First ever build (complete noob)

djg92

djg92

djg92

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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.
 
Whether the cooling is overkill would depend on how you plan to use the system. If you are going to use it at stock levels on 3D games then something of lower spec may be suitable. However if you want over clock and squeeze every FPS you can out of it, then it would be fine.
 
The AC Freezer 7 will be fine for stock use; the Alpenfohn is only worth getting if you're going to overclock.

For fans, I would definitely buy 2 extra, to install on the side and on top, so that you have balanced in/out. The GPU is good value for money, but the cooling isn't brilliant and will probably be helped by having a fan on the side blowing air over it. I'm actually awaiting delivery of the same card - but from elsewhere, since I'm based abroad at the mo, and I got it for £145 :D I did read that it's worth taking the heatsink off and replacing the TIM with some decent stuff. Depends how confident you feel...

Also, why only 1 stick of memory? Get a dual channel kit: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=8&subid=1517

Good luck!
 
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 :D ) 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.
 
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.
 
stulid said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
Last edited:
robin7 said:
With something like that I'd definitely recommend adding an SSD to take advantage of all that grunt :)
Click to expand...

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.

stulid said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.

robin7 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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?
 
Heres a random selection of cases that are good,

YOUR BASKET
1 x BitFenix Shinobi XL Full Tower Gaming Windowed Case - Black *£114.95
1 x Corsair Vengeance C70 Midi Tower Gaming Case - Military Green *£109.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black *£99.95
1 x NZXT Phantom 410 Enthusiast Midi Tower Case - Black *£84.95
Total : £439.30 (includes shipping : £24.55).



*



You shouldnt need any extra fans to be honest, all these cases have like three of them, perhaps the Antec P280 could benefit from one at the front as it has two in the roof and one at the rear.
 
Last edited:
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.
 
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