First Ever PC Build

[azibux1]

Hi all,

This is my first post here, I joined recently because I want to build a PC and wanted some advice.

I am going to be using the PC for day-to-day use, watching movies, programming, a bit of gaming and maybe a bit of photo editing. So I am not going for an extreme gaming PC, I just want a fast/better than average PC, that can be used for all of the above, and that I can say I have built myself.

I do not want to spend too much, my budget for the PC is around £750 incl VAT, I'd prefer it it was closer to the £700 mark, and obviously cheaper than that is even better

Below is what I'm thinking of:

- Intel i5 2500k 3.3GHz Sandybridge 1155
- MSI P67A-G45 Intel P67 (1155)
- Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB
- MSI GeForce GT 430 OC Twin FrozR 1024MB
- WD Caviar Black, 1TB
- OCZ Agility 60GB SSD
- Samsung BluRay Drive
- Samsung DVD RW
- Akasa Venom CPU Cooler
- DeepCool Ultra Silent 80mm Fan X2
- Gelid Silent 120mm Fan
- OcUK Case
- OCZ ModXStream 600w Silent Modular PSU

Total: £727.85 incl VAT

What do you think?

I know that some say 4GB RAM is enough, but like others say at the moment for the price you might as well go for 8GB.

So other than the RAM, is any extra money being spent anywhere it shouldn't be? And am I missing anything?

A few questions:

Firstly, is everything I have specced compatible? Enough slots on motherboard for everything etc?

How do I know what wattage PSU I need? And is the one I specced 'fully' modular or not? Because the one that I specced above I just randomly added to give me a rough guide on price as I was not sure on the wattage, so that may not necessarily have all the necessary connections.

Are there any reasonable priced graphics cards that have two HDMI outputs? So I can have one for my monitor and one for my TV if I'm watching a movie. Or is there a better way of doing this?

Are all the cables that I would need for this build included with this or do they need to be purchased separately ?

I 'might' overclock it, but I definitely do not want to damage anything. When it says "Automatically overclock CPU and Memory in 1 second", how does this work and more importantly is it totally safe to do? Is it like a button/switch that motherboards have that allow you to instantly overclock them? I heard about that from this video, mentioned at 4m20sec into the video:

What is the difference between P67, H67, H61 Chipset and for my processor which do I need, or are they all compatible?

Does the blu-ray drive burn/read normal CD's/DVD's?

What is the main difference between the WD Caviar Green, and Caviar Black? The overclockers website does not say the spin speed of the green one?

Similar to the PSU, I wasn't at all sure on the case, and it was just added to give a guide on price, so I didn't check if it has enough space for the things I am looking at (apart from fans, which is the reason I specced those fans). So is there a better case for a reasonable price, preferably with a window and USB ports on it? I'm not sure which cases are good.

Are fan controllers worth the money?

Is the SSD worth the money for the faster boot times? I think it is, but what do you all say? And is it an issue with having an SSD for the OS, and another drive for your files etc? What I mean by that is do programs install ok onto the drive that does not have the OS on and does the PC try to install things onto the SSD as default because that is where the OS is, then you have to keep changing the install location every time you install anything?


That's all the questions I can think of for now, but I'm sure I'll probably have more soon.

Also I am going to London International Technology Show on Saturday where they are supposed to have discounted prices, so I'm hoping to buy certain things from there that I know will be compatible with whatever I buy from Overclockers, like Blu-Ray drive, HDD/SSD etc and try and save some money.


So what do you think?

Look forward to your replies and thanks in advance,
Azibux1

EDIT: Is a watercooling system for the CPU worth the money in this sort of build or not? And if so, which (reasonably priced one) do you recommend?

Also, I know it would be stretching the budget but if it is worth it, then it may be possible. Would it be worth the money to minus the CPU, motherboard, CPU cooler and RAM from my build and swap it with either of the following (probably the cheaper option of the two) as it would be much safer than overclocking it myself:
Krypton Z68 Intel i5 2500k 3.3GHz overclocked to 4.6GHz bundle
Krypton Z68 Intel i5 2500k 3.3GHz overclocked to 4.4GHz bundle

 

[azibux1]

have a look at the BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Windowed or Zalman Z9 Plus Case.

i wouldn't go for an ssd drive on the budget shown above, instead move the monies to upgrade the graphics card to the ati 6850, and a cpu cooler like the Corsair A50, one you spec'd has push pins to locate it to the motherboard and i don't really like them, as they can be a pain to fit securly.

the green drives slower than the blacks, decent alternative is the Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB.

graphics card wise go with the dvi connection to your monitor and hdmi to tv, then you can run sound via the hdmi to the tv.

