Gaming computer (first build)

redray · 28 Jul 2012 at 20:27

Hi, I am looking to build a computer in mid august to play modern titles; SC2 and GW2. Please take a look at what I have listed and offer me some feedback

Monitor, keyboard, mouse, operating system is not needed.

I will be using a 22" Dell with 1680*1050 native resolution but looking to upgrade to 1920*1080 later and possibly a triple setup

Budget is about £850

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7950 OC 3072MB PCI-Express Graphics Card (11196-02-40G) - AMD 3 for FREE Promotion £299.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 500R Midi Tower Case - Black/White £99.95
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £78.98
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £44.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £865.87 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Also if anyone has used TP-Link PA411 AV500 Powerline Adapter could you tell me if it is any good?

[WU-TANG]GZA · 28 Jul 2012 at 20:33

Wudnt get a 7950 for £300. I'd get a 7970 or 670

tamzzy · 28 Jul 2012 at 20:33

you missed out a hdd, idk if thats intentional or not?

here's my opinion on your budget:

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 670 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £287.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £169.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £78.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £878.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).

has a gtx 670
added hdd (500gb) +10 quid for a 1tb
changed case to z9 for cost (but its damn good value for money, 4 fans, temp reader, fan controller included)
changed cpu to oem and added aftermarket cooler
cheaper ram

ozzymundo · 28 Jul 2012 at 20:37

Looks pretty good, but for the same money GPU wise you could get this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-185-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2294 which is faster than the 7950.

Processcor, case, SSD looks good, as is the mobo as long as you don't plan to Sli/Crossfire.
Power supply looks good, however for around £10 more you could go modular: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-058-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat= which obviously aids cable management. You could make the savings on the RAM perhaps, and get this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-118-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=

Finally, for the adaptors, I assume you mean these: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-044-TP&groupid=46&catid=1604&subcat= I don't have them, but I do have a set of these: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-032-TP&groupid=46&catid=1604&subcat= which are the same but with slightly lower speed, and they are excellent, very fast, very easy to install and use. You may just want to check your cabling, sometimes in terraced and semi-detached houses, or with older cabling they don't work so well.

Best of luck

Edit to add: Do you need a CPU cooler? If so the Alpenfohn Matterhorn Pure as suggested above is exceptional for the money.

redray · 28 Jul 2012 at 20:39

[WU-TANG]GZA;22444104 said:
Wudnt get a 7950 for £300. I'd get a 7970 or 670

Thanks, will look into both.

redray · 28 Jul 2012 at 20:52

tamzzy said:
you missed out a hdd, idk if thats intentional or not?

here's my opinion on your budget:

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 670 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £287.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £169.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £78.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £878.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).

has a gtx 670
added hdd (500gb) +10 quid for a 1tb
changed case to z9 for cost (but its damn good value for money, 4 fans, temp reader, fan controller included)
changed cpu to oem and added aftermarket cooler
cheaper ram

Yeah I left out HDD because my current computer is probably only using around 80GB excluding t.v series/music. My plan would be to use external hard drives which I have store those and run them off there.

GTX670> HD 7950 i'm guessing? Thanks for cooler recommendation and the case I'll think about because I like the 500R.

tamzzy · 28 Jul 2012 at 21:00

gtx 670 vs 7950
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/598?vs=550

updated specs:

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 670 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £287.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £169.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 500R Midi Tower Case - Black/White £99.95
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £78.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £884.82 (includes shipping : £12.50).

dropped the hdd
added back the 600t
changed to modular psu

ozzymundo · 28 Jul 2012 at 21:00

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/550?vs=598

Pretty much yes. The 670 is more comparable to the 7970 imo.

redray · 28 Jul 2012 at 21:08

ozzymundo said:
Looks pretty good, but for the same money GPU wise you could get this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-185-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2294 which is faster than the 7950.

Processcor, case, SSD looks good, as is the mobo as long as you don't plan to Sli/Crossfire.
Power supply looks good, however for around £10 more you could go modular: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-058-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat= which obviously aids cable management. You could make the savings on the RAM perhaps, and get this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-118-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=

Finally, for the adaptors, I assume you mean these: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-044-TP&groupid=46&catid=1604&subcat= I don't have them, but I do have a set of these: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-032-TP&groupid=46&catid=1604&subcat= which are the same but with slightly lower speed, and they are excellent, very fast, very easy to install and use. You may just want to check your cabling, sometimes in terraced and semi-detached houses, or with older cabling they don't work so well.

Best of luck

Edit to add: Do you need a CPU cooler? If so the Alpenfohn Matterhorn Pure as suggested above is exceptional for the money.

Nice to hear that the adapters are good, as for cabling I have no idea so will just hope for the best. Yep will go modular with the PSU and have taken cooler on board, Thanks.

redray · 28 Jul 2012 at 21:12

tamzzy said:
gtx 670 vs 7950
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/598?vs=550

updated specs:

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 670 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £287.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £169.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 500R Midi Tower Case - Black/White £99.95
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £78.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £884.82 (includes shipping : £12.50).

dropped the hdd
added back the 600t
changed to modular psu

On the specs for GPU it says 2x 6pin but the PSU has 2x 8pin is this fine?

tamzzy · 28 Jul 2012 at 21:14

the 8 pin is actually 6+2 so it detaches 2 pins to become 6 pins

redray · 28 Jul 2012 at 21:34

ozzymundo said:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/550?vs=598

Pretty much yes. The 670 is more comparable to the 7970 imo.

tamzzy said:
the 8 pin is actually 6+2 so it detaches 2 pins to become 6 pins

Ok great. With regards to power supplies which brands should I stick to?

I'm also looking to buy a 450W as a replacement for another computer. I borrowed a friends PSU which only had 1x 6 pin connection and tried to boot the computer with a gpu that requires 2x 6 pin. It worked a few times but now once I get to bios screen the monitor does not detect anything and a fan in the system starts roaring. Is it due to the power shortage?

tamzzy · 28 Jul 2012 at 21:39

YOUR BASKET
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £41.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
Total : £90.07 (includes shipping : £9.25).

but they're both out of stock.
i'd say my personal psu ranking
1. corsair/xfx (they're my personal preference)
2. antec
3. pc power and cooling
4. ocz/cooler master

tamzzy · 28 Jul 2012 at 21:41

redray said:
I borrowed a friends PSU which only had 1x 6 pin connection and tried to boot the computer with a gpu that requires 2x 6 pin. It worked a few times but now once I get to bios screen the monitor does not detect anything and a fan in the system starts roaring. Is it due to the power shortage?

yes, you need to connect the gpu to 2x6pin
1x6 pin wont cut the mustard im afraid

ozzymundo · 28 Jul 2012 at 22:03

Nice to hear that the adapters are good, as for cabling I have no idea so will just hope for the best. Yep will go modular with the PSU and have taken cooler on board, Thanks.

To be honest as long as it's not like centuries old (well early 20th century) it should be fine, it just needs to be in reasonably serviceable condition really, I've got a mate who lives in a 30's semi detached and it's fine for him, so you should be fine, it's very rare to get problems with them afaik. I would definitely recommend them, way better than wireless and so easy as well.