Looking to order this weekend, appreciate any input & a couple of questions

[PadForce]

Hi all. Looking to order the below this weekend for use as a gaming rig exclusively with the oportunity to add a second 7970 down the line. I also have my own second hard drive which will be fitted. With the components below I was aiming to have well cooled components so they last a while.

If anybody has any input about improvements that would be great. I dont have a budget really but if I have got stuff that is just being wasted in this build I am happy to save money. I dont want to overclock / water cool.

Couple of questions:
1) Is there any point paying the extra £20 odd for the Pro\Gen motherboard rather than the one I have selected? Would it make Crossfiring easier / more spacious on the board in future? Do they have any other performance differences?
2) I have selected the 1050W power supply but when testing two 7970s the builder said I could afford to go down to the 750W one (719W estimated usage including 20% buffer). I obviously want enough power for all my components but could I save an easy £60 dropping to the 850W supply given that I may chose not to Crossfire in the future but still have the option?
3) Does the screen come with the HD cables I would need or do I need to buy these separately?

Case
Send In Your Own Case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2700k Quad Core (3.50GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V/GEN3: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
3GB AMD RADEON™ HD7970 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st 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 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£159)
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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2773HDS 27" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD1920x1080 (£239)
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
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,798.00 including VAT and delivery.

Many thanks,

PadForce

 

[Rakk]

2) I have selected the 1050W power supply but when testing two 7970s the builder said I could afford to go down to the 750W one (719W estimated usage including 20% buffer). I obviously want enough power for all my components but could I save an easy £60 dropping to the 850W supply given that I may chose not to Crossfire in the future but still have the option?

If the configurator reckons you'd only need 750W for crossfiring two GPUs, then yes dropping down to the 850W would be perfectly fine And you'd also have some space to spare for other stuff you added later.

3) Does the screen come with the HD cables I would need or do I need to buy these separately?

The Iiyama monitors come with a DVI cable, so unless you specifically want HDMI (which I think you'd need if you're planning on using the monitor speakers), you'll be fine for cables.

What case were you planning on using btw? - I'm just being nosey

 

[PadForce]

Thanks for the reply. I have a Coolermaster full tower gaming case so as it doesnt work at all with current components just going to strip them out, clean the case and save £159.

I also have a separate speaker set so will just use that.

 

[tom_gr7]

if its just for gaming, i'd drop to 8gig of ram, 16gb way overkill! i've never seen my 8gig fully used.

i notice you only selected one ssd, do you have other hdd's ya gonna add?

 

[PadForce]

Yeah the 16gb was more for attempted future proofing for anything else as its only £60 or something. Is it likely that in 3 years time more than 8gb would be needed? I would rather just avoid having to upgrade that later when it isnt really very much at the moment - I take it you think though it is completely unecessary?

I have a 2TB caviar green that I am going to get put in it as well so thought a 120gb SSD as 1st drive and 2tb HDD as the 2nd would be fine?

ta

 

[tom_gr7]

yeah the green would be fine for most uses, many would say get a caviar black or a barracuda as they are faster, however, ya green will be ok, just maybe a lil slower load up for games.

i get what ya mean about the ram, I don't see the need to spend the money when its not going to get used really, its so much an upgrade in the future too. Up to you mate,

also you could drop to the 2600, just slightly slower than the 2700k, you wont even notice.

 

[PadForce]

Yeah ideally I would have the Caviar black but already have this hard drive (didnt realise the difference when ordering off amazon before, damn!) from trying to save my current computer pre-xmas..

Thanks for the tips, will have a look at dropping those components and see what I save.

 

[PadForce]

Does anybody have an opinion on the Pro\Gen vs Gen motherboard comparison? thanks

 

[tom_gr7]

Does anybody have an opinion on the Pro\Gen vs Gen motherboard comparison? thanks

sorry i missed that bit,

I have a pro, and dont think theres much difference at all,

I know the pro comes with 4 usb 3.0's and the standard comes with two 3.0's.

I'll have a look on the asus site

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68VGEN3/#specifications
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68V_PROGEN3/#specifications

at a a quick glance the pro has two more sata 6gbs ports, so unless you want 3 or 4 sata 6gbs drives, go for the standard version.

 

[PadForce]

Thanks for checking that for me! Is there a benefit to USB 3.0 for gaming uses? The only thing I can imagine faster speeds being useful for would be transfers to/from ipad? (I am assuming 3.0 means it is faster rather than something left field)

 

[tom_gr7]

usb 3.0 benefits devices such as external hdd's, maybe apple devices too.

But if you do have an IPAD you can use software that comes with asus mobos, called "asus probe II" along with it is an "Ai charger+" it states that it charges devices 3 times faster! check that ya ipad/other devices support "BC1.1 function"

 

[PadForce]

Quality responses, cheers, reps!