Where the heck do I start

Stevolution

Stevolution

Stevolution

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Joined
20 Aug 2012
Posts
150
Hi all
Need a new gaming PC. My poor old Vaio laptop just ain't cutting it anymore.
I am pretty clued up on electronics, but way out of touch with what is new in the world of PC's. Certainly don't understand overclocking.

My main gaming time killer is Tekkit - pretty graphics and processor hungry (as my Vaio with the processor load needle jammed on 100% will tell you)

Budget - about 1k. Planning on getting a 27" screen as well, so add the keyboard and other pretty bits and I am £1300+ easily.

Saw this and seems a good spec - but correct me if I am wrong:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18435412

I would add a wireless card, 60gb SSD (I like the fast boot times) and change the case to a CM Storm Trooper.

Crossfire? 2 graphics cards linked together I assume. Is that stable or are their potential issues? Would I be better off with a different single graphics card?

I have kind of decided on an Intel... i5 or i7 because I think they are pretty good processors.
Any advice - of any kind gratefully received.

Cheers oh clever people
Steve
 
well it not just for Minecraft! I am doing quite a lot of film editing and learning some professional graphics software, so I don't want to skimp.
What is hyperthreading? So that 'Titan Triceratop gaming system deal' isn't much good then with an i5 processor.
I can build my own pc - done that many times. I build electronic stuff as a hobby.
Just no idea how to overclock
 
Hyoerthreading allows each core to run two threads. On a quad core system this is overkill for gaming as no games use that many threads anyway. Won't for a long time yet.
 
Woden said:
Hyoerthreading allows each core to run two threads. On a quad core system this is overkill for gaming as no games use that many threads anyway. Won't for a long time yet.
Click to expand...

+1

They do say that if you need to ask what hyperthreading is, you don't need hyperthreading.


i5 vs i7 - I once asked the same question. The basic answer is... only go the i7 route if you need hyperthreading or you see a stonking deal. You said you've decided to get an Intel processor, that was a good decision. Intel have wiped the floor with AMD with this generation of CPU's.

One bit of advice I'd give you Stevolution is, if you get an SSD then get something bigger than 60Gb. My first SSD was a 60Gb and even though I only used it for the OS and applications, it quickly became a constant battle to find space. I'd say go for one in the triple digits i.e. and 128Gb.

As Squid said, your budget seems high even for a video editing machine. If you look to spend 1k, you will. It might be a good idea to ask on the forum how much it'd costs for a PC that fulfils your requirements.

Pre-assembled vs. self build - You'll get more bang for your buck if you self build (which isn't that difficult) and you (with the help of OCuk forum members) can tailor the build to better suit your requirements.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x BenQ GW2750HM 27" Widescreen LED Professional Monitor - Black £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x CM Storm Trooper Full Tower Gaming Case - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (ST2000DL003) £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £83.99
1 x OCZ ZT 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £69.98
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1156/1155/1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1) £59.99
1 x Logitech G110 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard (920-002241) £39.98
1 x Logitech G500 5700DPI Gaming Mouse (910-001262) £36.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38192M1600HC11DC) £29.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,401.47 (includes shipping : £22.20).

 
The case is up to your pick,

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x BenQ GW2750HM 27" Widescreen LED Professional Monitor - Black £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £99.98
1 x Corsair HX 650W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650HXUK) £89.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Blue (Socket LGA 2011/1155/1156/1366/775/AMD AM2/2+/AM3) £66.98
1 x Logitech G110 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard (920-002241) £39.98
1 x Logitech G500 5700DPI Gaming Mouse (910-001262) £36.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38192M1600HC11DC) £29.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,317.34 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 
Thanks for all the advice guys
I see those two build lists (which look like a damn good specs) both say the MSI HD 7950 twin Frozr III graphics card. I had picked that one out as an upgrade on another system I was looking at, so I am guessing its quite a good board.

Monitors - are the BenQ better than the Iiyama?

This is the computer that I want to keep for the next good few years. Needs to be upgradable, and so if I have a budget - it seems sensible to get the best system I can for my money.
I think I will certainly build my own, I will just need to suss out this overclocking lark.

