New pc builder

[amundius]

Hi guys, I'm new to the whole pc building scene and have been doing a lot of research in order to build one. I have figured out my general idea of what I want. I prefer Nvidia and Intel, not a fanboy though.

The kind of gaming i will be doing will be the higher end games, BF3 and future releases etc, but I'm not looking to hit the ultimate numbers and crazy stats just for the sake of it or at the massive cost hike for cutting edge tech. I want a pc thats great for all games and will just work very well, and a bit of future proofing would be a nice bonus to it.

I'm not planning on overclocking right away, but you know how it goes... It'll be overclocked faster than you can say invalid warranty! Plus ive got OC'able parts.. so I know I will.

My resolution WILL be (when i get the monitor) 1980 x 1020. Thats the top gaming one thats usually used right? I'm sure you know the one im talking about :sneaky:

My price range is around maybe 900-1100 british pounds and im buying from UK sellers, but as I said i dont want to be spending a lot extra for tiny gains. There's a chance I will be buying through my girlfriend who has a good chance of getting a lot of the gear from work VAT free, so I do have wiggle room in my budget! 900-1100 isnt exact, but im comfortable with that kind of outlay for my build. Anything less while still getting what I want is all gravy! If its more there's hopefully a valid reason for it.

My current build plan is as follows:

GTX 670 - hoping for Asus directCU TOP, but if I can't get it (sold out everywhere) I was thinking gigabytes windforce. Any opinions on that choice? from what ive seen the gigabytes a good one. Also i'm not interested in the 680, 670 is enough for me. Not going SLI. Not for more than a year anyway if at all.

Motherboard: Kind of narrowed it down to these three: P8Z77V-PRO or the Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H, but then noticed the sabertooth is only like 20 pounds more... any opinion on these choices? I've heard sabertooths the best of these, the gigabytes a bit better than the P8 and is only about a tenner more. I just need something thats gonna get the job done and not be useless this time next year. Anything better than these (at reasonable prices)? Any opinion welcome!

Processor: i5-3570K. Is this enough to run the gtx 670 etc or will i bottleneck my pc?. Also read the i7 series is minimal gain considering price and unlikely i will need it. I am most comfortable with this CPU's price.

PSU: I know nothing about this one, but heard the Corsair Enthusiast range is good. Was thinking 600W. Did a watt test for most of the parts of the pc with this spec included and it was around 425 watts. 600 around about right, or am I overkilling? The price didnt seem that bad really to bump it from 500W to 600W.

Case: Antec nine hundred two. Had a look at a few, decided on this based on reviews. Will this be big enough, cool enough etc?

Monitor: ASUS ML239H. Need a new monitor, this gets great on all stats except maneuverability which isnt a problem for me. (dunno if this needs to be listed, but hell, it is now!)

RAM: I have 4gb in my current pc, ive been told from 8gb to 16gb. I heard 16gb is the max, is that right? Which do you think I should go with? Im not super clued up on RAM by the way

Windows 7 64 bit. Think this ones a must, could be wrong though!

So how does it look? Also my main concern is if it is all compatible. From what i can discern myself it is fine, but I'm no expert.

Im pretty happy with the GPU and CPU choice, as well as the monitor and case (unless there is good reason not to get them). Mobo not 100 pct sure and PSU i will be easily led on

Not figured out disc drives, SSD etc, I figured id raid this pc for those little things for time being and do those fancy little bits after its all built up, although im not entirely sure whats in this thing. Am i missing anything important here? Please feel free to add if I need other pieces in this list

I'm planning on building this over the next month i guess, I'm just confirming compatibility and making/getting those last part decisions/recommendations etc before I shoot my wallet full of holes!

Don't think I've missed anything.

