Gaming PC - £800 - BF3

shankly1985 said:
phil what would you say is your max budget on a case? is it the same as other one £45?
Click to expand...
I was trying to get overall price below £800, but it has crept over.

Will spend what is necessary to get case that will a) fit all bits in without being too cramped, and b) keep all cool.

Thanks mate - so vase option needed....
 
I saw ealier it was said that a SSD was a luxury.

If BF3 is your main aim, deal with low diskspace and take the ssd. There is nothing worse than having a decent computer and then dealing with really poor loading times on bf3.

I've seen none ssd systems trying to load bf3 taking 3-5mins to get into a game.

I say 3-5 to make it seem more fair, but honestly compared i thought it was a bit of a joke take it really could take that long.
 
****199 said:
I saw ealier it was said that a SSD was a luxury.

If BF3 is your main aim, deal with low diskspace and take the ssd. There is nothing worse than having a decent computer and then dealing with really poor loading times on bf3.

I've seen none ssd systems trying to load bf3 taking 3-5mins to get into a game.

I say 3-5 to make it seem more fair, but honestly compared i thought it was a bit of a joke take it really could take that long.
Click to expand...

This isn't true with bf3, yes first time you switch on Pc and load bf3 map will take 1-2 mins load. but after that I load a map 1-2 secs after a mate who has a ssd. And thats only bf3 maps, b2k and CQ load in about 15 secs on my system.
 
I had major long loading times with my old HDD... Every new map that I played (in the current session) took ages to load.

Got myself a Crucial SSD, slapped BF3 on there and it's much faster.
 
Thanks for SSD feedback, can see have another choice to make.

Back to last point can anyone help with this:

As well as suggestion on alternaitve case (I selected Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99). But have explained not perfect airflow area.
Any pointers towards better option.

Also will cooler be Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99 be ok?.


Finally - also need final idea for Mobo. This is my weekest area spec wise. REALLY NEED HELP.
Can see Olivier has suggested I avoid:
Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99 - and go at least for a D3H board. Willing to go up to go over £100 for this is need be, not sure I will do overclocking / SLI or Crossfire today - but might like option in future.
What about boards :
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - £82.99 OR
Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - £112.99...

Once case, cooling and Mobo are sorted I think I can push the button.

thanks again.
 
philmo said:
Thanks for SSD feedback, can see have another choice to make.

Back to last point can anyone help with this:

As well as suggestion on alternaitve case (I selected Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99). But have explained not perfect airflow area.
Any pointers towards better option.

Also will cooler be Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99 be ok?.


Finally - also need final idea for Mobo. This is my weekest area spec wise. REALLY NEED HELP.
Can see Olivier has suggested I avoid:
Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99 - and go at least for a D3H board. Willing to go up to go over £100 for this is need be, not sure I will do overclocking / SLI or Crossfire today - but might like option in future.
What about boards :
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - £82.99 OR
Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - £112.99...

Once case, cooling and Mobo are sorted I think I can push the button.

thanks again.
Click to expand...

That cooler will fit mate its socket 1155 same has cpu you picked. Not sure if it will fit into case tho.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £329.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £125.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 650W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXV2UK) £78.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £44.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi "Core" USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £42.98
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
Total : £837.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Or with worse mobo YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
Total : £109.88 (includes shipping : £8.25).

 
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Smoogels said:
No, it was a SATA3.
Click to expand...

Thanks IC3, why did you suggest I change:

Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
to
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard

and


Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
to
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99?

Can also see you suggested a:
Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 650W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXV2UK) £78.98
instead of
OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
Is it that you think 550W will not kick it with GTX670 ? or OCZ is not strong ? - and guess this factors in future proof etc ?


Thanks
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (02G-P4-2670-KR) £299.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-255-SE) £70.00
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
1 x Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (AX3U1600GC4G9-2G) £38.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.28
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £837.20 (includes shipping : £12.50).



I went over slightly but note the 2TB HDD, ok it's B grade but that's why it's £70 ;)

The case is great for the price.....i own one and am more than happy to answer questions and offer tips when you set it up :)

I used the OEM CPU as it's cheaper and the stock heatsink isnt needed, it only has a year warranty but CPU failure is rare in my experience so not a major issue in my eyes. Retail has 3 years if you want to pay the extra for it, then do by all means.

I've used the this GB mobo as it's a good entry level mobo. The Asrock IC3 spec'd does SLI/Xfire but to SLI the 670 you want 700W minimum, there is a cheaper GB alternative that has a 3 year warranty but you still need to pay more on the PSU......750W would be safer. I used a 600W PSU that is modular. More than enough power for any single GPU and overclocking. The modular cables means you dont have an excess of uneeded cables blocking airflow. Better airflow = lower temps = better overclocks ;)

The coolermaster heatsink comes with a tube of paste, the matterhorn is another alternative but that only has a single use sachet of paste. There are cheaper heatsinks in the £20ish range but they have fewer heatpipes so dont cool as well. The gelid tranquillo is good and quiet if you wanted to save some cash, i'd stick with the CM 612S though.

Any more questions feel free to ask
 
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Thanks honosuseri, i think your mix has all i want - more or less there now.
Just a final point as i have history of bad choices in desktops and my current laptop that run really hot, would you think this combo (gpu/cpu) will run quite cool?.

Assuming all will fit in the box am more or less there.

Should i want to SLI in the future, what changes would you suggest..

Thanks again.
 
So after lots of great feedback, I think I am ready to order the following.

Over budget, but want to ensure I get the right stuff as this has to last !.

I am not sure if I will overclock, or indeed go SLI in the future - but made choices in case I do

Have gone with Windforce GTX670 over EVGA, due to good reviews and cooling reports.

My weakest understanding is that of the case, PSU and cooling. I have had bad over heating experiences in the past
and want to be sure with this one. So final help here would be appreciated.

(I already have mouse, keyboard, monitor & windows etc).



Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £329.99
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £69.98
Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel £41.99
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1155) £25.99
Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Shipping £12.50

TOTAL £906.90
 
Bump - can anyone help here please - as need to finalise so I can order.
O/C have suggested better PSU for future proofing.

Anything else to change before I commit ???

Appreciated.
 
So, looks like final spec will be:

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £329.99
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £69.98
Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel £44.99
Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler £32.99
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1155) £20.99
Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Shipping £12.50

TOTAL £916.90

Will now not go SLI in future, on that basis should I stick with this PSU and can I safely go down to Mobo Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 without sacrifice (assuming this O/C's if I ever do). Will I lose any worthwhile features ?.

Anything else stick out like a saw thumb ?.

Can then order tomorrow.....joy !!

Thanks
 
You have two heatsinks in your basket lol The 612S is better than the Gelid heatsink.

Your prices are wrong anyway as the offers changed today. Also the Z9 is now out of stock so how about?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £339.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £167.99
1 x ASRock Z77 Extreme4 M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x CM Storm Enforcer Gaming Case - Black £69.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £65.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £33.59
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/AM2/AM3/FM1) £24.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.98
Total : £899.94 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 
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