The Maya graphics software I am learning is pretty damn graphic heavy, so the better the spec - the easier my time using it.
Thanks all
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus VE276N 27" Widescreen LED Multimedia Monitor - Black £203.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x VTX3D HD 7850 X-Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x CM Storm Trooper Full Tower Gaming Case - Black £119.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128N/EU) £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F4 EcoGreen 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD204UI / ST2000DL004) £79.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £75.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316G1600HC11DC) £59.95
1 x LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £56.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUKV2) £56.99
1 x Akasa AK-CC4008HP01 Venom Voodoo CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3 £44.99
1 x Logitech G300 Gaming Mouse (910-002489) £23.99
1 x Cherry Black CyMotion Expert (USB/PS2) Keyboard - Black £19.99
1 x TP-Link 150Mbps High Gain Wireless-N USB Adapter - with Cradle (TL-WN722NC) £9.98
Total : £1,261.79 (includes shipping : FREE).



16 Gig of ram for use in Maya, blu ray rom as requested, wireless adapter as requested, keyboard and mouse are subjective so pick ones you like, monitor with 3 years warranty instead of 2
 
Modular PSU?
I do like the specs of the MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Graphics Card, I will have to compare it with the VTX3d.
Asus monitor? Keep hearing bad things about the image quality. The reviews for the Iiyama seemed pretty good.
I will sit and put together a system tonight - using people recommendations and my research, and then you guys (if you want) can see if it will go together and if its any good!
 
OK. Over budget... no surprise there.

But, I think this is a pretty good spec setup and will certainly cover all my needs for a good while.
Quite a few items are out of stock, so by the time they are available, I am sure there will be a drop in a few prices and an offer or two available.
Would be nice to get a 750w Modular PSU if they drop in price before the rest arrives in stock.

I have added a soundcard, rewritable blu-ray (that will be V handy), network card, and a few tarty extra red led fans (may as well make it look pretty)
Are these 120mm fans any good, or do they just add to the noise? I was going to put them on the side pulling cool air in.
Also, does this (or any) fan controller actually fit the Storm Trooper case well... seeing as the front of that case seems fairly 'rounded' in shape.
Just thinking while I am programming, I won't need all the fans whizzing away at full pelt.


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x Iiyama ProLite E2773HDS 27" Widescreen LED 1MS Monitor - Black £212.40
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x CM Storm Trooper Full Tower Gaming Case - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £89.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (ST2000DL003) £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Corsair HX 650W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650HXUK) £74.99
1 x LG BH10LS38 10x BluRay-RW / 16 x DVD±RW Lightscribe Drive - Black (OEM) £69.98
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Red(Socket LGA 2011/1155/1156/1366/775/AMD AM2/2+/AM3) £66.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316G1600HC11DC) £59.95
1 x Logitech G110 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard (920-002241) £39.98
1 x Lamptron FC5 V2 5.25" Bay Fan Controller - Black £34.99
1 x Asus PCE-N15 300Mbps 802.11B/G/N Wireless PCI-E Network Adapter £29.99
1 x Asus Xonar DG 5.1 PCI Sound Card with built in Headphone Amp £25.99
1 x Logitech G300 Gaming Mouse (910-002489) £23.99
1 x CM Storm Trooper Window Side Panel - Black £19.99
2 x Aerocool Shark Devil Red Edition LED Fan - 120mm £6.98 (£13.96)
Total : £1,618.78 (includes shipping : £22.20).




Any potential issues?
Thanks all
 
Last edited:
I thought that case had a built in fan controller, think about a usb wireless adapter if your case is going to be on the floor under a desk so that the antenna can be on the desk, also if you just need it to connect to a router then you don't need a 300Mbps one
 
Mmm.. don't know. Looks like it may have a single fan controller. Can't tell.
Don't need remote antenna for the tower - it sits on the desk and the router is only in the next room. True about the 300Mbps however
 
bru said:
I thought that case had a built in fan controller, think about a usb wireless adapter if your case is going to be on the floor under a desk so that the antenna can be on the desk, also if you just need it to connect to a router then you don't need a 300Mbps one
Click to expand...

You will be ****** when it comes to 1080p streaming though. 300Mbps is the theoretical maximum, not what will be achieved in real world use.
 
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