New build - comments please!

Poolybit · 27 Mar 2013 at 11:33

I'm in the process of specing up a new rig to replace my very aging C2D machine from about 6 years ago, so far I have come up with the following (budget around the £1000 - £1400 mark, but as low as possible whilst ensuring longevity):

7970 (Will run 3 monitors but only productivity purposes, gaming will only be on one screen)
250GB samsung 840 series SSD (got standard storage in my old rig)
Corsair carbide 300r
BeQuiet e9 580w modular psu
32gb DDR3 1866mhz Corsair Vengeance
Ivybridge i7 3770k w/ Coolermaster Hyper 212
Asus P8Z77-V PRO Z77

I'm leaning towards the 1155 rather than 2011 as I don't tend to upgrade my PCs, I just replace (as I'm doing now) when it starts to struggle, so the future proofing isn't a massive thing for me as they were probably have a whole new socket by the time I come to upgrade! Going for 1155 seems to keep the costs down a bit..

I'm (quite) a bit out of the loop and the above is the result of me reading up and checking over the other recent 'spec me' threads. PC will be mainly used for development and the occasional gaming so this is mainly just to ensure that the machine will be good enough to cope for the next 5/6 years!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

Poolybit · 27 Mar 2013 at 12:16

Thanks for the comments all, happy to change the PSU to an XFX 850w if that is more recommended than the BeQuiet (for the £20 it'd cost). Any comments on the 1155 vs 2011 decision? Motherboard selection seemed to be limited once moving to the 2011 socket and costs went up quite a lot too! If sticking with the 1155, should the Asus P8Z77-V be suitable or is there something better out there for a higher cost? I don't mind paying more if it is significantly better!

Thanks again

/edit With regards to Doomedspeed's comment with regards to ram clashing with the cooler suggested in my first post, is the Corsair Hydro H40 flexible enough to make that not such an issue? I've seen a few people recommending it but can't really tell from the stock images how it fits / sits in the case compared to a standard HSF combo!

Poolybit · 27 Mar 2013 at 13:15

ThaReaperGuy said:
Wouldn't the Z9 be better as it's on sale this week?

Z9 Case

Thanks for the suggestion but I do prefer the 300R! I like a more plain looking case!

Poolybit · 27 Mar 2013 at 13:31

ThaReaperGuy said:
I'd recommend a Bitfenix Shinobi if your after something plain. Very good cases, I'm not a huge fan of the 300R. Just suggestions for a similar price range.

I do like that case! Looks nice. Thanks for the suggestion.

Poolybit · 11 Apr 2013 at 12:38

Slight thread revival but..I might not have high utilisation most of the time but there are times when I will currently push or get close to the 16gb amount (development machine w/ vms). That is currently and as I intend to keep the machine for a longer than average life (~5-6 years), who knows what the future will bring! I can't imagine memory use dropping that's for sure! Either way, I have now purchased my machine (with the 32gb!) so thanks for the help everyone.