Gaming PC Build - approx 1100 - Advice Welcome

BillyCom

I want to order a fairly decent gaming rig, planning on overclocking the cpu (hence the replacement of stock fan with larger & better model).

Just wondering about a few things though, such as the RAM - would it be an advantage to get 1600mhz instead of the 1333 I have listed here, or does the cpu/motherboard limit speed of the 1600 RAM sticks?

Is 4 x 4gb more power comsuming than if I selected 2 x 8gb and only used up 2 DIMM slots?

Also I assume the overclocking significantly increases power useage, is the 550W unit adequate for this build?

I don't really have a strict budget as such, but in the 1100-1300 region preferable.

Haven't included certain items such as screen or soundcard here (which I'd appreciate some advice on).
Will sort out peripherals such as keyboard & mouse elsewhere & can use dvd/cd rw drive from my current PC.

But feel free to make any suggestions which would improve price/performance of the rig.

Intel Core i5-2500K

ASUS P8Z77-M Motherboard

XFX RADEON 7950 Graphics Card

4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333 CL9 RAM (x4)


Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s

Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")

Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W

ARCTIC COOLING CPU-Kühler Freezer i30

BitFenix Merc Beta Case

The total (including €20 assembly and €5 Delivery) comes to €1,126.64

Skylinehead

First, I'd ask whether the 16GB RAM is necessary at all, 8GB will do easily for games. No idea what that mobo is like, is it m-ATX? If so, get a proper ATX board like http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=52888&agid=1601, or http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=57624&agid=1601 if you want to crossfire. I'd also recommend upgrading the case to something a little more....€1100ish if you know what I mean :pac:

*cough 500r cough*

sosmyface

Just wondering if it would be worth holding out for the new ivy bridge chips or will they worth the extra cost?

is delivery not €18/19 by the ways or did it go down again:D

Serephucus

Most of that looks ok. You won't need 16GB of RAM (and the stuff you've chosen is expensive) and that heatsink is pretty crap looking, but the rest is good.

Try this for RAM, and something like this CPU cooler.

GarIT

sosmyface wrote: »

Just wondering if it would be worth holding out for the new ivy bridge chips or will they worth the extra cost?

is delivery not €18/19 by the ways or did it go down again:D

The Ivy Bridge processors are rumoured to cost the same as Sandy Bridge. The Sandy Bridge processors should see a price drop when the new processors come out and Ivy Bridge will take their place. They should be worth the wait if you can.

I'm waiting for Ivy Bridge and Windows 8 before I build my next pc.

Serephucus

Not really true. Sandy Bridge won't really see much of a price drop. There wouldn't really be much of a point. Also, Ivy Bridge chips don't look to be great overclockers at the moment, on top of running a little hotter than Sandy Bridge chips.

Might as well go for the 2500K. At and the of the day it's more-than-likely still going to be the best bang-for-the-buck processor for a while yet.

deletemonday

i hope my comment will help , i tried to check the cost of the same components in amazon and the total was £1,028.73 . i had use the hardwareversand before and i recommend to stay away from it , first the payment process is very slow & annoying , delivery is €30 and most importantly they have a notorious customer service if you run into trouble , there is few threads in this site about these stories .

i recommend amazon , they deliver very quickly & accept payment by credit card , delivery can be for free , and they have a reputable customer service in case you need to return something . and they have more variety than hardwareversand. the only downside is the currency change,but the difference is not huge .

about putting the parts together , it seems difficult but i'm sure you can find someone to help you or watch few tutorials online & you will be good to go , there is nothing to it goooood luck

here's links to amazon's list

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=157dkwz&s=5
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=ruw9ar&s=5

FlyingIrishMan

deletemonday wrote: »

i hope my comment will help , i tried to check the cost of the same components in amazon and the total was £1,028.73 . i had use the hardwareversand before and i recommend to stay away from it , first the payment process is very slow & annoying , delivery is €30 and most importantly they have a notorious customer service if you run into trouble , there is few threads in this site about these stories .

Thats 100euro more expensive for the same components, and thats without it being built...

Payment isn't that slow, two days usually, and then one week more for delivery (Which is actually only 18.99), I've had amazon deliveries that take that length.

And the customer service is great, before I made my order I rang them they talked me through the order process, and replied back the next day whenever I emailed.

Perhaps one or two threads complaining about them, but did you consider mentioning the amount of people that regularly use them and love them?
Nearly every build specced up is done through hwvs because they are simply the best for price and service.


As for my input on the build, if you drop the SSD down to a 64GB (Which is plenty, especially considering you're getting a 2TB HDD too) then you could get a GTX 680 which is like 480 on HWVS.

Serephucus

1) HWVS is much cheaper than Amazon.
2) Every other payment with them will be faster. First one is always slow.
3) They have very good customer service, shown by a lot of people here who use them.
4) Delivery is only €19.

BillyCom

Ok, here's my updated build based on the advice given above.


