My first build - ~£900

Zaruz

Zaruz

Zaruz

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Joined
20 May 2012
Posts
100
Hi guys

I'm planning on making my first personal build (Have recently bought + made a higher budget machine for a family member) and want some tips, as this time I am much more money restricted.

I will need everything, except a keyboard and mouse, so monitor and windows will need to be included, although I'm debating using the W8 free dev beta for now. The machine will be used for mostly gaming, and I want to be playing BF3, D3 and Guildwars 2 on high/ultra settings. Also, I want a nice red case, atm im thinking of getting a CiT Mars Midi Tower.

Your basket

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £181.99

GPU: Asus GeForce GTX 560 DirectCU 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £129.95

Mobo: MSI Z77A-G45 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.60

RAM: G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL )
£47.99

PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99

Heatsink: Prolimatech Panther CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1155/1156/AM2/AM2+/AM3)
£32.99

Monitor: OcUK 2436VWA 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £113.99

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003)
£66.98

SSD: Sandisk Ultra SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA II Solid State Hard Drive - (SDSSDH-120G-G25)
£64.99

CD drive: Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£14.99

Total : £924.43

I've gone for the GTX 560 because it appears to run the latest games on ultra, and is cheap for me to buy another one for SLI down the road if I wish. I didn't go for an AMD card purely because I really don't know anything about them and am not sure if it's worth having one of those instead. Also the PSU unit was chosen purely because I want a red system and that was the only decent looking one I could find on OcUK :)

Any suggestions for changes to make, or anything I've overlooked is greatly welcome!

EDIT: I have gone for the unlocked ivybridge as I may end up overclocking the CPU down the line. Undecided on if it's worth it as yet, but rather pay the little extra and have the option open.
 
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After checking out some other sites, I decided I won't be getting the CiT tower as it has no cable management, so a case is needed too.
 
an option?

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £181.99
1 x OcUK 2436VWA 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £66.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £46.98
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £37.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £897.00 (includes shipping : £20.10).



No CPU cooler or SSD but can add later.

If you want a gaming rig, you have to get the best GPU for your budget.

Aerocool and Sharkoon do some (imo ghastly) colourful cases. Maybe they have a red one in there. You'll struggle for red components though, most motherboards are blue. VTX do red GPUs, and of course reference AMDs.
 
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That looks very good and dropped a nice amount off the price. I was debating dropping the SSD anyway as they seem to be dropping drastically in price right now, so hoping I can add it on cheaper down the line. Would the stock CPU cooler supplied with the I5 be sufficient enough unclocked, and would it be ok to overclock on it to ~4GhZ?

Thank you very much :)
 
Zaruz said:
That looks very good and dropped a nice amount off the price. I was debating dropping the SSD anyway as they seem to be dropping drastically in price right now, so hoping I can add it on cheaper down the line. Would the stock CPU cooler supplied with the I5 be sufficient enough unclocked, and would it be ok to overclock on it to ~4GhZ?

Thank you very much :)
Click to expand...

You would most likely struggle to do decent overclocks on the stock cooler with ivy bridge. Not really sure how far it could go but people have said that when they started overclocking the temperatures went a lot higher.
 
Zaruz said:
That looks very good and dropped a nice amount off the price. I was debating dropping the SSD anyway as they seem to be dropping drastically in price right now, so hoping I can add it on cheaper down the line. Would the stock CPU cooler supplied with the I5 be sufficient enough unclocked, and would it be ok to overclock on it to ~4GhZ?

Thank you very much :)
Click to expand...

It will work at stock for sure. Some say ok for 4GHz, but personally, I would just not bother until I get a proper cooler (Alpenfohn Matterhorn Pure for me). Maybe 3.8GHz, see how it goes.

The SSD prices will remain the same, or drop slightly even.

MSI 7850 TwinFrozr II maybe a good investment (looks good, cool and quiet, very popular range, MSI UK based RMA).
 
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Smoogels said:
You would most likely struggle to do decent overclocks on the stock cooler with ivy bridge. Not really sure how far it could go but people have said that when they started overclocking the temperatures went a lot higher.
Click to expand...

Figured as much, but was worth a ask anyhow :D Would end up buying an aftermarket cooler anyway at some point.


Many thanks for the ideas Oliver, will most definitely make some of the changes :)
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £181.99
1 x OcUK 2436VWA 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £66.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi "Core" USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £46.98
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £46.98
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £37.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £897.56 (includes shipping : £14.75).



And you can pimp that case, black or white :)
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £190.00
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £181.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
1 x OcUK E2250SWDA 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Sandisk Ultra SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA II Solid State Hard Drive - (SDSSDH-120G-G25) £64.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £62.99
1 x Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PXD38G1600LLK) £37.94
1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case - Black £32.99
1 x Akasa AK-CC4007EP01 Nero 3 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366/2011/AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/FM1) £23.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £923.92 (includes shipping : £20.10).

 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £190.00
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £181.99
1 x OcUK 2436VWA 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £76.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £66.98
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £37.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £900.02 (includes shipping : £20.10).



Use the windows 8 developers copy for now. Then choose between windows 7 or 8 once the later is released.

