First time builder Gaming spec help!

Calana

Calana

Calana

Associate
Joined
9 Jan 2013
Posts
10
Hey there.

My budget is max £1600 (if I can get a very good machine and have money left over then that would be better :) ), I already have monitors, mouse, keyboard, headset and OS.

Ideally it's going to be a games machine, primarily fps and rts. I'd like SSD on the primary drive (not fussed on secondary drive as I have some of those already) I also prefer Nvidia cards.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Cal
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £299.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 256GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5P) £185.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 750W Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply (ST75F-P) £104.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black £69.98
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £54.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
Total : £1,113.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Mobo can do SLI, hence the 750W modular PSU. Blu ray is there because I could do it for the price. RAM is faster than needed on this socket but it's priced close to 1600mhz kits so why not ;)
 
MSI GeForce GTX 670 OC Twin Frozr Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-170-MS £311.99

Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor £229.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-391-IN

OcUK Tech Lab - V12 Watercooling Kit 360
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-042-OE £184.80

Corsair AX860i Digital ATX '80 Plus Platinum' Modular Power Supply £174.98
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-108-CS

Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-162-SA £159.98

MSI X79MA-GD45 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard £152.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-213-MS

NZXT Switch 810 Big Tower Case
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-076-NX £139.99

Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual/Quad Channel
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-118-KS £79.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-248-SE £61.99

Samsung SH-224BB/RSMS 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter £22.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-156-SA&groupid=701&catid=10&subcat=

total £1,594.90 including shipping
 
Thanks guys, I've been having a play with this myself and have come up with (see below) As it's my first time, is there anything I've completely missed?

I'm wasn't planning on overclocking things, so I haven't added a cooler or extra fans. Is this something I should be looking at?

KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-031-KF £359.99

Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-391-IN £229.99

Gigabyte X79-UD3 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-031-KF £179.99

Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD250BW)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-162-SA £159.98

Cooler Master GX 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-202-CM £79.99

Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-118-KS £79.99

Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus Case - Black
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-221-CM £69.98

Asus Xonar D1 7.1 PCI Sound Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-004-AS £47.99

OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-003-OK £16.99

Total cost £1,224.90 not including shipping

Thanks for the input so far!
 
Last edited:
You don't really need a X79 setup for gaming fella. Even an i7K on the 1155 socket is pointless for gaming. If you want it fair enough, update that mobos BIOS and it unlocks it's true overclocking potential.....you'll want a good heatsink though ;)

The 840 SSD isn't great unless you get the Pro version, there is a reason I picked the one I did ;)
 
Thanks hono,

I've switched the processor, mobo, SSD and the Case (the one I chose didn't have usb3)

How's this looking?

KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-031-KF £359.99

Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-404-IN £167.99

Plextor M5 Pro 256GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5P) £167.99

1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99

Cooler Master GX 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-202-CM £79.99

Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-118-KS £79.99

Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus Case - Black
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-221-CM £69.98

Asus Xonar D1 7.1 PCI Sound Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-004-AS £47.99

OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-003-OK £16.99

Total cost 1,036.92 not including shipping
 
Last edited:
The i5K doesn't fit on that mobo dude ;) 8GB of RAM is ample for gaming, 16GB is only useful if you do video encoding etc. You can always add more to the system easily enough later. Case is personal preference, personally I like to use modular PSUs. The i5K would like a heatsink still to help you overclock it :)
 
Last edited:
Calana said:
Thanks hono,

I've switched the processor down and the SSD and the Case (the one I chose didn't have usb3)

How's this looking?

KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-031-KF £359.99

Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-404-IN £167.99

Plextor M5 Pro 256GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5P) £167.99

1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99

Cooler Master GX 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-202-CM £79.99

Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-118-KS £79.99

Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus Case - Black
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-221-CM £69.98

Asus Xonar D1 7.1 PCI Sound Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-004-AS £47.99

OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-003-OK £16.99

Total cost 1,036.92 not including shipping
Click to expand...
Wrong motherboard. You need Z77 board for the i5 3570K.

Also 16GB of vram is overkill for gaming...even 8GB would be plenty of headroom to spare.

PSU...I would go for better brand such as Corsair (not the builder series ones) or Seasonic even.

Also, you can get a GTX680 for around the same price as that 4GB GTX670:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-189-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2255

More than 2GB of vram wouldn't make any difference, unless you are going SLI and/or using 2560 res or extreme high res with multi-monitor in the future. At the moment, the Nvidia cards' shortcoming is the narrow 256-bit memory bandwidth, rather than 2GB of vram being insufficient.
 
Last edited:
 
Thank you so much for the effort guys. My head is starting to pound at the many options available!!

Do I need a glue or a paste to stick bits together?
 
How you balance the build is down to you buddy. It's a lot of cash so it's always best to talk things through and see what others suggest

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 670 OC Twin Frozr Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £311.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 256GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5P) £185.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 750W Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply (ST75F-P) £104.99
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Windowed Gaming Tower Case - Black £69.98
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £1,089.40 (includes shipping : £13.75).



I don't think you need the soundcard, again you can add one later if necessary.

I did see the 680 but it's the Frozr III cooler. I've used the 670 Frozr IV which is an improved cooler, the 670 is basically a cutdown 680 but they cut off very little, just overclock it to close the gap in performance. The MSI has a year extra on the warranty incase you wonder why I've changed from the KFA2 GPU.
 
Slightly cheaper, if you are not likely to go sli in the future.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £335.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 256GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5P) £185.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £69.98
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £64.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £49.99
1 x Thermalright HR-02 Macho CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366) £39.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £37.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £984.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Calana said:
Thank you guys.

You've all given me so much to think about. It looks like I came to the right place!
Click to expand...

No worries fella, hope we are helping more than hindering lol

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 670 OC Twin Frozr Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £311.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 256GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5P) £185.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £89.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 920 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (LGA775 / LGA1155 / LGA1156 / LGA1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM2+ / AM3+) £84.98
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD316GB1600C11DC) **OcUK Exclusive** £69.95
1 x BitFenix Prodigy 'Yin' Mini-ITX Cube Case - White/Black £64.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £1,082.46 (includes shipping : £10.50).



Once last crack at the whip just to confuse you more ;)

This is a mini-itx mobo with built in wifi and a smaller case (Mrs might be happier about this too lol). 16GB of RAM is OTT as I said but the mobo only has 2 DIMM slots so I've gone with 16GB from the get go.
 
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