Help Me Build An Awesome Desktop Please

[Chris M]

Hey,

I need some help building an awesome desktop. I mainly use it for Multimedia, I watch loads of films, listen to music and play games too, such as Total War and Metro 2033 so want to be able to play all the latest games with ease on max settings. I also burn a lot of DVDs and have devices such as external hard drives that I connect up to my PC regularly. I seen there was a Thunderbolt motherboard on here not so long ago and that looked cool because i am guessing it has quicker performance in start up as well as transferring files which would be good for me but that seems to have been removed... The other big thing for me is that I use 2 screens nearly all the time, my regular PC monitor and I have that connected to a 46" LED but at the minute I don't think my graphics card is good enough to play games through the big screen I can only just about get a decent screen resolution on the big TV. I am easy when it comes to a budget I think anything up to £2500 is fine but if less can be spent... bonus! I also prefer Intel to AMD. Thanks in advance guys

Chris

 

[keynes]

Hi,
For your budget you could consider a SLI set up, the spec below will max games at the highest settings.

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
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
2nd 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
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 ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£89)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H80i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
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
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
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 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,543.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/tbDgxYocPr/

 

[Boozad]

Do you need monitor/s in with the spec or will you be sticking with what you have?

 

[vanthus]

Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM TROOPER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V LK: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX TITAN - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/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
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W PRO SERIES™ HX850-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR (£139)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
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
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
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 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,002.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/tKWJIGXDvf/

 

[Chris M]

Wow thanks keynes for the fast reply. An good job too, £1000 under budget nice! Would you class this spec as 'future proofed' as well? Because I will be looking to keep it for a good few years maybe 3 or 4 before changing again... And I also seen that the Haswell chip is coming out next month would I be wise to wait a couple of weeks to get that as well or does it make no real difference???

 

[Chris M]

To Boozad ... I will be looking for a new monitor yea but will keep the TV as it is reflectively new.

 

[Chris M]

Also thanks to Vanthus as well you guys are awesome

 

[keynes]

Wow thanks keynes for the fast reply. An good job too, £1000 under budget nice! Would you class this spec as 'future proofed' as well? Because I will be looking to keep it for a good few years maybe 3 or 4 before changing again... And I also seen that the Haswell chip is coming out next month would I be wise to wait a couple of weeks to get that as well or does it make no real difference???

2xgtx 670 should perform better than a titan and close to the gtx 690. Haswell is not likely to provide a signifcant improvement gaming wise compare to the ivy bridge cpu.

 

[vanthus]

2 GTX 670's will probably give a bit better performance than one Titan as Keynes said,but the reason I suggested the Titan was because of your budget,and also adding another Titan in SLI in future if necessary will keep your PC as an awesome rig for a lot longer than 2 GTX 670's.The spec I suggested allows for this.

 

[Chris M]

Ok cool, Thanks again for your help

 

[Boozad]

This is an awesome rig (in my eyes!), and the PSU allows for a Titan SLi in future. It comes in at twenty quid over your max budget.

Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM TROOPER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH Z77: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB KIT)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX TITAN - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB INTEL® 335 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR (£159)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£59)
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
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
Samsung SyncMaster S24C450B 24" - 1920 x 1080, 5MS, DVI-D (£174)
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 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,520.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/vaU_CO9wU5/

 

[bigben]

Hi, if I was going to go for any of the posted specs I would get platinum warranty. It is only £100 which when you have either 2 gtx670s (£300 each) or a titan (£900) which would only be covered by silver warranty for 1 year is not a lot of money.

 

[Boozad]

Hi, if I was going to go for any of the posted specs I would get platinum warranty. It is only £100 which when you have either 2 gtx670s (£300 each) or a titan (£900) which would only be covered by silver warranty for 1 year is not a lot of money.

Indeed.

 

[bigben]

Although just to give you even more to think about:

I pretty much copied keynes except went for a non "k" CPU as you don't need to overclock for gaming, I also downed the CPU cooler. I upped the PSU to modular as it helps keep cable management really neat.
I added a really good gaming monitor with 144hz refresh rate to make the most of the sli gtx 670s and obviously as I said in my last post platinum warranty.

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
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
2nd 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
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® GOLD MODULAR (£119)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
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
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
BENQ XL2411T 23.6" GAMING LED - 1920 x 1080, 1MS, DVI-D, HDMI (£239)
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) (£135)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,877.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/9fTOzgepTd/


EDIT: afterthought... This is basically an upgraded and slightly newer version of my gaming rig (in signature) so I can vouch for it's performance. This will be an absolute beast.

 

[Chris M]

Awesome, cheers guys you have all opened my eyes to other possibility's. When I was making my own I was trying to just do the best of everything an putting I7's and 32gb memory an that but you guys are the experts in my eyes and you all seem to agree on I5 and 8gb memory so thats already bringing the price down for me.

 

[keynes]

Awesome, cheers guys you have all opened my eyes to other possibility's. When I was making my own I was trying to just do the best of everything an putting I7's and 32gb memory an that but you guys are the experts in my eyes and you all seem to agree on I5 and 8gb memory so thats already bringing the price down for me.

Definitely, I would suggest a couple of gtx 670s. The titan is not going to be cost effective, you are better off upgrading the gpu in the future if needed.

 

[vanthus]

Definitely, I would suggest a couple of gtx 670s. The titan is not going to be cost effective, you are better off upgrading the gpu in the future if needed.

That's true I guess, the Titan is a bit extortionate,and as you said he could always upgrade in future,but I would go with the one 670 for now.

 

[ChrisByatt]

Your budget allows for a 690 - get it and then add another as needed in the future..

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH Z77: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 690 DUAL GPU - 3 x DVI-I, 1 x mDP
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
4x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ROM (£27)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR (£159)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H80i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
Extra Case Fans
2 x 12CM Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof) (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
DUAL-BAND WIRELESS 802.11N 450Mbps PCI-E CARD (£35)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2046

STILL the unique URL isn't showing up - it's like the bottom of the page is being cut off...