Help me out before I order!

J

Jackogeddes

Bronze Level Poster
Right lads, judgement day has come and i can no longer not own a monster PC so i'll be ordering tommorow. the main function for the PC is indeed gaming running WoW, Total war and the likes of the upcoming AC3 on ultra, silky smooth and every day internet use too. i now need you guys to help fine tune the spec to save me a little money which can go towards a new monitor and keyboard/mouse. i don't want it to affect the CPU's performance at all with gaming or make it unable to do what i stated, aswell as stay a competitive pc for the next few years. but if i've went overboard or opted for upgrades that wont show a blind bit of difference let me know :)

i'm not going to lie, although i said i'd like the overclock ability and stuff anyway i doubt i actually will OC as its fast enough and as it's my first purchase it probably isn't needed. i'll be playing on a single 22-24'' monitor if it makes a difference. i like the idea of a SSD, as i've seen the substantial benefit it brings to WoW loading and therefore overall gameplay, so that stays :D

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V PRO: PCI-E 3.0 READY,WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W PRO SERIES™ HX750-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£114)
Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NONE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,411.00 including VAT and delivery.
 
L

liamnic2

Super Star
Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 500R WHITE MID TOWER CASE - Cheaper, smaller but just as realiable case. Very good cooling and big enough to fit upgrades.

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache - Better CPU. Really worth getting if your a total war player.

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX850 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£99) - Better PSU. Plenty of space to SLI, add upgrades etc...

Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

Quantity
1
£1385
 
J

Jackogeddes

Bronze Level Poster
liamnic2 said:
Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 500R WHITE MID TOWER CASE - Cheaper, smaller but just as realiable case. Very good cooling and big enough to fit upgrades.

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache - Better CPU. Really worth getting if your a total war player.

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX850 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£99) - Better PSU. Plenty of space to SLI, add upgrades etc...

Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

Quantity
1
£1385
Click to expand...

the i7 has no or minascule at best benifit as far as gaming?
 
J

Jackogeddes

Bronze Level Poster
liamnic2 said:
Total war games are CPU intensive as well as GPU. In most games an i7 is useless but in total war games I7's can make a difference. Plus its in a cheaper spec.
Click to expand...

from the tom's hardware SG2;TW doesn't use the i7 like 99% of games? the i5 even comes up a tiny bit higher in terms of performance in SG2 :(

i honestly don't think even if it did i'd want to waste extra cash on the i7 considering i dont video render or do anything of that sort.
 
L

liamnic2

Super Star
Jackogeddes said:
from the tom's hardware SG2;TW doesn't use the i7 like 99% of games? the i5 even comes up a tiny bit higher in terms of performance in SG2 :(

i honestly don't think even if it did i'd want to waste extra cash on the i7 considering i dont video render or do anything of that sort.
Click to expand...

Well do what you think. The i5 performs well in SG2 but Im just saying that if you can get it in a cheaper spec go for the i7. Plus an i7 will benefit playing future games.
 
J

Jackogeddes

Bronze Level Poster
right lads i'm off to bed, if any you guys fancy trying to tinker with it that'd be nice.

the things i like are the case, CPU, GPU and, well, most of it as its my ideal build. just looking to penny pinch :(
 
B

Big_Rich

Silver Level Poster
If you're going to overclock at some point (it'd be a shame not too), like you hinted at in your OP, the i7-3770 in the spec above is no good, you need the 3770K which is an extra £91 over the i5-3570K

Basically you need to weigh up whether or not Hyper-Threading, +100Mhz and +2Mb of cache (the differences between the i5-3570K and i7-3770K) are worth the £91 gap.

Seeing as you're already spending ~1400 quid, I would argue the i7-3770K is worth it, but I'm a sucker for seeing 8 "cores" in my task manager 8)
 
Grinder

Grinder

Enthusiast
You can overclock the 3570 k easily which will then be a lot better than the 3770 in game's.
The 3770 bas 4 cores like the 3570 but splits them in half via hyperthreading which only helps on core intensive tasks like CS4 which is of no use to a gamer.Infact most overclockers disable hyperthreading to help cooling.