Just looked at both those cases you mentioned, I like the BitFenix one you said, but the window does not look clear or is that just the way the picture is?

OK I'll leave the SSD for now then, and make it a future upgrade instead.

Can you recommend an Nvidia graphics card please, because I have been told they are better than ATI and ATI crash a lot, so best to go for Nvidia (a friend who uses ATI told me that, and said he regrets getting ATI)

And I will change the cooler for an A50 as I also read somewhere that said make sure you do not to get a push-pin one, but I just didn't realise the Akasa was a push-pin style.

Thanks for the info about the wiring, never used DVI before so assumed HDMI was best, but I just googled and found out that image quality is the same, the only difference is the DVI doesn't carry audio. So I will use the above setup you mentioned.

With the Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB, would it be worth spending the little extra and going for the WD Caviar Black instead due to the SATA 6GB/s, 64mb cache and longer warranty I'd get?

That PSU is not the best and has received lukewarm reviews. It's a little (literally) overrated. (as to what wattage it can do) I suggest this one instead:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-118-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1088

OK Thanks,

Would that PSU you posted a link to be suitable, wattage wise? All I will be adding in the future is probably an SSD and maybe some interior case lighting, fans etc.

Also I see it isn't fully modular. I take it fully modular ones are very expensive, or only come in higher wattages? The only reason I wanted modular is to make cable management easier, will it be easy to hide the cables that are attached to this, are all the cables that are attached ones that are definitely going to be used? So that way there won't be much to hide

I agree with mp260767.

An SSD (and the same with RAM) is something you can easily upgrade to in the future, and if you don't need it right now, it can wait. If you use that money and get a better Graphics card, you will have a much better system.

You can't "upgrade" a graphics card cheap, you have to buy a whole new one. Where as adding an SSN/RAM is easier.

That GPU wont do much in terms of gaming, unfortunately. For watching movies will be fine though.

I understand what you and mp260767 are saying, and I am going to leave the SSD out for now, and make it a future upgrade instead. But for the £13 more (or only £10 on current offer) I am going to go for the 8GB RAM now instead of 4GB, as it just makes sense to.

Can you suggest me an Nvidia graphics card that is better than what I specced please? The reason for that is because I have been told they are better than ATI and ATI crash a lot, so best to go for Nvidia (a friend who uses ATI told me that, and said he regrets getting ATI)




Thanks for all the help everyone

 

[azibux1]

What is your budget then? Are we talking the GPU budget plus the SSD money (so around £135?)

I have a Nvidia card, and I have a 560 ti. A great card for the price, but slightly over £135. Cheapest one is here - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-247-AS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat= but you get Batman for free, so if you was planning to get that anyway, a decent deal.

As you can see here, the 560 ti out performs the ATI card (6870, similar price) in most cases (and most games) - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/330?vs=290

Of course, you can always pay a bit more, but if you want Nvidia, I would highly recommend that card. I have a EVGA version, which is very clockable too, which is a nice bonus. Has played everything I have thrown at it at good resolutions (1080p) at very high settings.

If it is over budget (I know you can always keep adding more, and before you know it, you are spending over £200 ), I would recommend saving for it. An "in budget" card is the 560 (note not the 560 ti), but it is NOT the same card, and the extra performance in the 560ti is worth it.

EDIT: Just seen deal of the day and the 6870 is on offer at the moment, deal of the day - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-143-OK . I would possibly consider that, but it is an ATI card. If you prefer Nvidia, then 560 ti all the way imo.

Thanks for that, it all makes sense

Yes, graphics card budget + SSD money I will buy the SSD at a later date

I do not know a lot about graphics cards, that's why I specced that original one, but if you say not to get the original one I specced and that the 560Ti is worth the money, and my friend also said go with Nvidia, the 560Ti is probably what I will go with.

Also thanks for that link to the comparison site, was good to be able to compare it to the ATI equivalent

And thanks for the info about deal of the day, but I'm going to stick with Nvidia I thnk

Would choosing this graphics card require a higher wattage PSU than what monkeynut suggested? Or will that one be OK?

 

[azibux1]

At stock speeds, you will be fine. I run my system off a 550w, and for a one card set up, you will be OK. 600w would give you an extra bit of leg room, but so far 550w been fine for me. If you are unsure, check here - http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp stick your numbers in and see what comes out.

If you want the extra leg room, then a 650w maybe worth it, but only if you plan to upgrade in the near future. Otherwise you will be wasting on the electricity bill for quiet a while I think.

