First time building PC ~$1650/£1050/€1300

fakemail15

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Hello! :hello:

This will be my first time trying to make a PC and I am a bit worried about picking the right components. My budget is about €1300 (about $1650 or £1050). I have looked around for the bits and pieces and came up with a few of my own but I still want to hear what ye have to say about them. I am not planing to overclock at the moment, maybe in future years. I have no big brand preference as long as they are trustworthy and offer good warranties. I am also not planing to use multiple graphics cards now, and probably won't get multiple ones in the future.

~~~~~Quick Summary~~~~~

Where I live: Ireland

Approximate purchase date: No Big hurry, but I would like it for summer holidays which are in 2 weeks time.

Budget: ~€1300/£1050/$1650

Preferred store: Amazon.co.uk, There is also this Scan.co.uk, is it good? i've never used it.

System will be used for: Playing games, Internet, Homework, Programming games (hopefully in near future).

Overclocking: Not at the moment, but probably in like 2 years time when the parts won't be too fast for some applications.

SLI/Crossfire: Not at the moment, probably won't do it at all.

Parts Preference: The processor MUST be Intel and I think i want to go with a GeForce graphics card (preferably the 600's series)Other than that, I have no favorites, but I would like to have parts from well known company(with good feedback) and that have good warranties.

Not needed: Monitor, speakers, headset.

~~~~~My parts picked so far~~~~~

Graphics card: I was thinking of a 670 but there are no 670's on Amazon, but there is one on Scan.com.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-670-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-915mhz-boost-980mhz-cores-1344-2x-dl-dvi-dp-hd

RAM: 8GB should be enough. I saw some other ones similar to this one but without those "spikes", what's the difference? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004QBUL1C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Hard Drive: I want either WD or Seagate, i heard they are the best. I was a 2TB WD green for £80 and WD 1TB for £80, what's the difference(other than the price)?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-6Gbps-Saving-Internal/dp/B004VFJ9MK/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1337447875&sr=1-1

PSU: I have one Picked out, But i think I'd prefer a modular because it would make sorting the cables easier http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004O0P9VC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Case: I like the look of this one, and it's big enough to store everything inside (i hope so anyway!)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005E983JW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=A1HVS4RF533X76

Motherboard: i don't know which one would be best, i've heard that this one is good.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007KZQE6C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Processor: I think I will go with the intel core i5-3570k
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007RUZKK6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Optical disk drive: Something cheap, but will last a while. I will probably use it like once a month or less. maybe upto £25 for it?

Processor cooler: There was this Hyper Master Cooler Evo or something like that, but now the seller is not selling them anymore and i don't want to have 5 separate orders... are there any other ones i could consider getting?

Mouse: i've an old mouse that has this circular connector with pins, and those are not used on motherboards anymore, so i thought of getting a usb mouse. i heard that this one is good:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002RL9A2O/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Keyboard: Same reason as with the mouse, the connectors won't match... so i will go with usb. I am getting this keyboard because the blue will match my case colour and the mouse. :)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0046EDIHS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE



That's about what I have so far. Please tell me what you think, and give me suggestions (and if you have suggestions, please give a reason why, just a sentence or 2 is all I ask).

If you could look through the list and say something like that "processor, good choice. Motherboard, i would get (fill in) because....." I would be really thankful.

Before i forget, what is the difference between the WD green and black and blue (and other rainbow colors)?
Should i wait for the companies to release their own cooling method on the GeForce cards? I can wait a 2 or 3 more weeks if it will have a big difference on performance and how long the cards will last, etc..



That's about all I have to ask for now,
Thanks in advance! :D
 

chinesepanda

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I would recommend you buy a computer for your needs now rather than for your future needs (programming).

If you want one in two weeks, you're going to have a hard time finding anything from the 600's series. Intel is also going to be releasing new processors very soon and I recommend you get those first.

I, myself, like to time my computer upgrades with new processor socket releases.