The Z9 case in my opinion is the best budget gaming case you can get (lots of kit for the price). This rig is SLI/Xfire capable. I like Oliviers specs, his last build was for single GPUs only so the mobo is cheaper and you can relax on the PSU.

If you want a SSD you should be aiming for a sataIII drive not the sataII one GZA suggested.
 
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I really want a red LED case with parts visible from the side. I've already made a thread on the pre-sales forum, but would you happen to know that if I bought the Zalaman, OCUK would be able to have it with red LED's instead of the blue? Or would I need to buy all new fans to put in it?

EDIT: I'm assuming that the 700W cooler master would be Xfire compatible with the sapphire 7850 x2?
 
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honosuseri said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £190.00
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £181.99
1 x OcUK 2436VWA 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £76.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £66.98
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £37.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £900.02 (includes shipping : £20.10).



Use the windows 8 developers copy for now. Then choose between windows 7 or 8 once the later is released.

The Z9 case in my opinion is the best budget gaming case you can get (lots of kit for the price). This rig is SLI/Xfire capable. I like Oliviers specs, his last build was for single GPUs only so the mobo is cheaper and you can relax on the PSU.

If you want a SSD you should be aiming for a sataIII drive not the sataII one GZA suggested.
Click to expand...

I was going for value for money to fit it within ~£900, but sure spend nearly 50% more for Sata III speeds.....

Zaruz - yes should be fine with CF 7850s.
 
Zaruz said:
I really want a red LED case with parts visible from the side. I've already made a thread on the pre-sales forum, but would you happen to know that if I bought the Zalaman, OCUK would be able to have it with red LED's instead of the blue? Or would I need to buy all new fans to put in it?

EDIT: I'm assuming that the 700W cooler master would be Xfire compatible with the sapphire 7850 x2?
Click to expand...

You would have to replace them. The Z9 comes with 4 120mm fans (3 are Blue LED) or look at a different case.....style over substance is false economy in my eyes but it's your build your rules :)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £190.00
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £181.99
1 x BitFenix Colossus Red LED Big Tower Windowed Case - Black £119.99
1 x OcUK 2436VWA 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Asrock Z77 Extreme4 M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £76.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £66.98
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £37.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £931.55 (includes shipping : £22.20).



Still SLI/Xfire capable. You'll notice that most of the Z77 mobos are blue or have blue on them. The red coloured mobos are highend mobos which doesnt help you much if you want to keep the price low
 
I'm not overly fussed by the actual Mobo colour, just the actual LED's of the fans. I might just go for the Z9 and change the fans to red at a later date. Although it's just a gaming machine, I might aswell make it look great and coordinated at the same time :)

Anyway these specs look great, think I will go for the 7850, looks like a much better GPU and isn't overly expensive compared to the 560/560ti and won't need replacing as quickly.
 
[WU-TANG]GZA;22205108 said:
I was going for value for money to fit it within ~£900, but sure spend nearly 50% more for Sata III speeds.....

Zaruz - yes should be fine with CF 7850s.
Click to expand...

50% more to pay to get double the speed you mean.

I can see what you were trying to do but dude your mobo doesnt fit in the case you spec'd and the RAM whilst cheap isn't low profile. Not really an issue if you use watercooling or the stock heatsink but as you added an aftermarket cooler tall RAM is aggro ;)

Zaruz said:
I'm not overly fussed by the actual Mobo colour, just the actual LED's of the fans. I might just go for the Z9 and change the fans to red at a later date. Although it's just a gaming machine, I might aswell make it look great and coordinated at the same time :)

Anyway these specs look great, think I will go for the 7850, looks like a much better GPU and isn't overly expensive compared to the 560/560ti and won't need replacing as quickly.
Click to expand...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £190.00
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £181.99
1 x Plextor M2S 256GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (PX-256M2S) £119.99
1 x Asrock Z77 Extreme4 M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x OcUK E2250SWDA 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £99.95
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £76.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £37.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £896.80 (includes shipping : £19.10).



Obviously you would probably want to add another HDD later for storage and replace the fans on the case

How bothered are you really about Xfire and SLI? If you wont dual card the GPU then you can save some cash.
 
Kind of unsure on Xfire/SLI. I don't plan on doing it at the moment, but just a possibility in the future. Although probably unlikely, as after I buy this computer I have a wedding and house to save for :D
 
Personally dont care about transfer speeds for SSDs. The seek time is the main benefit imo. Tall RAM yeah I knew but it's dooable. Shame about the Fractal, I never actually bothered looking....
 
[WU-TANG]GZA;22205362 said:
Personally dont care about transfer speeds for SSDs. The seek time is the main benefit imo. Tall RAM yeah I knew but it's dooable. Shame about the Fractal, I never actually bothered looking....
Click to expand...

I've spec'd that sataII SSD a few times, (it would make a good laptop HDD). Usually because it was cheap and I had already managed to get 2TB of storage into the spec. 120GB is going to get filled very quickly in my opinion

I have spec'd a sataIII 256GB SSD but in reality a mechanical HDD makes more sense now and then add an SSD later and use the mechanical HDD for storage then.....the prices seem to be falling nicely on SSDs:)
 
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