Hello, time to build a new system. I'm not up to speed with specs so really could do with a bit of advice and maybe a few pointers if I've made any poor choices. Friends have given me a spec, and I've looked at the August gaming workhorse plus what people are posting here to come up with this spec. I've linked to Overclockers simply as my friends sent me links to their site. Thanks for any input. Budget: Around a £1000 but I can go over. Main uses of intended build: To be able to play new processor-intensive games. Parts required: All except a monitor, keyboard and mouse, dvd drive and speakers system. Storage requirements: Would be nice to have an SSD. will you be overclocking: I think it's unlikely. Here are the bits I've cobbled together: Motherboard: Asus Z77 Maximus V Gene Intel Z77 CPU: i5-3570K 3.40GHz CPU cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 PSU: Corsair Gamer Series GS 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply GPU: Asus HD 7950 RAM: 8gb of something. HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit Case: To be worked out. Questions: Some friends advised on going for the i7 and more than 8gb RAM. I see a lot of people here recommend the i5 and 8gb of RAM. Am I right in thinking in terms of most bang for the buck there is no need to go for more than an i5 and 8gb RAM, even for an intensive gaming pc? I'm not interested in spending another £100 if there is only a marginal difference. What RAM should I go for? and how do I know about dual channel, tri-channel and all that stuff? I guess I need some thermal paste as well? Finally, have I missed something really obvious or would you swap any of these parts in an instant? Many thanks for any input, I appreciate the advice.
Looks pretty good except that cooler. Ivybridge coolers produce a lot of heat. I'd recommend one of Corsair's all in one watercooling offerings. Their H80i or H100i are fantastic and can tame that CPUs heat with a very good overclock. These don't need Paste and are included. Ram depends on the kinda frequency you want to go for. I'd always recommend Corsair's Memory because of it's reliability. 8GB at least with a rig that powerful. There's no reason to have less. Plus if you're trying to spend up to a grand; you could have 16GB. I'd recommend 2000 or higher Mhz. Dual channel for that CPU you're using. Don't use that PSU, the GS series are okay, but hardly efficient. At least go for a Corsair TX or a HX if you can stretch it. Cases are personal preference of course. (Edit P.S) BTW a core I5 is fine for gaming. A core i7 can improve framerates on some games, but it's pretty negligible. a Core i7 is normally best used for multi threaded tasks like video/sound editing and 3d rendering programs.
@BillMurray: All looks good to me. I would suggest this graphics card over the 7950 though. Tends to have better performance and costs a bit less. I wouldn't bother with i7 for gaming, however if fits in your budget, there's no harm in getting it As above I'd go for the HX650 (750 if you intend to go for SLI in the future). Better supply and partially modular. I now have to disagree with Darkwisdom though. The i30 is a very good cooler and Ivy Bridge processors are not hot running. They are very cool in fact, until overclocked. Since you've said you're unlikely to overclock I see no reason to spend twice as much on the cooler unless of course you want to use all of your budget. I bobbed this together on Scan it just lacks the case and Windows. This would be what I would buy with your budget. Total was £914. Hope that helps Edit: Oh and there's no point buying RAM above 1600MHz for gaming, it gives absolutely no more performance.
I would change the 660ti for a 670 for around £300, you can get very near 680 performance with some factory overclocked cards.
At this point I'd probably steer clear of OCZ products because they are undergoing a radical restructure and labeling lots of their gear as 'End of Line' (EOL). My only thought is that this could complicate warranty replacements. I think a Samsung 830 128GB would serve you just as well. Also I think a ~500W unit would do just fine, say a be quiet! Pure Power L8 530W Modular Power Supply... http://www.scan.co.uk/products/530w...us-bronze-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-quiet-fan-atx Modern graphics cards simply do not need the surplus power high end PSU can provide. Save some money says I! This is of course making the assumption you will not go SLI or Crossfire.
For gaming definitely don't waste your money on an i7. Also for gaming, more than 8gb is not worth it, could get more for 'futureproof' but I wouldn't bother. 8gb is RAM aplenty and even though it is cheap, why pay more for nothing? When the time comes you need more RAM just buy another 8gb then - though likely you are replacing your system by the time that day comes. Also, the Bit-Tech lads are a good bunch to buy second hand from, so may want to check out the market place to get a good price on things (especially Hard Drives, SSDs and PSUs which are very dull items to pay full whack for!). For GPU I would go with Nvidia over AMD/ATI whatever they call themselves. While there is nothing wrong with the hardware, I find their drivers much more unreliable - hell, half the time the catalyst programme itself has issues. I had the 5850 for a while but was very grateful to replace that with a GTX (wasn't even really an upgrade, just moved to a 560)
8gb for gaming is maximum I would buy. 1600mhz stuff is fine 2k + does nothing in games or out else for that matter outside of benchmarking. The i7 is only worth the cash if you want to do video or photo editing otherwise save cash and buy the i5. 670 is the minimum gaming Gpu I'd buy right now, or the 7970 nothing else is worth the cash in this budget. Change the ssd to a Samsung 830 with the cash saved also.
Also, shop around! From a quick google search I've found that exact same motherboard for £138.77 from amazon.co.uk... http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007KZQE...de=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B007KZQEGM It's really not necessary to buy everything from the same retailer.
I can recommend the Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H motherboard, which will easily overclock a 3570K to 4.5GHz. For £80 it's not a bad buy.
Hi chaps, thanks for the advice. Just got back and now have had time to think about this. Also, thanks to Blogins for the heads-up about Amazon, managed to save a bit there. So what does this look like? Asus Maximus V Gene Motherboard This has already been ordered. Intel CPU Core i5 3570K Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 Corsair HX 650W Professional Gold 80PLUS WD 1TB Caviar Black Samsung 128GB 830 Corsair Memory Vengeance Jet Black 16GB DDR3 Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 A copy of Windows 7 Home Premium An appropriate case, still to be worked out, happy to receive any suggestions. I've taken a complete guess at the GPU as I have no idea about these things, so not sure if the manufacturer are good or if a slightly different model would be better. How will I know a particular case will fit? I have read that some people buy a case and then the graphics card won't fit for example. Finally, do I need to get some thermal paste? Have I missed anything obvious? I already own monitor, keyboard, mouse and speaker systems. Many thanks
Hey bill, i'm in exactly the same boat as you, but with a bit of a small budget of £800. i've recently brought a corsair carbide 300r case and a be quiet! l8 psu. hopefully was a good choice. From my research (of which i've perhaps done too much) there's no point going over 1600MHz for RAM and just stick with 8Gb, you can always buy more. As for the processor I'm also going for the 3570k the i7 is about £80 more and is hardly any better, especially for gaming. I'm personally stuck for a mobo but £140 seems bit out of my price range, wondering if you or anyone else could shoot me any pointers? Would be great. if you're worried about the case they just check the gpu size and the length of the case, also try timtolivecustoms on youtube, has helped me a lot with reviews. Oh and check the fractal designs arc midi has fantastic reviews and is fairly large. Hope my limited knowledge has helped a bit.
