New Build - Motherboard / Memory / GPU Advice

absy84

absy84

absy84

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Joined
22 Nov 2012
Posts
46
hi guys,

i've started purchasing my pc parts and am looking for some help deciding what motherboard and memory to buy.

so far i've bought:
1. case: NZXT phantom
2. hdd: 3tb western digital green
3. ssd: samsung 840 series 250gb
4. psu: cosair ax850

need to purchase:
1. heat sink: Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler
2. cpu: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40Ghz (Ivy Bridge) Socket LGA1155
3. motherboard
4. memory
5. gpu

Aiming at a black and blue theme.

MOTHERBOARD
could you guys please advise me which is the best motherboard for around the £150? (guess the maximum i would want to spend is £200) The options I was considering were:

- Asus P8Z77-V PRO Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
- Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
- Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard

i'm not sure if £150 is the right price for a general gaming pc.


MEMORY -Cosair vengenance low profile 8 or 16gb


GPU - maximum spend £300
Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

I would really appreciate any advice you have and happy to consider any alternatives you can suggest please. Really could do with the help!!
 
 
snips86x said:
How does this look compared to what you wanted to spend & what you expected colour wise?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Blue (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £69.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9B) £59.99
Total : £684.90 (includes shipping : £10.00).

Click to expand...

That's pretty much my system as it stands now with the 3570 running nicely at 4.5 ghz and ive never had a problem with it at all.
 
thanks mate.. their the parts I was going for. just couldn't decide on the motherboard.

is that all i need to spend on the motherboard? do you think that motherboard is good enough to be future proof for the next 5 years?

would it be worth getting an i7 and investing in 16gb ram?
 
is that the board you would buy lee? this is my first build, hence seeking advice from you guys. i just want to get the best products for the right price, i'm not quite sure what that looks like.
 
absy84 said:
is that the board you would buy lee? this is my first build, hence seeking advice from you guys. i just want to get the best products for the right price, i'm not quite sure what that looks like.
Click to expand...

It's just a thermal shell for the mobo. If you want to colour co-ordinate black & blue, personally, I'd go with the Gigabyte model.

Not only do you have great colour definition with all the other parts (deap blue & nice black), you get UK RMA & has loads of great features as well as SLI/xFire on x8/x8.
 
whats the difference between

- Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
- Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard

is it not worth going with UD5H? i would like to overclock at some point in time when i have a better understanding.
 
snips86x said:
It's just a thermal shell for the mobo. If you want to colour co-ordinate black & blue, personally, I'd go with the Gigabyte model.

Not only do you have great colour definition with all the other parts (deap blue & nice black), you get UK RMA & has loads of great features as well as SLI/xFire on x8/x8.
Click to expand...

The UK RMA on the Gigabyte board is nice, but the Asus board gets an extra 2 years warranty. It all depends which is more important I guess.
As for the thermal armour well that also helps to keep dust off the components. Any of the boards mentioned will be great for a gaming system.

Review here:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4878/asus_sabertooth_z77_intel_z77_motherboard_review/index.html
 
thanks for that great info lee! what board would you opt for?

im hoping i don't have to make use of the rma. in terms of colour scheme asus and gigabyte fit.

is it worth spending the extra pennies?
 
Any thoughts anyone? Is it worth spending the extra £60 or so and going for the ud5h version or any motherboard in that price range?
 
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