If you absolutely MUST have one right now, change your card to a gtx 580 instead of a 670 because even one 580 is still overkill for absolutely everything on the market.
 

fakemail15

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I won't be changing my computer for a good while... Probably not until I Finish school, and i have another 5 years to go. I am starting to do basic programming at the moment and i love to play games in spare time. What time is the new processor coming out? and what are they going to be called so i can look it up myself a bit.
 

chinesepanda

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My motto is to always upgrade on a TOCK. The ticks are mostly just cheaper versions with similar speeds. Though extreme versions sometimes get somewhat drastic changes, the price reflects it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Tick-Tock

If you're going to be using the computer for the next 5 years at least, then you most definitely want to wait for the tock in March.

Why buy last generation parts for a long-term computer?

My current one is going to last me for quite a while too. I'm probably going to upgrade when the Skylake is released


Another thing, you're buying an i5 which is a processor targeted at the main consumer but you're looking for a GTX 600 series which is a video card targeted at enthusiasts. There is going to be some bottle-necking there.
 

fakemail15

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so you are saying to hold off another year?

The computer i am using at the moment was with me for like 5 years and i think it deserves to go on a retirement (it works reaaalllyyy sllllooowwwlllyyy with like 4 web sites open and it also sometimes freezes)

One the last thread that i started, i was told that the i5-2500k sandy bridge would work great with the 680, but i decided to hold off for ivy bridge.

now i hear that a more expensive and newer processor won't work too well with a 670, which is lower than the 680.

did the other people make a mistake?
 

chinesepanda

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no, i worded it wrong. they are compatible physically but what im talking about is your desire to program.

For example, if you're programming a script for video editing, your graphics card will be much faster at rendering the image than your processor can handle since it can only run 4 threads at once.

I have a i7-990x and my problem with video rendering is that my graphics cards can't render 12 threads faster than my processor so I'm stuck waiting for the graphics cards.

You are only as strong as the weakest link. I would recommend getting either ALL enthusiast parts or getting ALL consumer parts.

I would never buy $5000 rims for my crappy ass Honda and I would never buy $20 rims for an amazing Lamborghini .
 

fakemail15

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I see, So you suggest to either get a better CPU or lower end card... I think i want to stay to the 600's series. the physix and other features are so cool.

What do you suggest doing? getting an intel i7?
 

chinesepanda

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yeah definitely an i7, if you want to wait for the next tock that would be best, if not you might as well just get the last "tock" instead of the current tick (buy a sandy bridge), they're probably a lot cheaper than they were before

 

fakemail15

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How long will it take for the next "tock"?



Here is the list of prices:

i5-3750k (£175): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Generation-i5-3570K-3-40GHz-Technology/dp/B007RUZKK6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337463743&sr=8-1

i7-3750k (£250): http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B007X1JM30/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

i5-2500k (£160): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Sandybridge-i5-2500K-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B004FA8NX2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337463888&sr=8-1

i7-2600k (£220): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Sandybridge-i7-2600K-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B004FA8NOQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1337464015&sr=1-1



The price difference between the two i5's is on't £15. Not too much for a new generation.
Is there something wrong with the prices of i7? The price jump is HUGE.

why do i need to get the i7 anyway? does it speed up the work when trying to program something? and if it does speed up, how much improvement will i see with an i7 over an i5? and will i not need like an ssd?
 


Scan is quite popular in the UK, I have used it.

The 'spikes' on the RAM are usually called heatspreaders. They were originally added to RAM in the DDR2 days when the voltages on RAM was above 2V and people overclocked them and they got quite hot. Now I think their main purpose is to 'look good', as RAM on DDR3 memory is usually 1.65V or below (especially on SB/IB) so doesn't produce as much heat.
However they can severely restrict your choice in CPU cooler. So I would recommend getting a set without tall heatspreaders.

The Caviar Greens spin at 5400RPM, so are slower, cooler and quieter. I don't really know the differences between the Blacks and the Blues, except that the Blacks will have longer warranties. However I personally would steer clear of Caviar Blacks as they are pretty bad in terms of heat and noise.

