Gaming Rig Edit.

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LiamRedmond

Bronze Level Poster
So I've given up on being able to order my pc on a fast track delivery due to stock shortages. so the money I had planned to spend on fast track is now available to spend on the pc. Im buying this pc for gaming. now, if you had £59~ to spend on improving this pc, where would you spend it? spec atm is...

Case
NZXT PHANTOM WHITE 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 HYPERX GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1866MHz X.M.P(2 x 4GB KIT)


Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready


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


2nd Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)


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


Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)


Processor Cooling
SPIRE THERMAX ECLIPSE II UNIVERSAL DT EXTREME CPU COOLER (£39)


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


Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & DUAL-BAND WIRELESS 802.11N 450Mbps PCI-E CARD (£35)


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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)


Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE


Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE


Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 HDMI/DVI-D 1920x1080 (£159)


Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector + Auto Power Off Function (£19)


Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)


Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (£19)


Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

thanks for reading :)
 
vanthus

vanthus

Member Resting in Peace
Not sure where you could improve on it other than changing SSD to first hard disk,
thats where PCS will install the OS.
 
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Corfate

Corfate

Author Level
Agree with Vanthus.

Not much you can upgrade for £59 (not really anything you need too!)
 
baron75mk2

baron75mk2

Banned
danfee said:
I would upgrade the PSU to the 750W silver modular for an extra £47.

Other than that, swap the hard drives around! :)
Click to expand...

I second this , always great to have a little more power , probably the best place to upgrade , everything else is already great with this build & it will be superb for games. - if you can streatch to a 850w corsair then you will have plenty of SLI options open to you , but possibly with two GTX680s a 750w will be adiquate , As they chugg on a little less power that 2 GTX 580s.
 
baron75mk2

baron75mk2

Banned
LiamRedmond said:
have no intention in adding a second 680, ever, so. :D
thanks though
Click to expand...

Not much point in suggesting a bigger case then if your not going to be doing any kind of dual card setup

Although when 7XX series come out 680s will be cheaper & a very temting upgrade indeed.
( was a good choice for me upgrading to 2x GTX 580s instead of one GTX680 , outpaces it by a ton in fps terms.)

Maybe just leave it as it is if your happy with it ?
 
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LiamRedmond

Bronze Level Poster
I was actually wondering about the case, is it worth the money? in terms of airflow and all that jazz is it the best? I see a lot of people going for the inWin dragon rider case, and Id be more up for upgrading the power supply if I could save some money on the case. especially with the idea of getting a second 680 at a later date when they become cheaper, but also Im not that technical and have never even opened a pc so installing a second graphics card seems a bit daunting especially when the rig costs so much id be terrified Id break something with static electricity :p I dont get paid for 2 weeks and Im spending about €2,100 on the rig already so spending even more on an improved power supply and second graphics card, I mean how much more can I spend on it before I order the damned thing! I've been gaming on a 5 year old laptop for the last 5 years so Im starting to think a single card would probably seem so big an improvement its out of this world, and spending any more would just be excessive?

I appreciate the feedback however :)
 
baron75mk2

baron75mk2

Banned
Like i said , if you are happy with it then leave it as it is ( it is your rig afterall )

as far as the case is concerned , if you dont want to do a dual card setup then keep it , its very good & has plenty of airflow for a single card setup (even a dual card setup ,it still has plenty of of airflow for it - its just that the HALF X is a bigger case with more overall room for components & spacing in general)

As for performance with dual or single cards its all reletive to what FPS you want to achieve & what settings you want in game - it depends on your tastes , some players cant tell the difference between 30FPS & 60FPS , most hardcore gamers can & are always reaching for minimum 60fps for smoothness of movement & even the more solid feeling of 60fps vs 30FPS.

dual card setups ; this is purely a heat , space , airflow , vs brute force power decision,

best example i can give is this

Battlefield 3 (max settings - ultra ); ( operation swordbreaker )

On a single GTX680 , benchmark - inside the hummer max of - 52fps , exiting the hummer can drop to 48fps in places.
On 2x GTX580 SLI , same benchmark same place in the game - 60fps , rock solid ( in fact the entire game for that matter)
obviously on two GTX 680s then the fps will be higher as there are two of them ( only if v-sync is off that is )

so this is where the choice comes in , you can chose to go with one GTX680 (less heat , new generation chip , less power requirement) but less FPS
(under the 60FPS "sweet spot")

Go for two GTX 680s (nice if you can afford it) & just stomp all over everything maxed out in 60FPS.

