Hi guys, I'm new to the forums but have been lurking around Bit-tech for a little while now researching components for my next rig as my current 5 year old pc is just about clinging on for dear life god bless it I have a pretty good budget (approx £1400 give or take) and intend to use it for gaming and as an all purpose home pc I'll admit some of the components have been very hard to pick/know whats best to go for within my budget and was hoping to get some feedback and advice on what i'm looking at so far (any compatability issues?) and maybe some alternative recommendations if needed. I am especially struggling with the PSU as i just have not got a clue what wattage i'll need. Also i'm not 100% convinced on the choice of motherboard Ok here goes: CPU: i5 3750k (Will be overclocked) Motherboard: Asus Maximus V gene (???) Graphics card: Gigabyte 2GB GeForce GTX 670 Memory: Corsair Memory Vengeance LP Arctic White 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz (Low Profile) SSD: SAMSUNG 830 SERIES SSD 256GB HDD: 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm Case: Fractal Design Define R3 Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX Optical Drive: ??? Anything else i have missed: ??? I was thinking about going for 16GB Ram as it's relatively cheap to double up and will future proof somewhat. I was also not sure about the Asus Maximus V Gene. I know its highly thought of but what really makes this board better than other Z77 boards? The improved onboard sound wont match the Xonar DX so would not be needed and seems to have limited expansion slots yet people are going for it? Any help and advice will be very appriciated Woody
The Gene Z is a great little board for overclocking and the reason that a lot of people go for it is because it offers most of what the ATX ROG boards offer but at half the price. It does limit you with sli somewhat however, although it is still possible you will lose most if not all the other expansion slots. SLI is not something I am interested in so this board was a great choice for me. (Also it matches my colour scheme). If you are going with a mATX build why not consider the Define mini as a case. It's smaller with a few less fans but tbh I dont think it really affects the temps to much, if at all. Do think about the future however, as if you wanted to upgrade later and use an ATX board then you would have to get a new case to. With the soundcard, did you mean the Xonar DGX? I personally went with the DX/XD as this was the cheapest PCI-E soundcard from Asus at the time but I'm sure the DGX is just as good but maybe someone else has more info than me on this. WD hard drives have a very good reputation for reliabilty and speed, I have the 1TB cavier Black and its as good as my old Samsung F3, although the Seagate does make more sense in £/GB terms. For the PSU I have been using a Corsair AX850. It's complete overkill for my system but I like the headroom and the fact it stays in silent mode that little longer due to the fan not spinning up until about 20% load. Here is an idea on a build, it is nearly up to budget (get 24 more posts and then register for free delivery with Scan) but if you give me a budget like £1400 then I will have fun working to it. It can be easily tweaked if you would like to pay a little less. Here is an idea of what I am thinking: http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/0b9b55a55149487d853f295cbc027ca4 The build includes those little extras that help when building such as extension cables etc. Also with the fans, what I did was move the 2 included fans to the front and the Scythe GT to the rear and hook them up to a front fan controller rather than the one that is include that fits on the back, just for ease of use and also because I wanted a card reader, but of course these thing are more personal choice and you can keep or remove them as you wish. Also does the budget need to include a monitor and/or OS? If so let me know and I will tweak the build.
Looks like you have a good build there. I wouldn't change anything. Corsairs psus are great, but I would go with a Seasonic M12. I own both by the way.
The above build (AlphaAngel's) is pretty solid but I'd just like to give my suggestions. Firstly, the OP may benefit more from the Define r3 case as not only does it allow for ATX in the future, but the cooling would make a big difference. Especially when running an IB CPU which can get quite hot at the best of times, it's usually best to get as much extra cooling as possible. Which leads me on to my next point; the CPU cooler. The i30 will do more than enough but if you're looking at a serious(er) OC, may I suggest the Noctua NH-D14. One of the best air coolers, imo, runs silently, keeps the CPU cool, and comes with their own thermal paste. Apart from that it looks brilliant. And remember, what I've just said are suggestions, the pc will still perform well without them
yeah have to second the ATX case my i5 3579k @4.5Ghz really does like the extra air it gets (using a Hyper 212+ (push/pull)) also with more room it is easier to manage the cables
Thanks for your responses guys, especially the extra work AlphaAngel put in! This is all very much appriciated Alpha...Is it normal to need to order extra extention cables in your experience? Also i had not considered an all-in-one card reader and fan controller, i think its an excellent idea though i've not seen one before. Where are they installed, into a 5.25 bay? Are we saying that 650 watts is what i'll need for this build? Preferably as quiet and reliable PSU as possible as i've had a few blow out on me in my time without spending stupid amounts on it. This is one area i definitely need advice on! I have also noticed that the components you picked are for the most part similar if not identical to mine so i'm glad to know im at least on the right track. I had considered the ASUS GTX 670 but after reading a group test of 670 cards on Toms Hardware http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/geforce-gtx-670-test-review,review-32475.html it seemed there was very little to choose between that and the Gigabyte but the Gigabyte was approx. £50 cheaper. Is