First build - will this work?

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29 Jun 2012
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Hi, any advice on this build would be great - I'm afraid that something might be incompatible...
I have a budget of £600 but do not require a mouse, keyboard, OS or monitor (will buy a nice one soon). I'd like to maximise its gaming capability as much as possible within this limit and also have a setup that can be upgraded when I have more cash (probably gpu first).
The build currently looks like:
PSU: OCZ ZS Series 550W £50
GPU: XFX HD 6870 1024M £114
RAM: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHZ £43
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz £170
Mobo: Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 £70
Case: Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case £45
Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc AD-7280S £16
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s £60
Wireless: OcUK Value 300Mbps Wireless-N PCI Adapter £17

With a surge protector and shipping, this comes to £606.

Thanks for your help
 

Yeah, thatll work.

Another idea.

This motherboard:
YOUR BASKET
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-GEN3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £60
Total : £60.00 (includes shipping : FREE).



The faqct is B-grade means it may not come with all the packaging but the board will be fine.

This can be BIOS flashed to support Ivybridge.

It also supports Xfire/SLI X8 X8, rather than your other board's X16 x 4.

And its pretty. :)
 
you're gonna get more mileage out of


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
Total : £259.38 (includes shipping : £9.50).



rather than a 2500k and a z68 board. i specced an oem chip cuz it's 20 quid cheaper than the retail version though u lose out on warranty (1 vs 3 years) and a stock cpu cooler (which doubles as a paperweight usually)
this ivy bridge combo is roughly the same price as your sandy bridge combo, so its also better value for $$$
i also see you didnt spec a cpu cooler.

recommend YOUR BASKET
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £26.39
Total : £32.36 (includes shipping : £4.98).

 
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Is there any chance it has been subject to ESD or similar damage if it's B-grade? Might the instructions be necessary for somebody on their first build?
 
Is there any chance it has been subject to ESD or similar damage if it's B-grade? Might the instructions be necessary for somebody on their first build?

You can download instructions from the gigabyte website.

The bigger problems are that it may be missing the IO shield plate and SATA cables.

It also doesn't support Lucid Virtu+Quicksync as it has no display connectivity on the boards rear.
 
Ok, I think I'll take the i5-3570K and Gigabyte Z77-D3H. How necessary is the CPU cooler? Could I get it afterwards, in a week or so?
 
if you get the oem version, u need the cpu cooler with your build, cuz only the retail version comes with the intel cooler
 
Ah, I see. So, basically for another £35 I can get the oem i5-3570K, Gigabyte Z77-D3H and cpu cooler. I guess it's worth it, but I really don't have that extra money atm.
Thanks so much for your time guys!
 
well, if you didnt get the surge protector, you could get the ivy bridge instead ;p
and you can add on the surge protector at another time (if you really must have one)

if u get the 2500k + z68, u cant just "add on" the 3570k +z77 later down the line xD
 
Even without the surge protector, my account would have been about a tenner short. I was impatient and bought it last night, though I probably should have waited till I get some more cash :P
 
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