First ever build

Serverman

Serverman

Serverman

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5 May 2011
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42
Need some views on my first ever new build. I would like a bit of assistance getting all the components that I need (even the basics like thermal compound which I know nothing about). I would preferably like to spend less than £800, including what I have already bought, but this is flexible to some extent:)

In the epic Tuesday sale I picked up the following components, earlier than expected but they were too cheap so it would have been rude not to, therefore whatever I buy needs to compliment these. The RAM and hard drives are what I wanted anyway and I am only a casual gamer so didnt want to spend too much on a graphics card and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 seemed to give me a lot for the price. The hard drives were that cheap I thought that I would just get 2, for a Raid 1 storage. However they are slow so I would still like another fast hard drive or indeed SSD (dont want to spend loads on this though) for the OS etc. In the meantime I can make do with my current monitor, mouse, keyboard so there is no great need to get these and dont need a OS.

What I have
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5770 Single Slot 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card @ £69.99 inc VAT
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) @ £59.99 inc VAT
2 x Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (ST2000DL003) @ £47.99 inc VAT#

I have decided that I would like the following CPU as again it seems the best value for money:
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £173.99

The rest though I dont really have a clue. For the motherboard I was thinking of the Asus P8Z68-V PRO Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard as it is the latest chipset but maybe there is a better option. I think I would like a Z68 board or at the least a P67 board if the consensus is that there is real benefit to the Z68.

With cases I was thinking of the Lian Li PC-7FNWX Aluminium Mid Tower Case - Black - £132.98 but am worried it may be too small if I want it to be future proofed. I really like the Lian Li PC-A70FB Alumiinium Full Tower Case - Black - £173.60 but really want front or top USB 3.0 and by the time I get the kit it will be around £200 which will mean having to save a lot in other areas. I may have to just get a Haf X which seems a good trade off between price and quality (especially if you get the PSU bundle). I realise it is the old trade off between price and quality but as it is the thing you can always see I do want something that looks good.

Over to you!
 
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total budget was £800.

So 800-70-60-95=£575 left for CPU, motherboard, case, PSU and optical drive, cooler+optional extras? Or do you need an OS too?
 
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The Fractal Design Define XL is HUGE (232x560x561.3mm) and well reviewed, I don't know how you could pick anything else if you're worried about space.
 
sk82jack said:
total budget was £800.

So 800-70-60-95=£575 left for CPU, motherboard, case, PSU and optical drive, cooler+optional extras? Or do you need an OS too?
Click to expand...

I already have Windows 7 Ultimate so do not need an OS. Like I say I can spend a little more if it will make a big difference.
 
personally i'd cut back on the case in a big way on jack's build. if you were going for SLI 480GTX's, then fair enough get a big expensive case, but for a single 5770 theres really no need for these super expensive cases.

something like this will do you nicely:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £173.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68X-UD4 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x OCZ Vertex 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1VTX60G) £73.99
1 x Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £43.99
1 x OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply £40.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £552.62 (includes shipping : £14.75).

gets you a 60GB SSD as well
 
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sk82jack said:
Just the necessities max out your budget so your gonna have to change your budget if you want another HDD and SSD


Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £173.99

MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £139.99

Lian Li PC-7FNWX Aluminium Mid Tower Case - Black £132.98

XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular Power Supply £76.99

Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £27.98

Sony Optiarc AD-7260S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99

Total : £584.03 (includes shipping : £11.75)

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. To try and make things cheaper I may have to look at alternatives case wise because I dont really want to compromise on the CPU or motherboard.

If I got the Haf X bundle where you get a PSU included would this do away with the need for additional coolers/fans. I wont be overclocking, at least not until I need to which hopefully wont be for a while, so this isnt a factor. By getting this bundle I would also be saving quite a bit on a case and PSU and hopefully fans/coolers and will also be getting a bigger case than the Lian Li PC-7FNWX. Overclockers no longer do this bundle but you can still get it elsewhere for about £170. I am not convinced by the looks of the Haf X but it ticks all the other boxes and would certainly be cheaper price wise and mean that I can get better components elsewhere.
 
I was just going with the case he wanted:D

But I do agree with everyone else that you should go for a cheaper case and then you could add in the SSD you wanted.

