My First Build!

Agalloch

Agalloch

Agalloch

Associate
Joined
30 Sep 2011
Posts
4
Hello everyone!

I've spent a few months browsing OC forums as I prepare to go ahead with my first build. I "helped" my dad build our first computer when I was younger but I've never had the funds to build my own. Until now that is! I have a budget of about £1300. A little over won't trouble me though.

Okay, so I've been browsing different components and whatnot for a while and the harder I try to come to a conclusion on a build, the more uncertain I become. It will mainly be used for gaming and overclocking. Also looking to go sli/crossfire in the future when I get some more funds.

I'll need pretty much everything, gaming mouse/keyboard/monitor/speakers can be excluded from the budget but I'd still like your suggestions please.

The Goods!

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two V3
CPU: Intel i7-2600k
Mobo: Asus P8Z68 V-Pro
GFX: EVGA GTX 580 - I did drool at the Asus ROG one but it seems to be quite tricky to get a hold of.
PSU: Antec CP-1000 - Had a few problems picking out a PSU but this one seemed okay?
RAM: 12 GB would be the optimum amount for my purposes? Any reccomendations?
HDD: WD Caviar Green 2 TB Internal hard drive
SSD: Is it worthwhile going with an SSD with my budget for the smart response technology? It had mixed reviews.
Optical: Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer Black - Just after a cheap blu-ray writer.
CPUCooling: COoler master hyper 212 plus

I listed these last month and have been busy with work so I've not updated the list since then. Any information you could share with me would be greatly appreciated!

I look forward to becoming a part of this community and learning along the way.

Thank you!
 
Do you need an i7 2600k? Unless you do video editing, you should go for an i5 2500k. Also stay away from the Cavier Green drives, I had one and they are really slow. Opt for the F3 drives.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

The case is an old design and pretty naff.

An i5-2500K is all you need for gaming.

Sandy Bridge has a dual channel memory controller so you're really looking at 4, 8 or 16GB of RAM.

The WD Green is slow. If you want a 2TB drive get the 2TB Samsung F4 EcoGreen. Much faster.
 
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Thanks for the feedback guys.

The only reason I wanted the 2600k was I guessed it'd last a little longer being the superior of the two.

Okay, I'll definitely avoid the WD 2TB Green Caviar then. Nice tip!

Any suggestions on a different case to suit my needs? Or even a build to suit my budget so I can take a look at how I should be distributing my budget?
 
Agalloch said:
Thanks for the feedback guys.

The only reason I wanted the 2600k was I guessed it'd last a little longer being the superior of the two.

Okay, I'll definitely avoid the WD 2TB Green Caviar then. Nice tip!

Any suggestions on a different case to suit my needs? Or even a build to suit my budget so I can take a look at how I should be distributing my budget?
Click to expand...

I'm sure someone will be along later to do you a whole new spec.

All the usual suspects are probably getting their beauty sleep now.
 
i'll second pretty much everything thats been said already. only thing i need to add is that the PSU will not fit in the case. it is a special size made specifically for a couple of antec cases. the 902 isnt one of them unfortunately

heres a benchamrk confirming that for gaming the i5 2500k is just as good as the 2600k (check the FPS scores)
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £377.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £161.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £148.99
1 x Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold £104.99
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £97.99
1 x LG BH10LS30 10x BluRay-RW / 16 x DVD±RW Drive & 10 Pack BluRay Discs £76.97
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F4 EcoGreen 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD204UI) £60.98
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £54.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £45.98
Total : £1,308.55 (includes shipping : £14.75).


i would also recommend that you look at all the cases that are ~£75-~£150 and give me a list of your favourite looking ones. i've recommended the raven because its fantastic at air cooling and has an amazing price going for it, the most important thing is that you go for a case that you like the look of. however, if you are interested in fully watercooling your PC in the future the raven would be completely useless, and i'd change it to a corsair 650D, which is a great halfway house for both air and watercooling

the SSD will be worth every penny. put your OS and your main games on it and leave about 20GB for the smart response thing and you'll never want to go back to a PC without an SSD :)
 
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Thanks for your suggestions Reaper! I actually quite like the styling on the Raven case. Is watercooling necessary? Is there a noticeable difference in cooling compared to a regular air cooler? I would like to run sli in the future but not this year at least. Could an 850W PSU can cope with 2x GTX 580s if I run sli in the future?

As for the recommendations of the other parts, I think they're pretty damned good. Especially since they are all on OcUK! I think I'm almost convinced about buying an i5-2500k over an i7-2600k. The only thought that crossed my mind was, How much will games rely on hyperthreading in the future? In a year or two will the i7-2600k be considerably better for gaming?

Anyway, thanks for the build guide. It's a pretty sweet recommendation you gave me there. In a build like that, all those components fit perfectly fine into a case like the Raven?

Cheers!

EDIT: I also forgot to ask about next generation GFX cards and if you know an approximate release date/price/benchmark? Is it worthwhile waiting for the new ones to be released? Or is it relatively sound to go ahead with a build in the coming weeks? I'm getting pretty impatient since I'm stuck with my slow assed laptop for now.
 
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Reaper 392 said:
i would also recommend that you look at all the cases that are ~£75-~£150 and give me a list of your favourite looking ones. i've recommended the raven because its fantastic at air cooling and has an amazing price going for it, the most important thing is that you go for a case that you like the look of. however, if you are interested in fully watercooling your PC in the future the raven would be completely useless, and i'd change it to a corsair 650D, which is a great halfway house for both air and watercooling

the SSD will be worth every penny. put your OS and your main games on it and leave about 20GB for the smart response thing and you'll never want to go back to a PC without an SSD :)
Click to expand...

Having browsed quite a large amount of cases in that price range I can honestly say the corsair 650D and the Raven are 2 of the nicest looking ones. I also quite like the NZXT Phantom Enthusiast. Any suggestions on a good case for watercooling in that price range and styling? And a good CPU watercooler that will stick to my budget?

I read some reviews of the CPU cooler you suggested and it seems like a bargain! The Corsai 650D would be fine with this cooling and all the other components? And will the Z68 mobo be able to house all the components?

I worry that I'll buy everything and find out that I don't have enough room for something. That would be disastrous!

Thanks.
 
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