Hi all, I'm looking at putting together a new PC to replace my 4/5 year old machine. I've been very out of touch with everything, so all my knowledge is dusty at best. Last time I just bought the mid-range buyers guide - what happened to them? Anyway! It will all be living in the Lian Li v1000b case, although, if people can make a good case (ha!) for upgrading then I'll hear it. So, some requirements: Budget around £800... But I am very competent at ManMaths™ Quiet - Not all the time, just when I'm watching films/tv Capable of very pretty graphics for years to come at 1920 x 1080 and sometimes in 3D. So, I put together a little shopping list: CPU: £173 Intel Core i5 3570K CPU Cooler: £75 Corsair H80 SSD: £89 - Scan.co.uk link 128GB Crucial RealSSD M4, 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s SSD, MLC-Flash, Read 500Mb/s, Write 175Mb/s Motherboard: £149 - Scan.co.uk link MSI Z77A-GD65, Intel Z77, S 1155, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, SATA RAID, PCIe 3.0 (x16), D-Sub/ DVI-D/ HDMI, ATX So, I'm obviously missing a few things. GPU: I've read all over that there is a new Nvidia offering coming soon that could be very awesome. Firstly: Is that true, and secondly: Is it really worth waiting for? RAM: I feel like I should just get as much as possible in there. I'll be on Win 7 64 bit, so I quite like the idea of 16gb. But I've no idea what is good/bad. It all looks the same to me now and none of my trusted sites seem to review RAM any more in any quantity. PSU: I do have one powering my Core2Quad thingy right now, it's modular, and pretty quiet, so I'll probably stick with it, unless motherboards have different connectors now or something irritating like that. Thank you very much for any help in advance!
8GB is normally plenty for the average user, unless you're using photoshop/after effects or any other editing software. The new nVidia GPU's I feel are worth the wait, it's disheartening to spen £££ on a GPU for the new one to come out when it's better and around the same price.
For someone who's been building computers and playing games since I was 14 it's amazing that I never bothered to understand the role RAM plays in a computer system. Now that Google and Yahoo have educated me am I right in thinking I'm better off spending the extra ££'s I would have spent on 16gb, on 8gb with better speeds? I will wait on the new Nvidia stuff then too I think. Thanks
No. For games: any more than 8GB is pointless, any faster than 1600Mhz is pointless. Basically get 8GB of 1.5v 1600Mhz RAM and thats that. Just choose the colour/brand etc. Don't be fooled by fancy heatsinks, they don't do much, but are aesthetically pleasing. I wouldn't pay more than about £35 for 8GB. The above looks good. Maybe save yourself £30 and get the MSI GD55 instead of the GD65. Also, I personally think the H80 is overkill. The Kuhler 620 will save you £35 and only be slightly less effective. Either that or the Corsair H60 which is still £25 cheaper. SSD - Good choice CPU - Good choice Chances are, if your PSU is a known brand (what brand is it btw?), and is 500W or more it will be fine. I believe the Nvidia card you are referring to is the GTX 670? And yes, it is brilliant - costs £310.
Ahh, good knowledge, thanks! And now using the brilliant ManMaths™ I have an extra £30ish to spend on shiny things! The PSU is a good'un, I can't actually remember the Gmail remembers! It's a 600w Seasonic M12-600 SLi Modular apparently. It got good reviews. It could do with a bit of a dusting however.
That's a top draw PSU so definitely keep hold of it! If I were you I would put the extra money towards a quality soundboard. A Xonar DG would be good or if you can afford it a DX. It'll make your games, movies and music a joy to listen to.
You could save yourself another £20 on the mobo by getting the GD45, the only difference being that the GD45 doesn't support SLI, which you won't need with a GTX670! Seasonic PSU's are really good. They actually make a lot of the others and just package them differently, much like Asetek make all the self contained water coolers like the Corsair H80/100 and the Antec Kuhler series. I can also highly recommend the Antec Kuhler 620. I've modded mine to include the northbridge on my motherboard, which being an old nforce board puts out a fair old whack of heat. never gets above 47C now with CPU at 61C max after an hour of stress testing.
Sounds like the Antec Khuler is the one to get then! How is it for noise? Also, on a related note: This new intel CPU has an inbuilt GPU right? I hear it is actually pretty capable, I know I'll never game on that thing, but how about running XBMC? It would be ace if I could turn off the graphics card, or at least leave its fans spinning on idle, while watching films. That way the only fan to contend with is the PSU, and that, like I've mentioned is already pretty quiet. Thanks for all the help!
Yes, it'll easily run XBMC. However, you can't turn off a discrete GPU and just run the IGP for certain tasks unless you are using Lucid Virtu - which the GD55 does support! What I would say though, is that the 670 will likely be a very very quiet card at either low or idle usage, and I doub't you'll even be able to hear it through the walls of your case.
The old P67-GD45 had a hard limit in the cpu voltage iirc limited it's overclock potential quite drastically. No idea if the new gen has it as well, but it's something to note.
I can't remember if I'm honest. haha. If you'll forgive my vagueness... 4gb ram, a motherboard of some kind, a Core2Quad GO architecture? I think... Hard drives, other bits etc. etc. It's not too bad. But the GPU went pop a while back and I never bothered to replace it with anything decent. The one I had though was 4 years old and actually only a little bit better than the £60 thing I replaced it with ha!
Ok, so I'm being impatient and decided to do this now: How does it look? I really did just go for the ram which was a nice mix between cheap, brand I trusted and pretty. Anyone got any last minute suggestions? Oh and the extra £140ish of budget... Well, I was owed some money for a few festival tickets which I'd completely forgotten about, so as far as I'm concerned, free money... Or something like that
If it was me, I would get the Corsair Vengeance LP (low profile) RAM instead, just in case you ever want to use an air cooler in future, the sticks you have in your list a quite tall and will clash with nearly all air coolers. They are only £2 more and the exact same RAM. Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk 2
£2 more? Its actually £8 cheaper http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-...pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-15v
Yup thats the one. Also, you could save some money getting an Arctic i30 which performs better than the 620
I've just read a whole heap of reviews and thanks, that seems like some sound advice! 27db at idle is pretty amazing! Almost 10db less than the quietest water unit! Thanks
