Help with a Full Spec ~£1300

[Green Calx]

Long time lurker, first time poster! I've finally decided it's time to upgrade from my rather aging amd X2 5600+ machine and could do with a bit of help deciding which parts to go for.

I've got a budget of roughly £1300 (can probably go a little bit over, if need be), but I need an OS, monitor, keyboard and mouse with it. It'll be used primarily for gaming and browsing purposes. I'd like to be able to achieve a mild overclock, but nothing too drastic as I'm still relatively new to all this multiplier and voltage talk!

But now for the catch. Because I have no desire to completely rearrange the furniture, it'll need to fit under my current desk. This means I'll be limited to a smaller case, along the lines of this Fractal Design http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-015-FD&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1556 (I like the idea of a quiet computer). Presumably this size will also limit me to a m-atx motherboard.

Other than that, I'm not entirely sure what might be the best value components at the moment, so hopefully you can offer some recommendations!

 

[demon8991]

Its a little over budget but here is what i would go for if I were spending that sort of money.

KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £311.99
Benq XL2420T 24" TRUE 120Hz 3D Vision 2.0 Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red £281.99
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
Asus P8Z77-V PRO Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £99.95
Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM - OEM (0F12115) (HDS723020BLA642) £97.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - Black/Green £59.99
Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £59.99
Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUKV2) £56.99
Logitech G110 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard (920-002241) £54.98
Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279) £22.98

Total : £1,493.26 (free shipping)

 

[Gav_881]

the shinobi case is considerably wider than the one he linked not sure just how tight your space it may be worth measuring it.

Personally i would get the Maximus V gene over the v-pro, has a few nice extras like an isolated high end sound card and Msata port its 10 quid less and is M-ATX.

I would drop to a 7850 on the GPU if your only going single monitor and pump the extra£100 into a 3770k rather than the I5, the V gene board has profiles to auto OC it to 4.2 4.4 or 4.6Ghz so you wont need to fiddle too much.

Do you need a new case? if you use the old one it leaves you £50 to smash on an aftermarket cooler, the stock intel cooler is a noisy beast and will only give you the headroom for a very mild OC.

If you need to stay in budget from the list above i would swap the 670 for a 7850 and drop the 2tb drive, use your old storage untill drives come down in price and take the V Gene over the full ATX board. still has you at £1350 ish but close enough and you can drop £50 from the case if you keep your old one.

 

[tamzzy]

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Power Edition Twin Frozr IV OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77MX-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £99.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £99.95
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 630W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache WD10EALX - OEM £74.99
1 x Fractal Design Define Mini Computer Case - Black £74.99
1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £59.99
1 x Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £29.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279) £22.98
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,083.76 (includes shipping : £12.50).




and 200 quid left over for a monitor ;p

 

[Bacon?]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
1 x Iiyama ProLite E2409HDS 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £139.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £74.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99
1 x NZXT LeXa S Windowed Midi Tower Case - Black £64.99
1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £59.99
1 x Logitech Illuminated Keyboard (920-001165) £56.99
1 x Logitech G300 Gaming Mouse (910-002489) £29.99
1 x Asus Xonar DG 5.1 PCI Sound Card with built in Headphone Amp £25.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £1,241.88 (includes shipping : £20.10).

 

[Idleman]

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Power Edition Twin Frozr IV OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
1 x Samsung S24B300BS 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Glossy Black £139.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-M Pro Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £116.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Fractal Design Define Mini Computer Case - Black £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £74.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £64.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £43.99
1 x Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £29.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279) £22.98
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,212.46 (includes shipping : £14.75).

 

[olivier renault]

come on, for that budget, you gotta go for a 670.

 

[Idleman]

come on, for that budget, you gotta go for a 670.

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £329.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
1 x OcUK 2436VWA 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77MX-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £99.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Fractal Design Define Mini Computer Case - Black £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £74.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £64.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £43.99
1 x Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £29.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279) £22.98
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,295.87 (includes shipping : £20.10).

 

[olivier renault]

aye! I quite like the MSI G45, and the Thermalright True Spirit 120 (which is out of stock atm but can order later).

 

[MORE SPEED]

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £329.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77- G1-Sniper M3 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £139.99
1 x Iiyama ProLite E2409HDS 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £139.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £99.95
1 x Corsair HX 650W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650HXUK) £89.99
1 x Silverstone TemJin TJ08B-E Midi Tower Case - Black (SST-TJ08B-E USB 3.0) £82.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £57.98
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £54.98
1 x Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PXD38G1600LLK) £39.95
1 x Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £29.99
1 x Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279) £22.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £1,376.70 (includes shipping : FREE).

 

[Katsumoto]

I'm a bit overbudget too. As i'm still new anyone to verify my stuff works would be fantastic.
*EDIT: Ignore it all. Overbudget and no PSU haha.

