New build advise

alpha2x

alpha2x

alpha2x

Associate
Joined
29 Apr 2012
Posts
27
New build advice

Hi all, new to the forum so please forgive me if this is the wrong place to post.

I'm looking to build myself a new system, just wanted to run my spec past a few people to see if anyone has any better suggestions or if anything leaps out as wrong.

Thanks in advance for any advice given.


Spec:
CM Storm Trooper Full Tower Gaming Case - Black
Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W)
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Asrock Z77 Extreme6 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Corsair Professional Series AX850 High Performance 850W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply (CMPSU-850AXUK)
Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "Phantom" 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Crucial RealSSD M4 256GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT256M4SSD2)
Corsair Dominator 16GB (4x4GB) PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (CMP16GX3M4X1866C9)
2x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) (RAID1)
 
Last edited:
Well IF its mainly gaming then,

• A i5 3570K which doesn't have Hyperthreading will be ample, games dont make use of this feature.

• GTX680 is the daddy, with the saving from the CPU you can get one.

• 16GB of RAM is OTT, 8GB will be plenty.
 
Hi there and welcome to the forums :)

Yes, this is the right place and overall the build looks nice.

The i7 3770K is a nice CPU, but if you are mainly just gaming then you may as well get an i5 3570K - as it is just as fast as the 3770K in games (since current games don't use hyperthreading) and a lot cheaper.

For the cooler, the H100 is a good performer - but it is a bit loud and rather expensive. In fact many users here replace all the fans on it to get the noise down (which adds even more to the cost). Personally, i would go for a large CPU cooler instead of the H100 - like one of these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-011-NC&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-000-BQ&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-005-PL&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
Thermalright Archon
Thermalright Silver Arrow

Also, do you need the extra features offered by the extreme6 motherboard over something like the Gigabyte Z77 UD3H?

The PSU is an excellent one.

The GTX 580 3GB is nice, but I would personally go for a HD 7970 3GB - which costs about the same, but is quite a but faster. If you can spend a bit more (maybe by going for the i5 CPU instead of the i7) then I would strongly recommend a GTX 680 - it is a really fantastic gaming card.

Also, I would go for a much cheaper set of RAM like two of these kits. As you can see they cost a lot less, the heatsinks won't interfere with a large CPU cooler and the real-world performance difference between 1600MHz and 1866MHz RAM is tiny (often negligible) on this platform. I would also agree with stulid that 16GB isn't really needed for gaming - just one of these 8GB kits will be perfect.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the advise so far, in your opinion is it worth the extra money for the GTX680 at this point or is the GTX580 still good enough but the GTX680 would just offer a little more?
 
Here is a review of the GTX 680 - which compares its performance against other modern cards (like the GTX 580) in a range of games and resolutions.

The GTX 580 is still a nice gaming card and if you play games at 1200p or less then it will be great for a while to come - but as you can see from that review the GTX 680 performs a good deal better and handles high resolutions much better, all while being less noisy and using less power.
 
Sure is a strong case for the GTX 680, is there a preferred version of the GTX 680 which performs better than the others with a stronger price point?
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x ocuk geforce gtx 680 2048mb gddr5 pci-express graphics card £429.95
1 x intel core i5-3570k 3.40ghz (ivybridge) socket lga1155 processor (77w) - retail £179.99
1 x crucial realssd m4 256gb 2.5" sata 6gb/s solid state hard drive (ct256m4ssd2) £178.99
1 x corsair professional series ax850 high performance 850w modular '80 plus gold' power supply (cmpsu-850axuk) £149.99
1 x gigabyte z77x-ud3h intel z77 (socket 1155) ddr3 motherboard £139.99
1 x cm storm trooper full tower gaming case - black £109.99
1 x seagate barracuda 2tb 7200rpm sata 6gb/s 64mb cache - oem (st2000dm001) £99.95
1 x alpenföhn k2 mount doom cpu cooler (socket lga1156/1155/1366/am2/am2+/am3/am3+/fm1) £64.99
1 x corsair vengeance low profile 8gb (2x4gb) ddr3 pc3-12800c9 1600mhz dual channel kit (cml8gx3m2a1600c9) £39.95
1 x lg gh22ns90 24x dvd±rw sata rewriter (black) - oem £18.98
total : £1,430.47 (includes shipping : £14.75).




all the cheaper gtx680's are based on a stock reference design with just a different sticker/box and warranty.

the k2 cooler is one of vortez's favorite - http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/alpenfoehn_k2_cpu_cooler_revisited,1.html
 
With the GTX 680 the stock cooler is actually pretty good - so a custom cooler version isn't really a necessity (unlike some cards), though a good custom cooler can give you slightly better temperatures and lower noise (though it does vary).

Since there isn't a lot of choice of in-stock GTX 680 casds and the price premium for ones with custom coolers is high - then I would be tempted to get a standard card for as low as possible. For example this OCUK card is good value at £430 and comes with a 2 year warranty.

This review compares the performance and noise levels of a range of GTX 680 cards with both the stock cooler and custom coolers.

Also, a big +1 to Stulid's spec above.
 
Cheers guys, only thing the Gigabyte motherboard seems to lack is more than 2 SATA-III connections on the inside, which is a must if I am having the SSD + 2x Seagate Barracuda's in RAID 1. Maybe I should look at a RAID card aswell.
 
alpha2x said:
Cheers guys, only thing the Gigabyte motherboard seems to lack is more than 2 SATA-III connections on the inside, which is a must if I am having the SSD + 2x Seagate Barracuda's in RAID 1. Maybe I should look at a RAID card aswell.
Click to expand...

Use two of the SATAII ports as you wont see any speed difference connecting a mechanical moving part drive to a SATAII port over a SATAIII port.

They just cant saturate the ports.

Want more ports then check out the UD5H - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18399640
 
alpha2x said:
Cheers guys, only thing the Gigabyte motherboard seems to lack is more than 2 SATA-III connections on the inside, which is a must if I am having the SSD + 2x Seagate Barracuda's in RAID 1. Maybe I should look at a RAID card aswell.
Click to expand...


No the gigabyte board only has the two internal SATA 3 ports. However the Asrock only achieves the extra two ports by using a marvell controller - not any more native ports connected to the Intel PCH (southbridge). Therefore, the performance of these ports isn't as good as a native Intel SATA3 port.

Also since these extra drives are mechanical - then you really won't get any performance benefit using a SATA3 port over a SATA2 port -since the drives themselves can't sustain transfers over 200MB/s (nevermind 285MB/s - the limit of SATA2). Also, for doing RAID you will get better performance using the native RAID controller on the board - not a marvell add-on controller.
 
alpha2x said:
Ah, if that is the case is there any point in having SATA3 HDDs in the first place?
Click to expand...

Its what they come with these days, think of it as marketing gobledygook, so people on older SATAII drives thought they were missing out on something if they didnt know any better or look at storage performance reviews.
 
Last edited:
Fair enough.. One more question, if I were to go for a smaller case (I was only looking at the one I was because of the need to mount the H100) say the Corsair Carbide 500R, am I going to be tight for space, and will the Alpenföhn K2 fit ok?
 
alpha2x said:
Ah cool thanks stulid. Just considering a second monitor, will a 2048MB graphics card be enough for this?
Click to expand...

The GTX680 can drive three monitors in a large gaming extended/stretched desktop mode (like eyefinity) so two wont be a bother.

It actually can run four of a single card (three playing a game, the other doing something else)

You will only be gaming on one monitor I assume? as having a pair of bezels in the middle of your vision is naff.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom