Final draft spec awaiting approval...

JButlerUK · 26 Jul 2011 at 00:28

Take a look at this image and let me know if this spec is going to work.

Constructive advice is welcomed.

Cheers

stulid · 26 Jul 2011 at 00:30

RAM is a bit expensive, there is a Kingston 8GB kit currently at £50.

And if this is a gaming PC? then 4GB is all you need.

Nice mouse.

You got a good case/PSU?

chrisarm · 26 Jul 2011 at 08:02

I know this is a silly question but you do know that the cpu water block needs a pump and reservoir. The CPU that you have overclocks pretty easily to 4.5 with an air cooler so a fully made custom water cooler system may be a bit of overkill. Would be cool though

Richdog · 26 Jul 2011 at 08:05

Id lose the watercooling personally, good air cooling isn't too far away (the CPU will clock like a demon either way), and air is about 10x less hassle in the long-run. I also wouldnt buy an MSI mobo, but thats just me.

stulid said:
RAM is a bit expensive, there is a Kingston 8GB kit currently at

And if this is a gaming PC? then 4GB is all you need.

Nice mouse.

You got a good case/PSU?

Id disagree, 6GB-8GB should now be standard when speccing any new PC.

iostream · 26 Jul 2011 at 09:48

Are there any games with a 64 bit exe that would make use of the 8GB of ram?

stulid · 26 Jul 2011 at 11:57

iostream said:
Are there any games with a 64 bit exe that would make use of the 8GB of ram?

Might be about 1-2, 4GB is all thats needed for gaming.

JButlerUK · 26 Jul 2011 at 14:59

I have a thermaltake armour+ liquid cooling system so im sticking with the water cooling. I dont care what anyone says its awesome.

Jusy upgrading the internal parts and was wondering if the kingston memory will work just as good?

stulid · 26 Jul 2011 at 15:04

Memory speed and timing's make little difference to Sandybridge performance, and overclocking the CPU is just a case of increasing the multiplier without needing to fiddle with the Bclk or FSB : DRAM ratio, so 1600mhz RAM is absolutely fine.

jennidc · 26 Jul 2011 at 15:05

if it was me I would get 2 standard harddrives for raid 0 and use the money saved to go i7 - you can easily add ssd at a later date but would have a much more future proof cpu.

JButlerUK · 26 Jul 2011 at 15:22

Will i7 have bigger boost over i5? 1155 socket i assume.

I heard many ppl saying the HDD is the biggest limiting factor in speed.

But SSD's are still pricey so i could skip and save cash on em.

How does raid 0 work then?

iostream · 26 Jul 2011 at 16:09

Sandy Bridge i7 vs SB i5 has no performance boost at all in games, it would only be worth your while if you used multi threaded applications.

Haven't actually owned an SSD, but I think that's where you should put your money

jennidc · 26 Jul 2011 at 17:31

I think we'll see more and more games becoming multi threaded - although i5 is still a damn good cpu - I see SSD as a bit of a money sink at the moment for the small size of the drives. For example for around £90 you could buy 3 500mb low power SATA drives and arrange in a RAID 5 setup which has many advantages over a single SSD.
I7 was merely a way of me showing how you could spend the money saved.

olivier renault · 26 Jul 2011 at 19:45

I'd stick with SSD and a storage hard drive. 128GB will allow you to install around 10 games on the SSD. Simple and effective.

I'd stick to the 2500K for gaming.

JButlerUK · 26 Jul 2011 at 20:35

Thanks guys, i think i will will go with the i5 2500k and the SSD.

The 3 x different RAID setup spounds comfusing.

Is it worth paying the extra for a sata III drive over a sata II?

Which of the SSD's are good ones? The intel are pricey but you get a 5 year warranty dont you....

olivier renault · 26 Jul 2011 at 22:42

I would get a M4 128GB. Too many problems with the OCZ drives. Intels are more expensive and not as competitive but are generally considered problem-free. The M4 is a good trade-off between the two at the either side of the spectrum.

Puppetmaster · 27 Jul 2011 at 00:48

Id deffo stick with the ssd, make windows so much faster. 2600k vs 2500k there is virtually no difference for gaming so id say it isnt worth it.

David2655 · 27 Jul 2011 at 01:39

not a bad little build, similar to mine(ish) but check out this monitor

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-091-LG&groupid=17&catid=1425&subcat=

TINY bit smaller than the one you got listed, but an absolute steal at that price

as far as ram goes, yeah most games will only use 4gigs, but hey, its so cheap theres no reason NOT to go for 8gigs, thats what im doing

- this is the ram im getting -

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS

same speed for less money and ive heard nothing but good things as far as reliability goes. Good luck with your build

iostream · 27 Jul 2011 at 09:06

...in regards to the SSD, you should check out the daily deals today

JButlerUK · 27 Jul 2011 at 23:15

Will keep an eye on the SSD's and check the deals. Deffo going for Crucial tho, Intel up there own arse IMO. Thanks for the advice btw guys.

David2655 said:
not a bad little build, similar to mine(ish) but check out this monitor

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-091-LG&groupid=17&catid=1425&subcat=

TINY bit smaller than the one you got listed, but an absolute steal at that price

as far as ram goes, yeah most games will only use 4gigs, but hey, its so cheap theres no reason NOT to go for 8gigs, thats what im doing - this is the ram im getting -

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS

same speed for less money and ive heard nothing but good things as far as reliability goes. Good luck with your build

Thanks for the heads up on the monitor, its a massive price save for laike half an inch in screen size, BUT the contrast ratio is 70k:1 vs 1million:1

Huge difference there will i notice?

P.s got 4gb ram atm so might as well upgrade to 8gb so i know i have uograded lol. My mind works in weird ways.