Help with new i7 3770/K PC build

W

WAWAW1867

Bronze Level Poster
Hi guys

If you don’t mind helping a new addition to your family, could you please have a look through these options I have chosen.
There might be a few daft questions and contradictions along the way (it will make for dafter answers I know) because I don’t know much, so please keep it simple (like me).

First of all the PC will be for video editing, using Adobe premiere CS4 + Pinnacle studio 12 + Vegas pro 8.
Multitasking, lots of Office documents open all at once, lots of web pages open all at once, watch/record TV.
Plus, the odd game now and then, for when the kids visit.

Spec and reasons?

No overclocking or water cooling, unless you think it would be better.
Would prefer card reader and firewire in spec if possible (or can I get external, just as good?).

CASE –
Coolermaster HAF XM (NO card reader) or InWin Dragon Rider (card reader), or do you recommend another?
CPU
i7 3770/K (definitely want this, or K version if you decide I should overclock).
MOTHERBOARD
Asus Z77 Sabertooth (thermal armour).
Asus Z77 Pro/thunderbolt (WiFi).
Asus Z77 V (WiFi).
Or a lesser Asus board you recommend? For some unknown reason? I prefer Asus.
RAM
16GB Kingston Hyper-X Genesis 1600mhz (or can you ask for Crucial Vengeance, is it better? Will it fit?).
GPU
2GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 670/660 ti/or less. Want Nvidia, but would I need a top end graphics card?
HARD DISK 1
240GB Intel 520 SSD (not much more than the 335, is there much difference? Would the 120Gb be enough?).
HARD DISK 2
2TB WD Caviar black.
DVD drive
Blu-ray writer 12x
PSU
Corsair 850w Enthusiast series TX850. (600w required, Is it better to have more power?).
PSU cooling
Super quiet 22dba triple copper heatpipe Intel.
Extra case fans
None (would I need more?).
Sound card
Asus Xonar DS (or, add one later, if needed?).
TV Card
Hauppauge Quad tuner hybrid WinTV-Nova-HVR-4400 (Watch/record Sky and Digital, is it worth it over the others?).
SYSTEM
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit (is it worth it over Professional? Or should I go for Windows 8?).
FIREWIRE
Would like this, if case doesn’t support this, can I get an external one?
Wireless
Which PCi one?

Spec in red comes in at £1,740.00

Thanks, hope this makes sense.


Regards

Mark
 
sted

sted

Rising Star
Since gaming will be occasional, maybe a lower GPU, 660ti maybe? If you do over clock you'll need a better cooler, H60 is commonly suggested from what I can gather. Otherwise the heat pipe is sufficient for none over clocked ones. More space is almost always a plus, but considering you won't have a great deal in the way of games you probably could afford to downgrade to a 120GB.

Cases I personally like, though have zero experience with are the z11 for around £50+, the InWin black dragon for £79 or the cooler master 690 ii also £79.

RE: wireless, most of the member here will swear by the use of home plugs instead, they are generally more stable and reliable. If that's not an option, then the z77 mobo supports wifi if you happen to go for that one, meaning you won't need the pci wireless card.

Sound Card: many say that on board has gone up in the world and would suggest to try it first, but if you are used to having a quality sound card and it is a must then probably go for that one, I'd suggest researching the quality atleast, though.

Anything else I likely won't be all that helpful with, hope this helps though!

Oh sorry a small edit:

People generally don't store all of their games on the SSD, rather their favourite/most frequently played few games.
 
W

WAWAW1867

Bronze Level Poster
Thanks Sted

I will have another look in the morning.

The SSD will be mostly for editing the movies on, then moving them back to the WD Caviar Black.

The games will just be a side issue i hope.


