Spec/Component Check

BCFCMike

BCFCMike

BCFCMike

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Joined
28 May 2012
Posts
170
Motherboard; Asus P8Z77-V LX ATX LGA1155
CPU; Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
PSU; XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V
RAM; Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
HDD; Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
SDD; Sandisk Extreme 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive/Disk
Graphics; Gigabyte GeForce GT 640 2GB
CD/DVD Drive; LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer

All fitting inside a Zalman Z11 Plus.

Monitor; LG 21.5" E2242C-BN LED
OS; Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

My aim; To have a very rapid machine, and run Football Manager 2013 at it's best. Not really into PC Gaming that much, only FM really, and maybe the odd Simulator game.

Recommendations?

My budget is £700ish, so any improvements would probably have to be small...
 
Antowns said:
I can't imagine football manager needing much in terms of GPU power, but running simulators is a whole different story. Those specs look alright to me, If it were me I'd change the SSD to a different make.
Click to expand...

Cheers for the reply bud. It's the 3D Match Engine in FM that I want to run at it's best, pretty sure that GPU is fine though. what makes would you recommend for the SSD? Don't really want an increase in price...

Also, tempted to get CPU cooler for £13.99 just to be on the safe side. I know as I won't be overclocking it, I shouldn't need a cooler, but to make it quieter, does it really make a difference?
 
Aye, I can't really go above the budget TBH :/

I was going for the 640 just because I thought it will do for now, until I have enough to splash out for something better if I end up getting caught up with PC Gaming..
 
I do have a 32" HDTV I could use for the time being, which I have been tempted by, but I like the idea of having a monitor + the tv, for watching the football etc..

Regarding the PSU you've chosen, aren't the Corsair ones quite unreliable? Or is that only a certain model?
 
The reviews at various places suggest that the Sandisk Extreme SSD is more than acceptable, so I'm sticking with that rather than choosing a more high profile manufacturer at a higher price.

I've also changed the CPU to the I5-3470, just to save £20 odd quid.

I'm probably going to buy my monitor second hand or refurbished, which should also save a few quid. So I'd say I am down to about £670 (Including the OS), I have taken your suggestions onboard, but TBH, I'd prefer just to get the whole lot at the same time.

Regarding the GPU, are their any significant improvements on other cards which are only maybe a few quid more? I had a look at the 460, it's going well over £100 at retail though and TBH i'd prefer to buy all my components brand spanking new.

Order placing starts tonight :D

Oh, also going for the Z9 Plus as suggested.
 
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Idleman said:
With OS.

YOUR BASKET
1 x BenQ GL2250 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £99.95
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GT 640 OC 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £89.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £83.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
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) £43.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £39.95
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £713.29 (includes shipping : £13.75).



Without, but use Win8 Evaluation for a few months.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3450 3.10GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £137.99
1 x Samsung S23B550V 23" Widescreen LED MHL Monitor - Black £129.95
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GT 640 OC 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £89.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £83.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
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) £43.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £39.95
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £713.30 (includes shipping : £13.75).

Click to expand...

OC Seem to have raised the price to £52.99 for the Z9 Plus case :eek:
 
honosuseri said:
I'd get the screen new and the GPU 2nd hand fella. Prices have changed slightly and the offers change tomoz too.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £159.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £69.95
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 REV A CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/AM2/AM3/FM1) £24.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £659.89 (includes shipping : £11.75).



The only new GPU I would personally use is a 2GB 7850 or an nvidia 660. These GPUs are £160ish. A 2nd hand 460 at £50ish would be very capable and since you don't seem that bothered about gaming it's not a massive amount of cash to put up to allow the rig to play games.
Click to expand...

Really don't want to spend over £100 on a GPU, on the first machine i'm building when I won't really be using it for gaming straight away.

I may look for a slight step up from the 640, but TBF the 640 will do the job with FM and a lot of other games, after a couple of months I will probably upgrade it.

Have just ordered the Zalman Z9 Plus, not from OC though. I presume I'm allowed to say that considering I didn't say the company name:D
 
Looks very promising, cheers pal :)

Can I ask why you both suggested the Gigabyte Z77 Motherboard rather than the Asus VL-X? No problem as the price is pretty much the same, just curious as to why:)
 
honosuseri said:
The Z77 D3H has a dual bios so is safer to update as you have a backup bios. I used the OEM i5k as its cheap enough to help pay for a heat sink so you can over clock nicely.

Did you get the zalman z9 U3? that has usb3 ports :) I can understand you not wanting to pay over £100 for a gpu. Its why I suggested the 2nd hand 460, people are selling them now whilst the card is still capable and put the cash to an upgrade such as the 7850 I mentioned earlier for a £100ish outlay.

I like nvidia for cuda support, makes the gpu a double upgrade in my eyes. The gpu allows gaming and cuda support assists the CPU in a number of software suites.

remember you have the IGP. if you're not sure what to do about a gpu you can use the IGP initially. Remember some GPUs come with games, you could sell them to help fund the cost of the card :)
Click to expand...

Forgot about the U3 case :D

Have cancelled my order and gone for the U3 instead. Is the USB3.0 the only difference from the plus version?


And I didn't mean I ordered the Asus Board, was meant to put the CPU :p
 
I prefer the blue look tbh :D

And Retail, I5 3470. I won't be overclocking, so didn't really see the point.

Supposing it's fairly easy to relocate the fan?


Z9plus_07.jpg


Would it be worth investing in a cooler there? (On the right)
 
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honosuseri said:
All you do is up the multiplier in the BIOS really, it's very easy to do. As I said I used the OEM i5K to help fund a heatsink so you could ask more of the CPU. It's your choice at the end of the day.If you are not overclocking you might as well stick with the retail heatsink fella.

Moving the side fan is a matter of 4 screws. You get a lot of kit for your money on the Z9, I'm happy to give you tips for building in it if you wish, rather ask than waffle on now and force feed it to you lol
Click to expand...

Aha, well I'll let you know matey.
 
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