i5 build and many questions (i.e., I need guidance)

[Voices]

Hello guys,

My first computer build in many years. I am, to say the least, very rusty when it comes to comp technology and I have loads to catch up on! The last couple of weeks have been devoted to reading reviews and guides (95thrifles’ guide has been of much help!) but I am still uncertain about many things. Hence this post

Anyway, the build is mainly for gaming and I intend to do some OCing in the future. My hope is that this build will last me for quite some time (upgrading when necessary) and that I can modify it when I am more confident about stuff (such as water cooling). I have several questions, however, and I would appreciate any input. The first thing to note is that I need everything, including OS, monitor, mouse etc. What is listed below (depending on various choices) will amount to about £1250. Ideally I would like to get this down to £1000!


PCU
Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) – Retail + Colin McRae Dirt 2 Full Game
£149.99

MOBO
Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard [GA-P55-UD4]
£135.99

Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard [90-MIB8X0-G0EAY00Z]
£132.97

Asus P7P55D Evo Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard [90-MIB8D0-G0EAY00Z]
£155.99

I have read various reviews of motherboards and the Asus Evo seems to be doing good in all of them. My problem here is that I don’t know whether the £20 difference between the Asus Pro and Evo is worth it or, indeed, whether I can go for an altogether much cheaper board. Help!

GRAPHICS CARD
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 Vapor-X 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [11163-00-20R]
£139.99

I have decided to go for the 5770 instead of the 4890 mainly for future proofing reasons. Crossfire is also definitely an option in the future should I need it. (We are still waiting for good drivers for that, correct?) I wouldn’t know what makes one 5770 better than another, but the Vapor-X’s seems to be the thing to go for…

RAM
Corsair Dominator 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMD4GX3M2A1600C8) [CMD4GX3M2A1600C8]
£119.99

Geil Ultra Series 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-17000 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (GU34GB2133C9DC) - OEM [GU34GB2133C9DC]
£72.99

Is there any reason why I should not go for the Geil here?

PCU
Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) [CMPSU-650TXUK]
£76.99

This PCU is featured in many recommended builds here on this forum and as far as I can tell it should cater to my needs without any problems. Correct?

HARD DRIVE
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cashe – OEM (HD103SJ)
£66.69

Might be able to shave off some pounds here by going for the 500gb…

CASE
Antec 1200 Twelve Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black [0761345-08120-7]
£132.99

I know that many people hate the looks of the 1200 (I think it is OK) but it scores high in reviews and, again as far as I can tell, it is a case that will last me a long time. I do realise that this is one of the things where I can save a lot of money. Help!

COOLER
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM2+ / 775 / 1156 / 1366) []
£19.99

Corsair H50-1 High-Performance CPU Watercooler (Socket LGA775/1156/1366/AM2/AM3) [CWH50-1]
£56.99

Not sure what to say here. Some people seem to like the Freezer and others hate it. Most people seem to like the H50. Should I go for something completely different here? Proper water cooling is out of the question for the time being.

OPTICAL DRIVE
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM [SH-S223F/BEBN]
£18.99

No idea what to go for but this option seems OK…

MONITOR
Dell UltraSharp 2209WA 22” Widescreen LCD Monitor [2209WA]
£248.99

I don’t think I have the space for a 24” monitor for now. The Dell is highly recommended and have good reviews. Again, I do realise that this is one of the things where I can save a lot of money. Any cheaper 22” to recommend?

OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) [GFC-00599]
£79.99

MOUSE
Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) [910-000616]£26.99

KEYBOARD
Totally undecided here…

Sorry for this long post but I wanted to say something about how I’ve reasoned about things. I’m open to all suggestions

 

[95thrifles]

hey, unless you specifically need the extra features of those mobo's you can prob get a cheaper one
Re the cooler the arctic cooling will be fine, 1/3 the cost and 90% performance of the H50
Re the case Id look at the 902, more or less the same as the 1200 just not as big, but still able to take everything youre likely to need
RAM wise Id just go with the Geil, Corsairs great but not worth the premium imo
GFX card, included the normal version over the Vapor as the main thing with the Vapor is reduced noise, its not the quietest case anyway so this wont be noticable, its not worth £20 for the 10MHz which is only other difference
decent kb/mouse bundle included and I included a retail optical drive just for the software, its only a coupla quid
You could get a lower spec monitor to bring the price down, your call

Hows this look?

 

[Auraomega]

Looking good, only a couple of suggestions;
- If you can get a modular PSU it'll make things tidier in the case
- The 1200 looks better than the 902 in my opinion (dislike the fan on top, looks out of place) but if you like it and it does the job then go for the 902, 1200 seems to cater for people who want water cooling without a cut-and-shut approach.
- The graphics card, don't rely on future drivers to make improvements as it might never happen, the 4890 is more powerful but sacrifices DX11, however from what I've seen the 5770 can't really handle DX11 all that well anyway, unless you're planning XFire.

 

[Voices]

Thank you for your suggestions!

I think the first step now will be to look for another, cheaper monitor since this is probably the most obvious way in which I can come closer to £1000.

A smaller HD and a cheaper keyboard/mouse will also help me somewhat here.

Is there anything else you guys can say about the choise of MOBO? This is the one thing where I am most uncertain about what to look for (and what I might need for future upgrades). Are they all, for instance, equally good when it comes to Xfire?

I didn't consider a modular PSU but I will have a look at it now. (CM in the 1200 seems realitively straightforward though, not sure how it works for the 902.)

Cheers

 

[Showboat]

Have you considered not overclocking and keeping everything at stock values?

The saving you could make could allow for a better gfx card / monitor.

An overclocked i5 will not give that much of a performance increase when playing games (few fps).
See here for review, take a look at the games you are most likely to play (for me farcry 2and call of duty)
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/intel_corei5750_corei7870/9.htm

Farcry gives an extra 3 fps and cod gives 7 (And thats only at max resolution, which if you downgrade monitor you wont get!).

So my advice!
Stick to stock cooling, you will save money as you will be able to keep the retail cooler, you won't need the antec 900 case and could instead get an antec 200/300.
That should save you £100 which you could use for a better gfx card or monitor.

I have the 24" dell and its a really good monitor, do everything you can to keep it!

Good luck.

 

[Voices]

Have you considered not overclocking and keeping everything at stock values?

The saving you could make could allow for a better gfx card / monitor.

I see where you are coming from and I can definitely appreciate it. However, OCing is one way for me to get into the whole computer thing again (after a long absence), i.e., getting to know what I can and can't do with what I have, so I think that will definitely be a part of my future plans. Also, I think I am going for the Arctic Cooler as suggested by 95thrifles and that is only about £20. When it comes to the Case, my thought about the 1200 is that it would last me for a long time since no forseeable upgrades would be incompatible with it... Might be wrong about that though.

As much as I would like to get the Dell, I think I will have to get something else. Still, I won't be able to buy this system until mid-January, so things might still change a bit.