Longevity spec? 1k

[syahn9988]

Budget: 1000GBP (preferably lower but flexible) for every component including monitor.
Less concerned about keyboard and mouse recommendations but feel free : )

Primary use is entertainment; casual gaming and watching movies.
I don't often play FPS and when I do it’s not competitively.
No video/photo editing, but it will also serve as a work station.
I will probably be staring at the monitor for 5-6 hours a day,
so a decent display would be appreciated.

I want to focus my PC build on longevity.
I don’t know how long PCs are built to last and whether
it is even worth investing in components with longevity in mind.
Two things on my mind at the moment is;

I am not an expert but I am feeling shifty about overclocking
anything as it voids any manufacturer warranties and I suspect
it may reduce the products intended life-span?

Will investing in a quality case and cooling system
significantly prolong the systems lifespan and help performance?

To be put together and purchased in the next few weeks;
there is no rush, I will be grateful for a range of recommendations!

 

[Gav_881]

Right to the questions first - expensive cooling is only really needed if your overclocking and will not extend the life of the chip otherwise, same for the case as without pushing the rig your not generating the temperatures that would require the extra ventilation.

getting an aftermarket cooler to make your system quieter is always good and there are many air coolers that give you a bit of room to play if you want a mild OC and silence.

As for life span, many people who went to Q6660 rigs about 6 years ago are just starting to get to the forced change point, if your not after ultra settings a good build can last 4-6 years imo.

Overclocking on ivy is not the enthusiast only area it used to be, most of the mother boards come with an instant boost button of some description that will pull 20-30% extra out of the chip with no user effort, however if the systems fast enough at stock then I take your point that pushing it may not be worth the return but only you will know if your system is fast enough for you.

OK to the build, i have spec'd a case at the £40 price point not because i like it or think you will like it but because it will leave enough pennies for you to pick one you like, its going to sit in your room so there's no point me deciding what's going to look good although i do like the case myself.

I've not spec'd a cooler as if your not OC'ing its not really worth it the stock coolers make a bit of noise but on the whole there ok, i still went with the 3570k as it gives you the option to push if you need to later.

RAM is cheep so i went to 16Gb and there's still 2 dimm's free though i doubt you would ever need more.

the 7850 is a great card and again if your brave you can OC it if you need to but it will run all to todays games at 1080p in more or less full settings, in 3 years expect to be on medium setting on the crysis's of the day.

I didn't spec keyboard and mouse as again there very personal in my opinion, i dont like the ergonomic ones but may rave about them. for me the best i have found is the Microsoft business pack but thats just me.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £179.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) £122.99
1 x BenQ GW2250HM 22" Widescreen LED Professional Monitor - Black £100.00
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £88.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
1 x LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £62.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316G1600HC11DC) £59.99
1 x Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £44.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
Total : £978.40 (includes shipping : £13.75).



Edit: forgot optical, spec'd a retail blue ray but if you don't use them you can cut £40 off the build and get a cheepo dvd rom

 

[Zeed]

I would sugest bit stronger psu 500 one.
I sold to my mate 3570k + asrock z77 + 6950. He had 2 hdds + dvd. And hes 430w psu died 4 days later while playing BF3. Nothing was overclocked. Psu was few years old tho and 7850 takes less power. But 500 should last longer.
But thats what i would do

 

[tamzzy]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £179.99
1 x IIyama Prolite E2473HDS 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £159.95
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128N/EU) £89.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £64.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £31.19
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket Intel® Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AMD Socket FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £25.79
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,033.74 (includes shipping : £19.10).



really good 24 inch monitor and win 7 included

 

[Phusion]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £179.99
1 x BenQ GL2450 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £64.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £31.19
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £987.19 (includes shipping : £20.10).

 

[syahn9988]

I am so N008 I duno how to quote.

Gav 881
Thanks for answering my questions! 4-6 years does sound pretty reasonable.
Yea I guess you are right about the keyboard, mouse and case.
Sounds like 7850 is the card to go for. Although I have no plans to OC,
I do like having the option haha. Cheers

Lord ZED
I’ll go with a higher power supply as you recommended- thanks for your input!

Tamzzy&Phusion
Thank you for the specs guys. I guess other than the PC case,
the other thing I will have to think about is the monitor.
I will read more reviews and try to make up my mind on whether
the IIyama is worth the extra 40 pounds.

 

[Akagi]

I am so noob I duno how to quote.

You click the 'quote' button

 

[syahn9988]

Okay so I read all the other specs in a similar price range to mine
(mostly recommendations from above posters + stulid) and this is my final spec;

Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £ 84.98
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) 184.99
HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card 179.99
Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply 54.98
TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit 29.99
Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive 83.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM 64.99
Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM 14.99
IIyama Prolite E2473HDS 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black 159.95
Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black 59.99

Total = 1002.83 inc VAT with windows 7

PC case chosen on the basis that it looked nice and got decent reviews : )
any suggestions for improvements still welcome!

acme15; thanks buddy

 

[tamzzy]

ever so slightly overbudget, but i think its well worth the extra 30 quid

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £164.99
1 x IIyama Prolite E2473HDS 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £159.95
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £85.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £77.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £64.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £54.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £30.95
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/AM2/AM3/FM1) £24.98
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,027.90 (includes shipping : £20.10).



extra 8gb on the ssd for 2 quid more
best bang for buck case (4 fans, temp probe and fan controller included)
brilliant and cheap heatsink for overclocking straight away (you didnt include one in your spec)

 

[stulid]

Okay so I read all the other specs in a similar price range to mine
(mostly recommendations from above posters + stulid) and this is my final spec;

Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £ 84.98
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) 184.99
HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card 179.99
Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply 54.98
TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit 29.99
Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive 83.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM 64.99
Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM 14.99
IIyama Prolite E2473HDS 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black 159.95
Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black 59.99

Total = 1002.83 inc VAT with windows 7

PC case chosen on the basis that it looked nice and got decent reviews : )
any suggestions for improvements still welcome!

acme15; thanks buddy

Nothing at wrong with that little number.

 

[syahn9988]

Nothing at wrong with that little number.

Do you mean nothing at all wrong with that little number?

brilliant and cheap heatsink for overclocking straight away (you didnt include one in your spec)

Would this be recommended for a system that wont be overclocked?


I saw the Bitfenix prodigy case and it looks pretty awesome,
will the spec recommended by tamzzy and the one approved(?) by stulid fit in that case?

 

[tamzzy]

Would this be recommended for a system that wont be overclocked?

i dont see why you dont want to overclock. it extra performance for free (well, near enough)
a quick google will bring up a load of guides on how to do it.
and if you get an aftermarket cooler now, you wont have to change the heatsink, when you do eventually want to overclock

I saw the Bitfenix prodigy case and it looks pretty awesome,
will the spec recommended by tamzzy and the one approved(?) by stulid fit in that case?

no it wont, you'll need an MITX motherboard

 

[stulid]

Do you mean nothing at all wrong with that little number?

Yeah, bloody phone is going to end up get chucked out of the window if it screws up another sentence.

 

[tamzzy]

Yeah, bloody phone is going to end up get chucked out of the window if it screws up another sentence.

lolz

 

[syahn9988]

stulid - haha okay cheers

tamzzy - yea fair enough, I guess its not a lot to spend to keep that option open. Shame about the prodigy case, the amount of time I am spending reading case reviews is just getting ridiculous.