Thanks in advance guys! :thumbsup:

 

[lehtv]

Comments on your proposed parts:

gpu: 670 good, but asus is a bit expensive
mobo: if you're not going to SLI, you don't need a SLI board
cpu: correct about 3570K vs 3770K, the latter is generally not worth it
psu: for a single GPU rig, 500-600W is good
case: 902 is an old design, I'd definitely recommend something else
monitor: when it comes to IPS panels I'd prefer Dell over Asus
RAM: 2x4GB is all you need for gaming
OS: yes
Drives: 1tb/2tb 7200rpm hdd + 64gb/128gb ssd + dvd-rw

And the parts I'd pick for you, priced from scan:

CPU i5-3570K £172 + Alpenfohn Brocken £24
Mobo Gigabyte Z77-D3H £78
RAM 2x4GB Corsair 1600 £40
GPU MSI GTX 670 PE/OC £312
SSD Samsung 830 64GB £55
HDD Seagate ST2000DM001 £78
DVD Sony DVD-RW £13
PSU Antec HCG-520M £56
Case Corsair 300R £60
Monitor Dell U2312HM £180 (IPS)
OS Win 7 64 HP OEM £76

= £1144 inc VAT, + shipping

I know that's a bit over your budget, but I was going for what you thought you might be getting rather than what you though you might be paying. And even then I had to downplay it. Of course if you can get parts tax free that'd help, but if not and you want to stay in budget, you need to make some tradeoffs. For example, use stock cooling and stock clocks for now, and get a cheaper monitor, and a non-modular PSU. Or leave the SSD for later.

 

[azeem40]

The DC2T is worth the price, but not in the UK, lol.

 

[amundius]

thanks for your input guys Out of interest how does the 902 cases old design affect the components? Do newer cases have a better lay out?

 

[lehtv]

902 doesn't have very good cable management, it has little space behind the motherboard tray and the number of cable management holes is limited and the holes lack rubber grommets, see here. The cable management in Corsair 300R is slightly better despite costing £30 less.

But the biggest fault is the hard disk cage system. Installation is time consuming, requiring you to remove the whole module via the front in order to gain access to the disk mounts. Each module contains three disk mounts and a 120mm fan. The disks are aligned front-to-back, while in newer or more advanced cases you have sideways disk orientation which helps with cable management and installation. More advanced cases also have removable hard disk bays. On Corsair 300R, you have removable sideways hard disk bays with integrated support for 2.5" SSD's, and all hard disk and and 5.25" bays are tool free while in Antec 902 nothing is tool free (literally, there aren't even thumb screws).

In terms of cooling, it's an excellent case, comes with 3x 120mm and 1x 200mm fans all with three-speed switches, something you rarely see at its price point. Its cooling does have a weak points though: 1. no bottom fan mount and no mesh below the PSU for an upside-down PSU orientation, something which has been standard in newer cases for years; 2. no support for 140mm fans. Corsair 300R supports up to six 140mm fans.

Your setup doesn't require such high end stock cooling, so it's a good opportunity to cut back on the cost of a component that has no impact on actual performance, seeing as your budget is stretched thin as it is.

 

[amundius]

Thanks lehtv, that was very informative! haha, Corsair it is

 

[amundius]

Last thing i can think of is, if my budget wasn't "constricted" is there anything you would swap out for a decent performance gain without spending a lot? I only ask as I am not tied to an exact amount and a good investment is worthwhile as opposed to "budget" gear for the sake of not breaching a limit that isn't really there.

If you think my current recommended setup is enough to do what I want to do (the good gaming at good speeds etc with some longevity), then i am happy to stick with what I have been suggested.

 

[azeem40]

The 500R has the 200mm fan Leh. The 300R does not.

 

[mfenn]

Last thing i can think of is, if my budget wasn't "constricted" is there anything you would swap out for a decent performance gain without spending a lot? I only ask as I am not tied to an exact amount and a good investment is worthwhile as opposed to "budget" gear for the sake of not breaching a limit that isn't really there.

If you think my current recommended setup is enough to do what I want to do (the good gaming at good speeds etc with some longevity), then i am happy to stick with what I have been suggested.

