It's rather simple
- GTX 670 / HD7970 (GTX670 wins mostly).
- 3570K.
- good Z77 motherboard (£100-£150).
- Low Profile 8GB RAM.
- CPU cooler (sweetspot is 4.2-4.4GHz overclock) (£25-£40).
- 128GB SSD (Samsung or M4, no point looking elsewhere).
- 600W+ PSU, good quality, preferably modular or semi-modular.
- good case (£80-£120).
- 24'' screen (£120-£150).
- OS 64 bit.
- Storage drive (1TB / 2TB).
- Optical drive (BluRay / DVD-RW).
- gaming mouse (£20-£50).
- gaming keyboard (£30-£50).
- speakers / headset, decent quality (£30-£60).
That should get you to £1,500 more or less. If you look at the builds they are rather similar in spec.
- Windforce / DirectCU are considered the best of the 670's for noise and cooling. They are also more popular, hence more expensive.
- Dont need fancy RAM. Generic 1600MHz ram will do. Samsung 30nm rams are quite nice, and on offer atm I believe. And make sure it's low profile (no huge heat spreaders).
- The CM StormTrooper is a big brute of a case, Very well kitted, very well designed and sturdy, looks are personal. Plus it's big enough to house any cooler you want (even the TS140). Other choices : Corsair Carbide 500R, Fractal R3, Obsidian 550D, Obsidian 650D, NZXT Phantom Enthusiast, Raven RV03. Any of these cases are worth your money.
- Cant go much wrong with corsair PSUs, XFX, Antec High Current Gamer. All Seasonic designs, or ChannelWell, Corsair made their name with them.
- For motherboard, you are spoilt for choice really. The Gigabyte series imo are the most attractive.
- Mouse and keyboard, it's entirely up to you. The G400 is a great all round mouse (successor to the MX518 which I still use), the X4 is the best value for money, not to mentioned back-lit.
- Dunno much about speakers, but the cheap 2.1 range is really quite nice (I have S-220's and they do the job for me).
- Big fan of Thermalright coolers, having one (MUX-120). Good balance between performance, low noise, build quality, and easy setup. Plus they come with good thermal paste (Chillfactor II or III). Also the Matterhorn Pure, the Coolermasters 212 evo and 612S, and a couple more worth considering.
- YOu only need to worry about pro / ultimate OS if you are gonna use over 16GB of memory. Or for office / network environment.
That's all I'll say. And that the 'this week only' offers will end next wednesday.