there a reason you would recommend the ASUS instead? I also went for the Xonar DX as its supposed to be an excellent sound card for gaming, though i have not looked at the model you have picked so wouldn't know the differences between the 2 I like the full size R3 for exactly the same reason Edsterr and aramil recommended it, i.e. for the improved cooling and possible future expansion though i'd happily consider other cases. The R3 seemed to be a great performer at a good price Edsterr - that Noctua NH-D14 looks a bit of a beast! Will it be a significant improvement over the i30 as its twice the price? Posicoln - To be honest i haven't even considered speakers yet! I wouldn't even know where to begin to tell the truth. As the rig will also be for gaming i would like something capable but not ridiculously expensive. They would be an additional expense. The £1400 budget is purely for the base unit and i'd spend extra on other peripherals The monitor is something i don't need to worry about right now and can be bought later and i already have the keyboard and mouse (Logitech G510 and Razer Lachesis). I have not factored Windows cost into it yet. Obviously i'd like to get as much for my money as possible as i don't intend to upgrade for at least 5 years so if it means a slight (but not significant) drop in performance moving from say a Noctua NH-D14 to an i30 costing me half as much i'll be happy with that. Same would apply to all components Woody
The cable extentions really do help, especially when trying to keep things tidy and help airflow but they are not a necessity. I will just say if you are going to do a good job with cable routing do it at the start or else you never will or if you do will be a royal pain in the ***. Yes the card reader/ fan controller uses a 5 1/4" bay. 650 watts will be more than enough unless you plan to go SLI in the future. I went for the 850 for the reasons previously stated and becasue I would rather spend an extra £30-40 now and have a PSU that will last me 10 years no matter what than have to buy another later for some reason. With PSUs Seasonic are generally considered the gold standard for quality and reliabilty and if I am not mistaken (someone correct me if I am) the Corsair AX series is made by Seasonic but is a little cheaper. Your previous PSUs probably blew up for the same reason most do. People think that because a PSU offers no performance gain they can skimp on it. Then is blows up and takes half a system with it meaning that trying to save a few quid suddenly cost you hundreds in dead equipment. I would pick the Asus 670GTX only for its cooler, it is known to be very quiet and very efficient. The Windforce is similiar I have been lead to believe. Personally I wouldn't touch a standard cooler given the choice. They are noisey and restrict overclocking ability to a degree. Any Asus soundcard atm has a decent reputation. Just make sure it is a PCI-E card as the gene z doesn't have any PCI slots. Reading the opinions of the others about the case, I have to agree with them, go with the R3. I only went with the Define Mini due to my specific requirements.. Speaker wise I have a set of Creative T10 2.0 speakers. they are £30 and more than good enough for gaming and normal music use. Headsets however I can't really comment, I'm looking for a set myself atm and I haven't reached a decision I am happy with yet. Again from my personal experience a new monitor is a huge thing, I recently got a Dell 2412m and everyday I smile to myself when using it. The budget you propose could accommadate one with saving made in the right places.
http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/b24b992509374d8da274d40b62cbef52 Here is a tweeked version which I think gives you a lot more for your money, but you have to decide what more important for you.
I have no knowledge of high end boards really (including the RoG series), but isn't a general rule of thumb that if you have a full ATX case, like the R3, then it is more cost efficient to go with a full ATX board. mATX boards will usually be more expensive and more cramped because you are paying for miniaturization; at least when compared to same range of ATX boards. Or is this particular Gene so well priced that it still offers good quality/price ratio? Normally I'd go with an ATX board for an ATX case. If you want to keep the Gene then maybe the Define Arc Mini is a better choice since you will have a more compact PC.
It may be a beast but it's a silent beast. I'm currently running a 3570k and an NH-D14 and I can tell you it works a treat. I've overclocked the CPU to 4.5GHz and it doesn't run above 65*C. Even then it still runs quieter than my Fractal Design "Silent" Series case fans. The problem with most CPU coolers is that you have to choose between cooling or quietness, but the NH-D14 does both, unfortunately however, it's relatively expensive. So basically, if you're willing to spend the extra money, I would highly recommend getting the Noctua cooler One thing to note though, because the cooler's quite big sometimes there's not enough headroom for the RAM, but the LP corsair RAM that you've chosen will be fine
Most big atx cases will require cable extenders for the 8 pin CPU If you intend to make it a neat and tidy build anyway. 24pin should be fine in most cases, don't remember a case and psu combo that had issues there the general rule is over 60cm leads you wont need extenders under and you will does not apply to everything. You will also require fan extension leads. I'd personally buys corsair h60 for easier installation than any air cooler as its not a 1 man job in all honesty ( doable but difficult). And I also don't like 1kg of metal hanging on my motherboards anymore. I30 you have chosen is decent and you won't see twice the performance from any air cooler on the market, the nhd14 is twice the price but not even close to twice the performance.
The reason I was saying about the speakers, is that if they are cheap speakers, you probably won;t notice the difference in sound quality to unboard audio, and perhaps eventually if you did buy more expensive speakers, the sound card could be bought then too?