 

[Green Calx]

Hey. Thanks for all the tips, it's helped narrow down my selection. Also, because it all looked too good, I've decided to up my budget a bit, so i'm aiming for about £1500 now!

This is what i'm going for: (I may be missing something obvious, but how do you guys display your baskets like you have in the previous posts, with the pictures and prices?)

KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM
Asus Z77 Maximus V Gene Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)
Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH80)
BeQuiet Pure Power L8 630W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050)
Fractal Design Define Mini Computer Case - Black
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003)
Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit
Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006)
Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279)
Samsung SH-S222BB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black/Silver/Biege) - Retail
Total : £1,298.80

That doesn't include a monitor, which I'm still considering, but I reckon I could spare another £200 for a decent one .

I'm not entirely sure about the H80 water cooler, but my idea is that because the case is going to be fairly compact, I'll try to avoid an enormous heatsink that presumably would block airflow. And something quieter is always welcome!

Any further suggestions would be much appreciated!

 

[beejjacobs]

See here about displaying baskets:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18371076

The H80 isn't a bad choice, though that case has plenty of space for a good air cooler:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=hs-020-al&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
that's a very good price for an amazing cooler. review:
http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/alpenfoehn_k2_cpu_cooler_review,16.html

Air coolers tend to perform similarly to more expensive all-in-one water coolers while being quieter too.

More powerful PSU:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-059-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1098
(54A vs 47A)

I'd go for a retail CPU - especially when spending that much. You've got 3 yrs warranty, spare stock cooler and a nice box then!

 

[olivier renault]

Hey. Thanks for all the tips, it's helped narrow down my selection. Also, because it all looked too good, I've decided to up my budget a bit, so i'm aiming for about £1500 now!

This is what i'm going for: (I may be missing something obvious, but how do you guys display your baskets like you have in the previous posts, with the pictures and prices?)

KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM
Asus Z77 Maximus V Gene Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)
Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH80)
BeQuiet Pure Power L8 630W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050)
Fractal Design Define Mini Computer Case - Black
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003)
Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit
Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006)
Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279)
Samsung SH-S222BB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black/Silver/Biege) - Retail
Total : £1,298.80

That doesn't include a monitor, which I'm still considering, but I reckon I could spare another £200 for a decent one .

I'm not entirely sure about the H80 water cooler, but my idea is that because the case is going to be fairly compact, I'll try to avoid an enormous heatsink that presumably would block airflow. And something quieter is always welcome!

Any further suggestions would be much appreciated!

Looking good. I hope the 670 fits the Fractal Mini (I think you'll need to remove the top HDD cage). The Corsair 300R is a small-ish atx case.

I would say a Samsung 23'' 120hz, but there are plenty of choices. And a pair of speakers / headphones maybe? I have the S-220, very cheap and impressed with them. Or something a bit more upmarket.

The H80 / H60 is good, I would take one of those in a small system like this.

 

[beejjacobs]

Looking good. I hope the 670 fits the Fractal Mini (I think you'll need to remove the top HDD cage). The Corsair 300R is a small-ish atx case.

I would say a Samsung 23'' 120hz, but there are plenty of choices. And a pair of speakers / headphones maybe? I have the S-220, very cheap and impressed with them. Or something a bit more upmarket.

The H80 / H60 is good, I would take one of those in a small system like this.

Yeah you would have to remove the HDD cage:

- Card Dimensions: 270*111.15*38.75 mm

- Supports graphic cards with lengths up to ca 260mm when removable HDD-bay is in place
- Supports graphic cards with lengths up to ca 400mm when HDD-bay is removed

 

[demon8991]

Hey. Thanks for all the tips, it's helped narrow down my selection. Also, because it all looked too good, I've decided to up my budget a bit, so i'm aiming for about £1500 now!

This is what i'm going for: (I may be missing something obvious, but how do you guys display your baskets like you have in the previous posts, with the pictures and prices?)

KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM
Asus Z77 Maximus V Gene Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)
Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH80)
BeQuiet Pure Power L8 630W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050)
Fractal Design Define Mini Computer Case - Black
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003)
Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit
Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006)
Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279)
Samsung SH-S222BB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black/Silver/Biege) - Retail
Total : £1,298.80

That doesn't include a monitor, which I'm still considering, but I reckon I could spare another £200 for a decent one .

I'm not entirely sure about the H80 water cooler, but my idea is that because the case is going to be fairly compact, I'll try to avoid an enormous heatsink that presumably would block airflow. And something quieter is always welcome!

Any further suggestions would be much appreciated!

Looks like a good spec i would suggest spending 20 more on your HDD and get the 2TB Hitachi as twice the storage for £20 more is a good investment.