Spec Check ~£700 vs. pre-build

[Munchkin_3]

Hi I posted on here a while ago to get an idea for specs but while I was saving up the prices have gone up and some of the parts aren't available anymore.

Looking at running a mainly gaming PC excited about being able to do dual monitor with it.

Was looking at this prebuild looked a bit cheaper and the guarantee might be helpful, looks like a loss on the graphics and a tiny bit on the processor but I was wondering how much I would actually be likely to feel that "Vortex i3" Intel Core i3 3220 3.30GHz DDR3 Dual Core Gaming PC - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-307-OE&tool=3



The other option was these:

Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-098-GI

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

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

BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-042-BQ

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-252-SE

BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-010-BX

Needs Ram and CD/DVD drive as well as the ones I was looking at aren't available anymore by the looks of it. Original max of £700 which this is going to be about £800, want to find a way to drop that really. Is that doable or should I go with the prebuild?

 

[Gav_881]

you will struggle to run new games on dual monitor with the prebuilt without dropping the settings a long way. the 3570k has more cores and games are begining to utilise them so better performance there too. swap the PSU to save your self £50, but to be honest in two weeks haswell launches so i would wait.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £32.99
1 x Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £105.47 (includes shipping : £8.75).

 

[honosuseri]

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £175.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black £47.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £47.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX) £39.95
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £707.41 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 

[Diffuse]

Looking at building a similar spec as honosuseri posted, however i dont intend to overclock the cpu or anything.
Is it still worth getting the K series cpu or should i get a cheaper cpu? Also are there any other changes you would make to that spec if i don't intend to overclock? motherboard/cooler?

 

[honosuseri]

Looking at building a similar spec as honosuseri posted, however i dont intend to overclock the cpu or anything.
Is it still worth getting the K series cpu or should i get a cheaper cpu? Also are there any other changes you would make to that spec if i don't intend to overclock? motherboard/cooler?

The whole point of me spec'ing the Tahiti cored 7870 above is to overclock it. This let's it trade blows with a more expensive stock clocked 7950. The Macho cooler can be omitted from the spec above as the retail CPU has a stock cooler. I included one as you can expect ~1Ghz more from the CPU by overclocking.....that's not to be sniffed at

Yes you could use a cheaper i5 like the 3330 but that is multiplier locked so not an overclockers chip, it also has the inferior IGP aswell. You could pair it with a H61 mobo but some of these require a BIOS update to take Ivybridge CPUs. You could look at B75/H77 mobos but to be fair they aren't a massive saving over the Z77 which has the overclocking options for K CPUs.

Rather than Hijack a thread, if you start your own and state what you need for the price we can throw some options your way