Is this good enough for gaming and general use (Not super intensive gaming)

[GoldenBen]

Case PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® P8Z77-V LK: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 760 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
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 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Sound Card Asus Xonar DGX 5.1-Channel Gaming Audio Card
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
Power Cable 1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System Genuine Windows 8 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media Windows 8 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY V2013 - 1 Year + 5GB Online Backup
Monitor BENQ GW2255 21.5" VA LED - 1920 x 1080, 6MS, D-SUB, DVI-D
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables 1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE
Eyefinity / GeForce 3D Vision NONE
Keyboard & Mouse LOGITECH® K120 USB KEYBOARD
Mouse LOGITECH® OPTICAL USB MOUSE
Gaming Mouse Pad MadCatz G.L.I.D.E. 3 Gaming Surface

I've also been looking at the 3770k but my budget is £1000 or just slightly over, can any improvements be made to this or is it good to go? I'll only be playing games such as FM2013 and a few others eventually, as well as for general use and college work, thanks.

 

[keynes]

. If you are not overclocking your CPU the i5-3570 (non-k) will be fine. I would drop the sound card and try to upgrade other components like the hard drive.

 

[GoldenBen]

. If you are not overclocking your CPU the i5-3570 (non-k) will be fine. I would drop the sound card and try to upgrade other components like the hard drive.

I probably will be over clocking, although i'm new to overclocking in general. What upgrade would you suggest? I thought a decent sound card increased overall performance slightly?

 

[keynes]

I probably will be over clocking, although i'm new to overclocking in general. What upgrade would you suggest? I thought a decent sound card increased overall performance slightly?

The onboard audio is fine unless you are looking for additional features like dolby digital. You need to upgrade your cpu cooler to a corsair hydro cooler if you wish to overclock but for gaming you won't get any noticeable benefits. You could get a caviar black as the main drive.

 

[GoldenBen]

The onboard audio is fine unless you are looking for additional features like dolby digital. You need to upgrade your cpu cooler to a corsair hydro cooler if you wish to overclock but for gaming you won't get any noticeable benefits. You could get a caviar black as the main drive.

Ok thanks, will ditch the audio card then and upgrade to the caviar black, as well as upgrading the fan. I must admit though i'm still torn about whether to go for the standard 3570 chip or the k version but have a week to decide.

 

[vanthus]

I thought a decent sound card increased overall performance slightly?

A dedicated sound card is definitely better than onboard,especially if using higher end speakers or headphones.
I don't have particularly high end speakers or headphones,but the improvement with my sound card is still very noticeable,and the Asus Xonar DGX is a very good card,a snip at £27.

 

[GoldenBen]

A dedicated sound card is definitely better than onboard,especially if using higher end speakers or headphones.
I don't have particularly high end speakers or headphones,but the improvement with my sound card is still very noticeable,and the Asus Xonar DGX is a very good card,a snip at £27.

Ok cool, I thought it would improve performance slightly so may still opt for it. I have a few questions if that's ok, as you seem knowledgeable on these forums, answers would be very much appreciated, there are still a few things i'm quite unsure about.
:
1. Can you permanently over clock the i5 3570k to a moderate level, without affecting components too much, and what fan would you suggest for a moderate over clock?

2. If I choose one of the advanced cooling fans, will I lose the side blue led cooling fan that comes as standard? As I really like the look of the blue LED and i'd probably choose another case if so. Also what other cases would you suggest that will help with cooling and performance for the same kind of price?

Thanks

 

[keynes]

I'd suggest trying onboard audio first and if you are not happy with it add a sound card. If you are on a budget at it means compromising in other components I don't think it is worth it.
1- you need a corsair CPU cooler. When you are overclocking your CPU there is the possibility of instability issues.
2-you wouldn't lose it
If you are not planning to SLI you could downgrade your motherboard

 

[GoldenBen]

I'd suggest trying onboard audio first and if you are not happy with it add a sound card. If you are on a budget at it means compromising in other components I don't think it is worth it.
1- you need a corsair CPU cooler. When you are overclocking your CPU there is the possibility of instability issues.
2-you wouldn't lose it
If you are not planning to SLI you could downgrade your motherboard

Ok thanks for the reply, which corsair would I need though? I read the Corsair 40 isn't very good for overclocking? And what other motherboard could I get which will still give me good all round performance?

Also with regards to over clocking, i'm only looking to get a really moderate increase out of the chip, so as to not affect the core stability of the system

Thanks

 

[keynes]

Ok thanks for the reply, which corsair would I need though? I read the Corsair 40 isn't very good for overclocking? And what other motherboard could I get which will still give me good all round performance?

