New Gaming / Workstation Rig

Suppose the last question is what GFX to go for ..... Im hoping to finance this so the initial cost doesnt bother me as much. I can hear a 7970 calling my name ...
 
GTX680 if I had the money to purchase a high-end GFX card, always had a more positive experience with Nvidia drivers, the GTX680 is also faster or as fast as a 7970 while consuming less power.
 
Busy watching a comparison vid - that might help. So you dont think this is true anymore? Must admit, ATI drivers have remained pretty lousy ...
 
Nice card mate, but the cheaper OCUK/EVGA model are still based on the same reference design, the only difference is the sticker stuck to the fan casing and the box/warranty.
 
Revisiting this thread, only going to buy now. Any comments on the options below - is Z77 still the one to go for - see there is a Z79 now and also - is the processor (the OEM one is sold out) still the best value?

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
(£154.16) £184.99
(£154.16)
Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
(£94.16) £112.99
(£94.16)
XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £94.99
(£79.16) £94.99
(£79.16)
Samsung Green 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual/Quad Channel Kit (MV-3V4G3D/US) £93.98
(£78.32) £93.98
(£78.32)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £85.99
(£71.66) £85.99
(£71.66)
Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH80) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
OcUK Professional 2.5" to 3.5" SSD Adaptor Plate - Black

Still need to get GFX card selected and a few others but this seems to be the most of it ....
 
Think this covers it:-

Comments / concerns / anything I have missed or can do better on for not much more money?

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
DGM IPS-2701WPH 27" LED Widescreen Professional Monitor - Black £379.99
(£316.66) £379.99
(£316.66)
Sapphire HD 7970 VAPOR-X GHZ 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE FARCRY3, Hitman Absolution, Sleeping Dogs & 20% off MOH Warfighter PC Games £359.99
(£299.99) £359.99
(£299.99)
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
(£154.16) £184.99
(£154.16)
Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
(£94.16) £112.99
(£94.16)
Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD30EZRX) £107.99
(£89.99) £107.99
(£89.99)
XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £94.99
(£79.16) £94.99
(£79.16)
Samsung Green 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual/Quad Channel Kit (MV-3V4G3D/US) £93.98
(£78.32) £93.98
(£78.32)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £85.99
(£71.66) £85.99
(£71.66)
Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH80) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
OcUK Professional 2.5" to 3.5" SSD Adaptor Plate - Black £5.99
(£4.99) £5.99
(£4.99)
Sub Total : £1,355.74
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £22.20
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £275.59
Total : £1,653.53
 
Why the WD 3TB Green drive? They will be a touch slower as they are 5900RPM drives, as opposed to the 'standard' 7200RPM drives. I would go for either this 2TB one or this 3TB one. Also the 7950 can be had for £100 cheaper and can overclock to 7970 speeds and a touch beyond saving you more money. You can get a cheaper 16GB kit also.

I'll edit this post and add a build in a moment...

EDIT: Here you go, over £200 cheaper. I don't personally agree with the monitor but that's your choice mate.. :p

EDIT 2: Look at this Hexus review here. You can see how small the performance difference is between the 7950 and 7970, yet the difference in cost is circa £100. You are much better off with a 7950 overclocked, and your wallet a little heavier. ;)

YOUR BASKET
1 x DGM IPS-2701WPH 27" LED Widescreen Professional Monitor - Black £379.99
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III OC V2 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE FARCRY3, Hitman Absolution, Sleeping Dogs & 20% off MOH Warfighter PC Games £251.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £94.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128D/EU) £89.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH80) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £66.66
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD316GB1600C11DC) **OcUK Exclusive** £59.99
Total : £1,441.57 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
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Thanks - didnt spot that it was a slow HDD, my bad. I dont see a speed on it actually - does it say what it is?

Fairly happy with the 7970 - but will also consider others - keen to see options on RAM too.
 
Chazaxl said:
Monitor gets a 'reasonable' review. What might you suggest?

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dgm_ips-2701wph.htm

Also - how do you link the basket through instead of my poor copy/paste.
Click to expand...

I would save myself another £80 and grab the BenQ XL2420T. It's 3" smaller but it has a 120Hz dislplay, if you want this rig mainly for gaming you'd be silly not too have 120Hz if you can afford it! :D

YOUR BASKET
1 x Benq XL2420T 24" TRUE 120Hz 3D Vision 2.0 Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red £299.99
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III OC V2 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE FARCRY3, Hitman Absolution, Sleeping Dogs & 20% off MOH Warfighter PC Games £251.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £94.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128D/EU) £89.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH80) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £66.66
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD316GB1600C11DC) **OcUK Exclusive** £59.99
Total : £1,361.57 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
120Hz allow the monitor to display at 120Hz rather than the standard 60-75Hz that all other monitors output at. If you plan to play FPS, racing or other fast-paced games then you will really notice the benefit of 120Hz.

It means you won't have to enable VSync to eliminate screen tearing, gameplay appears much smoother and easier on the eyes, etc. Even moving your mouse on the desktop you see how much smoother it is!

You can also do 3D. I've heard it's pretty crap at the moment, but I mainly went for it for the 120Hz.

Have a look at some of these videos, not that you can tell massively as you'll be sat watching on a 60-75Hz monitor and the video would be recorded at a low FPS.. :p

http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...58.58.0.66.1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1ac.1.
 
I'm also considering a 120hz monitor (that 24" BenQ is tempting!). Some may call it a downgrade from my current LG IPS monitor, but i think i'll benefit more with faster response times as my PC is primarily used for gaming. Good TN panels these days actually have pretty good image/colour quality after being calibrated properly, and who cares if the viewing angles are slightly limited? I'm normal and sit facing the screen directly when gaming ;).

I decided against a 27" IPS screen as my 7950 will probably struggle at 2560x1440 with games maxed out... And i still notice slight motion blur/streaking/ghosting (or whatever people call it) with all the IPS screens i've tried so far :(
 
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I think point made on the 7950 to some extent. Then again, there are 7970 which are £299, not £350 as the Frozr one - which to go for then - 7950 @ say £250 or 7970 @ £299?

Im sure the 7950 can overclock, but I prefer to leave some headroom - for £50, even if it means the card lasts 3 months longer, its worth it. Would the 7970 not OC anyways?

In terms of monitor - I am torn. 120 Hz will be good but an IPS for sheer viewing pleasure (and larger size) must be good too. That monitor gets good reviews and its not only viewing angles (agreed, also have a level head, no pun intended) but the overall quality is better, even against good TN panels.

I am only really playing 1 game at the moment - Guild Wars 2 - the rest of the time its other PC activites like browsing / work etc.
 
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