Thanks for your reply

regards

Mark
 
I

ilike2burnthing

Gold Level Poster
Case
InWIN BLACK DRAGON RIDER GAMING CASE decent case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache no need to overclock
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX fine for not overclocking
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPERX GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P(4 x 4GB KIT) £1 more for faster RAM
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready like sted said, this should be fine
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW) cheaper option with similar performance, the 335 is very good as well, the 520 has a longer warranty, slightly better performance and a longer life (but both will clear 100 years easily)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW I take it you'll actually be writing blurays and not just watching them?
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan allows you to upgrade or even go SLI
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19) fine for not upgrading
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD) unless you're an audiophile you won't hear the difference
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs wifi included with the motherboard, but if you were to go for a different motherboard then PCI (not PCI-E) wireless is fine, or homeplugs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Firewire
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9) didn't know if you wanted more than the one on the case, feel free to remove if not
TV Card
HAUPPAUGE QUAD TUNER HYBRID TV CARD (WinTV-NOVA-HVR-4400) I have no clue about TV cards, google is your friend
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£109) doubt you'd need ultimate, maybe not ever pro - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions#Comparison_chart
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) always good to have
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,503.00 including VAT and delivery. £237 cheaper
Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/AkhJnNukYP/
 
I

ilike2burnthing

Gold Level Poster
If you want a really powerful piece of kit though:

Case
InWIN BLACK DRAGON RIDER GAMING CASE could consider going up to the Haf XM for an extra £10
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-3930K (3.2GHz) 12MB Cache don't drop to the quad core, the 3770 in the earlier build is better than the 3820 here
Motherboard
ASUS® P9X79 LE: INTEL® SOCKET LG2011 this motherboard should be fine
Memory (RAM)
32GB KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST QUAD-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P (4 x 8GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready for your needs this shouldn't really need to be changed for any build
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB 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
12x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£59)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) 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
TV Card
HAUPPAUGE QUAD TUNER HYBRID TV CARD (WinTV-NOVA-HVR-4400)
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
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,970.00 including VAT and delivery.
Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-2011-extreme/hZaFe262LE/
 
W

WAWAW1867

Bronze Level Poster
Cheers mate

The second one is a bit overkill for me i think.

Case = I originally chose the Dragon Rider, but saw a couple of users said they were not as strong as they first thought. That is why i put the HAF XM first?

RAM = Went for the 1600 mhz because that is all i thought i could utilise, will change that to the higher one now.

SSD = Will compare the prices on the other one's.

Blu-Ray = Writing as well.

PSU = My thinking was, 850w would not work as hard, therefore less heat.

Sound = With the onboard, can you have more than 1 different sounds playing at the same time, eg TV - You Tube - DVD.

System = I have Vista Ultimate now, it has a few decent things, thought 7 would have a lot more and better things?


Thank you

Regards

Mark
 
W

WAWAW1867

Bronze Level Poster
RAM = Went for the 1600 mhz because that is all i thought i could utilise, will change that to the higher one now.

Would it benefit me to go for the Hyper Beast 2400 mhz for £11 more?


Regards

Mark
 
Last edited:
I

ilike2burnthing

Gold Level Poster
I'm not sure PSUs work like that, you may in fact get a hotter case by having a bigger PSU. The Corsair 650W should be plenty.

In regards to the soundcard, yes and the quality will be very good (and almost inaudibly different from the one you chose, not at all if you're not an audiophile and don't have a decent 5.1/7.1 sound system or true surround headphones).

Ultimate obviously has more features, but whether you'll ever use them is a different question. Windows 7 editions comparison - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions#Comparison_chart

The jump in performance between 2133 and 2400MHz RAM is rather small and so isn't really worth the money.
 
W

WAWAW1867

Bronze Level Poster
Case
InWIN BLACK DRAGON RIDER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPERX GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P(4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1[SUP]st[/SUP] DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)
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
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
TV Card
HAUPPAUGE QUAD TUNER HYBRID TV CARD (WinTV-NOVA-HVR-4400)
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
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 7 to 9 working days
Miscellaneous
Created Using Jargon Free Configurator
Quantity
1

Price: £1,504.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/2UpatYHLDI/



This is what i "think" i am going for.

I will probably order it later today, unless you think there is a need to tweak it.

Thanks for all your help


Regards

Mark
 
W

WAWAW1867

Bronze Level Poster
Gone for the future proofing, think it will be better (but what do i know :)).

Thanks again for all your help.


Regards

Mark
 
W

WAWAW1867

Bronze Level Poster
bberlinn said:
Your PC activities and configuration are similar to mine (see: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?22664-Couple-of-Questions-Need-Answers) except our motherboard, sound card, processor, OS, and media drive are different.
Click to expand...

Yes mate

I got advice from ilike2burnthing.

I am not going to overclock, so the i7 3770 was ok

Was advised to go with the Asus (i wanted Asus) P8Z77-V, why have you chosen the Sabertooth, is it because of overclocking in the future, or you just wanted a better board?