Also with regards to over clocking, i'm only looking to get a really moderate increase out of the chip, so as to not affect the core stability of the system

Thanks

As I mentioned before any overclock could lead to some instability issues, your cpu has turbo boost anyway, it will go up to 3.8 Ghz without any overclock. If you are referring to a higher overclock like 4.2 then the H40 or higher will do but I doubt you will notice any difference for day to day applications or gaming. The motherboard you have chosen is fine, it seems there are limited options in the configurator.

 

[vanthus]

Ok cool, I thought it would improve performance slightly so may still opt for it. I have a few questions if that's ok, as you seem knowledgeable on these forums, answers would be very much appreciated, there are still a few things i'm quite unsure about.
:
1. Can you permanently over clock the i5 3570k to a moderate level, without affecting components too much, and what fan would you suggest for a moderate over clock?

2. If I choose one of the advanced cooling fans, will I lose the side blue led cooling fan that comes as standard? As I really like the look of the blue LED and i'd probably choose another case if so. Also what other cases would you suggest that will help with cooling and performance for the same kind of price?

Thanks

Personally,if overclocking I would go for at least the Corsair H60 Hydro cooler.
As far as I know,overclocking can cause instability to a system and will typically shorten the lifespan of the component.
Keep in mind ,overclocking the CPU won't give much noticeable difference in gaming performance anyway,if any.
If you're going ahead with overclocking,I would up the case to the Coolermaster Haf 912 or the Coolermaster CM Storm Enforcer if you can afford it.

 

[GoldenBen]

Personally,if overclocking I would go for at least the Corsair H60 Hydro cooler.
As far as I know,overclocking can cause instability to a system and will typically shorten the lifespan of the component.
Keep in mind ,overclocking the CPU won't give much noticeable difference in gaming performance anyway,if any.
If you're going ahead with overclocking,I would up the case to the Coolermaster Haf 912 or the Coolermaster CM Storm Enforcer if you can afford it.

Ok thanks, if over clocking doesn't give any noticeable benefits to gaming is it going to be just help the speed of the machine, start times and the like? I'm even more confused now haha. I must admit I thought the cooler master cases would be good so they're worth looking at.

 

[steaky360]

I'd agree with Vanthus and Keynes comments, if you want to overclock, try not to skimp on the cooling and the case (both are integral to getting cool air into your system and hot air out). However I would also suggest that it might not be worthwhile overclocking if you are looking for performance gains.

I'd say it won't affect startup times or application load times etc. It's unlikely through general use that you'll need an overclocked system.

 

[keynes]

Ok thanks, if over clocking doesn't give any noticeable benefits to gaming is it going to be just help the speed of the machine, start times and the like? I'm even more confused now haha. I must admit I thought the cooler master cases would be good so they're worth looking at.

. If you want windows to run faster you need an SSD not an overclock of the CPU.

 

[GoldenBen]

. If you want windows to run faster you need an SSD not an overclock of the CPU.

Thanks again and everyone else for replying, I've now updated my order to an SSD as the main drive with a 1TB black caviar as the 2nd drive, is that ok? Like as in the SSD being the main drive so to speak?

 

[keynes]

Thanks again and everyone else for replying, I've now updated my order to an SSD as the main drive with a 1TB black caviar as the 2nd drive, is that ok? Like as in the SSD being the main drive so to speak?

Yes

 

[GoldenBen]

Yes

Thanks again, i've decided against trying to over clock now, due to no amazing difference for gaming and the need for extra cooling, which I can't really afford right now, but I have one more question :

Can I now downgrade my original motherboard to something like the asus p8h61 mx without affecting any performance?

Thanks

 

[keynes]

Thanks again, i've decided against trying to over clock now, due to no amazing difference for gaming and the need for extra cooling, which I can't really afford right now, but I have one more question :

Can I now downgrade my original motherboard to something like the asus p8h61 mx without affecting any performance?

Thanks

If you are not planning to SLI or do not need the additional SATA ports then you could but it doesn't support SATA 6gb/s and you won't be able to fully benefit from an SSD without it.

 

[GoldenBen]

If you are not planning to SLI or do not need the additional SATA ports then you could but it doesn't support SATA 6gb/s and you won't be able to fully benefit from an SSD without it.

Ok i've been looking at the seagate hybrid gen3 sshd, will this be ok rather than having an ssd and hard drive separate? Is it any good?

 

[keynes]

Ok i've been looking at the seagate hybrid gen3 sshd, will this be ok rather than having an ssd and hard drive separate? Is it any good?

A cheaper option, not as good as having an SSD and a caviar black. Just make sure you get a motherboard that supports SATA 6gb/s with either choice you make.