Item|Price
XFX DD RADEON 7950 800M 3GB D5 2x mDP HDMI DVI|€406.77
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€188.78
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€104.02
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€132.29
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€52.08
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€33.60
Thermalright HR-02 Macho|€33.79
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€123.41
Corsair Carbide Series 500R schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€96.82
Rechner - Zusammenbau|€20.00
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1210.55

Unfortunately, it now says >7 days delivery time for the PSU.

I don't know why shipping shows at €18.99 on this table though. The total is cheaper on my basket page and shows the following :

'Factoring amounts at a glance

Bestellwert 1.191,56 € + Shipping costs + 4,99 € = Finanzierungsbasis 1.196,55 € '

Have they reduced shipping costs once you spend a certain amount?

Tea_Bag

I think the €5 applies to germany? when you proceed to checkout it might change?

Im not completely clued up on 7950 stuff, but this looks to be a better card for the same money. decent cooler, and a nice OC.

GarIT

Tea_Bag wrote: »

I think the €5 applies to germany? when you proceed to checkout it might change?

Im not completely clued up on 7950 stuff, but this looks to be a better card for the same money. decent cooler, and a nice OC.

It is better. Here is a list of the best graphic cards in order of best first. Ignore the prices, they are only for Amazon in America.

BillyCom

Yeah I proceeded to checkout and sure enough shipping was €18.99

Just checked out what you said about the graphics card, seems the one you linked has higher clock speeds, and recommended power supply is only 550 as opposed to 650 for the other. thx!

frozenfrozen

GarIT wrote: »

It is better. Here is a list of the best graphic cards in order of best first. Ignore the prices, they are only for Amazon in America.

580 getting better performance than a 680 I'm not sure I trust that list!

BillyCom

frozenfrozen wrote: »

580 getting better performance than a 680 I'm not sure I trust that list!

well I don't really know about the list, but the 7870 that tea_bag linked to DOES seem better than the one I had selected.

But... yeah, seems strange how the 120 dollar cheaper card gives slightly better performance than the newer more expensive one.

Tea_Bag

the 6990 and/or 590 should be at the top of that list.

the card I listed is definitely faster, but i meant i wasnt sure if it had a better cooler.

GarIT

frozenfrozen wrote: »

580 getting better performance than a 680 I'm not sure I trust that list!

I didn't even notice, It used to be fairly reliable, I don't know what up with them there. This appears to be a much more accurate one.

Either way the 7870 is better.

BillyCom

Glad I checked out the corsair 500R case, pretty nice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ehrOYMziIY

deletemonday

Serephucus wrote: »

1) HWVS is much cheaper than Amazon.
2) Every other payment with them will be faster. First one is always slow.
3) They have very good customer service, shown by a lot of people here who use them.
4) Delivery is only €19.

the last time i used hardwareversand (last summer) the delivery charge was €30 !! did they drop down the delivery fee !!

uncle_sam_ie

deletemonday wrote: »

the last time i used hardwareversand (last summer) the delivery charge was €30 !! did they drop down the delivery fee !!

Yes

BillyCom

I'm also looking to get a decent screen, about 24".
Should I look elsewhere or is it worthwhile trying the same site?

FlyingIrishMan

BillyCom wrote: »

I'm also looking to get a decent screen, about 24".
Should I look elsewhere or is it worthwhile trying the same site?

They sell them on that site too.
You'll get a 24" 1080p Benq monitor for about 140euro.

BillyCom

Ok, quick update, here's what I've worked my build to now (including 23" screen) :

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€188.78
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€123.41
EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Superclocked+ (mit Backplate), 2048MB DDR5, PCI- Express|€526.85
8GB-Kit Corsair XMS3 PC3-12800U CL9|€42.47
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€104.02
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€132.29
Corsair Carbide Series 500R schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€96.82
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 800W|€85.10
Thermalright HR-02 Macho|€33.79
ASUS ML239H 58.4cm (23")|€176.45
Rechner - Zusammenbau|€20.00
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1548.97

The mobo isn't available until 27th, and no availabilty time on the gpu I want.

apocalypseDG

BillyCom wrote: »

The mobo isn't available until 27th, and no availabilty time on the gpu I want.

Does anyone have any idea when the GTX680 will be available? It's so scarce right now, surely they can't expect people to wait for such a vague over 7 day dispatch

BillyCom

apocalypseDG wrote: »

Does anyone have any idea when the GTX680 will be available? It's so scarce right now, surely they can't expect people to wait for such a vague over 7 day dispatch

Yup, I'm just gonna have to try ordering it elsewhere.

VenomIreland

BillyCom wrote: »

Yup, I'm just gonna have to try ordering it elsewhere.

Yeah, it's still relatively new so there's not much in stock online, I can see some in stock at scan.co.uk though

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-pny-gtx-680-28nm-pci-e-30-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-1006mhz-1536-cores-dl-dvi-dp-hdmi

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-gigabyte-gtx-680-28nm-pci-e-30-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-1006mhz-1536-cores-dl-dvi-dp-hdmi