It's been a while, somewhat out of the hardware loop :O

Scott Salisbury · 16 Nov 2011 at 21:48

Hey all,

The last time I looked at any hardware was back in early 2008 (when I built my current gaming system) and now I'm looking to upgrade, specifically for Battlefield 3

I already feel a little out of my depth with all of the options. I'm not asking for a full system spec but some advice would be great at the very least.

I have between £800-£1200 to spend on the core components aiming for the Intel i7 and nVidia, not interested in SLI. No drives or other peripherals required. Also not too interested in overclocking, but I do sometimes like to experiment with it.

After some reading, these were my first thoughts:

CPU:
- Intel Core i7-2700K 3.50GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155
- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-397-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1859

Motherboard:
- Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155)
- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-054-AK&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

Seems to get good reviews but I'm not sure if the other Asrock options are worth considering. Some MSI/Gigabyte boards also look popular, recommendations welcome.

Graphics:
- OcUK GeForce GTX 560Ti 2048MB
- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-175-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

The GTX 560Ti cards seem to be popular, but is it worth looking at GTX 570 or higher? I'd like to avoid overpriced cards for minor improvements but future-proofing is important too.

Memory:
This is where I'm clueless, I've read a couple of people mentioning that memory options are limited due to large heatsink fans, and that water cooling is worth considering. Any suggestions welcome, minimum 6GB.

Cooling:
I'd be temped by a water cooling solution if they're easy to install. Can anybody tell me the differences between the Antec Kúhler and the Corsair H60, H80 & H100? Are they just better as the price goes up? Quiet is also important.

Power:
My current system is using a Corsair HX 620 Watt Modular PSU, will this need to be upgraded or do you think I will be able to use this PSU for my new build?

Any advice or suggestions welcome

Thanks in advance,
Scotty

Scott Salisbury · 16 Nov 2011 at 22:44

Thanks very much to the both of you for the replies. I hadn't realised that about the i7, thanks for letting me know. I do use my machine for other stuff such as heavy photoshop/lightroom work and I encode HD video from time to time, will the i7 be a benefit for that kind of work?

Any thoughts on motherboard choice?

Thanks again,
Scott.

Scott Salisbury · 16 Nov 2011 at 22:53

95thrifles said:
a 570 would be a better option IMO, 580 is quite a price increase for not much performance gain, though I just bought one

Hehe

Which one did you buy? Is 1536Mb on graphics cards enough for modern games these days? Or is it worth aiming to get a bit more?

Scotty.

Scott Salisbury · 18 Nov 2011 at 13:25

Thanks to everyone for the amazingly helpful replies!

95thrifles said:
[...]
PSU should be fine still

Cheers for the info, the machine isn't just for gaming and don't mind paying a bit extra for a top end CPU, never know what the future will hold

beejjacobs said:
the i7-2700K should overclock to 5Ghz without too much trouble, I know you don't want to but when they are so good at overclocking why not! 8GB of RAM, big heatsinks but with the watercooler that doesn't matter. 580 is a great GPU and will run BF3 nicely What res are you running at? Only thing I'm not sure on was the PSU

Cheers for the spec & info, very tempted by the closed loop solution

Going to be running 1680x1050, at least for the foreseeable future as I've just recently invested in two 22" IPS panels, don't plan on upgrading them for a while.

Ben-Irvine93 said:
Something like this would be suitable for your needs. [...]

Thanks for that spec, looks really good. I really really like that case you've suggested! Seems really good value.

beejjacobs said:
[...]

Hehe, thanks for pointing that out. I know I asked for no drives or a full spec up, the reason being is I wanted to create more of a discussion rather than another "spec me up" thread, as I know we're all probably sick of those. But if people are happy to provide system specs then that's fine as I'm always interested in any other recommendations.

Mario said:
To OP - you should go for something like my rig in my signature

Thanks for the info, not really considered 16GB, I know I don't need that much right now but it is very cheap.

beejjacobs said:
Not quite, OCUK got a good first batch, so if you buy an OEM i7 2700K it is likely to overclock to 5GHz or more... Definitely worth a few more £ IMO

I definitely agree.

Thanks again for all your help,
Scott.

Scott Salisbury · 18 Nov 2011 at 13:33

Just doing a bit more reading about the "Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3", a lot of people are very happy with it and recommend it, but other's are making it look a bit hit & miss so I'm not sure.

I've always used Asus and MSI boards in the past with little issues, so I'm wondering if I should stick with what I know, some of the MSI options look good.

Argh, I always find the motherboard the hardest component to select, I'm pretty sure about everything else.