Some alternatives to the Hyper 212 Evo if you decide that you "don't want 5 separate orders"
Zalman CNPS10X Performa £27.49
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-CNPS10X-PERFORMA-High-Performance-Cooler/dp/B00350O5DK/ref=sr_1_20?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1337466591&sr=1-20
There are few other coolers on Amazon at or below £30 that I would recommend.

If you're willing to spend more then either the Thermalright True Spirit 120, True Spirit 140 (a particularly tall cooler at 170mm so have to make sure that the case can fit it, which the Corsair 500R can) or HR-02 Macho.
Because these are some of the best air coolers available, both in terms of temps and noise, according to reviews at Xbitlabs and HardOCP.

The Corsair Carbide 500R is the sort of case that could do quite well with a non-modular PSU. But I will probably try to find a modular PSU for you tomorrow.

The 'circular connector with pins' is called PS/2. The Asus P8Z77-V PRO actually does have one PS/2 port on it's back panel, so you could actually reuse your old mouse or keyboard if you want to keep them/save money.
 

fakemail15

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Thanks for your reply!

If I do not need the Heat-spreaders on the RAM, which ones do you think would be good? I found a few but they are so similar but the price on them has huge differences.
For example these two:

GSkill 8GB (2x4GB) 1600Mhz DDR3 Ripjaw X Series Intel XMP Memory
http://www.amazon.co.uk/GSkill-1600Mhz-Ripjaw-Series-Memory/dp/tech-data/B005IP84DC/ref=de_a_smtd

Corsair Vengeance Memory 8GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Two Module Kit
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CML8GX3M2A1600C9B-Vengeance-Memory-1600MHz/dp/tech-data/B0058J1Q7O/ref=de_a_smtd

What does the latency on them mean? it's like 9-9-9-24.
The GSkill is also "Designed for 2nd generation Intel Core Processor family and the Intel Z68 and P67 platforms" does it mean it won't work with the Z77 motherboards?
And the warranties are "different" as well. One has a "limited life warranty" while the GSkill has "life time warranty". what is the difference between them?




Ok, with the HHD, I found that the Green ones say that:
their RPM is "IntelliPower" (this means that "A fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate and caching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance. " - found it on http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/262538-14-what-intellipower)
You can store from 320GB up to 3TB
are eco friendly
Warranty is 2 years
their Cache is 16 - 64 MB

where as the blue ones:
have 7200RPM
are like the "original" HDD
store from 80GB up to 1TB
Have 2 year warranty
their cache is between 8 and 32MB

Will the RPM and the Cache make a huge difference? If not, i will probably go with green because
1TB blue costs £73 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Caviar-SATAIII-Internal/dp/B00461LT6S/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1337505588&sr=1-3)
2TB Green costs £90 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-6Gbps-Saving-Internal/dp/B004VFJ9MK/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1337447875&sr=1-1)

About £15 more and i get 1TB extra!



I could try and look for a seller with the Hyper 212 EVO and also see if they sell other things i will need... lets say a GeForce 670, which would result in getting everything in 2 orders (either way i would have to get 2 orders because there are non on amazon so if i could squeeze in the cooler from them it would be great). I'll check on scan.co.uk straight away.


Do you know if I would be able to pay Scan.co.uk in Euro? I live in Ireland where we do not use £. so that might be a problem.



I found a 400R case from amazon and not some 3rd party seller, so my question is... is there a big difference between the two?


I think i will get the new keyboard and mouse, just because they are getting really old now. Maybe you can suggest me a good keyboard and mouse(cheaper )? preferably blue lights. I don' really like red.


And the motherboard, I put in that one just to have a rough idea of the price over all, if you know any other ones (better that is and around that price, maybe £20-£30 more) can you let me know?


THANK YOU for helping me out this much! Looking forward to hearing from you.
 

Latency is an indicator of performance of the memory. The lower the better, however it has been shown in reviews multiple times that on the Sandy Bridge platform anything faster than 1600MHz CAS9 (such as 9-9-9-24) is poor value unless the program desperately needed as much RAM performance as possible and this is rarely true outside of synthetic benchmarks.
There have been some improvements to Ivy Bridge's memory controller, but I doubt that this has changed.