I have been thinking about the OS for a while, I don't know whether i will like 8, so i went for 7, coming from Vista Ultimate, why did you choose 8, is it because it is new or you like it?

I will try the onboard sound first, if not good i will add a separate one, why have you chosen one to start with?


Regards

Mark
 
B

bberlinn

Member
WAWAW1867 said:
Was advised to go with the Asus (i wanted Asus) P8Z77-V, why have you chosen the Sabertooth, is it because of overclocking in the future, or you just wanted a better board?
Click to expand...

Asus Sabertooth Z77 is one of two of the seven available motherboards that can accommodate all of my PCI-E devices. Asus P8Z77 V-Pro Thunderbolt can also accommodate all of my PCI-E devices but was £10 more expensive than Asus Sabertooth. That is the primary reason for my choice. Also, I need a motherboard that can reasonably handle future components upgrade, which is a habit I adopted for my current desktop purchased in 2003 until its motherboard proved incapable to handle my desirable soundcard, CPU and GPU.

WAWAW1867 said:
I have been thinking about the OS for a while, I don't know whether i will like 8, so i went for 7, coming from Vista Ultimate, why did you choose 8, is it because it is new or you like it?
Click to expand...

Honestly, Windows XP remains my preferred OS. My current desktop has Windows XP. Over the years, it has flirted with Vista and Windows 7 but after few days of use, I reverted to XP. Unfortunately, Windows XP uses not more than 4GB of RAM, meaning 90% of my combined 18GB memory (16GB RAM and 2GB GPU) is wasted. I have been playing with Windows 8 on my brother's desktop and asus tablet in the last three weeks. Honestly, there is nothing great about it on a desktop environment. So I chose windows 8 just because it is new.

WAWAW1867 said:
I will try the onboard sound first, if not good i will add a separate one, why have you chosen one to start with?
Click to expand...

An exciting feature of my configuration is the asus xonar amp sound card, which I just cannot wait to test on my Beyerdynamic DT 250 ohm headphone. I'm an audiophile who finds onboard sound card inferior to my music listening pleasure.

I have been thinking to downgrade from i7-3770K to i7-3770 in order to bump up the size of my SSD or get a better case. So far, I have resisted that temptation.
 
W

WAWAW1867

Bronze Level Poster
Hi guys

Finally ordered (what a disaster that was :wacko:), but see bottom of page it might give you a laugh.

Spec

Case
InWIN BLACK DRAGON RIDER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPERX GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P(4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1[SUP]st[/SUP] DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)
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
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
TV Card
HAUPPAUGE QUAD TUNER HYBRID TV CARD (WinTV-NOVA-HVR-4400)
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
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,560.00 including VAT and delivery.



It has just took me nearly an hour to order this, it had better be worth it :).

Filled in the form and submitted it.

Sorry we cannot process your order, the bank says, please phone this number.

So, i filled in the form again, thinking i had done it wrong, and submitted it, again.

Sorry we cannot process your order, the bank says, again, please phone this number.

So i logged out, logged back in and filled the fresh form in, and submitted it AGAIN.

Sorry we cannot process your order, the bank says, again, please phone this number.

So i phoned the number, to get the "thank you for calling, all our operators are busy, please hold the line and someone from the "FRAUD DEPARTMENT" will be with you as soon as possible.

After 9min and 50sec somebody answered, i had to go through all the questions and answers stuff for ages, before he finally said, try it again.
I says to him, i am just putting the phone down, ok says he.
I input all the details AGAIN, but this time it went through.
I picked up the phone and either my phone has gone on the blink or he hung up.

Then, when i told "her who must be obeyed", what i had just spent, she hit the roof [rollinglaugh]

I don't know whether i am not supposed to have this PC, but it looks like it.

By the way if there are any PC specialist's that do read these pages.
There was nowhere to add the discount code :wacko:.


Regards

Mark
 
Rakk

Rakk

The Awesome
Moderator
WAWAW1867 said:
Filled in the form and submitted it.

Sorry we cannot process your order, the bank says, please phone this number.
Click to expand...

Yeah, when it says that it does normally mean it :) it's just your bank deeming it suspicious that you're suddenly spending a large amount of money you normally wouldn't be spending and therefore blocking it til you actually ring them and tell them it's ok.
 
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