New High-End Gaming Bundle Recommendations

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Hi Guys,

I initially was going to upgrade my HTPC to a high end gaming machine, however after much discussion over in this topic:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18506092

I have now decided to keep my HTPC and gaming separate. Hence, I'm looking for a full range gaming bundle from computer to screen, inputs (mouse, keyboard etc..) and 7.1 headphones.

Im looking for good quality, that will last me for a few years at least and can be easily upgradeable should i wish too in the future!

Im mostly going to be using this machine for gaming, especially with the Oculus Rift VR Kit, but im also going to be using it for normal gaming (with ULTRA settings where possible) and also some game development in UDK and Unity.


Now main question that im sure your waiting for is BUDGET! :)

Now ideally i would like to keep costs down as much as possible, however im looking for around the £1000 mark, if required i can go over by a bit especially since im looking for the whole bundle and not just the computer!


As for PC Specs im looking for, ill try my best but will probably miss out a few points, so please just ask me any questions freely. Im hoping to purchase within the next 1-2 weeks, hence i want to make sure i choose everything correctly the first time even if it takes a few days to go over things.

One of the most important points is:
- The PC must be as quite as possible, i don't need absolute silence - but as the machine will be sitting in a Home Cinema Room, hence it should be as quite as it can be.

Motherboard: No idea on this. Just that it should be future proof.
CPU: As good as i can get really.
Graphics Card: Absolute minimum would be either Nvidia gfx660ti or ATI 7950. But would like as high as possible.
Storage: Min 120gb SSD (high speed, quite).
Secondary Storage: N/A - dont need as only just purchased a 1TB WD green HDD for the HTPC Upgrade, will be putting this into this machine now instead.
RAM: Would like 16gb.
Sound: 7.1 Dolby should be supported for wireless 7.1 headphones, and atleast 5.1 surround sound should be supported to an external AV Receiver. Onboard card is fine if it can support this.
Outputs: I want to MIRROR to 3 screens here. 1) AV Receiver (has to be via HDMI - video and 5.1 audio). 2) The monitor. 3) Oculus Rift screen (can be hdmi or VGA/DVI).
Headphones: Has to be of high quality offering superb sound, as the Oculus Rift will be using this for the audio, hence needs to be as immersive as possible! Also should be wireless (chargeable) and have 7.1 surround sound.
Optical Drive: A bluray reader would be nice otherwise a dvd writer would have to do.
Fans, Coolers: Not sure, just as long as the machine is nice and quite. It would be cool to have the glowing lights coming out all over the place. But these should have the option to be turned off completely, as wouldn't want them on while PC is in sleep mode or something and we are sitting in a darkened home cinema room watching a film on the projector.

Case: As nice looking as possible, the note about the LED lights above also apply to the case.
Monitor: One area where im confused currently, I'm not sure if i should go widescreen and/or 3D! Do i need these for gaming? Do i need to have the 3D monitor for Oculus Rift? (i dont think so as the OR should handle that).
Probably looking at around the 20-25" screen, and it should look nice sitting in the home cinema room.

Im not really a computer hardware literate (a programmer) so i would prefer if the computer arrived to me Pre-Built, i can do a few small parts changing in the case but nothing like build the machine from scratch.

Thank you guys, hopefully you can find something out there for me! Ive tried to provide as much information as possible, but let me know if i left something out.

Thanks you.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 660TI SuperClocked 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £233.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
1 x Logitech G930 7.1 Surround Sound Wireless USB Headset £111.98
1 x BenQ GW2250E 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £99.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £89.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Asus BC-12B1ST BluRay-Rom / DVD-RW Drive OEM £63.98
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
2 x Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PXD38G1600LLK) £39.95 (£79.90)
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
Total : £1,056.20 (includes shipping : £13.75).



sorry this took a while was playing league of legends with a few mates, its slightly over but it has everything you asked, the case has blue LED fans which at night light the place up like mad and also the inside of the case, (i'll get you a photo later tonight) it will do everything you asked 7:1 surround sound wireless headset monitor and it will do 3 way monitors only thing is you will need to put the computer to sleep to turn the led fans off but i think you stated that

Not at all, thanks a lot. The reply back was still pretty fast :D - Also because its including the monitor aswell going over the 1k mark is fine.

OK, I have been over all the bits and pieces, i have a few questions and parts that may require changing.

