Gaming P.C full build. Advice needed

Associate
Joined
21 Apr 2012
Posts
869
Hi guys,

I'm looking at purchasing a gaming P.C extremely soon and want to build it myself to save £££s

On P.C I mainly play MMOs, WoW, SWTOR and GW2 soon enough. MIght check out Diablo 3 and SC2 as well. So many abbreviations....

I'd also like to be able to run fraps in the background to a high recording standard without seeing too much of a drop in FPS (if any).

This is the build I've come up with and was looking for a critique. I've not done it in the same way that everyone else seems to link their build with the yellow writing and "your basket" (is there a way to do that without too much effort? :P). Anyway this is the build so far....

MSI GeForce GTX 580 OC Twin FrozR II 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [V255-040R]
Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail [BX80623I52500]
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM
Aerocool X-Predator Ultimate Gaming Case - Black/Orange
Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive
Asus P8Z68-V LX Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 650W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

Total £1010

Now I know you're going to say get the 2500k but I'm not really looking at overclocking and having to add extra cooling.

I guess my main questions are

1) Have I picked a good build, good brands, decent parts for the money? Are there minor tweaks that could be made for a bit less/more money?

2) I think I'm right in thinking that all the parts will fit together on the motherboard and just as important actually fit in the case?!

3) How big a difference is the SSD going to make? I'm considering dropping it and adding them at a later date when they come down even more.

4) Is the PSU good enough?
 
I dont like it,

1) Can be better.
2) It does all fit
3) A big difference
4) For a single card yes, not two.
 
Your basket

Product NameQtyPriceLine Total
GX-006-VX_60.jpg
VTX3D HD 7870 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card£245.99
(£204.99)£245.99
(£204.99)
CP-361-IN_60.jpg
Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail£167.99
(£139.99)£167.99
(£139.99)
HD-255-SE_60.jpg
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £109.99
(£91.66)£109.99
(£91.66)
CA-004-AE_60.jpg
Aerocool X-Predator Ultimate Gaming Case - Black/Orange£109.99
(£91.66)£109.99
(£91.66)
HD-009-CR_60.jpg
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)£105.95
(£88.29)£105.95
(£88.29)
MB-391-GI_60.jpg
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard£80.40
(£67.00)£80.40
(£67.00)
CA-166-CM_60.jpg
Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply£54.98
(£45.82)£54.98
(£45.82)
MY-307-CS_60.jpg
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9)£39.95
(£33.29)£39.95
(£33.29)
HS-036-CM_60.jpg
Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2)£35.99
(£29.99)£35.99
(£29.99) Sub Total :£792.69Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout)Shipping :£12.50VAT is being charged at 20.00%VAT :£161.04Total :£966.23
 
Your basket

Product NameQtyPriceLine Total
GX-006-VX_60.jpg
VTX3D HD 7870 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card£245.99
(£204.99) £245.99
(£204.99)
CP-361-IN_60.jpg
Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail£167.99
(£139.99) £167.99
(£139.99)
CA-004-AE_60.jpg
Aerocool X-Predator Ultimate Gaming Case - Black/Orange£109.99
(£91.66) £109.99
(£91.66)
HD-255-SE_60.jpg
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £109.99
(£91.66) £109.99
(£91.66)
HD-009-CR_60.jpg
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)£105.95
(£88.29) £105.95
(£88.29)
MB-390-GI_60.jpg
Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard£101.99
(£84.99) £101.99
(£84.99)
CA-004-XF_60.jpg
XFX Pro 750W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply£82.99
(£69.16) £82.99
(£69.16)
MY-307-CS_60.jpg
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9)£39.95
(£33.29) £39.95
(£33.29)
HS-036-CM_60.jpg
Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2)£35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)Sub Total : £834.02Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout)Shipping : £12.50VAT is being charged at 20.00%VAT : £169.30Total : £1,015.82


This is Crossfire ready now, a 8X/8X Crossfire/SLI board and a suitable pSU.
 
So a CPU cooler is needed for a stock i5 2500?

Crucial M4 is what I'm going to do as everyone seems to be raving about them :)

Less powerful PSU and it's cheaper. Definitely better? (sounds good to me)

A 7850 is better than a GTX 580?
 
I'm not sure if he meant to, but I'd get a 2500K as it's on offer so cheaper than the 2500
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-360-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1275

Cheers didn't notice that


Is it me or does the GTX580 come out on top for the majority of those comparisons?
 
Don't think I need to SLI with my current needs, can't see me playing anything else that's going to require that much power. Can always upgrade later on. Will the Gigabyte motherboard that people have linked not allow for SLI?

Looking at that testing it seems very close between the 7950 and 580. Maybe I'm just being bias. Have a liking towards Nvidia cards
 
Don't think I need to SLI with my current needs, can't see me playing anything else that's going to require that much power. Can always upgrade later on. Will the Gigabyte motherboard that people have linked not allow for SLI?

Looking at that testing it seems very close between the 7950 and 580. Maybe I'm just being bias. Have a liking towards Nvidia cards

This one supports SLI [from stulid's second spec]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-390-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261

Fair enough, the 580 isn't a bad card. You might want to wait a bit for the GTX670? no idea when that'll be though.

I also prefer Nvidia, but according to this the 7950 uses about half the power of the 580!
http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-radeon-hd-7950-review/8
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-580-review/7
 
the 650psu is fine for one 580, but i really recommend you go modular, having a bunch of wires lying round with a case that doesnt have amazing cable management aid, isnt really great for making everything thing fit smoothly. its worth the 10 pounds extra or so.

and as sum1 else stated the 2500k is cheaper atm lol so you would be stupid not to choose it.

And beej i got my 7950 and overall ive really not noticed a difference other than my power usage has dropped since swapping my 580. which is always a good thing. im waiting for the gtx670.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom