First time building a machine

coops1992

coops1992

coops1992

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Joined
5 Jun 2011
Posts
218
Location
London
Hello,
I am thinking seriously about building my first pc. I have a lot of experience of putting computers together my skills run thin when choosing compatible components and I’m hoping someone out there can help me and let me know if what I’ve chosen will work!
Shopping List
Case - CM Storm Enforcer Case -
PSU - Coolermaster Silent Pro 850W Modular PSU -
CPU - Intel Core i5 2400 3.1GHz Socket LGA 1155 6MB L3 Cache -
Motherboard - Asus SABERTOOTH P67 R3 P67 Socket 1155 -
RAM - Corsair Vengeance Memory Two Module Kit (1866MHz,CL9,DDR3) - 8GB -
HDD - Western Digital WD1002FAEX -
Optical Drive - LG BH10LS30 -
GPU - Asus GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1GB GDDR5 -
Cooling - Zalman CNPS10X-PERFORMA High Performance CPU Cooler -

I am going to be running windows 7 64-Bit and all other software is sorted as well as the screen and all peripherals such as, keyboard & mouse and external HDD.
If anyone can help me if this will be a working configuration and any changes that could improve the system I would be hugely grateful.

Regards
Coops1992
 
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First off please remove all references to competitor sites as it is not allowed, you don't want to get in trouble. You can link to products on the OCUK site and then purchase elsewhere if you wish.
 
Apart from above comments change the 2400 to a 2500K and change the RAM to cheaper 1600MHz sticks, with sandy bridge you won't notice any different.

Change the WD HDD to a Samsung F3 or Seagate Barracuda 7200.12.

Chnge the PSU to an XFX Core edition or something, better quality.

Make sure you get a B3 revision motherboard if you go for P67, the MSI P67A-GD53 is well recommended.

What is your total budget and people will give you better alternatives to what you've put up.
 
coops1992 said:
rough budget is between £700 to £900. what is sandy bridge?
Click to expand...

They are Intels 2nd generation i series processors. Its just the codename that was given to them. Oh and they are awesome :p

Edit: Beaten to it

And to echo what other people have said, I would go for the 2500k rather than the 2400. Then you can overclock in the future. Its very easy to do, just change one setting in the bios and forget about it
 
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sk82jack said:
MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.98

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

XFX 850W Black Edition Modular Power Supply £112.98

Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99

Cooler Master Storm Enforcer Gaming Case - Black £75.98

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £65.99

Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £34.99

Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £28.99

Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98

Total : £883.88 (includes shipping : £12.50)




Top end of your budget, obviously price can be lowered with a 560 Ti or something :)
Click to expand...

That build looks good. I'd personally go for 4gb ram if your mainly gaming. Would save you £40. But thats just me.
 
sk82jack said:
MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.98

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

XFX 850W Black Edition Modular Power Supply £112.98

Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99

Cooler Master Storm Enforcer Gaming Case - Black £75.98

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £65.99

Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £34.99

Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £28.99

Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98

Total : £883.88 (includes shipping : £12.50)




Top end of your budget, obviously price can be lowered with a 560 Ti or something :)
Click to expand...

many thanks, what the reason behind changeing the motherboard? i have a friend who highly recomented the SABERTOOTH P67. Is the Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H better?

Also, will the motherboard you have suggested support the USB3.0 on the front/top of the case?
 
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coops1992 said:
many thanks, what the reason behind changeing the motherboard? i have a friend who highly recomented the SABERTOOTH P67. Is the Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H better?
Click to expand...

The P67 were the ones where you could overclock the processors, the H67 had integrated graphics however you were unable to overclock. The Z68 ones are the newer ones which combine the ability to overclock as well as features from the other boards making them the best.


As there was some room left in the budget I took some of the stuff sk82jack had used and put them into the spec I did. I would therefore recommend this instead:


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.98
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £155.99
1 x Asrock Z68 PRO3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £105.98
1 x OCZ Agility 3 60GB 2.5" SATA-3 Solid State Hard Drive (AGT3-25SAT3-60G) £94.99
1 x Cooler Master Storm Enforcer Gaming Case - Black £75.98
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 620W Power Supply £49.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £43.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £33.59
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £28.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £870.48 (includes shipping : £12.50).


I have now included the case you wanted aswell as the superior A50 CPU cooler. I also upgraded to the 570 as there was room left but as sk82jack mentioned, you could drop it down to a 560ti to save money
 
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Nope, it's cheaper lol

The Sabertooth is a very good board but to stay in budget your gonna have to downgrade the graphics card as the price difference between the 2 boards is £40. Or downgrade the RAM to 4GB as suggested above.

DJMartin's build above is very good if you don't want the option of SLI in the future and you could replace the Asus Z68-V PRO with the Sabertooth if you want as the are similar price.

Here's mine with revisions:


MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.98

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

Asus P67 Sabertooth Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £149.98

XFX 850W Black Edition Modular Power Supply £112.98

Cooler Master Storm Enforcer Gaming Case - Black £75.98

Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £35.99

Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £34.99

Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £28.99

Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98

Total : £895.37 (includes shipping : £13.75)

 
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DJmartin said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.98
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £155.99
1 x Asrock Z68 PRO3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £105.98
1 x OCZ Agility 3 60GB 2.5" SATA-3 Solid State Hard Drive (AGT3-25SAT3-60G) £94.99
1 x Cooler Master Storm Enforcer Gaming Case - Black £75.98
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 620W Power Supply £49.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £43.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £33.59
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £28.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £870.48 (includes shipping : £12.50).
Click to expand...

Like it.
 
sk82jack said:
Nope, it's cheaper lol

The Sabertooth is a very good board but to stay in budget your gonna have to downgrade the graphics card as the price difference between the 2 boards is £40. Or downgrade the RAM to 4GB as suggested above.

DJMartin's build above is very good if you don't want the option of SLI in the future and you could replace the Asus Z68-V PRO with the Sabertooth if you want as the are similar price.

Here's mine with revisions:


MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.98

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

Asus P67 Sabertooth Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £149.98

XFX 850W Black Edition Modular Power Supply £112.98

Cooler Master Storm Enforcer Gaming Case - Black £75.98

Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £35.99

Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £34.99

Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £28.99

Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98

Total : £895.37 (includes shipping : £13.75)

Click to expand...

Brilliant thank you, i'm amusing that any SATA optical drive is compatible such as a Bluray drive? and any PCI-E Graphics card as the card i currently have is a good spec and i could update later on when i have spare money again?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-299-CS would aswell be compatible?
 
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coops1992 said:
Brilliant thank you, i'm amusing that any SATA optical drive is compatible such as a Bluray drive? and any PCI-E Graphics card?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-299-CS would aswell be compatible?
Click to expand...

Yeah any SATA drive will be compatible.

The RAM is compatible but I would advise against it as firstly you won't see any gaming performance increase from 8GB, secondly that particular RAM has very tall heatsinks which may conflict with the CPU cooler.

If you must get 8GB just go for the cheapest 1600MHz - the Corsair which I linked too earlier are very good and very cheap.

What card do you have now? You could always grab a second one of them and run them in CF/SLI
 
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