Associate
- Joined
- 7 Apr 2012
- Posts
- 8
Hi all.
Been lurking around these forums for a fair while now and they've helped me a lot in choosing specs for my up-and-coming, years-in-the-making, mid-range gaming first build.
Still, I've kind of run out of personal knowledge with this and would really appreciate a helping hand with a couple of things, which I'll explain later. For now, the specs which I think I've properly decided on:
NOTE: Have changed several of the specs below since original OP. As such some of the rest of it might not make sense. Also, when I put GTX 580 in the orginal specs, I meant GTX 560 Ti (obviously... lol).
-
Case - Antec Three Hundred
Motherboard - Asrock Z77 Extreme 4
CPU - Intel i5-2500k (seems like the obvious choice)
Graphics - Radeon HD7850
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 8 Gb (DDR3, 1600 MHz)
Cooling - Two fans built into case, two Cooler Master 120 mm, one Zalman 120 mm, Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo on CPU
Drive - One OCZ Agility 3 60 Gb SSD (boot drive), one 500 Gb WD Caviar Blue Hard drive (7200 rpm)
PSU - Corsair GS700
Sony 24x DVD drive, couple of other bits and bobs.
-
I've been lucky enough to end up with a very nice LG 23 inch 3D monitor and a Creative 2.1 sound system essentially for free from a friend (long story), so I don't need to worry about those. The monitor is also the reason why I've gone for a fairly powerful graphics card, as I'd like to give 3D a shot sometime in the future if not right off the bat. If one GTX 560 ti can't push 3D graphics, two overclocked in SLI ought to.
Now, you've probably noticed the conspicuous lack of a motherboard on that list. That's one of the many places where you guys come in.
To be totally honest, I'm kind of new to this whole building computer thing and I'm not totally sure what I'm looking for in a motherboard. I gather that P67 and Z68 chipsets are best for the i5-2500k, but I'm kind of bewildered by the choice out there and it would be great if someone could help me out. I understand that Z68 is a step up from P67 in terms of complexity, but what exactly would a Z68 board offer me that I wouldn't get with a P67 board?
One particular model that I've heard a lot about is the Asrock Z68 Extreme 4 Gen 3. However, I've also found its little brother, the Extreme 3 (not Gen 3 or Gen anything, for that matter), for as little as £60. So what exactly makes it worth all the extra cash?
Another model that caught my fancy is the Pro 3 Gen 3, mostly due to its price. It seems to offer much of the features of the Extreme 3 Gen 4 (the ones that I like: the fan control; seperate VGA, DVI and HDMI and the graphical BIOS) at only £70. However, I'm not sure if it's totally compatible with the 15-2500k.
If it's any help, features that I'd like in a motherboard would be SLI support, good overclocking support (this one's important; being able to pump lots of watts through it is vital), support for fan speed things (you know, so you can adjust the speed from the computer or set it to adapt automatically), a good onboard sound card would save me buying a discrete one, and plenty of USB 3.0 slots.
Or if I have, indeed, missed the plot entirely, please educate me on what exactly I'm looking for.
Another flaw in my plan could be that the 600 W PSU might be on the conservative side. I think it should do fine for the build specs, but I plan to overclock and I'd like to keep the door open to the possibility of SLI. Would 600 W cover two overclocked GPUs, an overclocked CPU, five fans and my USB toaster? Tips would be appreciated.
That's all I can think of, though feel free to blast shell-sized holes in my plans so far. My mantra for this build is for it to go as smoothly and cheaply as possible without cutting corners, and I hope you guys will be able to point me in the right direction.
Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long OP!
Edit:
Other considerations (as if you need any more):
Thinking about the RAM being at 1600 MHz - I understand that the faster the better, but would it be possible to just take 8 Gbs of cheaper 1333 MHz RAM and overclock it to 1600 MHz? Would this work, and if so, would I really notice the difference?
Actually, I've also just realised that you can get Kingston 1600 MHz HyperX RAM dead cheap here, so I may alter my plans accordingly.
Also, with Ivy Bridge around the corner, do you guys think it would be worth waiting for Sandy Bridge prices to fall or investing in a Z77 mobo?
