Hello again! New build advice please :)

RooBoonix

RooBoonix

RooBoonix

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Hello again everyone! Some of you may remember me... after my delayed original build I want some more advice!

I would like this computer to be max of £600 and I would like it to be a general internet and video pc but I do want a GPU good enough to play most games at 720p... at a playable frame rate.

Plus, Intel please :)

I have a couple of ideas for components... (i will give more info tomorrow when I am at home on my laptop, not in the pub on my phone ;) )

Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha

PSU: BeQuiet 550w (got good reviews in CustomPC mag)

CPU: Intel Core i3 of some sort? (suggestions?)

GPU: Thinking something like a 7800 series card.. but I don't have a very good knowledge of which different cards can play what

more ideas tomorrow but I don't have a very good idea now my budget is higher... open to all suggestions as long as they are suitable and it will all work :D SSD isn't a major factor so its not something to try and squeeze in, a decent HDD will be fine (like 500gb -1tb?)

I would definitely like it to be Intel for CPU but I am not too bothered for GPU as long as it works ;)

So like I said I will add more tomorrow but I thought I would post now :)

Thanks in advance!
Cam :D
 
Something like this:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £163.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £155.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £71.99
1 x OCZ ZT 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £63.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £59.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £602.00 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Do you need Windows? Mouse and Keyboard? Monitor?
Are you going to overclock?
Think this build would be good, as long as the answers to these questions are all no.
 
Thanks for the reply,
No monitor as I will use my TV :)

Mouse, keyboard and windows is a yes but that is not included in the £600 budget.

That looks like a nice build with the I5 processor etc... but it may need tweaking as I need all the fans etc... but there is more time yet :) I will see what I can do

Overclocking is a yes as long as I get a nice cooler and all my kit can do it, nothing major though.

Will that GPU be sufficient for a lot of games? Will it play Skyrim? (Just thought I would throw it out there)

Thanks again,
Cam :)
 
Awesome, so a 550w power supply... will it have a fair bit of head room for that sort of kit? I don't really want to have a PSU that will need upgrading in the future so is it worth going for something more beefy like a 650-700w just incase ? Never know what I might want to add in the future...

I will have a look tomorrow when I make a spreadsheet of prices etc on my laptop and post again with my results and see what I can find!

Thanks again mate really appreciate the help
Cam
 
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Oooh thanks for the replies,

I did look at the Zalman before but I like the BitFenix better as it seems to get really good reviews :D Plus, after having a think, fans aren't included in the £600 budget as I have another plan for that side of things... So that gives me more money for better components! Might see if I can find a nicer case with more options??

That PSU looks nice though, will have to look into it! I have a free day today so I will probably spend a lot of time looking about and generating a list :)

Again thanks for the help, will reply again later with my list of parts

Cam
 
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RooBoonix said:
Oooh thanks for the replies,

I did look at the Zalman before but I like the BitFenix better as it seems to get really good reviews :D Plus fans aren't included in the £600 budget as I have another plan for that side of things... So that gives me more money for better components!

That PSU looks nice though, will have to look into it! I have a free day today so I will probably spend a lot of time looking about and generating a list :)

Again thanks for the help, will reply again later with my list of parts

Cam
Click to expand...

The Z9 isnt to be sniffed at. It has 4 fans, digital temp display and fan controller. It also includes an extension lead (worth £8ish) for the P4/8 aux mobo power so you can hide it behind the mobo tray, taking advantage of the cases cable management. There is a USB3 version available now, sadly OCuk dont stock it yet :(

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £163.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £155.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £71.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) £59.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - Black £56.99
1 x PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III Series 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - White £53.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £616.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).



This shinobi comes with two fans, most only come with one. It has a proper window unlike the mesh on the Z9 which can let in some dust. I reviewed the Hydra pro fan/led controller from bitfenix. If you added some of their LED fans it can switch the LED lights on and off. You'll see I have the Z9 case in the pics ;)

At 250 posts you would get free delivery, so no harm talking things through. You could argue that saving would pay off half the cost of a better heatsink to help you overclock the CPU.
 
I did look at the Zalman before but I like the BitFenix better as it seems to get really good reviews Plus, after having a think, fans aren't included in the £600 budget as I have another plan for that side of things... So that gives me more money for better components! Might see if I can find a nicer case with more options??
Click to expand...

So, what this "plan" you have?
Might help us spec you a better case suited to your needs.
 
Thanks for the reply,
Just read your review on the Hydra Pro, looks nice!

I do like the Shinobi... better then the Z9 and the BitFenix Merc... So I will try my best to try and work my way towards that. Would be better for cable management too...

I have a fair bit of time as I am getting it for christmas so...

Thanks,
Cam
 
Idleman said:
So, what this "plan" you have?
Might help us spec you a better case suited to your needs.
Click to expand...

My plan, might sound wierd to you, but I am going to ask my nan to buy me Windows, Keyboard and mouse (£113 for them 2, well 3, and I can get £150 for christmas from her) so the extra can be spent on fans for the PC... it's just a way to get the most out of the budget...

Does that make sense?
Cam
 
Idleman said:
So, what this "plan" you have?
Might help us spec you a better case suited to your needs.
Click to expand...

No might about it bud.

The merc alpha or beta have ZERO cable management and only one fan! It's not a terrible case (i've had my hands on one) for the price but the Z9 is imho the best bang for buck starters case you can get hands down.

