Need advice/help on building a new desktop.

kittykylie

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Apr 9, 2013
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HI, im new to this forum so excuse me if i do something wrong.

I am planning on buying and building my own gaming desktop pc. I play games that hog the CPU like crazy so i need some advice if the specs ive choose are any good to run my games on highest graphics, yet allow me to use the pc for work if ever needed.

Ill post the list i composed:-

Tower: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Full tower case with superspeed USB 3.0 (RC-932-KKN5-GP)

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus V extreme LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6GB/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel motherboard

CPU: 2nd Gen Intel core i5 2500k 3.30GHZ socket LGA1155

Graphics card : Zotac Geforce GTX 660T: 928MHZ 2GB PCI-Express 3.0 HDMI AMP

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32GB( 4x 8GB) DDR3 1600MHZ (PC3-12800) Desktop memory (CMZ32GX3M4X1600)

PSU: Corsair Builders Series CX600 V2

I am also after a water cooling system kit(120mm) but have struggled finding one as water cooling is new to me. I do how ever want the kind that are like coloured tubes.

I will also be purchasing a new monitor, speakers, and other non essitanials seperalty.

I have a budget of around £1000-2000. Im planning on getting it within the next few months and im in the Uk.

Sorry if it all confusing :s

Thanks in Advance,

Kylie.


 
Get the i5 3570k because it is newer.

You have to piece together your own water cooling setup.

Try to get a better GPU. Something like a gtx670 or hd7950.

WAY WAY WAY too much RAM. 8gb is more than enough for gaming right now. If you want to be set for years to come get 16gb. No more.
 

Kadathan

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Mar 25, 2013
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I find myself wondering why you are going for the 2nd gen i5 2500k when you can get the ivybridge 3570k for your price range. The 3rd gen chip will run cooler so you would be able to overclock it higher once you've picked out your cooler.

Beyond that, what OS are you planning on running? Because 32 GB of ram is pretty excessive in my personal opinion, and windows 7 home premium has a maximum limit of 16gb of ram, unless you plan on going for ultimate or professional. I think, you would be quite hard pressed to find a game that will be using up 16 GB of ram, however buying better RAM on the other hand is a great option. Anything overclocked, which your board should support, and the lower the cas latency the better. Or, so goes my opinion...

Edit: Beaten to the punch, at least my post agrees with Voices though so maybe it is good advice :D
 
thats a very healthy budget

looks unbalanced to me

that motherboards too expensive

shouldnt be a 2500k--should be a 3570k

graphics card is too low--should be a gtx670 or amd 7970

32gb ram is far too much for gaming--8gb is enough and even 16gb is more than needed to game

i would suggest something like a corsair h80 for water cooling

you can just sleeve the black tubes to whatever colour you want

didnt see a ssd drive in your list
 

kittykylie

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Apr 9, 2013
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Would you know where i can find a water cooling setup? I looked on Corsairs website and they had these weird ones with radiatoers.

And are all Nvadia gpu's compatible with the listed motherboard and CPU?

I ask only because i(and my husband) liked the lights on the Zotac Graphics card. And is there any harm in too much ram? Or is it just a waste of money? Thanks

Also to the other qs(wow you guys are fast):-

I already have a 1tb harddrive so wont need one.

The motherboard i picked, well i liked the colour (sorry im one of those that has to have everything in a colour scheme, its red+black sadly enough)

I also wrote this list last year when on less of a budget but now its not an issue.

Ill be using Win 7 professional.



 


For gaming anything over 8gb RAM is a HUGE waste of money.

Those coolers are saw are 'closed loop coolers'. They aren't any better than a good air cooler. The kind you are looking for are custom loop coolers and they cannot be purchased as kits. You have to piece them together yourself.

Any GPU will be compatible with any CPU and motherboard that you are looking at.



 

Kadathan

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Mar 25, 2013
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Too much ram is a waste of money unless your job is 3D rendering. You simply will never use more than 16gb without running some sort of experimental simulations or the such.... So without knowing you and your habits, it is still a safe bet that 32gb is a waste of money. Buy better, not more, the spare ram is probably only going to be used to extend L3 cache when the comp is idle so there is that.
 

kittykylie

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Apr 9, 2013
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So its not a standard water cooler? Least that makes more sense. But would you still need a radiatoer for loop coolers?

Excuse my question but isnt all ram the same? How can there be better ram? And whos best company you would recommend?

Also if i choose different items, im guessing not all fit certain towers though?
 

Kadathan

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Mar 25, 2013
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This ram that he has posted is extremely reliable ram that has been heavily tested. They back it with a lifetime warranty... However it is not the "Best" ram, it is more reliable than most that you can buy and is at the highest stock speed for DDR3 RAM, 1600 mHz. It also has a cas latency of 11, which is a bit on the slow side. You could get overclocked RAM with a lower Cas Latency, but overclocking ram reduces it's reliability. So it is performance vs reliability, which is better is very subjective, but there most definately is better or worse ram.

Edit: And for your tower question, I am not sure if you know but there are standard ratings for towers and what equipment will fit them. For instance, a mid or full ATX tower will fit any ATX motherboard, but ATX is not the same thing as flex ATX, micro ATX, BTX, NTX. Make sure that your powersupply, motherboard, case, all fit the same form factor(I would go with ATX personally, larger but roomier) then make sure that your motherboard supports the socket you want, 1155 socket for i5 3570k, also that motherboard is z77 for the chipset to take full advantage of the chip (You have already done this), then make sure your cooler, wether it is water or standard heatsink and fan, will fit the LGA 1155 processor socket.

Sorry if you knew most of that already, just trying to be thorough.
 

kittykylie

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Apr 9, 2013
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Sorry to say but i have no understanding of overclocking. Id rather have reliable thatll last after the hassle i had with my very 1st basic build

EDIT: No i didnt know that about towers so thank you for your advice. I was actually just using a measuring tape so thatll be much easier for me know than measuring everything!

Thanks again.
 

Kadathan

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Mar 25, 2013
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Actually with ram, the ram chip comes overclocked for you, similar to how say, Zotac or EVGA might overclock a GPU for their retail. It is safer and easier than doing it yourself.

Also if you don't plan on overclocking your ram or your CPU, you could save some cash and downgrade your processor to the i5 3570 (No K on the end) and get a cheaper motherboard... but if you want power, overclocking really isn't so complicated if you follow an experienced person's guide, and you can get some pretty significant power gains for your computer. Your current setup fully allows for it, too.
 

kittykylie

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Apr 9, 2013
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I will probably stick with the higher end CPU and motherboard for if/when i understand overclocking.

 

kittykylie

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Apr 9, 2013
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Oh. I thought id need one for the graphics and such.

May i ask what the point of overclocking is? Id be afaird to overclock and fry my desktop.
 

kittykylie

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Apr 9, 2013
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Ok, well thank you all. Youve all been super helpful

 
should point out why i recommended that ram

reliability

overclocking potential should you need it in the future--though 1600mhz is the sweet spot anyway

and actually if not overclocking it the latency can be lowered well below cas 11 at the usual 1600mhz

and at only 1.4v instead of 1.5v

tested it at

- 1600MHz (7-8-8-24 1N) @ 1.40v
- 1866MHz (9-9-9-27 1N) @ 1.40v
- 2000MHz (9-10-10-28 1N) @ 1.45v
- 2133MHz (10-10-10-28 1N) @ 1.45v
- 2400MHz (11-11-11-28 2N) @ 1.50v

and should you choose to go with a large air cooler rather than watercooling

this ram has the lowest profile i have ever seen on ddr3