Cheers very much for the help, hugely appreciated.
Been lurking around these forums for a fair while now and they've helped me a lot in choosing specs for my up-and-coming, years-in-the-making, mid-range gaming first build.
Still, I've kind of run out of personal knowledge with this and would really appreciate a helping hand with a couple of things, which I'll explain later. For now, the specs which I think I've properly decided on:
NOTE: Have changed several of the specs below since original OP. As such some of the rest of it might not make sense. Also, when I put GTX 580 in the orginal specs, I meant GTX 560 Ti (obviously... lol).
-
Case - Antec Three Hundred
Motherboard - Asrock Z77 Extreme 4
CPU - Intel i5-2500k (seems like the obvious choice)
Graphics - Radeon HD7850
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 8 Gb (DDR3, 1600 MHz)
Cooling - Two fans built into case, two Cooler Master 120 mm, one Zalman 120 mm, Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo on CPU
Drive - One OCZ Agility 3 60 Gb SSD (boot drive), one 500 Gb WD Caviar Blue Hard drive (7200 rpm)
PSU - Corsair GS700
Sony 24x DVD drive, couple of other bits and bobs.
-
I've been lucky enough to end up with a very nice LG 23 inch 3D monitor and a Creative 2.1 sound system essentially for free from a friend (long story), so I don't need to worry about those. The monitor is also the reason why I've gone for a fairly powerful graphics card, as I'd like to give 3D a shot sometime in the future if not right off the bat. If one GTX 560 ti can't push 3D graphics, two overclocked in SLI ought to.
Now, you've probably noticed the conspicuous lack of a motherboard on that list. That's one of the many places where you guys come in.
To be totally honest, I'm kind of new to this whole building computer thing and I'm not totally sure what I'm looking for in a motherboard. I gather that P67 and Z68 chipsets are best for the i5-2500k, but I'm kind of bewildered by the choice out there and it would be great if someone could help me out. I understand that Z68 is a step up from P67 in terms of complexity, but what exactly would a Z68 board offer me that I wouldn't get with a P67 board?
One particular model that I've heard a lot about is the Asrock Z68 Extreme 4 Gen 3. However, I've also found its little brother, the Extreme 3 (not Gen 3 or Gen anything, for that matter), for as little as £60. So what exactly makes it worth all the extra cash?
Another model that caught my fancy is the Pro 3 Gen 3, mostly due to its price. It seems to offer much of the features of the Extreme 3 Gen 4 (the ones that I like: the fan control; seperate VGA, DVI and HDMI and the graphical BIOS) at only £70. However, I'm not sure if it's totally compatible with the 15-2500k.
If it's any help, features that I'd like in a motherboard would be SLI support, good overclocking support (this one's important; being able to pump lots of watts through it is vital), support for fan speed things (you know, so you can adjust the speed from the computer or set it to adapt automatically), a good onboard sound card would save me buying a discrete one, and plenty of USB 3.0 slots.
Or if I have, indeed, missed the plot entirely, please educate me on what exactly I'm looking for.
Another flaw in my plan could be that the 600 W PSU might be on the conservative side. I think it should do fine for the build specs, but I plan to overclock and I'd like to keep the door open to the possibility of SLI. Would 600 W cover two overclocked GPUs, an overclocked CPU, five fans and my USB toaster? Tips would be appreciated.
That's all I can think of, though feel free to blast shell-sized holes in my plans so far. My mantra for this build is for it to go as smoothly and cheaply as possible without cutting corners, and I hope you guys will be able to point me in the right direction.
Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long OP!
Edit:
Other considerations (as if you need any more):
Thinking about the RAM being at 1600 MHz - I understand that the faster the better, but would it be possible to just take 8 Gbs of cheaper 1333 MHz RAM and overclock it to 1600 MHz? Would this work, and if so, would I really notice the difference?
Actually, I've also just realised that you can get Kingston 1600 MHz HyperX RAM dead cheap here, so I may alter my plans accordingly.
Also, with Ivy Bridge around the corner, do you guys think it would be worth waiting for Sandy Bridge prices to fall or investing in a Z77 mobo?
Cheers very much for the help, hugely appreciated.
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