Gaming rig for around £1000

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Zoladex

Zoladex

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Im looking for my 1st pc gaming rig.
From what i'v researched so far i'v jumbled together some parts, but am looking for help on the bits im a bit lost on. Any feedback would be most welcome :). If you find something please read both parts, so you can see why i chose it. This is my first move away from laptops lol.

I should point out that im not really interested in overclocking as i would just prefer to get a faster standard version or upgrade later on.

In a nut shell.
CPU: i5 3570 + any fan
GPU: GTX 670
Motherboard: any with 3rd gen i5 slot.
Ram: 8gb 1600MHz
Storage: 90GB SSD & 750Gb 7200rpm HDD
PSU: 650W
Optical: x4 blu-ray
Wireless card: any 2.4Ghz
Sound card: any thing new?
Monitor: 21-27" HD/3D
Extras: Memory Card Reader (in/external?)

CPU: i5 3570. Any fan as better ones seem to be meant for overclocked CPUs. I'v read i7s extra cache and same clock only benefit video editing. Also heard getting 6 cores is pretty pointless as nothing uses them.
GPU: GTX 670. The 680 costs a lot more for little improvement. I did however find the 'GTX 670 Zotac AMP Edition' of it which is apparently even faster than the 680. Is this worth it? or is it an overclocked one that will just be louder and hotter?
Motherboard: . Dont have one yet, though from what i'v researched as long as i get one with a 3rd gen i5 CPU slot its fine. All GPUs seem to fit PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and only ram options are 1600 or 1866.
Ram 8gb 1600MHz. Seems enough, though could get 12. I found 2400MHz, is that worth it? As far as i know standard motherboards only use 1600.
Harddrive: 1x90GB SSD + 750GB HDD. The SSD for windows which is from my laptop(i have the size converter somewhere). Im tempted to get a new one, as i just bought the cheapest i could find at the time. Do the different brands make much of a difference? I heard intel make quick ones but assume an SSD is an SSD, except for those Xtreme edition ones, but there like £2000 for the same size. Im not really looking to Raid them either.

Onwards from here i dont have components but am looking for info.
Wireless card: Does speed make a difference here? there's 150,300 and 450Mbps, but my net is only 10 lol. Do the claimed 'gaming' ones make a difference? I would assume 5Ghz is just for high traffic areas?
PSU: 650W reading a could of threads on here, it seems this is enough for any rig thats not SLi. One 670 is enough :).
Optical: x4 Blu-ray, there are also x10 and x12 speeds. But i assume these are only for writing, i use USB drives for data.
Sound card:. Cant tell the difference between a Sound Blaster Audigy and a ZxR lol. Just buy one with surround sound and mic socket?
Monitor: Im looking to use Nvidias 3D gismo. Is 2560x1440 ok?(though only seems to come in 27" size which might be a bit big for me lol) My laptop is 17" and has 1920x1080 and i'v had no complaints about it. Seems like a good scale up
Case: any tower with enough slots to fit all my bits + memory card reader in. Im not overclocking so i assume i dont need to worry about cooling?

Thanks for any feedback in advance :). Looking forward to joining the PC community lol.

Zola
 
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burritobob
CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock B75 PRO3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£60.00 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£65.00 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.94 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (£309.98 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£21.29 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case (£61.52 @ CCL...
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Optical: x4 Blu-ray, there are also x10 and x12 speeds. But i assume these are only for writing, i use USB drives for data.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't waste money on BD-R on PC personally. I use them but I use them more for transfer of large data files and back ups than I do actually watching movies. For that I mostly wind up watching the iTunes file included.

Sound card:. Cant tell the difference between a Sound Blaster Audigy and a ZxR lol. Just buy one with surround sound and mic socket?
Click to expand...

Not necessary. You're throwing money away purchasing one. Just use the built in audio on your motherboard.

Harddrive: 1x90GB SSD + 750GB HDD. The SSD for windows which is from my laptop(i have the size converter somewhere). Im tempted to get a new one, as i just bought the cheapest i could find at the time. Do the different brands make much of a difference? I heard intel make quick ones but assume an SSD is an SSD, except for those Xtreme edition ones, but there like £2000 for the same size. Im not really looking to Raid them either.
Click to expand...

Yes and no. On mechanical hard drives - zero difference. On SSDs - way too many to count. There's different controllers, different NAND, and so on. I would heavily advise against purchasing an Intel SSD - they use the same crappy outdated Sandforce 2.0 controller that a lot of other manufacturers use. Putting SSDs in RAID 0 or 1 is pointless as well.

Case: any tower with enough slots to fit all my bits + memory card reader in. Im not overclocking so i assume i dont need to worry about cooling?
Click to expand...

You still do even if you're not overclocking. Excessive heat will reduce the longevity of a system greatly. The cooler it is the longer it will last. And on your budget you can definitely afford an unlocked CPU.

Try this on your budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£103.46 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£52.97 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£100.94 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£54.68 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (£310.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case (£82.45 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£76.88 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.13 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £986.47
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-11 23:05 BST+0100)
 
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burritobob

burritobob

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CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock B75 PRO3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£60.00 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£65.00 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.94 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (£309.98 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£21.29 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case (£61.52 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£67.20 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer (£11.99 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Asus VX238H 23.0" Monitor (£147.50 @ Amazon UK)
Other: ntegral USB 2.0 Single Slot SD Reader (£1.69)
Total: £973.09
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Starting from the top down:

For the CPU if you are not overclocking the i5 3470 is the sweet spot, you really will not see any performance difference getting a better CPU that you do not plan on overlcocking.

Next is the motherboard you only need the B75 chipset if you do not plan on overclocking this board is great for the price an performs fantastic.

