Spec check please =)

xisikura

xisikura

xisikura

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29 May 2012
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So I have been using a laptop for the past three years whilst at university and since I have now finished my degree, it is time to treat myself to a proper gaming PC.
Since it is going to be my first ever PC, and I want to get it right, I would be grateful for feedback on the chosen components.
Is there anything I should/could change?
Anything that is better value for money, but not a big compromise in performance?
Colour scheme is black/white with a hint of blue (due to the blue PCB on the HIS), and I'd like to add a fan controller and white LED strips further down the line.
One thing I'm not 100% certain about is which fans to use for the case. I love the looks of the case and don't want to change it, but I know the front intake is poor. Would the SP120 be the right choice as front intake fans?


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail with FREE Grid 2 PC Game £269.99
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £245.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £127.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £109.99
1 x XFX Pro Series 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £85.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Arctic White 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9W) £59.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi "Core" USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - White £54.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £52.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £49.99
1 x Corsair SP120 Quiet Series High Pressure Low Noise - Dual Pack (CO-9050006-WW) £25.99
1 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Dual Pack (CO-9050002-WW) £19.99
1 x BitFenix Mesh Stripes for Shinobi Tower Case - Black £6.98
1 x BitFenix Logo for Shinobi Tower Case - Black £1.98
Total : £1,127.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Faster RAM for the same price (on offer this week) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-032-TG

Probably more of a personal choice, but this SSD is highly regarded by many people here - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-158-SA&tool=3

Unless you're planning to add a 2nd 7950 in the future then a 650W PSU is fine - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-014-XF&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1497-


Rest of the spec looks nice. Not sure about the case intake fans though. Hopefully someone else can help you there :)
 
danclivo said:
Faster RAM for the same price (on offer this week) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-032-TG

Probably more of a personal choice, but this SSD is highly regarded by many people here - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-158-SA&tool=3

Unless you're planning to add a 2nd 7950 in the future then a 650W PSU is fine - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-014-XF&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1497-


Rest of the spec looks nice. Not sure about the case intake fans though. Hopefully someone else can help you there :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions =)
The ram is a nice find, but I have to admit I'm really fussy with the colour and red just doesn't meet the colour scheme I want ^^
I used the 750 Psu since I wanted the option open to go Xfire in the future as the mobo allows it and it is only a little bit more than the 650.
With the SSDs, I wasn't sure which one to get as they are pretty much same performance and price, and both are reliable, so I went for the one that I liked the looks of better. Might change to the Samsung though, haven't completely made my mind up on that one yet <.<
 
Get the Shinobi and add the window panel rather than the Core edition and buying the extras. That way you get a fan free and you could consider cutting the solid panel to make a better window up if you wanted to, if it went wrong who cares ;)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail with FREE Grid 2 PC Game £269.99
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £245.99
1 x Plextor M5S 256GB Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5S) £139.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £127.99
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £89.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U24001004G-2CI) - Blue Light £67.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £52.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £49.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - White/Black £49.99
2 x BitFenix Spectre PRO 120mm Fan Blue LED - Black £11.99 (£23.98)
1 x BitFenix Shinobi Windowed Side Panel - White £11.99
Total : £1,145.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).



If you wanted to add a fan controller. The Bitfenix Hydra Pro lets you toggle the LEDs on and off on their Spectre and Spectre Pro range of fans.
 
honosuseri said:
Get the Shinobi and add the window panel rather than the Core edition and buying the extras. That way you get a fan free and you could consider cutting the solid panel to make a better window up if you wanted to, if it went wrong who cares ;)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail with FREE Grid 2 PC Game £269.99
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £245.99
1 x Plextor M5S 256GB Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5S) £139.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £127.99
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £89.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U24001004G-2CI) - Blue Light £67.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £52.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £49.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - White/Black £49.99
2 x BitFenix Spectre PRO 120mm Fan Blue LED - Black £11.99 (£23.98)
1 x BitFenix Shinobi Windowed Side Panel - White £11.99
Total : £1,145.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).



If you wanted to add a fan controller. The Bitfenix Hydra Pro lets you toggle the LEDs on and off on their Spectre and Spectre Pro range of fans.
Click to expand...