Computer parts are never an "investment" because they lose value so quickly. What lehtv has suggested will meet your needs quite well. The GTX 670 in particular is a beast at 1080p. The only change I would make to lehtv's build (assuming you wanted to increase the budget) is to change the Samsung 830 64GB to a Crucial M4 128GB for 30 quid more. The Crucial isn't as fast (though moving from 64GB->128GB gets you some speed), but I find that having 128GB makes it much easier to manage all the stuff you'll want on the SSD.

 

[azeem40]

Computer parts are never an "investment" because they lose value so quickly. What lehtv has suggested will meet your needs quite well. The GTX 670 in particular is a beast at 1080p. The only change I would make to lehtv's build (assuming you wanted to increase the budget) is to change the Samsung 830 64GB to a Crucial M4 128GB for 30 quid more. The Crucial isn't as fast (though moving from 64GB->128GB gets you some speed), but I find that having 128GB makes it much easier to manage all the stuff you'll want on the SSD.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/128g...basic-kit-sata-iii-read-520mb-s-write-320mb-s

Cheaper and faster.

 

[lehtv]

Last thing i can think of is, if my budget wasn't "constricted" is there anything you would swap out for a decent performance gain without spending a lot?

As suggested above, a bigger SSD. Samsung 830 128GB wouldn't restrict the use of your OS partition so much and it's better £/GB than the 64GB version. Everything else in the build is great if I say so myself :thumbsup:

 

[amundius]

Good input on the depreciation of parts, i forgot how quickly it becomes out of date.

I think i will make that SSD change as it's not a problem for my budget. I finally have everything sorted thanks for all the suggestions, particularly lehtv

 

[lehtv]

No problem . Post back if you run into problems assembling it

 

[amundius]

for sure hehe I will let you know how it goes, and will probably be back for more advanced stuff like overclocking etc

 

[amundius]

Just had a thought, as im going to buy everything, but wont receive everything at once, is it best to buy things in a certain order? For example i wont be able to install and test my GPU to see that it is ok strait away as i need all the parts, for example the case and am no tech wizard anyway in building a pc. A lot of places only have a 48 hour return policy. Although i guess any warranty on the parts would cover it either way?

If there is an order to get it in what is it?

Also if im going to overclock things like my CPU and GPU, that will void the warranty right? so i wont really have to worry about how many years i can get out of it... right?

Also will i need thermal paste or anything with this build? so far im only going with whats been recommended in this thread.

Was just a thought

 

[mfenn]

48 hour return policy? That's crap. Buy from Scan, their policy is that any defective items can be returned for a refund within 28 days and for store credit after that.

 

[amundius]

48 hour return policy? That's crap. Buy from Scan, their policy is that any defective items can be returned for a refund within 28 days and for store credit after that.

Ah cool, yea 48 is pretty useless lol. Thats good then i will go with scan. Lot of the parts are the same price across the board anyway.

 

[amundius]

I just received my parts today to make the pc. I ordered what was recommended in the above post. My first problem assembling it has been the Alpenfohn Brocken CPAF-005 CPU Cooler onto the Z77-D3H mobo. When i put the bracket on the back of the mobo the bracket seems to be the tiniest bit too small for the mobo screw holes. Because of this screws go in at a slight angle and not all the way through, which means all the next bits that go onto the screws wont fit either.

Is this cooler just not compatible? or is my mobos screw holes not quite in the right place? to be fair on the front of the mobo the holes look like they should be where they are if you know what i mean.

Can i buy a backplate that will fit? or do i need to get an entire new cpu cooler.

Also i am not overclocking my cpu yet, so can i leave this for now and build the pc without it? I have the stock fan from the i5 which im guessing is fine for now?

Thanks guys

 

[mfenn]

Hmm, did the CPAF-005 come with multiple brackets or does the bracket have multiple screw positions? It is possible that you got an old stock that comes with just the 1366 bracket, which is indeed very slightly different from 1155/1156. I looked on Alpenfohn's site and couldn't find where the sold the 1155 individually.

The stock cooler will be more than fine for stock clocks. I'd probably return it and get the tried and true Hyper 212+.

 

[lehtv]

Hm, Brocken is advertised as 1155 compatible at Scan.co.uk, so you should contact them about it to replace with 212 Evo if that information is false