As for "Designed for 2nd generation Intel Core Processor family and the Intel Z68 and P67 platforms", no that does not mean that it won't work with the Ivy Bridge platfrom. It is just marketing as far as I'm concerned. They probably have done a lot of testing on Sandy Bridge motherboards, so made a point of that fact to try to increase sales.
Lifetime warranty is a warranty for the life of the product, I don't know what that is supposed to be though. Limited lifetime is for the life of the product but with some restrictions, again I don't know what those are.

The other difference between sets is the voltage. For Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge it basically has to be below 1.65V, 1.5V preferred and the lower the better. The G.Skill set you linked has it's voltage specified at 1.35V, while the Corsair set is 1.5V.
I'd probably go for the Corsair Vengeance LP set as it is cheaper and it is truly low profile, while the G.Skill set might not be as bad as the original Vengeance it still does potentially pose a problem.


The RPM does make a noticeable difference, but cache doesn't. For a boot drive I would recommend a 7200RPM drive. If you were going to use a smallish SSD drive (64-128GB) and you just needed something to store data on then there's nothing wrong with a slower 'green' drive.

Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM ST1000DM003 £70
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-inch-Barracuda-Desktop-Drive/dp/B0073Q7H00/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1337523401&sr=1-3
The 3TB version was positively reviewed at SPCR, so if this is anything like that then it is a good drive.


No I don't know if you'll be able to pay in Euros. I've tried to find info about orders from Ireland both at Scan's website and from affiliated forums like the Bit-tech and Hexus, but nothing seemed obvious came up on searches.
I imagine that someone whether it be your credit/debit card company or Scan will do a currency conversion, but they might charge for that.

Have you heard of Komplett.ie?

Another user that I helped from Ireland used Hardwareversand, which has Europe wide shipping.


The differences between the 400R and 500R are that the 500R has a removable HDD cage and has a built in fan controller. They both come with three 120mm fans, but the 500R also comes with a large 200mm fan on the side panel.


There are a number of options when it comes to the motherboard.
First, you could get the non-PRO version as the only differences I've noticed is one less internal USB 3.0 header, one less fan connector (5 vs 6) and less power phases.

I would also look at the Asrock Z77 Extreme4 and the Gigabyte Z77X-D3H for a cheaper board, but still pretty good.

Second you could get a board which is just as expensive, if not more so, but will have more connectors and sometimes features. Like the ASRock Z77 Extreme6, which has eSATA and Firewire ports (to match up with the connectors on the Corsair's 400R/500R front panel), as well as a better audio codec. But less power phases and two less USB 2.0 and two less USB 3.0 ports.

The Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H-WB WI-FI and the Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H-WB WI-FI are also better boards features wise. There are non-Wi-Fi versions, which if available are cheaper.

I reckon if you choose from one of 7 mentioned so far then you can't really go wrong.
 

fakemail15

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so if i went with the Corsair LP ram it would be fine? And will 8GB be enough for now?

Should i get the Ivy bridge or the sandy bridge? the prices are similar
ivy bridge i7-3570k is £175
sandy bridge i5-2500k is £160

OR Should i get an i7 like the person above mentioned in the first reply?


Do you know what the difference between the 7200RPM and the other one will be? as in transferring data etc.?

i won't be getting an SSD for now.

the Seagate Barracuda you posted is really similar with price to the WD Blue i had. same storage and speeds. the only difference i noticed was the Cache(i think).



For paying in different currencies, i think the banks should sort it out, but i was just asking, maybe you knew a bit more. I have looked at the Komplett.ie but i forgot about their store. do you know anything about them? as in if they are good to make business etc. and the other store, does it ship the things to ireland, and will i need to pay all the fees (TAXes and other ones i don't remember the name of) for bringing the things into ireland?



Thanks for telling me the difference between he 500R and the 400R. I think i will stay with the 500R because of the fan control. :) will i need special fans for the controller to work?


i found these charts:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/z77-extreme6-z77a-gd65-z77h2-a2x,review-32434-22.html
and according to them, the galaxy Z77X-UD3H would be the best.

