Final advice before ordering Saturday night

[Goberpiles316]

I posted earlier in the week and received some excellent advice from a few people but I am looking for the final piece of advice before ordering tonight.

I have a budget of around £1300, I wanted a z68 board, an SSD drive and a 27" screen. I will be playing SWTOR and also the new Battlefield. I already have two 1TB drives.

My Basic build is as follows:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus VE276Q 27" Widescreen LCD Multimedia Monitor - Black £229.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £133.98
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 850W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-850TXV2UK) £99.98
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £66.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £49.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £39.98
1 x LG GH24NS70 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - Retail £19.99
1 x Plantronics GameCom 367 Gaming Headset (79732-05) £18.59
Total : £863.60 (includes shipping : £20.10).



The last items I am considering are the SSD drive:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £139.99
1 x Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (CSSD-F120GB3-BK) £133.99
Total : £273.98 (includes shipping : FREE).



And then the choice of GFX card:

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS ATI Radeon HD 6970 IceQ Turbo 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £299.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £269.99
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 "Dual Fan Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £224.99
Total : £794.96 (includes shipping : FREE).



Thanks for any extra help you can offer to add to what has been put forward so far.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Just want to point out that regarding the CoolerMaster 690 II Lite, don't get misled by the image, as unlike the CoolerMaster 690 II Advanced, its doesn't come with a 140mm Blue-LED fan for front intake. What you get with the Lite version is a pair of CoolerMaster 120mm 1,200rpm fans (which doesn't shift a huge amount of air), one for front intake and one for rear exhaust, and that's all the fans you get with the Lite version. Therefore, I would suggest you to invest in getting some more decent fans for the case, or simply just get a even better airflow case for a bit more.

 

[mickyflinn]

I would go for a gtx 570 but would get the Asus GeForce GTX 570 DirectCU II which has a better cooler thean the msi. The his 6970 is on par with the gtx 570 but is more expensive all depends what features you need between cards.


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-250-AS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010

 

[Goberpiles316]

Would it be worth investing in the Cooler Master CM-690 II Advanced Dominator Case?

Its only £23 more.

 

[mickyflinn]

Personally i would get a corsair case but if the advanced has better cooling than yes.

 

[Goberpiles316]

Hows this look?


YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus VE276Q 27" Widescreen LCD Multimedia Monitor - Black £229.99
1 x HIS ATI Radeon HD 6950 IceQ X PLUS Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £221.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (CSSD-F120GB3-BK) £133.99
1 x Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £133.98
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 850W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-850TXV2UK) £99.98
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Advanced Dominator Case - Black £89.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £49.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £39.98
1 x Plantronics GameCom 367 Gaming Headset (79732-05) £18.59
Total : £1,198.48 (includes shipping : FREE).

 

[Marine-RX179]

I got the CM690 II Advanced myself, and I will tell you that the bits and bobs that extra is not worth the £20 extra over the Lite. You'd be better off getting the Lite version and spend that £20 on some extra fans that are decent, like a silverstone 140mm air penetrator for intake, which will benefit a lot in channeling cool air to the intake of your HIS 6970 IceQ cooler (even if you are getting another exhaust via the rear graphic card to crossfire in the future), and a Xigmatek 120mm Crystal fan as extaust (rear or top rear depending on your preference, since you got a Antec Kúhler H2O 620, which the rad would be to fit on the top middle fan mount). You can relocatie the two CoolerMaster 120mm 1,200rpm black fans to whereever you prefer, but I would put one of them on the side panel's lower fan mount as exhaust.

 

[Goberpiles316]

Thanks for that Marine always good to here advice from those owning the case and giving the best advice you can get, will have a play now.

 

[Marine-RX179]

For the SSD, you gonna need a 2.5" to 3.5" mounting bracket...you can probably find one for a few quid.

And if you got less than to HDD/SDD in total, you should make sure you removed the removable 3.5" bay, which will make reduce the obstruction for the air that's being channel from the Silverstone 140mm Air Penetrator fan to the graphic card's intake. Why I keep mentioning the Air Penetrator? Watch this video and you will understand:

It will deliver cool air to your graphic card, or graphic card(s) if you crossfire much more precisely.

 

[Goberpiles316]

I am looking now but the Silverstone ones are on pre-order, will that delay my order? Not sure how OCUk deal with pre order items.

The SSD says it comes with "2.5" - 3.5" Adaptor Included" would that be the bracket?

 

[Goberpiles316]

OMG at that video, what a difference that fan can make.

 

[fowler002]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-009-CR

 

[Goberpiles316]

Ok my final build to order later tonight:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus VE276Q 27" Widescreen LCD Multimedia Monitor - Black £229.99
1 x HIS ATI Radeon HD 6950 IceQ X PLUS Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £221.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £139.99
1 x Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £133.98
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 850W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-850TXV2UK) £99.98
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £66.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £49.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £39.98
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black/Silver/Biege) - Retail £19.99
1 x Silverstone SST-AP181 Air Penetrator 180mm FAN 700/1200rpm £18.98
1 x Plantronics GameCom 367 Gaming Headset (79732-05) £18.59
1 x Xigmatek Orange Line 120mm White LED Fan (XLF-F1253) £7.99
Total : £1,228.44 (includes shipping : FREE).

 

[Goberpiles316]

Whats tghe view on getting the:
Intel Core i7 960 3.20Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail **Supplied with BattleField 3 PC Game** [BX80601960]

As I will be buying BF3 anyway insted of the i5 for the extra £25?

 

[fowler002]

Whats tghe view on getting the:
Intel Core i7 960 3.20Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail **Supplied with BattleField 3 PC Game** [BX80601960]

As I will be buying BF3 anyway insted of the i5 for the extra £25?

2 things

1) most importantly the 960 WOULDN'T fit the skt1155 motherboard so you'll have to change motherboards as well;

2) skt 1366 is a 'dead' skt, better off with 1155(sandybridge and next year ivybridge).

 

[Jony27]

stick with the SB i5.

newer/faster/less power or heat.

 

[Tokin]

Don't invest is a dead socket,get the 2500k !

 

[Goberpiles316]

ALL Thanks. think I will take this build then.

Thanks for help everyone.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Ok my final build to order later tonight:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus VE276Q 27" Widescreen LCD Multimedia Monitor - Black £229.99
1 x HIS ATI Radeon HD 6950 IceQ X PLUS Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £221.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £139.99
1 x Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £133.98
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 850W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-850TXV2UK) £99.98
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £66.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £49.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £39.98
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black/Silver/Biege) - Retail £19.99
1 x Silverstone SST-AP181 Air Penetrator 180mm FAN 700/1200rpm £18.98
1 x Plantronics GameCom 367 Gaming Headset (79732-05) £18.59
1 x Xigmatek Orange Line 120mm White LED Fan (XLF-F1253) £7.99
Total : £1,228.44 (includes shipping : FREE).

The Silverstone Air Penetrator you should be getting is 140mm, not 180mm (as there's no 180mm mount for the 180mm fan).

The Xigmatek 120mm fan you should be getting should be the Crystal version, which shift slighting more air tha the line version at the same or lower DB, and cost less as well:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-002-XG&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=4

As for the SSD, if it does say it include the 2.5" to 3.5" adapter, then yea you won't need to get it separately. But I can see that's being said anywhere for the Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB description...

 

[Goberpiles316]

Thanks not sure how i got that mixed up. Good spot.