Ordering case and window separately has never even crossed my mind, that's a brilliant idea and cheaper than ordering core edition+mesh+logo <.<
Do you know how good the stock fans of the shinobi are in respect to performance/noise? I'm not too keen on LED fans, might get the 2 corsair fans for the front and swap the stock fan to another position (possibly side panel), how would that be?
Loving the blue LED ram though, that's definitely replacing the vengeance ^^


So how is this:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail with FREE Grid 2 PC Game £269.99
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £245.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £127.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £109.99
1 x XFX Pro Series 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £85.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U24001004G-2CI) - Blue Light £67.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £52.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £49.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - White/Black £49.99
1 x Corsair SP120 Quiet Series High Pressure Low Noise - Dual Pack (CO-9050006-WW) £25.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi Windowed Side Panel - White £11.99
Total : £1,115.40 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 
Last edited:
For gaming getting the i5K isn't really going to penalise you and saves you cash to get everything you want in the one hit.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £245.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail with FREE Grid 2 PC Game £185.99
1 x Plextor M5S 256GB Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5S) £139.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £127.99
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £89.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £73.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U24001004G-2CI) - Blue Light £67.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £49.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - White/Black £49.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Premium Modding LED Strip - Connect White 60cm £25.99
1 x BitFenix Hydra Fan/LED Controller £24.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi Windowed Side Panel - White £11.99
2 x BitFenix Spectre PRO 120mm Fan Blue LED - Black £11.99 (£23.98)
Total : £1,140.28 (includes shipping : £17.85).



That Shinobi only comes with a single fan (the windowed one has two supplied, Core has none at all). The Corsair SP120s are static pressure (hence the SP), these are meant for mounting on a radiator or heatsink. Personally I'd put the "free fan" as front intake and get the Spectre Pros (they come in white too) which are a good all rounder to illuminate inside (one as rear exhaust, one in the bottom as intake). I did a review (HERE) of the Hydra Pro which would turn off those LEDs for you.
 
Last edited:
xisikura said:
Ordering case and window separately has never even crossed my mind, that's a brilliant idea and cheaper than ordering core edition+mesh+logo <.<
Do you know how good the stock fans of the shinobi are in respect to performance/noise? I'm not too keen on LED fans, might get the 2 corsair fans for the front and swap the stock fan to another position (possibly side panel), how would that be?
Loving the blue LED ram though, that's definitely replacing the vengeance ^^


So how is this:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail with FREE Grid 2 PC Game £269.99
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £245.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £127.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £109.99
1 x XFX Pro Series 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £85.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U24001004G-2CI) - Blue Light £67.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £52.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £49.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - White/Black £49.99
1 x Corsair SP120 Quiet Series High Pressure Low Noise - Dual Pack (CO-9050006-WW) £25.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi Windowed Side Panel - White £11.99
Total : £1,115.40 (includes shipping : £13.75).

Click to expand...


Instead of the HIS GFX card, get this one - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-190-MS
 
honosuseri said:
It's an option as the issues are supposed to be 100% sorted now. It does have a longer warranty than the HIS but I think I'd rather have the external exhaust cooler on the HIS as he seems keen to Xfire later on.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't, I would rather have the MSI due to the black PCB which matches the board better, the blue on the HIS is too much.

The Tahiti core doesn't get hot.

It's clocked higher too.

It's currently cheaper.

And it certainly can't have as much coil whine as the HIS 7950 sample I have here;)
 
Last edited:
Yes it is one of the few 7950s to have a black PCB which is nice, most do have the blue PCB. I'm loving that Gigabyte has ditched the blue on their entry level mobos btw, black looks soooo much better :)

The problems are supposed to be sorted but even you said the GPU seems to be hit and miss on that GPUs forum thread, so I won't rush to recommend one. I haven't heard too many complaints about the HIS, if your example has coil whine that is unfortunate :(

I don't read much into factory overclocks as most people should be pushing the cards further themselves. I suppose we should also mention the 7870XT which is even cheaper still and is also a Tahiti core. With an overclock it will trade blows with a stock 7950, an amazing GPU for the price.
 
honosuseri said:
:)

The problems are supposed to be sorted but even you said the GPU seems to be hit and miss on that GPUs forum thread, so I won't rush to recommend one. I haven't heard too many complaints about the HIS, if your example has coil whine that is unfortunate :(
Click to expand...

The MSI problem was a mix upo of stock i think so people were buying a revision2 card but were being sent the older version still.

The issue should be long gone now, I havent seen any complaints lately
 
stulid said:
The MSI problem was a mix upo of stock i think so people were buying a revision2 card but were being sent the older version still.

The issue should be long gone now, I havent seen any complaints lately
Click to expand...

That's very possible.

Think I'd still rather have the GPUs heat pumped directly out of the case but the MSI is still an option as is the 7870XT. Atleast the OP knows we cover all the angles for him ;)
 
So in summary the MSI is,

• Cheaper currently.
• Clocked faster (base and boost speeds).
• Black PCB (looks better;))
• Better warranty.


The HIS,

• Exhausts out the rear.
 
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