Help with spec. Tweaking require to bring it in on budget

smithy1988

smithy1988

smithy1988

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Newcastle UK
Hi I am building a pc for a mate at some point next month.
He's a total war fan amongst other strategy games.

Im putting together a build for basically the full system.
Tower/components/ OS/ Monitor/ keyboard and mouse.

Iv had a go but come in at around 100 pound over. Can you suggest any swaps to bring it in on budget without compromising the system too much?

Heres my go...
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £185.99
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £161.99
1 x Samsung S24B150BL 23.6" Widescreen LED Monitor - Glossy Black £129.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £74.99
1 x Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK) £59.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £41.99
1 x Saitek Cyborg V5 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard £39.98
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £20.99
1 x Gigabyte M6900 3200DPI Gaming Mouse £16.99
Total : £1,029.31 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 
 
Yup, get rid of the gimmicky keyboard, no need to spend that much on the GPU, get a cheaper case and RAM. Also gives you a bigger storage drive.

Taken a few liberties with 'this week only' deals, but it'll still be around budget.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x BenQ GL2460 24" Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £74.99
1 x XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £48.95
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £43.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard III Gaming Case - Black £27.95
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.95
1 x Gigabyte M6880 1600DPI Gaming Mouse £10.99
1 x Logitech K120 Keyboard (920-002524) £9.98
Total : £910.24 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 
Thanks for the input guys. Good shout on the monitor didn't see the better response time on the benq

To be honest, he did say that he'd be happy to get his own keyboard and mouse combo at a later date. So he can perhaps stretch to £900 excluding these items.

He has however already picked out the Zalman Case. What's the verdict on the teamgroup ram? Reliable?
Will have to stick with retail cpu as I don't have a spare heatsink currently.
Point taken on the HDD and bigger cache.
Mobo wise, are we compromising anything going for the cheaper gigabyte model?

Taking on suggestions, this brings it in near enough at £900. Any other thoughts, thanks.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £185.99
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x BenQ GL2460 24" Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £74.99
1 x Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £48.95
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £43.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.95
Total : £903.80 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £143.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £47.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.95
Total : £216.32 (includes shipping : £9.50).



This would get it closer to the £900 mark and include ram with better timings.

Personally I'd be tempted to keep the Sapphire for the price difference, but these MSI cards should be very good still.
 
Taken onboard. Thanks

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £185.99
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x BenQ GL2460 24" Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £74.99
1 x Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £48.95
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £908.84 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
Builds looking to go ahead for end of next week.

There's a few things no longer in this week only since the last spec.

Heres a new spec, main difference is taking advantage of the AMD Friday deal on the MSI cards. Seems daft not to get a 7870 for the same money as I was looking at for a 7850.

Everything else still ok? I have taken out the monitor for the time being as its gone up by over 20 quid

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £185.99
1 x MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7870-2GD5T) with FREE GAMES £149.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series THNSNH 7mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH128GCST) £85.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK) £59.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £53.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £827.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Don't get the Z9 plus get the U3. It's improved over the Z9 Plus (which I also own), I've used both. There is a free trial for Win8 he can use to see if he likes it and then choose which OS to buy later.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £185.99
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £161.99
1 x Samsung S23B300BS 23" Widescreen LED Monitor - Glossy Black £101.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series THNSNH 7mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH128GCST) £85.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX) £53.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £49.99
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 REV A (BW) Performance CPU Cooler £24.98
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x Akasa USB 3.0 internal adapter cable (AK-CBUB09-15BK) £5.99
Total : £875.87 (includes shipping : FREE).



Better mobo for the sake of a couple of quid. This 7870 is a Tahiti core so OC's to trade blows with stock 7950s. Modular PSUs are a must really in that chassis to be honest.
 
Better mobo for an extra few quid, will be able to OC, can add a cooler at a later date.. Also, better Gpu, can OC to stock 7950 speeds.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £185.99
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £161.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series THNSNH 7mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH128GCST) £85.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK) £59.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £53.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £842.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Great minds think alike bud :)

I can't stress enough that a modular PSU really, really, really is a must. The U3 is better with a proper side window rather than mostly mesh, it also has USB3 ports (the adapter isn't essential but allows you to use the mobos USB3 header)
 
honosuseri said:
Great minds think alike bud :)

I can't stress enough that a modular PSU really, really, really is a must. The U3 is better with a proper side window rather than mostly mesh, it also has USB3 ports (the adapter isn't essential but allows you to use the mobos USB3 header)
Click to expand...

I suppose with some cases, it is a must. I only tweaked a couple of items to give the OP a bit better value for money. As a rule, I would`nt include a Zalman, but that`s just my personal taste. ;)
 
Idleman said:
I suppose with some cases, it is a must. I only tweaked a couple of items to give the OP a bit better value for money. As a rule, I would`nt include a Zalman, but that`s just my personal taste. ;)
Click to expand...

It's not bad for the money. Plenty of fans, fan controller, digital temp display and they even throw in an extension for the P4/8 mobo aux power. There is very little room behind the mobo tray though, he will regret not getting a modular PSU.

I did colour code the RAM, the SSD can live behind the mobo tray which is a nice touch and as I said the USB3 adapter isn't essential but saves trailing the front USB3 port cabling out the back of the case and plugging it into the rear mobo I/Os
 
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