First time build advice

thehereticmonk

thehereticmonk

thehereticmonk

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Joined
6 Feb 2013
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7
Hey, sorry for the long post. I'm building my first PC snd have found these forums invaluable so far. I'd appreciate any advice on my propsed build and to ensure everything I've picked is compatible.

It's already stretching my budget so any suggested substitutions that will save money would be good. As long as it still matches my requirements.

I’m aiming for a good all round desktop that is quick, responsive and reliable. *I’ll be leaving it on 24/7 days at a time for downloading and streaming to the TV/Xbox. *So I’m also wanting it to be quiet and energy efficient.

Only gaming I’ll be doing will be games I can’t get on Xbox i.e. Civ 5, Starcraft 2, SimCity 2013…

I won’t be over-clocking it initially but I may in the future so it’d be nice to have the room to do so.

Also I assume I don’t need a wireless card as my PC will be connected to the router.

The build is:

CPU: Intel i5-3570k
HDD: Seagate 2TB SATA III 6Gb/s 64MB 7200RPM HDD
SSD: Samsung 250GB 840 Series Basic SSD

GPU: XFX Core Edition Radeon HD 7850 AMD 2GB
ORMSI HD7850 OC AMD/ATI 2GB
(Torn between these two GPUs so any recommendations are good)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H Intel Z77 Socket 1155 Ivybridge
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 Dual
PSU: XFX Pro Series Core Edition P1-550S-UKB9 550W
DVD Drive: Samsung SH-224BB/RSMS
Case: Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl
Monitor: 21.5" AOC E2250SWDAK LED
OS: Windows 7 64-bit

Cheers!
 
seems like a nice balanced build.

only things i would mention are;

do you really need a 256gb SSD? 128gb is usually ample, with OS and all programs installed it would still leave around 70gb of space, surely thats enough for all your games? basic data photos/music can run off the standard HD.

7850 is a decent enough card, not an AMD buff so wouldnt like to comment on which is better.

No wireless needed if cabled no.

I notice there is no CPU cooler in there, the stock one can be a bit whiny at load, I would seriously consider a freezer 13, its £20, fits in the R3 fine and will give you much better temps and less noise.

:)
 
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Go with the msi 7850 i have it and its a great card plus msi offer better customer service than xfx, xfx from what i have heard respiond with "your graphics card is broken? oh dear that's a shame" where as msi are currently fixing my old g-card as the fan broke and not charging me a penny
 
Well yeah, why? Between the overclockers main site, forums and techspot reviews I researched all the parts.

This is my first (or second even) post but I've been browsing the forums for info.

Or are you getting at some thing else
 
thehereticmonk said:
Well yeah, why? Between the overclockers main site, forums and techspot reviews I researched all the parts.

This is my first (or second even) post but I've been browsing the forums for info.

Or are you getting at some thing else
Click to expand...

I think he is getting at your use of the word "invaluable", opposed to "valuable" instead.....however I believe you are correct sir, although I do stand to be corrected.

Anyway back on topic...
 
Seems like a good enough build for what you want it for, I would have to agree with F1aw1ess on the SSD size. Starcraft 2 is 8.2GB & Civ5 is around 5GB, not sure about Simcity 2013 but can't see it being that large.
Could save some money if you went for a 128GB SSD.
 
thehereticmonk said:
Well yeah, why? Between the overclockers main site, forums and techspot reviews I researched all the parts.

This is my first (or second even) post but I've been browsing the forums for info.

Or are you getting at some thing else
Click to expand...

Just a quick search and you can have the answers for all builds on here, that's all. :cool:

In terms of your build, the SSD you'd be better off getting the 830 version or the 840 pro, as the one you selected is worse than the previous Samsung 830's. Following the posts above, i'd get a 120GB Corsair GT as the read speeds for games are insanely good. [I'm using this myself and can happily recommend.]

How much is your whole budget?
 
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Invaluable

adjective
1.*beyond calculable or appraisable value; of inestimable worth; priceless:*an invaluable art collection; her invaluable assistance.

Anyhow, as hlxbravo said, back on topic...
 
thehereticmonk said:
Invaluable

adjective
1.*beyond calculable or appraisable value; of inestimable worth; priceless:*an invaluable art collection; her invaluable assistance.

Anyhow, as hlxbravo said, back on topic...
Click to expand...

thehereticmonk said:
Damn now I feel like a **** :o
Click to expand...

:p

Do you have a budget, i'll spec you something up around your current build. Or is the budget irrelevant?
 
This is coming in at £880 (excluding OS). I would have liked to get it in under £700.

I'll definately drop down the SSD to a £120 if that'll take all the core programs and OS. The monitor I can get for £78 and the cheapest IPS I can find is £90. So I might as well save a few quid?

Thanks for the note on the CPU cooler would rather it was cool and quiet. Do I need to buy a heat sink or is the included one fine. While I'm on it, anyone have an idea of the mobo sound quality.

What are the msi bios controls like? The XFX was supposed to be user friendly, so good to learn OCing with, and fairly ccomprehensive.

Thanks for all the info so far guys!
 
Something along the lines of this? Although, I couldn't fit the OS or monitor in at that budget. If you lose the SSD and use a HDD with 4GB of ram, that might work until you can add some extra cash into the budget? I rounded up with this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £149.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 650W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020038-UK) £78.98
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £75.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £73.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £64.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £49.99
1 x Be Quiet! Shadow Rock Pro SR1 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £35.99
Total : £724.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
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ScienceStamps said:
I personally would get the MSI 7870 2048MB I think the £30 extra is well worth the 428 3DMARK points you gain ( http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-185-MS )
Also as awesome as the black dragon ram is I personally prefer the cooler Kingston hyperX Beast pardon the pun ;) (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-124-KS)
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I'd recommend the Samsung Green personally, but was just trying to keep the cost down. Hard to fit everything in on the budget.
 
skimp out somewhere else, keep the SSD it will make the single biggest difference to how the whole machine feels.

Be careful when choosing an SSD because some companies advertise their rated speeds using compressible data whereas most data you will be working is incompressible.
 
I took the SSD out as OP wants it for downloading and streaming, a 128GB SSD will fill up quick, plus you wanna keep them for OS & Programs essentially. I'd grab a large HDD, use that with the OS for the time being & then grab an SSD. Can get downloading and such?
 
Wicked. So overal I'm happy with the build and either way it's gonna cost around £800.

Worth it though!

I'll get a decent SSD for the OS and programes. The HDD will do as it's only going to be for movies, music and emule pretty much.

Thanks guys your help has been invaluable ;)
 
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