Newbie Self build

katyandtony

katyandtony

katyandtony

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Joined
20 Oct 2012
Posts
48
Hi
We are completely new to building a pc, so please be gentle with us lol. We are looking to build a system for the kids and ourselves to use for general browsing and some small tasks, storing photos and playing some simulator games like flight simulator fsx and the new train simulator 2013 on some of the highest settings.

So far we have bought the following items the case, motherboard, processor, optical drive, hard drive and some extra cooling fans for in the case. But we are unsure what to do about the specified ram in the list below and as I say next to the graphics card this is where we are totally confused lol and any help here would be very very grateful, also we live 5 minutes from the overclockers store and the staff there are excellent and been very helpful with all my newbie questions lol

Case
OcUK Galaxy III Tower Case - Black (500W PSU) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-017-OP&groupid=2362&catid=505&subcat=

Motherboard
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-391-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=

Processor
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-404-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=567

Ram
GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-114-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat= Wondering if it would be best to upgrade this to 16gb also or is it best to buy a pack of 4 sticks that come pre packed ??

Hard Drive
Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-374-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1955

Graphics Card
MSI GeForce GT 430 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-138-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat= (This is where I am completely confused on graphics cards and how to know a card that will give me great frame rates on one of the highest settings for flight sim fsx and playing Train Simulator 2013 on the highest settings)

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Sound Card http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-040-CL&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=

Optical Drive
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-099-LG

Thanks for any advice on the system spec

Tony
 
Last edited:
Hello and welcome to the forum.

First thing, i would do is take the case back and swap it for something decent, along with a good quality Psu.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £40
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £84.68 (includes shipping : £9.75).



The Cpu is OEM and does`nt come with a stock fan, so i assume you have an aftermarket cooler to use. It also only comes with a 1 year warranty, the retail version comes with 3 years.
This ram will be fine, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-158-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
Don`t know the Gpu requirements for flight sim fsx, but i would think you will need more that a GT 430.
 
Last edited:
Realistically you want something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £119.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G45 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** £61.99
1 x PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III Series 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - White £52.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £23.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £619.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Thanks Idleman but we have already started using the case by adding items to it, we are trying to keep the budget to a minimum so went for this case :(

The CPU did come with the intel cooler in the box and we have bought arctic cooler 5 to use for the thermal paste.

I did not notice that ram last time lol thanks for that :)

Just noticed I have put the wrong link to the cpu I did get the retail version just found my receipt again :)
 
I would still advise you to invest in a decent Psu. The one that came with the case is not to be relied on. It is, just not worth investing al that money in a great system, only to use a cheap nasty Psu. I am not even sure it will provide enough power to run the system, whilst playing long periods of flight sim.
 
One other thing we are looking into is buying a network card for inside the pc to save buying an external wireless adaptor, which one would anyone recommend for decent speed etc, hate the idea of wires running from the router around the room :)
 
i'm using the psu and case in my HTPC and its been totaly fine for the last 2 months.

I am only powering a celeron CPU though as far as you build yeh I would get a better 1 for a gaming machine.

GPU go for a 7850 should max all your games.
 
thanks for that will make a decision on which graphics card to buy on my next pay day lol, what sort of frame rates could I expect to get with that card with the games on high or maximum settings
 
Flight Simulator X
Video card 32 MB DirectX 9-compatible video card

Video card DirectX 9 (or later version)-compatible video card

7850 will easily max it

RailWorks: Train Simulator 2013
System requirements Core 2 Duo 3.2 GHz, 2 GB RAM, graphic card 512 MB (GeForce 8800 GT or better), 6 GB HDD, Windows XP/Vista/7/8
 
katyandtony said:
thanks passey89 & Idleman have also posted in the graphics card forum to see what replies come back, is that GeForce 8800 GT better than the 7850 ??
Click to expand...

No, 8800gt is quite a few years old now. the 7850 is brand new and will max out most games, where the 8800gt really wont, don't let the numbers confuse you.
 
I'm sorry to say you've made a bit of a pigs ear out of the build :(

Your HDD is slow and you dont really need the soundcard that's money that could be better spent elsewhere if i'm honest. You didn't need paste as it was already applied to the stock heatsink, pretty much all aftermarket heatsinks come with the stuff too.

FSX loves nvidia GPUs, nvidia cards also add cuda support which help boost the CPU in some software suites. I'm unclear as to what you have and are intending to buy or what your budget is. From what I've understood I'll suggest these......

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 660 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £167.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
1 x TP-Link 300Mbps High-Gain Wireless-N USB Adapter (TL-WN822N) £17.99
Total : £223.37 (includes shipping : £9.50).



and yes a better PSU would be a very good idea too.
 
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