For the memory that is some great 1600mhz 8GB ram simple easy and cheap, you really cannot beat that.

Instead of a 90GB SSD I chose a 120GB SSD so you have more cushion for games/os/apps that you want to run, and also a 1TB HDD again for much more cushion room.

Onto the video card controversy, you really have no reason to choose the weaker performing slower 670. Your only reason is 3D but let me tell you from first hand experience, frist of all it is unnecessarily taxing on your GPU, you really will not feel much of a difference only a massive drop in performance. IT is not that mystical, it is just really one of those boring technologies that companies buy so they can say they are top of the line. As well as the fact that it is sometimes harder to see many things in game while in 3D mode, and also the simple fact that the 3D is simply not that great. So you really should have no reason to go with the 3D route you will only harm your whole gaming experience. So that brings me to why I chose the 7970, it's a much better GPU in terms of performance you are getting a lot more out of your experience and will be able to max just about every game compared to the slower 670 which can hardly accomplish that without out a struggle. If you want more longevity out of your system you have to go with the 7970.

Onto the network card, It's a great PCi-e card, you really cannot beat it in terms of price it's 2.4GHz etc etc., perfect for this budget.

The case is the 300r a nice sleek cheap tower, it comes down to personal opinion really but this just fits well with the budget for me.

Nice 650w PSU from XFX you really cannot beat that price it is more than enough for this system and really suits this system well.

Optical drive really does not matter, you will not be using BDVD I thought I would but I never have if you really think you will use it, there is still room in the budget for one.

This monitor is fantastic, with a 1 MS response time you will gain an advantage not to mention the price, it fits perfectly into the budget as a 24" monitor that you should really enjoy.

A USB media card reader is best for this build, you really will not find many cases anymore that support this and so you must take the USB route, you could stick it in both the back and the front wherever it is a very highly rated USB device, and is going to be faster than most built in readers.

So at the end of the day this will give you the most satisfying PC experience possible. Now to answer your questions:

For the wireless card you will just about never be using 450mb/s until it becomes a standard, that speed does not matter. 2.4GHz is the standard band for every router, 5GHz is for really short range communications, not when something is full.

650w is more than enough for either build.

Again you really wont use blu-ray just get a cheap easy normal optical and you will be good to go.

Sound cards are a waste of your money, you really should not be getting one there is literally no point in it.

A 23" or 24" is the ideal size monitor, not to big not to small just right.

You do not have to worry about cooling, you could look to the HAF 912 or Corsair 300r whichever floats your boat. Both are quality cases.
 
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burritobob

burritobob

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Your build has no media card reader, also why dump money into z77/K edition CPU when there is no overclocking...

There is also no monitor included which is kind of another 150+ to that build... aka. overbudget.
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Cheap media card readers aren't worth purchasing IMO. The only one that's worth anything is the AFT 55U and I'm not sure that's available anywhere outside the US. You can always get a USB one which I wouldn't include in the budget.

As far as monitor goes you have to keep in mind currency conversion rates - USD $150 is £144.94.
 
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burritobob

burritobob

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Again your build goes with an unwarranted CPU/Mobo combo as well as the fact that you are going to have to add about 150 GBP to the total of the build bringing it way over budget. Your build is simply not the ful package the OP was looking for.
 
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Zoladex

Zoladex

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Thanks for the feedback guys, helped a lot.
Didn't even know motherboards had integrated sound cards. Been a while since i saw a built computer (my dads), only remember that we got a voodoo 2 3000 and a soundcard lol.

I had originally planned on around £700, but after looking around i found u cant really get much of a rig for that.

Now time to start buying the parts :).
Thx again.
 
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Zoladex

Zoladex

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Hey, i was hunting around and still a little stuck between the 7970 and 670.
I have read in a couple of places that the 7970 is meant to be faster (as well as burritobobs' reply here), though slightly more expensive.

Then i stumbled across this,
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_670_Amp_Edition/8.html
the results show that the 670 is better, with the AMP being the best and i believe costing the same as 7970. Though its pretty hard to tell with all the different brands.

Which leads me to another question. Which brand to buy?
Do i just go for the cheapest? i assume they dont go slower than the stock units? I would guess the only difference would be the speed and noise levels, but u cant really tell the difference on the latter.
I did find this for the speeds (Again with amp being the fastest).
http://www.game-debate.com/hardware/index.php?gid=592&graphics=GeForce%20GTX%20670

Edit: after quick look at all the game fps comparison on the 1st link, it seems that its about 50:50 on which games run faster on the 7970. Which now makes it even harder to decide xD.
Thoughts?
 
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Zoladex

Zoladex

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burritobob

burritobob

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-Gigabyte 7970 is cheaper and has a better cooler
-XMS goes to waste 2000mhz is a complete waste, 1600mhz is all you need even 1333mhz works.
-500w is not enough to power this you should be looking at 550w or 600w.
-Case might be two small check manufacturer.
 
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Zoladex

Zoladex

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Thanks for response.
Didn't plan on buying that pc i posted, was just wondering why it was so cheap for so good specs. It was about £80 cheaper than the 670 build i had in mind.

I have had a look at couple of sites comparing cards and it seems to vary a lot from different scenarios. I think it just comes down to which is most affordable.

As for ur build it seems fine, but seems to have a lot upgraded components for my need. I think a pick and mix from urs and Bobs would fit my needs best.
The GPU is more than £100 more than the stock 670 :ouch: (though i did find this lol, http://onetoucharena.eu/product/sapphire-21197-00-40g-ati-radeon-7970-hd-video-card/)
The motherboard is also higher end than i need as overclocking really isn't my thing.

Im also just desciding on a build right now, my focus at the moment is doing up a motorbike for sale. Plan is to use the cash from that to buy the rig, but might be a little while.

Thx guys
 
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