First ever build (complete noob)

[djg92]

Sorry to any Admins if this is posted in the wrong place, I'm new.

Thinking of going with the equivalent Haswell CPU if it's reasonably priced, so CPU/MOBO may change.

Basically wondering if the more knowledgeable forum members could check this over for me and see if it seems okay I've done some research over the past week or so and this is what I've come up with;


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £85.99
1 x XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (1x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Module (PV38G160C9) £53.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Green LED Windowed Case - Black £39.95
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x BitFenix Spectre PRO 120mm Fan Green LED - Black £11.99
Total : £772.27 (includes shipping : £11.25).



Someone did tell me the CPU cooler I'd chosen might be overkill and recomended this one:

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler

What do you guys think?

I also see that the case has space for numerous 120mm fans. Is one enough, should I get a couple? I realise I'm probably being a little over cautious but I don't want my investment to overheat and die on me

I also know it's a cheaper GPU, but I've read good reviews/benchmarks about this one and am thinking of it as more short term while I save up for a beast GPU.

Thanks for any advice you guys may have.

 

[djg92]

Thanks for all your help on this guys, although I now think I've done a massive 180 on the specs now. New build:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N780OC-3GD) £629.99
1 x "Quasar 240i" Intel Core i5 4670K @ 4.4GHz Overclocked Haswell Gaming PC Bundle £379.99
- 1 x Standard Build Systems - Approximately 5-7 working days £0.00
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £89.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £68.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - Black/Green £59.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £20.99
3 x BitFenix Spectre PRO 120mm Fan Green LED - Black £11.99 (£35.97)
Total : £1,307.32 (includes shipping : £17.85).



Since I have zero experience with overclocking, think I'm going to go for a bundle since they seem reasonably priced considering the components. Obviously got a bit itchy and just decided to go for it on the GPU front with the windforce 780. Chosen a better case with cable management (thanks for your suggestions on case, I'm a fan of Green though ) I did consider more expensive cases but they all seem quite ugly to me. I like the Shinobi, hope it's okay?

Any other suggestions you guys could offer would be more than welcome.

Cheers guys.

 

[djg92]

With something like that I'd definitely recommend adding an SSD to take advantage of all that grunt

Yeah, Not sure whether I'd be better off waiting until they come down in price though. I've never owned an SSD so I don't think I'd miss the speed, as it were.

Can I ask the wisdom of spending half the value of the case on extra fans for it?

Put the £35+60 together and you have £95 to spend on a better case.

Sure, you're right. Guess I hadn't realised that, seems silly when you spell it out. I don't mind spending a bit more on a decent case, I'm just unsure exactly what 'good' is.

Agreed.

Perhaps this would keep with your theme, only slightly over case/fanb budget?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Bitfenix Colossus Venom Green LED Big Tower Windowed Case - Black £119.99
Total : £132.59 (includes shipping : £10.50).



Edit: Just realised it's a lot over case/fan budget. I live somewhere with no vat so I always look at that price not the final price sorry lol.

To be honest I don't mind spending a bit more to get a quality product at the end of this. My budget is (semi) flexible. That does look quite nice tbh, might go for that one, thanks for the heads up. You think I should keep a couple of extra fans in the basket for cooling? Like, 2 or 3?

 

[djg92]

Cheers for the suggestions guys, think I'm going to go with the Colossus Venom just for aesthetic reasons. Build as it is at the moment:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N780OC-3GD) £629.99
1 x "Quasar 240i" Intel Core i5 4670K @ 4.4GHz Overclocked Haswell Gaming PC Bundle £379.99
- 1 x Standard Build Systems - Approximately 5-7 working days £0.00
1 x Corsair Professional Series HX+ 850W '80+ Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020032-UK) £129.95
1 x Bitfenix Colossus Venom Green LED Big Tower Windowed Case - Black £119.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £52.99
1 x Plantronics GameCom 780 7.1 Surround Sound USB Gaming Headset £39.98
1 x Zalman ZM-GM1 6000 DPI Laser Gaming Mouse - Black/Blue £22.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £20.99
1 x Logitech K200 Media Keyboard (920-002733) £13.99
1 x Mionix Alioth 320 Gaming Mouse Pad £9.95
Total : £1,522.50 (includes shipping : £14.75).



Does anybody know if Overclockers will do me a price match? I have found several components cheaper, but would rather buy from here as they're fairly local to me, plus I can save on postage if I order in one go. But I can shave about £100 quid off this.