Deep Breath! my first ever PC build

Hope this gives you a good idea. It's got an Asus board, CWT psu, has an OS, the Prodigy Case and an after market cooler. I choose not to include an SSD as I don't think they're needed just yet, but you can also buy one later on.

If you really did want an SSD, you could downgrade the GFX and HDD as I've included a 1TB and remove the after market cooler and then bung in an SSD.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £149.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Asus P8H61-I Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £69.95
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ / ST1000DM005) £59.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUKV2) £56.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1333C9DC) £23.99
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.59
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £648.41 (includes shipping : FREE).



Alternate with SSD and after market cooler.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 550Ti OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £95.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Asus P8H61-I Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £69.95
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUKV2) £56.99
1 x OCZ Vertex 3 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (VTX3-25SAT3-60G) £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £45.98
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1333C9DC) £23.99
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.59
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £630.40 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
Last edited:
if you want a console beater, I would go for a 3570K, and a 7850 2GB. that's the basis of a strong gaming rig.

I would also drop the Prodigy idea. I know it's a good platform, but restrictive, and tricky to work with. Go with full ATX, which will be you ample room and possibilities for upgrades.

My take.

A bit over budget :


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £149.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £56.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £45.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML4GX3M2A1600C9B) £25.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £704.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).



upgrades could be CPU cooler (£30), 128GB SSD(£80), 1TB hard drive.




without OS, and a good quiet case

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £149.99
1 x Fractal Design Define R4 Midi Tower Case - Black Pearl £99.98
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £56.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £45.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML4GX3M2A1600C9B) £25.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £668.50 (includes shipping : £10.50).



Upgrades are 128GB SSD(£80), CPU cooler (£30), 1TB hard drive(£60).

IMO, worth spending a little if you don't want to be disappointed. The OS is a problem though. It helps if you can find it cheaper, or can hang on to win8 beta.
 
Finally, if you want to stay in budget.


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £149.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £56.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £45.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £652.85 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Upgrades would involve i5, a CPU cooler, a SSD, 1TB HDD. But I would try to fit in 3570K, and be done with it.
 
Last edited:
olivier renault said:
if you want a console beater, I would go for a 3570K, and a 7850 2GB. that's the basis of a strong gaming rig.

I would also drop the Prodigy idea. I know it's a good platform, but restrictive, and tricky to work with. Go with full ATX, which will be you ample room and possibilities for upgrades.

My take.

A bit over budget :


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £149.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £56.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £45.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML4GX3M2A1600C9B) £25.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £704.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).



upgrades could be CPU cooler (£30), 128GB SSD(£80), 1TB hard drive.




without OS, and a good quiet case

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £149.99
1 x Fractal Design Define R4 Midi Tower Case - Black Pearl £99.98
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £56.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £45.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML4GX3M2A1600C9B) £25.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £668.50 (includes shipping : £10.50).



Upgrades are 128GB SSD(£80), CPU cooler (£30), 1TB hard drive(£60).

IMO, worth spending a little if you don't want to be disappointed. The OS is a problem though. It helps if you can find it cheaper, or can hang on to win8 beta.
Click to expand...

Liking this idea, and am slightly nervous about going for the mini itx idea due to lack of experience of building, would this lot fit in the inwin dragon slayer? as size really does matter (fnarr!) and it's got to be no deeper than 440mm (which the dragon slayer just about manages...think its about 426mm deep?)
 
The Dragon Slayer is mini-atx. So you will need a mini-atx motherboard. But the rest will be ok. Either the Asus P8Z77-M or the Z77M-D3H. Will leave you with a couple of PCI / PCI express ports to play with. The case is also limited in the number of hard drives it can support. Secondly cable management will be tricky.

The BitFenix Shinobi is a good case. Also the Corsair Carbide 300R. The Antec 302 looks interesting, and you have a few CoolerMasters around that price, as well as the Zalman Z9+.
 
Last edited:
If you do go for a full size build, just don't go for the Gigabyte Z77-D3H, so many duff boards and people complaining about them, including mine... 1 ram slot doesn't work and can't be bothered to RMA it.
 
olivier renault said:
The Dragon Slayer is mini-atx. So you will need a mini-atx motherboard. But the rest will be ok. Either the Asus P8Z77-M or the Z77M-D3H. Will leave you with a couple of PCI / PCI express ports to play with. The case is also limited in the number of hard drives it can support. Secondly cable management will be tricky.

The BitFenix Shinobi is a good case. Also the Corsair Carbide 300R. The Antec 302 looks interesting, and you have a few CoolerMasters around that price, as well as the Zalman Z9+.
Click to expand...

Is it really a mini itx case? thought the reviews and other bits i'd read about it said it was a micro atx case...confused now i'm only a newbie lol!!

Also i can never seem to find anywhere the dimensions of any given PSU are the all roughly the same size and what is a modular power supply?

Cheers guys :p
 
Mini-itx? He said mini-atx lol ;)

Most PSU's are the same size so will all fit in the same case unless they require shuttle PSU's

And a modular power supply is one where you only connect the cables you need.
 
evilkensdad said:
Is it really a mini itx case? thought the reviews and other bits i'd read about it said it was a micro atx case...confused now i'm only a newbie lol!!

Also i can never seem to find anywhere the dimensions of any given PSU are the all roughly the same size and what is a modular power supply?

Cheers guys :p
Click to expand...

micro-atx*
 
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - £179.99
Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games - £167.99
MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - £79.99
Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - £79.99
XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - £69.98
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - £54.98
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - £45.98
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) - £26.99
Xigmatek Loki SD963 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3/FM1) - £14.99
Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - £14.99

Sub Total : £613.23
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £125.15

Total : £750.88
 
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