Generic check my spec thread! :p

.Sean

.Sean

.Sean

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It's upgrade time! As close to £500 as possible. No overclocking. Will be reusing my PSU, HDDs, and optical drives.

Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black
Intel Core i5-3450 3.10GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail
MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC)
HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games
OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G)

Total: £503. Could be £499 if I buy the OcUK value ram?

Thoughts? If I bought a slightly cheaper case I could have an i5-3550, worth it?

Thanks! :)
 
tjp148 said:
Why not go for the i5-3570k?
Overclockable then, seeing as you have opted for a z77 board!
Click to expand...
Read the OP's post, he said he doesn't overclock. I agree that its better to go 3570k so that you can overclock in a few years to delay upgrading, but if there is no chance of ever overclocking then its not worth the extra money.
Yes I agree you might as well go a B75 or H77 motherboard if you are not going to overclock.
 
In that case OP, tjlld's suggestion of lower chipset mobo is best.
With the money saved from the motherboard, buy a faster SSD (SATA III)
 
Oh right, the i5 mentioned z77 technology so I thought I had to buy one! Thanks guys, haha. :D Any suggestions?

Oh and the SSD was just a "because it's so cheap" type of thing. I've got 4 large hard drives so I'm not too fussed about a large SSD. Just thought I'd chuck Windows on it for speed along with maybe a game or two.
 
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to get the most out of an i5 chip you ideally need z77, but it will work in any other socket 1155 motherboard!
MSI/Gigabyte have good customer service record apparently. Any B75/H77 board by them (as tjlld pointed out) will do, you'll still get USB3, SATA III etc.
 
just seen your edit. you don't necessarily need a large SSD, but you will get double the speeds if you opt for SATA III. All the afore mentioned boards can handle SATA III, up to you though SATA II is slightly cheaper...
 
When you say "get the most" do you mean that it'll actually run slower on the older motherboards at stock or something? :o

I see! Glad I decided to post here, SATA-III it is then. Can't believe I didn't even notice that! What a nub I am. :D
 
No the CPU will operate at it's stock frequency whichever board it's in.
But Z77 boards have way more features over something like, say, a H61 board.

In real world terms you probably won't notice a diff between using SATA II and SATA III, but you would probably benefit from faster boot times
 
Nice, thanks. :) I'm not sure I'd even utilize whatever features you are on about, though. :( I just like to have a fast system for general browsing and HD content. I do however play lots of Football Manager so the quad core and 8gb of RAM will really improve my experience. When I do play the odd MMO or Starcraft 2, I'd like them to be pretty. From looking at benchmarks, having a stock i5, 8gb of RAM, and a 7850 will be capable to do that for the next 2/3 years. (or at least I hope so! :p)

Sorry if I'm being ignorant about the newer features and tech. I enjoy building and fiddling, but I wouldn't call myself an enthusiast and certainly don't keep up with the tech. :(
 
With games like that, most certainly!
Don't worry mate, there are thousands of us out there who are still learning as we go, me included. That's what these forums are for, sharing advice etc!
Enjoy your build
 
Cheers mate, appreciate the help. :)

All ordered now! Applied the following changes:

Fractal Core 1000
micro-ATX MSI mb
SATA-III SSD

Decided to give micro-ATX a go!
 
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