Associate
- Joined
- 28 Feb 2009
- Posts
- 590
Hi guys,
I am in the process of building a new PC gaming rig, the last time I took the plunge into building something myself completely from scratch was around 2004/05, so I am somewhat out of touch with the latest and greatest and comparisons etc.
Therefore, I've opted for pre-built custom PC (more expensive, blah blah
) as I am totally out of touch with what's compatible with what etc, socket types etc.
Based on reviews on the web and looking at pricing (based on an average from various websites, including this one) I have settled on a rough spec that I'd like.
Basic criteria are: powerful, fast, good degree of future proofing. I.e. powerful CPU, plenty of RAM (with option to upgrade) and high(ish) end graphics. I don't want to have to worry about upgrading in 12-18 months time. My preference is for Intel, and the i4770K looks like a proper beefcake so should suit my needs for a while
Below is the list of "the important stuff", obviously the build will be a whole new rig + OS, but items like OS, case etc are not listed below as that isn't so important for this discussion:
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K Quad Core 3.50 GHz 8MB Cache LGA1150
FAN: Cooler Master Seidon 120M Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator (Cooler Master Seidon 120M Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator)
HDD: 120 GB Crucial M500 Series SATA III Gaming MLC Solid State Disk(Single Hard Drive)
HDD2: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive
MEMORY: 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3/1600mhz Dual Channel Memory (Kingston HyperX Blu w/Heat Spreader)
MOTHERBOARD: Asus B85M-G Intel B85 Chipset, Micro ATX Mainboard w/ 4 RAM slots, 8-Channel HD Audio, HDMI, GbLAN, USB 3.0, SATA-III, 1x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 & 2x PCIe 2.0 x1
POWERSUPPLY: Corsair 850 Watts RM850 80 Plus Gold Gaming Power Supply - Triple SLI Ready
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card
I have asked on other threads on these forums regarding the graphics, and one helpful chap suggested the 280x from AMD which seems a comparable contender to the GTX 770 judging from reviews. So that's a consideration. I am undecided which to go for at this moment in time although personal preference is leaning towards nvidia.
I don't really need any more than 16 GB RAM (tbh 8 would suffice, but I want some degree of future compatibility/performance with upcoming games); I've opted for 2x8GB instead of 4x4GB as that gives me the option to expand to 32GB at a later date (I think? The mobo has 4x slots...).
I like the idea of having a small SSD on which to install **** like Windows, under the belief that this will confer some improvements in terms of performance with a larger seperate HDD to install the crap on. Is this worth wile, will I notice the speed increase with SSD?
Anyway, Guys, over to you
I am in the process of building a new PC gaming rig, the last time I took the plunge into building something myself completely from scratch was around 2004/05, so I am somewhat out of touch with the latest and greatest and comparisons etc.
Therefore, I've opted for pre-built custom PC (more expensive, blah blah
) as I am totally out of touch with what's compatible with what etc, socket types etc. Based on reviews on the web and looking at pricing (based on an average from various websites, including this one) I have settled on a rough spec that I'd like.
Basic criteria are: powerful, fast, good degree of future proofing. I.e. powerful CPU, plenty of RAM (with option to upgrade) and high(ish) end graphics. I don't want to have to worry about upgrading in 12-18 months time. My preference is for Intel, and the i4770K looks like a proper beefcake so should suit my needs for a while
Below is the list of "the important stuff", obviously the build will be a whole new rig + OS, but items like OS, case etc are not listed below as that isn't so important for this discussion:
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K Quad Core 3.50 GHz 8MB Cache LGA1150
FAN: Cooler Master Seidon 120M Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator (Cooler Master Seidon 120M Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator)
HDD: 120 GB Crucial M500 Series SATA III Gaming MLC Solid State Disk(Single Hard Drive)
HDD2: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive
MEMORY: 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3/1600mhz Dual Channel Memory (Kingston HyperX Blu w/Heat Spreader)
MOTHERBOARD: Asus B85M-G Intel B85 Chipset, Micro ATX Mainboard w/ 4 RAM slots, 8-Channel HD Audio, HDMI, GbLAN, USB 3.0, SATA-III, 1x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 & 2x PCIe 2.0 x1
POWERSUPPLY: Corsair 850 Watts RM850 80 Plus Gold Gaming Power Supply - Triple SLI Ready
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card
I have asked on other threads on these forums regarding the graphics, and one helpful chap suggested the 280x from AMD which seems a comparable contender to the GTX 770 judging from reviews. So that's a consideration. I am undecided which to go for at this moment in time although personal preference is leaning towards nvidia.
I don't really need any more than 16 GB RAM (tbh 8 would suffice, but I want some degree of future compatibility/performance with upcoming games); I've opted for 2x8GB instead of 4x4GB as that gives me the option to expand to 32GB at a later date (I think? The mobo has 4x slots...).
I like the idea of having a small SSD on which to install **** like Windows, under the belief that this will confer some improvements in terms of performance with a larger seperate HDD to install the crap on. Is this worth wile, will I notice the speed increase with SSD?
Anyway, Guys, over to you