Alright, I'll check out that website later and see what it says.

All I will be planning on upgrading to is an SSD in the future, so I'm guessing 550w will be fine?

nvidia 560 card at least

Yep I think I'm going to go for the 560Ti that barneystuta suggested

 

[azibux1]

I don't see any reason why not. Don't think an SSD is a power hungry component.

The CPU/GPU are the big power eaters, and you should be fine with that.

Thanks


Anyone have any answers for any of the questions in my original post?

 

[azibux1]

Quoted post about the questions I had and the answers from Barneystuta, I just removed that all from here to make the reply smaller

Thank You so much for that, it really helps a lot and explained a lot

I also really like that Cooler Master Elite 430 case you linked to, that is definitely now my choice of case at the moment

I've used both ati and nvidia cards, can't say I've noticed the ati ones crashing any more than the nvidia ones.

yes the 6870 is slower than the 560ti, but then its also cheaper(the 560ti is £160-£200 where's the 6870 is £130(well with 'today only £120)-£150). if you're creaping towards the £200 mark for the graphics card may as well get the 6950 2gb

for the motherboard I would say the z68 chipset one would be better than the p67 one

I don't mind spending the little extra for the Nvidia since it is quicker, I'm not the sort of person that is going to keep upgrading the graphics card so I'm only going to buy it once and it will last me a long while, so that's why I'm spending the little extra and going for Nvidia

And thanks, I'll make sure I spec a Z68 Chipset mobo



I am going to post a new updated spec soon (about 10 minutes)

 

[azibux1]

Updated spec

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £157.99
1 x MSI P67A-G45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £89.98
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) £67.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1333C9D3B1K2/8G) £44.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £39.98
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £24.98
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £736.87 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Few questions again:

What do you think of the new spec, anything need changing?

I went onto the PSU wattage calculator site and put in all the details of everything that I currently have specced (plus a couple of extra fans just in case I add those, and I put the SSD there that I will get in the future), and it suggested 421W so obviously the 550W one I specced is fine...BUT if I add a water cooling system for the CPU in the future, will the 550W still be OK? The reason I did not just add one into the calculator is because I'm not sure which one I might get.

Is the CPU cooler I specced suitable if I choose to overclock the CPU?

And finally, people have suggested I get a Z68 Chipset motherboard but on the Overclockers website the only options for socket 1155 motherboards that have Sandybridge written next to them are the P67, H67 and H61. So can I get a Z68 as I have a Sandybridge processor, even though it does not say Sandybridge next to the Z68 section on the site? I wasn't sure on this, that is why I just specced the original motherboard again to give a guide on price



Let me know what you think,

 

[azibux1]

z68 mb is for sandy bridge, me and barneystuta didn't mention it for no reason.

OK Thanks, I wasn't doubting you, I was just wondering why it didn't say Sandybridge next to that category on the Overclockers site

I will spec one soon

 

[azibux1]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £157.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.98
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) £67.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1333C9D3B1K2/8G) £44.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £39.98
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £24.98
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £726.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).




What do you all think of this spec?

Is the motherboard good? To me it looks good, I also like some of the features like the two physical BIOS ROMs, Gigabyte Touch BIOS and the way you can charge devices through USB while the PC is turned off.

What do you think though?

 

[azibux1]

not sure if you'll see much 'real life' benefits but

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

don't know if the extra speed of the wd is worth the extra £20 over http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-082-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1279

oh and for the blue-ra you want retail not oem unless you happen to have blue-ray program licence as no free(legal) alternatives from what I've read.

Thanks for the reply,

I have swapped the RAM for the Genesis Grey instead, might aswell as it's only about £3 more

And I have swapped the blu-ray for the retail version. Thanks for telling me about that as I wasn't aware of the issue with the licence

So it currently looks like this:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £157.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.98
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) £67.99
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BluRay ROM DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £47.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £39.98
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £24.98
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £739.87 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Someone else also previously suggested the Samsung HDD but I hadn't changed it yet as I wasn't sure yet whether to go for the Samsung or WD. Does anyone else have any views on Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB vs WD Caviar Black 1TB? Anyone out there that has used both and can compare them? Is the extra money worth it for the WD? Just let me know, because if it is a wasted £20 then I will swap it out for the Samsung instead

Also fowler002, what do you think of the mobo I specced?

Thanks again

 

[azibux1]

i got coolmaster storm enforcer case looks great good look with build i had similar budget here is my forum if u want a quick look http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18321296

good luck mate

Thanks

That is a nice case, I just don't like the look of it lol

I will read your thread now

 

[azibux1]

as you have the blue-ray/dvd-rw combo drive do you need the seperate dvd-rw?