Or & this is where the real choice can get confusing;

Two GTX 580s in SLI = Stomps all over 1 GTX 680 in terms of FPS (uses more power , more heat & works ourt more expensive than 1x GTX 680)
but the bonus of this is your stomping on a GTX 680 ( by a lot - definately ) & if you carry on the trend , when GTX 7XX series come out you can do the same but cheaper with the GTX 680s in SLI & be stomping all over a 7 series & so on . (possibly)

if you do go for the SLI setup go for the HALF X case for improved airflow & space ( throw an extra 200mm fan in the top for even more airflow) & a nice big power pack for future proofing , recommended is an 850w minimum for these kinds of SLI setups.

but my personal recommedation on this is when it comes to PSU , overkill it as much as you can afford to as having more power than you need is preferable as it results in a more stable & smoother power for your components , essential for SLI (i went for the corsiar 1,200w 80+ gold modular - serious overkill , but worth every penny)

As for the dragon rider , i did look in to it myself , but decided to go for the HALF X mainly as i just prefered it tbh for a few reasons - but its got great airflow & can well accomadate any SLI setup i would think.



as far as installing your GPU its not that hard to do , a few screws , push in the gpu to the PCI express slot & connect the pci express connectors up & put the two screws back in - its a doddle.

As far as antistatic issues are concerned , its a hotly debated subject , i have never used one & never had any issues ( but hey i might just be lucky who knows ?)

the best advice i would give is to definately unplug the pc from the mains before opening it up & doing any ugrades (to avoid possible electricution)

as far as antistatic is concerned its all personal opinion - i dont think they are that flimsy or sensitive myself , but others do ( so you might as well invest in an antistatic band it cant do any harm - but the way i do it possibly could , although for me it never has , i just make sure i disconnect from the mains first )

Hope this helps :yes
 
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vanthus

vanthus

Member Resting in Peace
Apart from changing the SSD to first hard disk,no need to change anything,
your build is excellent & will handle anything as far as gaming is concerned for a long time to come,go for it,you wont regret it.:)
By the time you need to SLI with the GTX 680's there will be far more advanced components available.
 
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baron75mk2

baron75mk2

Banned
vanthus said:
Apart from changing the SSD to first hard disk,no need to change anything,
your build is excellent & will handle anything as far as gaming is concerned for a long time to come,go for it,you wont regret it.:)
By the time you need to SLI with the GTX 680's there will be far more advanced components available.
Click to expand...

Depends on what framerates you want - benchmarks above ( it wont handle absolutely anything at all) let alone for along time to come , it wont handle battlefield 3 in ultra at 60FPS & if it wont do that it wont do that it wont do witcher 2 in ultra at 60fps either at the moment , thats just two games i can think of right now , there has to be more)

& theres no way anyone can predict how powerfull a 7XX series will be when it comes out , but if the SLI trend is anything to go by , this statement is possible; with the GTX 680s in SLI & be stomping all over a 7 series & so on (post ammended to include possibly)
 
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vanthus

vanthus

Member Resting in Peace
Theres no way anyone can predict anything regarding computers,
I stick by what I said LiamRedmond,order the build you have,forget about
all the ifs & buts,if everyone dwelled on that, no one would get round to buying a PC.
Your build is top class as it stands.
 
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LiamRedmond

Bronze Level Poster
baron75mk2 said:
Depends on what framerates you want - benchmarks above ( it wont handle anything let alone for along time to come , it wont handle battlefield 3 in ultra at 60FPS & if it wont do that it wont do that it wont do witcher 2 in ultra at 60fps either at the moment , thats just two games i can think of at the moment , there has to be more)

& thers no way anyone can predict how powerfull a 7XX series will be when it comes out , but if the SLI trend is anything to go by , this statement is possible; with the GTX 680s in SLI & be stomping all over a 7 series & so on (post ammended to include possibly)
Click to expand...

thank you for your feedback, it has been very helpful. Ive decided to go with the 680 x1, with a 650w psu. I figure by the time I'll actually look to upgrading I'll have enough money to buy an SLI setup the latest gen of card.

I've never been an fps player, and my gaming will probably be more diablo 3/guild wars 2/WoW (if blizzard ever get it together). So the fps levels achieved by a single 680 will more than suffice, and in comparison to my current ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3400 series :D

read through all your comments on all my questions they were more or less just confirming my own opinions, just nice hearing from someone who knows more than me.
 
L

LiamRedmond

Bronze Level Poster
vanthus said:
Theres no way anyone can predict anything regarding computers,
I stick by what I said LiamRedmond,order the build you have,forget about
all the ifs & buts,if everyone dwelled on that, no one would get round to buying a PC.
Your build is top class as it stands.
Click to expand...

thank you, I find this very reassuring, and if I waited for new things to come out all the time I'd never get round to ordering. Im just gonna order the build I have. :D
 
baron75mk2

baron75mk2

Banned
vanthus said:
Theres no way anyone can predict anything regarding computers,
I stick by what I said LiamRedmond,order the build you have,forget about
all the ifs & buts,if everyone dwelled on that, no one would get round to buying a PC.
Your build is top class as it stands.
Click to expand...

i managed to predict that 2x GTX 580s would trump a GTX 680 before it even came out & was right
( well if all the benchmarks are anything to go by online that is)

& as for if`s & buts , i thought i was giving the poster an informed set of choices to think about ( which in post 12 he did ask me about all 3 points , case , SLI & PSU & the technicalities of these choices) , never mind , im not getting in to it with you again m8 , you cant help your self.

LiamRedmond enjoy you rig - no matter what you decide it will be great :yes:
 
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