First build - advice please ;)

fowler002 · 17 Dec 2011 at 16:58

I'm not able to adjust my spec right now as not on my pc, will do a little later.

The ram you mentioned in post #14 is triple channel, you need double channel for p67 and z68 motherboards.

Ordinarytom · 17 Dec 2011 at 17:01

okay thanx for that fowler i will make a build list now so its not all over the place.

Ordinarytom · 17 Dec 2011 at 17:08

i still need this answering then i will have a deffinete for the main hardware.

JPod made an interesting post - his graphics card is high end ( which i prefer) but he goes for the i3 instead of i5. will i notice a better performance playing bf3 with his choices, or would i have a better experience with the i5 and the graphics card Cinderz posted? its not like i need a great cpu if im only running 2 things at a time max.

fowler002 · 17 Dec 2011 at 18:41

blue?

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS ATI Radeon HD 6950 IceQ X Turbo 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £161.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.98
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £63.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £29.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black/Silver/Biege) - Retail £19.99
Total : £736.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

use the cmdouble to get it down to £716.90

the case doesn't have a window, there is a windowed version but it £90(£20 more)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-245-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=29

blue low profile(no fins) ram you have http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-112-KS
good price for 16gb but it puts the spec even over budget(its already just over your £700 budget). there is a 8gb version but thats 4 x 2gb so no room for adding any more ram in the future, you'll have to take out the old ram and put new ones in.

ocuk don't do the cerulean blue version of the corsair vengeance lp just the black and white.

as for your question on i3 vs i5, I'd say ignore jpod and go with i2500k as fit fits in your budget. the graphics card I initially had was higher end then than the 1 jpod had in his spec.

Ordinarytom · 17 Dec 2011 at 20:34

thanks fowler ive chose a diff case which i will post, but i want to post the whole spec, so i want to know whats the cheapest psu i could get that would work fine with the hardware components you've stated.

jpod · 17 Dec 2011 at 22:26

Hyburnate said:
Ladies put your handbags down. And i3 will bottleneck that card so I don't know what you're getting into.

Interesting, so you suggest a lower power graphics card and a more powerful CPU?

I thought games were GFX card limited?

There is no point spending funds here on a sound card, we're on a budget
The motherboards are too expensive
There was an article on here that says that 1GB cards have issues playing BF3, why not 2GB

I am going to have to pick my handbag up again

jpod · 17 Dec 2011 at 22:36

fowler002 said:
jpod your points still don't get over the fact your spec is over budget even with the i2120

No with the game rebate I am on budget with a working rig (unlike your first offering), ask Santa for a calculator. And the one I suggested gets 2 free games and has a 3 year warranty (your's has no games and a 2 year warranty, OrdinaryTom is going to be playing Minesweeper on Christmas day!

The OP has a HDD so omit the SSD and get the i5 that you are so attached to

OP you need Windows 7 64-bit because I said so I can't be bothered to type the 10,000 reasons why.

Also make sure your using DDR3 dual channel memory here (the triple channel memory is for the i7).

What Folwer specked there for you is very good indeed and unusually for Fowler it will work now it has an OS

It is still over £700, is that okay?

In reply to your question the i3 is a super CPU but you can't over clock, my PC Format mag indicates i5 2500K has a 10% gaming performance increase over the i3 (whatever that means). However you can overclock the livinf daylights out of the i5 and it is the one to aspire to.

Nevertheless if your on a budget or do not want to overclock or give all your money to Intel it is a fantastic CPU. Bearing in mind most games use 2 cores only and the extra cores don't make a difference, overclocking does.

Ordinarytom · 17 Dec 2011 at 22:45

yes its fine, i want the spec he has given me except the case and psu. the case im getting is - BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Windowed Case - Black £56.99.

And i'd like to know the cheapest (modular) psu that can withstand the hardware discussed by fowlers recent build post.

Oh i also changed his 8gb ram to - Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit - mainly because leave me room to get more if needed in future plus goes with the whole blue look. Plus just bought 3x 120 mm l.e.d blue fans for the case.

jpod · 17 Dec 2011 at 23:10

Okay a quick look revealed these PSU's, I recommended the BeQuiet earlier.

This looks cool, (Mr F's) what is the warranty like?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-166-CM

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair HX 650W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650HXUK) £104.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 650W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXV2UK) £79.99
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £71.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £39.98
Total : £309.55 (includes shipping : £10.50).

Not all of them are modular but look for a look warranty, I like Corsair because it is 5 yr, take a look.

Around about 500 to 600W is fine.

PS check with Mr Fowler that that memory will fit under the CPU cooler before you buy - I expect it does if he suggested it in his spec.

fowler002 · 17 Dec 2011 at 23:43

there is a reason why I didn't suggest the blue vengeance ram, the fins on them will interfere with the cpu cooler as the fan on the cooler overhangs the first ram slot(bigger coolers overhang more/all of the slots). due to this you wouldn't be able to use all 4 slots so future upgrade plans are out the window. or you'll need to get a closed loop liquid cooler such as the corsair h60(£63) or antec kuhler 620(£47)

if you really must have blue ram then either extend your budget and get the 16gb kingston I linked to, or get the blue version of the low profile vengeance ram from elsewhere(sorry can't link due to forums anti-competitor rules).

psu wise I wouldn't recommend cheap one, 1 I would say is xfx 650w modular one @£72 or just stick to the coolermaster silent pro 600w @£60

Ordinarytom · 18 Dec 2011 at 00:23

what do you mean by interfere?

Ordinarytom · 18 Dec 2011 at 00:50

hi fowler are these what your talking about? : Corsair 8GB (2X4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz Vengeance Blue "LOW PROFILE" CL9 1.5V.

I compared another famous site with the prices of the build and found 3 of the items a few pounds cheaper. If this is the right ram. then i will purchase the case,ram and optical drive from another site.

I will be getting the cooler master 600w modular psu and the rest of the build.. i wish i knew how to make a list like you guys do...

fowler002 · 18 Dec 2011 at 03:04

if its the low profile ram then it'll be fine.

by interfere I mean the fins will get in the way of the fan on the cooler stooping you from being able to fit the fan on the cooler(some coolers such as the noctua d14 allow you to rest the fan on top of the ram but the tranquilo etc don't.

jpod · 18 Dec 2011 at 12:41

If you use google chrome and search OcUK Shopping Cart Viewer there is a plugin, once installed when you view your shoppin cart there is a icon in the address bar top right, click it and you can cut and past the code for the cart in your posts. You will figure it out.

Remember that the OC's are pretty helpful bunch should you need any warranty replacements, help and I rate them very highly, do consider getting your kit here it's a top service.

Post for final spec then

fowler002 · 18 Dec 2011 at 15:42

jpod said:
If you use google chrome and search OcUK Shopping Cart Viewer there is a plugin, once installed when you view your shoppin cart there is a icon in the address bar top right, click it and you can cut and past the code for the cart in your posts. You will figure it out.

Remember that the OC's are pretty helpful bunch should you need any warranty replacements, help and I rate them very highly, do consider getting your kit here it's a top service.

Post for final spec then

as long as you don't end up getting a motherboard that has bent/missing pins, in this situation forget about rma'ing it to them as they'll simply turn around and reject it saying you caused it and if you're 'lucky' to get the guy that I did be called a liar.

jpod · 18 Dec 2011 at 17:53

Well I am sorry to hear that you had a bad experience, perhaps you should contact them formally and give them a chance to resolve it to your satisfaction my good man.