I missed that earlier

I wasn't sure about that either, I was thinking along the lines of I'd put the CD/DVD/Blu-Ray I'm burning onto in the Blu-Ray drive, and the disc I'm maybe making a copy of in the DVD-RW? Or is there a better way of doing this (letting it make a temp copy on the HDD first, then burning that to the new disc) ??

Does that DVD-RW read and write DVDs and CDs? I think it does
Is it a waste of money/space?


Thanks

 

[azibux1]

Also, I have not specced any fans for the build

What do you all recommend as I'm unsure

So far I have thought of:
One 120mm intake on front (included with case)
One 120mm intake on side (will this interfere with the heatsink fan blowing air out, will they be blowing at each other cancelling out the point?)
Two 120mm exhaust fans on top of case (since heat rises)
One 120mm exhaust on back of case

Does it matter if you are taking out more air than you are putting in, or putting in more air than you are taking out? Or does it not make a difference?

Also what do people say, should heatsink fan be blowing air away from heatsink then the exhaust fans in the case will take this hot air out (what I think) or should it be blowing onto the heatsink to cool it and the CPU(what some people on the WWW think) ?

Thanks for any advice,

 

[azibux1]

get a normal 7,200rpm 1tb hdd sata II, paying for the black because its sata III is a waste as it makes it no faster, save yourself £25 and get this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-248-SE&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1279

Thanks for the link, I never saw the Seagate drive on the site, and that says "SATA 6Gb/s", so surely that is SATA III anyway and still cheaper than the WD Black?

Can someone confirm that? But I will spec it into the build anyway instead of the WD Black

i'd go with an inlet and exhaust fan for starters, fewer fans you have less noise there is, make sure you keep your cables as tidy as possible to help with air flow.

check the temps, then if you remove the side panel off the case and the temps drop think about using another fan, i'd go with a top fan to exhaust.

cpu fan, try it as push and then as pull see which help your temps the best, so initially locate the fan to push air through the cooler towards the back of the case, then change it over to pull air through the cooler and towards the exhaust fan and see how your temps work out.

OK Thanks I'll try that once I've built it

So does it matter if you are doing what I mentioned earlier, taking out more air than you are bringing in or vice versa? Does it have to be even?

 

[azibux1]

nope, doesn't have to be even, positive/negetive pressure in a case can make a difference, worth experimenting with to find out which you find works best for your setup.

also, keep in mind when testing temps/fan setup the room temp, normally should't make any difference but if you check over 2 days and u find a temp change of 5 degrees worthwhile checking to see the same 5 degrees isnt room related .

Thanks, I'll remember that

Any views on the current build? Anything need changing?

What is this motherboard like? Is it good?


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £157.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.98
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BluRay ROM DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £47.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £41.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £39.98
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £24.98
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £713.87 (includes shipping : £12.50).




Thanks

 

[azibux1]

Also, I have been reading reviews of everything I'm looking at here and I have a couple of question

1. Is the lack of cable management on the case really that much of an issue? If you spend time on it, can you do a tidy job with just cable ties and hiding small wires behind mobo tray? Because I really like the case otherwise

2. People say the A50 cooler is quite big and may not fit in some cases, does anyone know if it will fit in this case?


Thanks

 

[azibux1]

should be able to work the cable management if you take time, just try to keep the wires grouped as best you can and where possible out of the way to allow a clean air flow.

there are extensions you can buy if some cables are being a pain, i don't like to use them unless necessary, but worth keeping in mind.

looking at the spec for the a50 and the case you should be fine, cooler is 160mm high and the case shows as 190mm wide.

OK That's what I thought, just spend time on it and you'll get a tidy job

And thanks for checking if it will fit for me

Some people on other threads recommend the Gelid Tranquillo (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-GD), it is a similar price. But which is better?

Also sorry for asking this again but it is the one thing no one has confirmed yet, is the motherboard that I have chosen a good choice?

Also, how do I know which way air flows through the fans, so I know which way to mount them for intake / exhaust ?


Thanks for your help,

EDIT: Surely if the cooler is 160mm high, and case is 190mm wide, that is only 30mm gap, with the motherboard tray taking up some of that 190mm, and the motherboard taking up a bit more, will it still fit?

 

[azibux1]

Think you got a nice little system there, and not to dissimilar to mine.