As for future games that will depend on consoles which only have 3 cores and is why game's only utilize 3 cores.
This is because developers write games aimed at consoles because that's where they make most money.
They then tweak them a little for pc's .
 
Last edited:
K

KyleJones

Active member
Here a spec for your build, identical to mine lol
SSD changed to kingston 33 pound cheaper, HDD to 500gb doubt you could fill 1Tb but tht would be 26 pound cheaper
If you want intel and 1tb, then just add that money on, kingston gd ssd, but you may need 1tb for your games.
Im getting 24 inch from amazon for 150 pound, nothing else id change really it beast!

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3550 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V PRO: PCI-E 3.0 READY,WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W PRO SERIES™ HX750-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£114)
Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,344.00 including VAT and delivery.
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
KyleJones said:
Here a spec for your build, identical to mine lol
SSD changed to kingston 33 pound cheaper, HDD to 500gb doubt you could fill 1Tb but tht would be 26 pound cheaper
.
Click to expand...
It depends on how many games you have and what your intended use apart from gaming is. I have a 2tb caviar black, just work related documents/files/programmes would occupy around 200gb , then movies/pictures/videos. Some games are also quite big, Max Payne 3 was around 27gb. For an additional £26 I'd chose the 1tb caviar black.
 
H

harfle

Active member
little question related to your build:

for the Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache

if you planned on OC, not to max but I believe the one you selected goes to ~4.4 Ghz or something like this, would it be better to get a better CPU cooler than the one you selected?? or will the one you have suffice?
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
harfle said:
little question related to your build:

for the Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache

if you planned on OC, not to max but I believe the one you selected goes to ~4.4 Ghz or something like this, would it be better to get a better CPU cooler than the one you selected?? or will the one you have suffice?
Click to expand...

I would expect the titan fenrir to be fine with the i5-3570k with an overclock.
 
Last edited:
J

Jackogeddes

Bronze Level Poster
i honestly don't do enough of anything other than gaming and every day internet using, no intensive video making or anything like that so wasting an extra £91 for something i would essentially never use isn't an option :)

how safe is overclocking then? i thought it just wore down the system a little more. i'll probably spend the extra £15 between the i5-3570k so the option is always there for an OC down the line rather than the i5-3550.

can you guys find no other way to lower the price? i want to stick with a 120gb SSD + 1TB cb hard drive.
 
J

Jackogeddes

Bronze Level Poster
say i wasn't to overclock at all (first gaming rig and all, i know i know) would that cheapen it down slightly?

is there much difference in performance and gaming between the i5-3550 and the i5-3570k btw?
 
K

KyleJones

Active member
ruben would know, but id say literally no difference what so ever, nothing noticeable at all, otherwise i would of overclock as i was planning to in the beginning!
 
J

Jackogeddes

Bronze Level Poster
i just hate the idea of something going wrong with the overclock and causing problems when it would have been a beast PC without the OC :(

looks like i can't cheap it down anymore without affecting performance, £1,400 huh, after this purchase i am not only broke but single. :D
 
Rakk

Rakk

The Awesome
Moderator
Jackogeddes said:
say i wasn't to overclock at all (first gaming rig and all, i know i know) would that cheapen it down slightly?
is there much difference in performance and gaming between the i5-3550 and the i5-3570k btw?
Click to expand...

Unless youre using some high CPU usage games, no you generally wouldn't see a difference (most games are GPU intensive rather than CPU)
Also it will be more stable if not overclocked at all, overclocked machines always have the chance of being less stable because youre pushing them further than they have been rated by the manufacturers especially if you're trying it out yourself for the first time :)

Personally I reckon if you don't know whther you need overclocking or not, then you generally don't :)
 
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