How Good Is This Build?

Casterina

Casterina

Casterina

Associate
Joined
17 Nov 2011
Posts
852
Is this build good for gaming? Hoping to overclock the CPU to 4.5GHz, anything needs to be changed?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Sapphire HD 6950 OC "Dual Fan Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £69.98
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9B) £44.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
Total : £697.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Doomedspeed said:
No, looks good.

No extra room in the budget for an SSD?
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That's as far as I can go, but I'll consider a SSD later on

jeff6475 said:
i would get a 7850 and might aswell get the 2tb hard drive for £4 more http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-244-SE&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1955
and if you can afford a SSD drive
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Is the HD 7850 better than HD 6950? If so for £20 more, I'll get the HD 7850 but does it require more or less power on the PSU? Also will it fit into the Zalman Z9 case?

I was aiming for a 7200RPM HDD but the one for £4 more only has 5900RPM
 
Not bad at all, fairly similar to my soon to be setpup.


- If budget isn't a problem, I'd add on a small SSD as a boot drive - This £68.99

- Could also swap the heatsink for this. Excellent reviews and save £3, as I don't really see the bonus of the Alpen over the deafault fan.

- On that note, if you're buying a heatsink anyway, buy the OEM version of the processor. Exactly the same but comes with no fan, and is £10 cheaper.This.

-Last but no least, would change the PSU for something a little beefier and better like the Corsair Builder. Excellent value and only £7 more.

Changing you spec with this lot, total is £760.90, so £62.99 more than yous. (However you do get some better parts plus an SSD as well).

Hope that helps.
 
Nuts. Hadn't seen your update till I posted. Take off the SSD and you've still got a better system for £691.91, so a bit cheaper.

Edit: Also are you planning on going Crossfire/SLI? If so, you will need the next Gigabyte board up here. It's had excellent reviews and comes well recommended on this site. £30 more, but well worth it.
 
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Arsonist said:
Could also swap the heatsink for this. Excellent reviews and save £3, as I don't really see the bonus of the Alpen over the deafault fan.
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I have been suggested by few people of the Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure which is good for it's price

Arsonist said:
On that note, if you're buying a heatsink anyway, buy the OEM version of the processor. Exactly the same but comes with no fan, and is £10 cheaper.This.
Click to expand...
Thanks, just saved £10, so I use the Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure instead

Arsonist said:
Last but no least, would change the PSU for something a little beefier and better like the Corsair Builder. Excellent value and only £7 more.
Click to expand...
The Corsair PSU you suggested is better than the OCZ PSU?

Arsonist said:
Also are you planning on going Crossfire/SLI? If so, you will need the next Gigabyte board up here. It's had excellent reviews and comes well recommended on this site. £30 more, but well worth it.
Click to expand...
Got no plans for Crossfire/SLI graphics card, I think I will be alright with a single graphics card

Also is the HD 7850 better than HD 6950? If so for £20 more, I'll get the HD 7850 but does it require more or less power on the PSU? Also will it fit into the Zalman Z9 case?
 
Casterina said:
I have been suggested by few people of the Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure which is good for it's price
Click to expand...

Yes. The CNPS10X needs a fan anyway.

Thanks, just saved £10, so I use the Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure instead
Click to expand...

yeah can take the OEM if it's significantly cheaper.

The Corsair PSU you suggested is better than the OCZ PSU?
Click to expand...

Meh. they have equivalent specs. Plenty enough beef for a 6950.

Also is the HD 7850 better than HD 6950? If so for £20 more, I'll get the HD 7850 but does it require more or less power on the PSU? Also will it fit into the Zalman Z9 case?
Click to expand...

The 7850 is smaller, faster and less power hungry.
 
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I saw your last thread and Olivier has helped you LOADS. The spec you posted isn't bad, for £700 i would do this.....

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £194.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £55.00
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
1 x Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (AX3U1600GC4G9-2G) £38.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.28
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £701.21 (includes shipping : £12.50).



I've used the MSI 7850. It's clocked higher than the cheaper sapphire card and has a 3 year warranty (sapphire has 2 years). 7850 uses less power runs cooler and can OC better. It's worth the extra over the 6950 tbh.

I used the OEM cpu as it is cheaper. Yes it only comes with a 1 year warranty but CPU failure in my experience is very very rare (unless people run silly volts through the CPU OC'ing). The stock heatsink is literally worth a couple of quid and is no real loss as you are buying a heatsink. I've used the CM 612S, it's just as good as the matterhorn but the CM comes with a tube of paste (reusable) the matterhorn has a sachet of paste. The HDD is B grade to keep the price down (again shorter warranty)....yes im a skin flint but every lil helps.

I'd stick with the OCZ 550W, keeps the blue theme going and it's just as good as the Corsair builder series really.

Hope this helps. We can all choose to balance the spec differently, there is no real right or wrong answer.
 
This is the final build I'll go for,

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £194.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £69.98
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9B) £44.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
Total : £702.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
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