Spec me! £560 Budget!

Bacon? said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £161.99
1 x MSI HD 6850 "Dual Fan Edition" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £83.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £65.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38192M1600HC11DC) £35.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £588.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Click to expand...

This build seems marginally better in terms of the GPU, an dual fan edition seems nice.

Different board? I will probably OC that card a bit. CPU a bit in future. It's essential everything I get lasts a minimum of 3 years. I'm going to be using this thing religiously so overclocking or not, I don't want anything popping/failing on me.

Also, it seems that the mobo selected is one fan header short?

Ahh oh dear. Apparently that 6850 is annoying because the CPU cooler has no variable RPM speed, it's just solid 100%, according to someone in the review. If that is true, that is extremely daft of MSI.

:) Thanks for helping.
 
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The graphics card on that build is not as good as the 460 i specced.

And the board is fine, it will overclock easily. The only difference between that and a more expensive really is this board doesnt support x-fire or SLI. However you would need at least 600W for that and it wouldn't be worth x-firing ona 1 GB card in my opinion.
 
Bacon? said:
The graphics card on that build is not as good as the 460 i specced.

And the board is fine, it will overclock easily. The only difference between that and a more expensive really is this board doesnt support x-fire or SLI. However you would need at least 600W for that and it wouldn't be worth x-firing ona 1 GB card in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I know, it's unlikely I'll dual-card anyway and I doubt with any game now, or in the future will require anything more than a single card when it comes to 1080p gaming on one screen.

Well, they're very similar those two cards. Can someone verify whether or not that dual fan edition 6850 sounds like a hoover? I find it hard to believe that the reviewer - see here > http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-168-MS&tool=3 - has his fan running at 100% all of the time. That to me is a design flaw, or his fan controller is busted. If the fan does slow down and doesn't sound like a jet engine I'll get it.

The Zalman Z9 has 4 fans, an extra mountable fan spaces inside. The motherboard has 1 CPU fan header and 3 extra fan headers.

Oh an why is the retail 2500K cheaper if it includes that stupid headsink and fan? The OEM one is slightly more expensive.
 
OK it's confirmed, the 6850 Dual Fan edition has no variable, so the fan just makes a racket all the time, I can't have that unfortunately. I'm not being a pain in the ass for the sake of it, I just genuinely don't want to be chillin and hearing:

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!*

:)
 
So... instead of super WHOOOSH Fan... hows about this?


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £161.99
1 x MSI HD 6870 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £65.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38192M1600HC11DC) £35.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £622.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).




Yeah, I know, not as close to £560, but 6870 that doens't melt your ears? Thanks to super bacon for managing the 8GB n the 1TB HDD lol.

Minus delivery charges.

Edit : Changed Optical Drive for a quieter one? :)
 
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Get the retail version of the 2500K or the 3570K if you can afford it. I only just noticed the price drop which means in essence you get the extra warranty free. :)
 
Bacon? said:
Get the retail version of the 2500K or the 3570K if you can afford it. I only just noticed the price drop which means in essence you get the extra warranty free. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I noticed it earlier. I also noticed the warranty thing. That pays for change in Optical Drive hahaha.

Last minute things before I order.

CPU cooler. Will it fit in the Z9 Plus without touching the side?

Fan headers? 3 extra fan headers, other than the CPU one, but there is 4 case fans.

Thoughts?

Here is the final spec:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £159.95
1 x MSI HD 6870 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £65.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38192M1600HC11DC) £35.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £620.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Likey? If everything is compatible I'll be happy, so long as the CPU has space and there are enough fan headers :S
 
I squeezed the I5-3759K in there.

The Sharkoon looks great but, I'm not keen on big acryllic panels. Reason is, they scratch so easy and look **** after a while.

My only concern right now is the fan headers.

Is it worth getting the 3570K over the 2500K?

This is what I have down.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £173.99
1 x MSI HD 6870 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £65.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38192M1600HC11DC) £35.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £634.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).



I do hope this board is decent. Worrying to see it bottom on the low-high sorting.
 
Bacon? said:
Personally I would buy the Ivy since it isn't much more and its latest gen, I cant remember the advantages of the top of the head though.
Click to expand...

What about the fan headers with that board though. I don't want one of the Zalman Z9 fans not spinning at all.
 
I have a Z9 with a Zalman CNPS9900 MAX, loads of clearance between case and cooler.

I bought a Lamptron fan controller cheapish for £20 i could have a look tonight to see if the standard one has control for them all if need but if you go for a 2500k why not save some money and go for a Z68 board?
 
I don't know... I'm starting to get extremely impatient.

All I want is a computer which is powerful, reliable, has some overclockability, an won't go bang.

What is it with Gigabyte and their lower end boards? DS3H, D3H, DS3H-M... stupid. I know one is Micro-ATX but apart from that I can't tell.

And I want FAN HEADERS! :@
 
you have enough fan headers with 3 buddy, the rear fan is molex :) id personally go with your 2500k build, unless you plan on upgrading the cooler later to help with the temps of an OC'd Ivy.
 
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I'm just confused an annoyed now.

Might as well of gone with a better Z68 board an a i5-2500k, an an OC'd a ton. I'm paying extra for less features on the newer Z77 boards, an yes, the Z77 supports the Ivy but what benefit am I getting with the i5-3570k? :| If it means better performance on SATA III, or USB 3.0, then I'm not sure.

I would like to order today, preferably before 4pm, for good reason
 
[

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £161.99
1 x MSI HD 6870 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £65.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38192M1600HC11DC) £35.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £622.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).




Yeah, I know, not as close to £560, but 6870 that doens't melt your ears? Thanks to super bacon for managing the 8GB n the 1TB HDD lol.


I'd stick with this build tbh this MB has enough Fan headers.
 
Might'n I just drop down to a Z68 board with that i5-2500K? It's not like it's going to limit me for gaming at 1080p on a single screen? The Z68 chipset can handle Ivy Bridge with a bios upgrade but it's unlikely that I'm going to go to Ivy Bridge anyway. It's not like the next gen is massively better than this, right?
 
YOu could yes but then you'd need to find a Z68 board with the headers and they aren't as easily availble as the Z77 boards, if i was buying at this moment in time id stick with the Z77 board now. They are also roughly the same price.
 
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