Reapers looks good, although for an extra £20 you could get the CM690 II which is worth the extra imo:)
 
Reaper 392 said:
personally i'd cut back on the case in a big way on jack's build. if you were going for SLI 480GTX's, then fair enough get a big expensive case, but for a single 5770 theres really no need for these super expensive cases.

something like this will do you nicely:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £173.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68X-UD4 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x OCZ Vertex 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1VTX60G) £73.99
1 x Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £43.99
1 x OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply £40.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £552.62 (includes shipping : £14.75).

gets you a 60GB SSD as well
Click to expand...

Thanks. That looks very good but I am not sure about the case. If I got rid of the case, the PSU and CPU cooler (or is a CPU cooler a neccesity even with a case like this) would the Haf X bundle suffice (It would only be another £50-£60 more). The Haf X seems a much superior case which I think will last for a few builds and the PSU (Coolermaster GX 750W) seems better.
 
Depends what sort of overclocks you wanna hit. The cooler you keep your CPU the better the overclock.

You should be able to get 4GHz+ with the stock cooler but not too much over.

Also the CM GX 750W isn't a better PSU. Once you get to about 650W it gets a bit dodgy (don't know the technical details lol someone else will) but I'd advise you to go for a different one.

The OCZ are very good for their price, XFX are great seasonic based PSUs, but a bit more expensive.
 
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sk82jack said:
Depends what sort of overclocks you wanna hit. The cooler you keep your CPU the better the overclock.

You should be able to get 4GHz+ with the stock cooler but not too much over.

Also the CM GX 750W isn't a better PSU. Once you get to about 650W it gets a bit dodgy (don't know the technical details lol someone else will) but I'd advise you to go for a different one.

The OCZ are very good for their price, XFX are great seasonic based PSUs, but a bit more expensive.
Click to expand...

I see. I wont be overclocking for the forseeable future until I really need to so I guess I can do without a CPU cooler.

I dont know much about PSU's at all. I was just going by the price they were to be honest and the fact it has a higher wattage. The bundle just seemed good value to save a few quid but maybe I should just think about getting a different PSU and maybe a different case. The Haf X just seems good value for the money, although not perfect looks wise. What wattage PSU would I need for my build?
 
You will need a CPU cooler otherwise you will cook your processor in next to no time but since you are not over clocking then the stock cooler would be fine. From what I have read you are having difficulty on picking a case so I would like to suggest this one ---> Click Me

Nice and cheap but a stylish case, good airflow and a decent size.

Stoner81.
 
sk82jack said:
I was just going with the case he wanted:D

But I do agree with everyone else that you should go for a cheaper case and then you could add in the SSD you wanted.

Reapers looks good, although for an extra £20 you could get the CM690 II which is worth the extra imo:)
Click to expand...

oops, didnt even notice he had requested that case

also, i would have gone with the CM-690 II case, but i just couldnt fit it in the budget along with a decent sized SSD
 
Stoner81 said:
You will need a CPU cooler otherwise you will cook your processor in next to no time but since you are not over clocking then the stock cooler would be fine. From what I have read you are having difficulty on picking a case so I would like to suggest this one ---> Click Me

Nice and cheap but a stylish case, good airflow and a decent size.

Stoner81.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That seems a decent case for the money but I was looking for something bigger with at least 5 x 3.5" bays and 4 x 5.25" bays. I really want some element of future proofing so it lasts a good few years. This is probably a stupid question but do you get a stock fan with all cases?
 
Reaper 392 said:
oops, didnt even notice he had requested that case

also, i would have gone with the CM-690 II case, but i just couldnt fit it in the budget along with a decent sized SSD
Click to expand...

I have not requested that case, it was just one I was looking at. I am not going to get it anyway as it looks too small. The CM-690 II is very interesting though and I am currently looking into it further, thanks.
 
Stoner81 said:
How about these then;

Antec 1200 v3 which is out of stock ---> Click Me.

Or there is this one which does not have the USB3 I don't think but it is in stock ---> Click Me.

Corsair 650D ---> Click Me.

Corsair 700D ---> Click Me.

Stoner81.
Click to expand...

I like all of them cases but was told by someone not to get a Antec 1200 v3 as it was now dated. I really want one with a USB 3.0 panel. The others are probably too expensive once you pay for an additional USB 3.0 panel.

Any views on the Cooler Master Storm Enforcer. I looked at the CM-690 II, which seems great for the money, then noticed the Storm Enforcer which seems similar but has USB 3.0.
 
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