1. Does the case come with a PSU? As i cant see it stated and its not in the list of parts.

2.The case is really mind blowing, but im slightly worried that it might light the whole room up (when in use) and distract from watching a movie in the cinema room on the projector. Is there a way to turn the lights off whenever i want? or do they always stay on?

2a. If they always stay on, is this the same with all the light up fans and cases?

2b. If it is same for all cases, then will probably need to change to a case that does not have so many lights coming out of it but still looks very cool. (black preference just like this one).

3. You said that this motherboard will support up to 3 monitors on mirror mode. However, how does that work? As i only see one HDMI on its back?

4. You picked 4x4gb RAM cards to make 16gb, but is it better for me to pick 2x8gb cards kit instead incase of a future upgrade (although i doubt you would upgrade above 16gb) - or is it better to go with 4 cards at 4gb each?

5. I just wanted to know how the Logitech 7.1 headphone compares to this headset:

Corsair Vengeance 2000 Wireless 7.1 Professional Gaming Headset
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-014-CS

Thanks for your help!
 
@Leprechaun312, thank you for answering my questions. Its definitely helped clear a few things up that i was unclear about earlier!

@Idleman, thanks for your input as well. Its nice to have some different choices available to choose from.

I have to say its really rather addictive going through and choosing all these PC parts! :D

Give me till tomorrow, I'm going to go through them all and see what works best! I have to say though that i see myself extending the budget slightly to change some of these parts to slightly better ones :(
(maybe things like the monitor and even the graphics card! im thinking to go either with the gfx670 or the ATI 7970 instead).


One thing i forgot to ask guys, does these prices youve shown include the building of the machine from OC? and is there any benefit of me going for an i7 processor instead of an i5?
 
OK thanks guys, thats a shame. Anyway im using the Configurator now. Trying to bare in mind that i want as quite a system as possible and hence it should also be pretty cool inside.

Will spec one out and post the results here, to see if anything needs changing!

One thing though - when i run the Configurator. Should i choose an Extreme Gaming PC case or a Silent Gaming PC Case?

I think it should be the silent one right?

Thanks.
 
Really struggling to find a case thats as good as that Z9 to be honest! :(

The next best one that ive liked is this: NZXT Phantom 410 Midi-Tower Case - Black - Noise Dampened

But it doesnt have the fan control on the front like the Z9 and doesnt have the temperature showing either!
 
Awesome, but how do i get that zero charge? I can put the fan controller in myself, should be ok - although preference would be to get it ready and working on arrival!

Is the zero charge only on using the Configurator tool? I really want the Z9 case as i think its the best one out of the silent options available!

EDIT: Actually i did find these cases that look nice also, however they are double in price from the z9. Out of the three which would you recommend:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-095-NX&tool=5

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-072-CS

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-AD
 
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If silence is a priority, I would`nt be looking for a case with a window in it.
I have the Antec P280, with the side panels on, the only thing I hear is a gentle hum from the fans and that`s bearly noticeable. When I am gaming, I turn the fans up and still the noise level is acceptable and I am sat right beside it. And when I am watching movies or football on the TV, I don`t even notice. I don`t have a fan controller as I monitor the fans with software. Although there is a controller of sorts at the rear of the case I don`t use it.

Cool, with this fans monitoring software, can you turn the fans off aswell? (ie. which should also turn there lights off when not needed!) or does it only monitor and give you no control over them?

I looked at that case, the Antec P280 looks nice, i checked on over clockers and its a shame that they dont do it in Noise Dampening version, otherwise would have gone for it!
 
OK after going through the configurator, this is what ive come up with:

Specification:

OcUK Tech Labs - NZXT Phantom 410 Midi-Tower Case - Black - Noise Dampened
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail
Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2)
Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVI38G160C9K)
KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with a free copy of 3DMark advanced edition
Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW)
Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM)
Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK)
BitFenix Alchemy Premium Modding LED Strip - Connect Blue 30cm
Asus PCE-N53 300Mbps Dual-Band Wireless-N600 PCI-E Adapter
Full Cable Management
Saitek Cyborg V7 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard
Logitech G700 Wireless Gaming Mouse (910-001759)
BitFenix Spectre PRO 120mm Fan Blue LED - Black
Asus VN247H 24
Speakers Not Selected
Game Controller Not Selected
Accessories Not Selected
Opt Out of FREE AV Software
Standard Build Systems - Approximately 5-7 working days

This comes down to £1,417.48!

