Please help me spec 2 PCs

Vantage101

Vantage101

Vantage101

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Joined
16 Oct 2012
Posts
60
Hey all,

I have been following the forum for a while now as I have been looking to get a new PC at the end of this month (next week).

Budget: <£1200.
What I want from the PC: Gaming (BF3/DayZ/GW2) + Photoshop / possible video editing
Monitor: Required (120hz for gaming purposes) (Dual monitors if budget allows)
Keyboard: Required
Mouse: Required (Have an MX510 but only has 2 feet left)
CPU: Intel
GPU: Nvidia 670 is preferred
Windows: Need


I also need a spec for a friend's PC who's budget is £850.


Budget: <£850.
What they want from the PC: Gaming (BF3/DayZ/GW2) + Photoshop / possible video editing
Monitor: Required (120hz for gaming purposes)
CPU: Required
GPU: Required (a GPU that can handle demanding games with +60fps)
Windows: Need


I understand prices are constantly fluctuating and I'm not 100% sure what parts are the best to use.

There is a chance that I might look in to SLI in the future.

The reason I picked the 670 is because of BF3 Benchmarks.

Please let me know ASAP of recommended best specs for both budgets!

Regards
Alex:D
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 670 OC Twin Frozr Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (N670GTX PE 2GD5/OC) £311.99
1 x Samsung S23A700D 23" 120Hz 3D Widescreen Gaming Monitor - Black £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128N/EU) £85.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £69.98
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £64.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £39.98
1 x Roccat Arvo Compact Gaming Keyboard £34.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
1 x Gigabyte M6980 2000DPI Gaming Mouse - Black £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,266.96 (includes shipping : £20.10).




It doesn't support SLI though.
 
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As for the £850 spec,


YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung S23A700D 23" 120Hz 3D Widescreen Gaming Monitor - Black £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 660 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £69.98
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £43.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £39.98
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £26.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £922.80 (includes shipping : £19.10).



It is over, perhaps a cheaper non 120Hz screen?
 
£1200

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 670 OC Twin Frozr Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (N670GTX PE 2GD5/OC) £311.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x Dell Studio S2340L 23" IPS Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £149.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128N/EU) £85.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £69.98
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £64.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £39.98
1 x Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279) £34.99
1 x Roccat Arvo Compact Gaming Keyboard £34.98
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 140 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA775/AM2/AM3) £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 : £1,208.53 (includes shipping : £14.75).

 
£850

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 660 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £167.99
1 x Dell Studio S2340L 23" IPS Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £69.98
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £53.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £39.98
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 : £862.48 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 
Would the GTX 660 benefit from a 120hz monitor or will it be unnoticeable?

Looking at some benchmarks for the 660 on BF3 it seems to average at about 50ps on high settings (Source nvidia)

Am I right in understanding that 60/120hz = max 60/120fps?
 
Interesting read re hz.

On the off topic - if i was plugging a PS3 in to the monitor how would i get the sound to output?

With having an additional CPU cooler - would I have to use arctic paste? and is it easily applied?
 
Vantage101 said:
Interesting read re hz.

On the off topic - if i was plugging a PS3 in to the monitor how would i get the sound to output?

With having an additional CPU cooler - would I have to use arctic paste? and is it easily applied?
Click to expand...

Not sure, you would need to send an additional cable to a amplifier and speakers I would imagine (i dont know what connectors a PS3 has)


Most (nearly all) aftermaket coolers come with some type of thermal paste, add a pea sized blob in the center of the CPU and let the clamping force spread it about.
 
Vantage101 said:
On the off topic - if i was plugging a PS3 in to the monitor how would i get the sound to output?
Click to expand...

The PS3 can dual output audio via HDMI and the RCA leads it was supplied with at the same time. So you can plug the red and white phono leads (that came with PS3 for SD output) into an amp or use an adapte to convert them from RCA to a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The easiest way is probably just to find a screen with a headphone jack output built in. This way you can plug speakers or headphones directly into the screen and avoid unnecessary faff
 
So put a blob on the cpu and then don't do any spreading, just place the fan's clamp to spread it.

Do you need to let the paste set or anything before switching on?
 
Use it straight away, some thermal pastes don't have a "cure" time, some do and will get a little better over the course of a bit of usage.
 
re PS3 sound: excellent. I plug Turtle Beach headphones directly in to the headphone point in my TV at the moment.

I would use the component cable for sound but haven't go the cable, so I have no idea if you lose any quality by directly plugging headphones in to headphone point.
 
Vantage101 said:
So put a blob on the cpu and then don't do any spreading, just place the fan's clamp to spread it.

Do you need to let the paste set or anything before switching on?
Click to expand...

You don't have to spread it out or wait for it to set. You just need a very light dab of paste (less is more) and as you screw the heatsink down (opposite corners is best) it will spread the paste. I know you sometimes get cards with the paste to help spread it but I have never bothered with them, only to scrape off old dried paste.

Vantage101 said:
re PS3 sound: excellent. I plug Turtle Beach headphones directly in to the headphone point in my TV at the moment.

I would use the component cable for sound but haven't go the cable, so I have no idea if you lose any quality by directly plugging headphones in to headphone point.
Click to expand...

Having the headphones plugged into the screen is really the best\easiest method. Most monitor speakers are pants anyway, you could use the TV for now and get a monitor later if you wanted. I may well get flamed for this but if you are coming from the PS3 to PC gaming even on the TV the difference will be very noticable using the components that have been spec'd.
 
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I used to game on PC about 8 years ago but stopped due to cost etc. I've always preferred PC gaming as I think the atmosphere is better. I liked being closer to a screen (probably need glasses) as I always found spotting enemies easier and was more focused.

Console gaming has never quite cut it for me, but I would like to see if my performance improves having the screen near to me like with a PC.

The TV is 42 inches and don't think I'd be comfortable using that for gaming up close!
 
Hi All,

Thanks for advice and build specs as per the above posts.

Should be ordering the parts Thursday/Friday this week. However I've decided to change things in terms of budget and requirements.

Build is for gaming/Photoshop
Monitors: x 2 (60hz will be adequate) >=22in (headphone jack if possible in one)
Graphics: Nvidia 670
CPU: Intel i5
Mobo: Supports SLI (Might add additional 670 in 12 months)
HDD: 1TB
SSD: <256GB
DVD/CD: Best cheapest
PSU: Decent
RAM: Enough for multiple applications/ gaming
Windows: Need

Budget: <£1200

Clean build so have no shrapnel. Going to get the Mouse/Keyboard separate to budget.

The £850 build has been put on hold until a later date.

Thanks very much for all your help.

Regards
 
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