If he is thinking watercooling or CLCs then he may well need to spend a lot more on the case. This extra expense is probably best pumped back into the parts to be fair but each to their own :)
 
RooBoonix said:
My plan, might sound wierd to you, but I am going to ask my nan to buy me Windows, Keyboard and mouse (£113 for them 2, well 3, and I can get £150 for christmas from her) so the extra can be spent on fans for the PC... it's just a way to get the most out of the budget...

Does that make sense?
Cam
Click to expand...

No, i understand what you are saying.
Just get the case you like the most and best fits into your budget.
You can always add or replace fans for better cooling and quieter noise levels, to suit your needs.
 
RooBoonix said:
Thanks for the reply,
Just read your review on the Hydra Pro, looks nice!

I do like the Shinobi... better then the Z9 and the BitFenix Merc... So I will try my best to try and work my way towards that. Would be better for cable management too...

I have a fair bit of time as I am getting it for christmas so...

Thanks,
Cam
Click to expand...

I do hope the review helped. I did include temps and noise levels for the stock Z9 case and compared it with having additional fans and the better fan controller.....it wasnt just to promote my review lol

Yes the shinobi is nice and slightly more user friendly. The Z9 you cant go wrong with either and is a great starters case.....lots of goodies to carry over to a bigger case if you wanted to upgrade in time.

To be fair bud it's not worth asking people to do specs as we try to take advantage of current offers. Things will be very different in 2 months time. Bitfenix have just given away two Ghost cases, similar comp to me getting the Hydra Pro. You should have some reviews to look at in due time and ask questions if you desire. There are plenty of ways to be active on the forum, two months is ample time to work towards free P&P :D

It's always good to think things through and ask questions. When you have a good idea of what you want post it to practice the art of spec'ing and using the offers to your advantage. I look forward to seeing what you get in due time :)
 
+1 for the Zalman here. Its a great starters case and you can fit ummm how many 140mm fans in there Hono? :D :p

Its not the quit est thing on the block since it has a mesh side panel but it has plenty of cooling opportunities, good cable management and two 120mm dust filters as standard.

Since im reviewing one of the Ghost's Roo if you wan't I'll trust you some details when I get my hands on it?
 
Bacon? said:
+1 for the Zalman here. Its a great starters case and you can fit ummm how many 140mm fans in there Hono? :D :p

Its not the quit est thing on the block since it has a mesh side panel but it has plenty of cooling opportunities, good cable management and two 120mm dust filters as standard.

Since im reviewing one of the Ghost's Roo if you wan't I'll trust you some details when I get my hands on it?
Click to expand...

I'm glad you can recommend the Z9 case after I recommended it to you so long ago. If you really don't know what your current case can truly do though by now.........should you being doing reviews? ;) I never did find that review you did of the Z9. Was it on here?

How you won that Ghost is a complete mystery to me. The guy didn't want it because it didn't have a window?!? The case was free for a review......I would cut up a paid for case, never mind a free one to put a window in it :D

I would really love it, if you compared the stock ghost setup with adding the extra kit you can rob from the Z9, maybe in a seperate post to the main review. I think you will find the P4/8 extension handy and I would like to see how the extra fans fair for noise and cooling in the case.

You do try to help people on here, so it's nice to see you get something back in return.......don't think I'm being a total douche lol Don't let people bully you into getting a review up quickly, I can't believe how "touchy" you guys were being over the time it took me.....shashman I think now has a special place in hell reserved for him ;) Enjoy :D
 
Hono, thanks yes it did help me and I am 90% going for the Z9 over the Shinobi. Like you said, it has loads of goodies that will be great for a starter like me. I know what you are saying about the offers, I am making a list now and am listing the non offer price (eeek!!!) I will find a way around it :D

Bacon? (mmmm :P ) Sounds like the Z9 is doing good to you too, always good to hear. Dust filters are a nice extra and cable management of course. I wouldn't worry about the Ghost details mate as they are quite expensive!! :P

So, trying to save a bit of money, how easy is it to hide the unused cables from a non-modular PSU in the Z9?

Thanks,
Cam
 
Haha I do really like the Z9 and I will be donating it once I get the Ghost however the other person will have to pay for delivery :D

The review of the Z9 is fine but because the camera is old the video is not recognised by Windows 7 in any format! So I may do a written one with pics ;)

So your suggesting comparing the Ghost as how it comes to a Ghost with extra stuff nicked from the Z9? I like it :)

Dont worry I dont think your a douche just a bit of an old fart ;) Just kidding :P
If the Ghost arrives this week then the review will be up mid next week.

Dont worry I visited Shashman this morning :D
house_fire.jpg
 
To be honest the space between the mobo tray and the back panel isn't great. You really do want the minimum amount of cable going behind it or putting the panel on can be a bit tricky. No cheap case will be ideal for cable management

Modular really is the way forward, remember you get good 3-5 year warranties so you will have it for some time. I was using the Bequiet L8 in my review rig, I bought it for £60ish a while back and I'm very pleased with it, made my life a lot easier. Better options for less cash now though. There is the OCZ ZT which is fully modular, this means it's easy to completely remove the PSU from the case to clean it as all the cables can be disconnected. The P&C 600W is a good shout on offer, it's made by seasonic.

Non modular would mean a mess of cables resting in the HDD bay aswell remember, blocking airflow. If you look at the pics in my review you can see i could space out my HDDs to help air move through them. You wouldn't have that red IDE cable I was using either......I just like keeping it as people still do use IDE drives and want the stuff back when their ancient pc dies ;)
 
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