This also yet doesn't include the headphones at around £120 and also the RAM is 8gb (as doesn't give me option for 4x4gb cards) so will have to update that later, along with purchasing also the Fan Controller!

Is there anything there that you can see that i need to change?

Thanks
 
*droooooollsss" sorry just let me get a bucket

perfect nothing that really needs changed btw i believe there is an option for 2x8gb if there is go for it if you will be doing 3d rendering or video encoding.

Hahahaha, yeah the whole thing in the end is probably going to end up costing me around £1650 :( way over budget by atleast £400.

I didnt choose the 2x8gb RAM, as i remember you saying that its better to spread the RAM across two different channels. So only chose 2x4gb ram, then i was going to get another set and install manually.
 
I know what you guys are saying about me buying the individual parts and then setting it up myself, but if i bought all the parts in the list above individually - im not so sure it would actually save me anything?! Especially since someone said that config builds is free this week!
 
Ah i see.

Can you please also explain one thing, how do i get 5.1 surround sound to my AV Receiver (for projector) when using a separate sound card? For example, when not installing the sound card, i can just run a single HDMI cable from the PC (i think motherboard or gfx card?!) into my AVR and this will output both picture and audio!

But when i install a sound card, i guess you still run the hdmi cable from the motherboard but do you have to run a separate cable for audio aswell?
 
hmm, that pretty much makes the sound card useless then isnt it?

Im thinking that for movies and games that use 5.1 surround sound - the audio quality i get will be good enough from the on board sound (motherboard) or am i going to notice a dramatic increase in audio quality with a proper sound card?
 
I spent hours yesterday evening looking for the perfect headset! All in waste :( as i couldnt find one that supports everything i require.

Basically, i need a good quality surround sound (preferably 7.1 or at least 5.1) wireless headset that connects with the PC to play games, but should also be able to connect to the AV Receiver for movies/console gaming (dont need mic for console gaming - just the headphone to listen to surround sound audio on late nights). A huge bonus would be if it comes with a charging stand!

Im having trouble for any headset to match the above description! Do you know of any? or know where i could look for one?

I was going to order the Corsair Vengence 2000, as that atleast does the PC part correct, but then realised its a USB enabled wireless headset. Hence, im not so sure if this will connect with an AVR and still offer surround sound such as dolby and/or DTS.

I was then considering going for the Sony MDRDS6500, which would connect with the PC and the AVR to offer 7.1 audio in HQ! However, then i would be missing a mic, which im sure would be useful and needed for PC gaming.

The last headset i found was the Turtle Beach Ear Force Tango! This is a branded Call Of Duty exclusive headset, which i found is also the best quality of all the turtle beach headsets. It offers both a wireless headset experience for console gaming and for PC. One massive feature is that it has bluetooth aswell, so i can use it with my iPhone. This is great for when I'm immersed in the Oculus Rift VR kit and i receive a phone call, i will be able to hear the call within the headset.
However, im not so sure on the audio quality of these headphones. Some reviews were stating its only average and very low, others were saying that its a problem to get working with a PC as you need both a bluetooth dongle and a sound card in your pc to get surround sound to work cause you need the Dolby Digital Live installed?!

Hence, im back to where i was and completely confused as to what would work best.
 
Im just not so sure about the turtle beach audio quality compared to the corsair, especially for surround sound. Also i dont really want to have to buy a sound card just for the headphone! :(
 
Done, thanks.

UPDATE on PC: I emailed the guys at OC, and they are happy for me to email in my specs required (or that need changing from the configurator tool) and to make changes based on my requirements. So my next step is to get all the parts i need changing ready and email them!
 
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are you talking about the case and the fan controller?

Yes, plus the 4x4gb ram.

Actually, I'm still not so sure about the gpu card either! Im in two minds between the 2gb gfx670 and the 3gb 7970.

What makes it all the more confusing is the different brands available!

At the moment in the spec i have selected, i chose KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card, however there is also HIS HD 7970 3072MB GDDR5.

Again im not sure if KFA2 and HIS qualify as the best ones in their respective cards.
 
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Wow your right, actually im quite impressed with the KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 card. Looks very quite and has a good cool temp too. Plus very high frame rates!

Probably will go for this one. Thanks for the links.
 
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