't really do anything that would utiliase the extra grunt I've realised that I also wont be doing anything that will use more than 16GB of RAM (heck I manage with 4 at the minute!).

I'm thinking of sticking with the same sticks, but just putting two of them in instead of four. It drops the overall cost to £1074 as well so thats a bonus. Is there any real benefit to sticking with 32?
 
Thats probably not a bad idea.

Is there any point going for the sabertooth board over this one I've found?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-513-AS

It saves me £30 on the board, but also means I dont need a wi-fi card, and I can move my current x-fi card instead of buying a new Asus one. With that and the reduction to 16GB of RAM its dropped the price to £940 which is a lot more palatable.
 
Apologies for the bump, but Im about to head off and thought I would post this final version up before I call it a night to see what people thing. I've changed the board menaing I no longer need a seperate wi-fi card and can use my existing sound card. Dropping the RAM to 16GB means I can afford to go i7 as well and still save over £100. Comments apprecaited :)

HLVls.jpg
 
I would get a Samsung 830 256 SSD, D14 is great I have these two and really recommend them Noctua are a very good company and the SSD is great value and great performance. I would get a different case just because I think the HAF is hideous but if you like it then that's cool, personally like the Fractal Arc Midi and you could get that + loads of good fans for less. I would get a UD5H or a UP4 because they are brilliant boards. I wouldn't get an i7 if you primarily game, the price difference doesn't seem worth it. Power supply is lovely. I do enjoy a good sound card ... but onboard is probably decent enough and saves money.

My system is:

3570k 4.5ghz
Samsung 8GB 2000Mhz CL10-11-11-21 1T 1.55V for now
7970
830 256gb
600w psu bequiet
D-14 <3
Fractal Arc with Corsair AF140 fans and a top 200mm bitfenix with white LED
SB Audigy2ZS

I am completely content with this system and recommend these parts, of course case is just preference. :D
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £259.99
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC256N/EU) **BTS £20 CASHBACK** £155.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V PRO Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £149.99
1 x OcUK Tech Labs - Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Big Tower Case - Noise Dampened £121.99
1 x Corsair Professional Series HX+ 750W '80+ Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020031-UK) £119.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL316GB1866C10DC) £79.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1156/1155/1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1) £59.99
Total : £962.93 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Same thing but I wanted to get it under a grand with little to no compromise :D Yes, I'm a bit bored...

K2's cheaper and comes with PWM fans and most would argue it's a damn sight better looking :p Performance is about the same.
Either one is a great choice.

EDIT: Agree with BrianB, the case is hideous lol. Your money, your call though :)
 
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Uncle Petey said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £259.99
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC256N/EU) **BTS £20 CASHBACK** £155.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V PRO Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £149.99
1 x OcUK Tech Labs - Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Big Tower Case - Noise Dampened £121.99
1 x Corsair Professional Series HX+ 750W '80+ Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020031-UK) £119.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL316GB1866C10DC) £79.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1156/1155/1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1) £59.99
Total : £962.93 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Same thing but I wanted to get it under a grand with little to no compromise :D Yes, I'm a bit bored...

K2's cheaper and comes with PWM fans and most would argue it's a damn sight better looking :p Performance is about the same.
Either one is a great choice.

EDIT: Agree with BrianB, the case is hideous lol. Your money, your call though :)
Click to expand...

as its for gaming no point in i7 as you wont see any difference. just get the i5 and save a bit of money
 
 
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That cooler seems good I'll try and find a review of it to see how it compares. I don't think I want to change the psu as the ax seems more efficient.

Why is the 830 recommended over the vertex aside from the cashback? The Vertex seems to have better specs?

I must admit the case isn't great looking but it's chap and a good performer as far as I can tell. The other choice might be the corsair 650d but it's a bit more expensive and seems like it will run hotter.
 
Above build is Great, I don't like the case at all though... it's not even all black. I will never buy a side mounted hard drive or side panel fan case unless they are removable or reversable...really blocks airflow and creates noise you don't need to have.

I would look around for a different case, these things annoy me personally. The R4 fractal case is a bit cheaper, much sleeker, and they will release a side panel for it late october I think I suppose it's down to taste though. My last case was a coolermaster and I wasn't overly impressed with the finish or build quality, the intake design was terrible and required modding. The Phanteks cooler is meant to be really good, also looks great. The K2 is so much cheaper and worth considering.

Oh also, SSD isn't really worth it compared to a GPU upgrade for games. The load times are really nice though and much quieter than mechanical hdd.
 
Vertex 4 vs Samsung 830 ? Hmm... Tbh, one may beat the other in benchmarks, but I seriously doubt the average user would notice the difference in normal use.
Someone please feel free to correct me here if I'm wrong :)

As to the PSU, yeah it's only a £10 difference

Stinger53 said:
could actually get a 7950 within budget. as he gets free shipping
Click to expand...

Even sweeter :D
 
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