Would like some info (noob stuff)

As I said in the title I am a complete noob to computer building, I know some of the basics but would be interested on hearing what some of you more experienced guys have to say.

Currently I am contemplating buying a PC to finally switch to PC gaming, I have a budget of around £1200 - £1300. I would like to play the current games at highish settings and even some in the future (at highish settings as well) if that's possible.
The main questions:

- Do I need an overclocked CPU?

- Should I run crossfire/sli or have a single but better graphics card? (And witch graphics cards would you suggest?)

- Would a Cool Master CM Storm Trooper suffice for a case?

- And finally what cooling units would you suggest for the CPU and how many fans in general?

Sorry for the amount of dense questions but it would help a great deal if I could get some feedback :yes:

Maybe you could even suggest a build?

Thanks
Andreas
 

tom_gr7

Life Serving
1 - gaming no OC is required.
2 - Single screen on a 60hz/60 frames monitor, only one gpu is required.
3 - hell yea, sick case :)
4 - standard case fans will be fine with most "gaming cases" and the triple copper cooler is the cooler to choose for non OC's.
 

tom_gr7

Life Serving
here's a spec.

Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM TROOPER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4670 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z87-K: ATX, USB2.0, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, XFIRE - cant sli with this board though, if you wanted to do that then up this one notch.
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 770 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready Great card, only two cards stronger cards at the moment are the 780 and the GTX titan
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW) For you OS and main programs
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm) games/steam/origin and other stuff here.
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 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£79) FYI two 770's would need a 750w psu... But i'd go for an 850W if you want two cards.
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19) More than good enough for Non OC's
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
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79) Make sure you get 64bit
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) Dont forget this :)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,191.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-haswell-pc/Xwax2SwBII/
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Currently I am contemplating buying a PC to finally switch to PC gaming, I have a budget of around £1200 - £1300.
I'd suggest going with the Vanquish 912 from the review section:
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/reviews/

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i5-4670k Quad Core (3.40GHz @ max 4.20GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® Z87-A: ATX, USB2.0, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 770 - 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
2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
4x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ROM
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 (£79)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£59)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster Z 5.1 PCI-E Soundcard - OEM (£55)
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 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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,199.00 including VAT and delivery.
 
Hi, thanks for all your feedback. I am now thinking of going for this:

Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4670K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® Z87-A: ATX, USB2.0, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 770 - 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

2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
4x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ROM

Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£89)

Processor Cooling
Corsair H40 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£39)

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

Network Facilities
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£16)

USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

This all comes in at £1,254.00

Incase you were wondering I have specced:
- 750w power supply for more expandability in the future.
- Corsair H40 CPU Cooler for a possible overclock in the future (if I'm feeling brave)
- Wireless 802.11N PCI-E CARD for wi-fi - However I don't know if the motherboard with wi-fi needs a network card so that would be something I would like to now :)

I would really like to know any more suggestions/improvements - if I have been stupid anywhere please tell me, not got much experience in this :/

Thanks
Andreas

P.S wondering about the network card - do I need it or should I spec it on the motherboard?
 
Hi thanks again for all the help, one last question:

- Would this case be able to fit two of the longest graphics cards? (I don't any examples or measurements I'm afraid :/ )

Thanks again,
Andreas
 

tom_gr7

Life Serving
Personally, I wouldn't want to put two top of the range gpus inside the storm enforcer. it only has one intake fan which needs to feed two gpu's and a cpu cooler. It would be fine for single gpu setups but i dont think it will be good enough for dual cards.

also get the h60 over the h40 - in short the h40 is very loud due to a low quality fan thanks to corsair.
 

tom_gr7

Life Serving
Okay I will definitely do that, for any dual - GPU setups what case would you suggest?

Thanks
Andreas

well, it what cases do you like? lol we may have different tastes haha. The Enforcer is a good case, but as I said it only has the one intake fan, therefore could cause problems later on down the line when you had that extra 770.

Any case that has a couple of intake fans (or options for intake fans) would be my suggestion.
 
Sounds reasonable, not got plans for any Dual - GPU setups for a while :D

I know I said that was my final question 2 questions ago but I have another one:

- is a SSD worth it for gaming? (And what would I use it for: caching etc.)

Thanks Andreas
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
- is a SSD worth it for gaming? (And what would I use it for: caching etc.)
It is not essential, if your budget allows it without compromising other components go for it as the primary drive to speed up windows.
 
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