The motherboard is a great "bargain of the year" according to reviews here - http://www.kitguru.net/components/m...-z68ap-d3-z68-review-bargain-buy-of-the-year/

"If you are in the market for a new system and want to keep the costs down as low as possible, then this is one of the best motherboards on the market. If you partner it up with a Core i5 2500k and some decent, inexpensive DDR3 memory then you will be futureproofed for some time yet. Adding a single card now, then another later will ensure you will be playing the latest Direct X 11 games at 1080p without a problem"

I have it, and it is a great board.

People have a personal preference, and bad experience with certain brands. You will see some people say "I will never buy a Gigabyte again, it was awful, had to RMA it 3 times" etc etc, and then you will get people who "I will always buy a Gigabyte board, never had problems with them, great value" etc etc.

Same goes for ASUS, AS Rock, and any other manufacturer.

The reviews of this board however, speak for themselves. Packed with plenty of great features (for the price), and all for a tidy price under £80 (this week only). Can't go wrong with that I think.

Sounds good then That is what I like about it too, lots of features and a nice low price

What are the specs of your system?

And is it overclocked?

That is one thing I'm not sure about, whether I want to overclock or not, since I do not want do damage any of my parts

 

[azibux1]

there both good coolers, whichever is cheapest when you buy will do you fine.

on the fan body itself you'll see arrows that point in the direction of the flow.

mobo is around 2-3mm, mobo stands maybe 5mm so should be plenty of space left .

overclocking it will be fine, just check the details in the overclock/cooling forum, only 2 things to watch for:

1) don't use too much voltage on cpu/northbridge etc
2) temps don't go to high under load testing.

other than that you'll be fine.

Alright, I will get the cheapest one at the time then

I'll look out for the arrows when building it

And that's good, should fit nicely then

I probably won't overclock just yet, I will read up some more, then maybe after a couple of months or so I might do it. I take it both of those coolers are fine for overclocking with?

- Same mobo and CPU (Processor running at 4GHz - it can run a lot faster, but not with the cooler I currently use)
- Arctic Cooler 13 (OK for small overclocks, not massive, but I am happy with what I have)
- 4GB (2x2) Corsair XMS3 RAM
- Xclio Goodpower 550w PSU (got it as part of a deal, does my job fine, but there are better out there).
- Same DVD RW
- 500GB HDD (Western Digital)
- EVGA 560 ti Maximum Graphics Edition (overclocked also)
- All inside a second hand HAF 932

I'd never built a PC, never overclocked, and never even thought about much of it until I got the i5. It really is VERY easy to overclock, even on the the stock cooler (small over clocks). My Arctic Cooler will allow me to push it a bit more (up to 4). It has run a stable run in 3D Mark at 4.5Ghz, but it wasn't too stable for long periods.

Enjoy your system and your build

Thanks for the info on yours, sounds like a nice PC, and like you say, mine will probably be similar

Like I said above I will read up on it a bit more and then maybe overclock it after a couple of months.

Thanks, I'm sure I will enjoy it

 

[azibux1]

I've not used the motherboard myself so can't comment on it but its being recommended by stulid who's more knowledable about these things, the thing is if you plan on going sli in the future the mb is not compatible even tho it has 2x pci-e x16 slots(it says xfire ready but 1 of pci-e x16 slot is actually x4 not x16 so the xfire performance will suffer).

if you plan on going sli/xfire you'll want http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-368-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

on the subject of the case fans, the case already comes with an intake and exhaust fan so you don't need to spend extra(unless you want to go for better/quiter fans or for top/side/bottom fans).

Thanks for the info but I have no plans for SLI/Crossfire because I'm not going to be gaming that much (this relates to the question at the bottom of my post here), so that's good to know that this is a good board for the money, and for what I want to use it for

Fan-wise, I think I will use what the case comes with for now, then order quieter ones in the future if I find these are quite loud/not doing a good enough job

At the moment the build is:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £157.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.98
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BluRay ROM DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £47.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £41.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £39.98
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £24.98
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £713.87 (includes shipping : £12.50).



But I am starting to think some of the money I am spending on the gfx card would be better spent on something like a Corsair H50 / Corsair H60 instead of the Corsair A50 (since I might overclock in the future, and even if I don't the water cooling will keep temps down), and then get a slightly cheaper gfx card because I am really not going to do a lot of gaming on this machine, I use my PS3 for this, but I want to be able to play 'some' games occasionally on my PC without it struggling.

What do you all think? Is there a slightly cheaper Nvidia gfx card I could get that is still good and still has one HDMI and one DVI? I think I am wasting some money on the graphics card here. Surely there must be an alternative cheaper version?


Look forward to your replies,