I don't know which motherboard to get. i don't mind paying a bit extra than the ones there if it will make a huge difference.

Wifi isn't a must, but having one would be great, so the current printer i have in my room, i could use the internet wire (forgot the name) for the printer without having to keep repluging it when someone wants to print stuff other computers in the house.

Thanks for helping me so far. Sorry if i ask so many questions, but it's my first build and i am a bit worried that i will go wrong.
 

Yes and yes.


I don't agree with his assessment of an i5 as a non-enthusiast part. It offers great performance and will do so for quite a long time.
It is conceivable that the i7 will have greater longevity, in terms of it taking longer to feel the need to upgrade.
But to get an i7 in budget I think you'd have to downgrade an easier to replace part like the GPU.


It's the booting of the OS and starting up and running of programs that will be most noticeably affected by choosing a 5400RPM drive over a 7200RPM one. Booting of the OS in particular can take an extra 10 seconds and it's already.
If you need lots of storage it is very easy to add another HDD to the build later.
You should know that HDD prices are fairly high atm so I think it is a good idea to get the bare minimum and add drives later when prices have come down.


Komplett.ie is just one of the very few stores I know which delivers to Ireland.
Again I just know that another user from Ireland used them. I did a quick google search and people have only mentioned that the delivery charges are 20-30€, but nothing about paying any other fees.


No I don't think so.


The phrase "diminishing returns" applies quite strongly to most motherboards IMO; after a certain price they add very little - outside of extreme overclocking ability - to the features/performance/value of the product.

I think I would recommend choosing between the Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H-WB WiFi and the Z77X-UD5H-WB WiFi.

You can actually buy add-on USB/PCIe WiFi cards.
 

fakemail15

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Thanks for the replies!

I don't know what you mean by getting a cheaper HDD now and upgrading later... lets say i can get 1TB for £70 and 2TB for about £85... so if you do the maths, i will get 1TB extra for £15. I doubt that in lets say 1 year when i run out of space i will be able to get anew HDD 1TB for £15.

That's how i understand it anyway, it's probably now what you mean, so can you explain it to me? Thanks.


How long do the deliveries from Komplett.ie take to arrive? The ones i get from amazon are free, but they can take a few days to come and if the time is the same, i'd prefer to get from amazon and save the €30 on delivery.


I'll look into these Motherboards soon, thanks for pointing them out to me.

I know you can get those Wifi cards, but I don't know the cost. Maybe you know how much they cost?

Thank you for all your help so far. :)
 
My main concern with the HDD was getting a 7200RPM one, if I had realised that you could get a good 2TB drive for a good price then I probably wouln't have written half of what I did.

Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM ST2000DM001 £84
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Barracuda-inch-Internal-Drive/dp/B006H32Q3S/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1337719340&sr=1-3

You should probably know that HDD prices are quite 'inflated' at the moment because of the flooding in Thailand, for instance I got a 2TB 5400RPM drive in June 2011 for £45.

I meant to say that Hardwareversand charges €20-30 for delivery (according to what I found on that quick google search). Something else I noticed was that they tended to say that it usually takes up to 5 business days to arrive. I also noticed them saying that the prices were good on Hardwareversand, which combined with a good choice of components sometimes makes buying from them worthwhile as long as you are spending a lot overall.

I don't know how long it takes for deliveries from komplett.ie to arrive.
 

fakemail15

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Thanks for the HDD! But, there is one thing i am a bit worried about, it's the warranty. It's only 1 year! :??:
Do you think that this will be a problem? From the reviews i read on newegg and amazon,like half of them were marked bad. also, some of the 4 and 5 star ones on newegg said that "the HDD works fine, but i hear scratching coming from it, i wonder how long it will last" I am a bit worried about that, i don't want to throw out £90 and having to replace like 1 month after the warranty runs out.

Any idea on what to do about it?


if the Hardwaresand doesn't offer any special discounts for spending a good few hundred, i might aswell go with amazon because i can get a free delivery that takes like 5 days to come aswell.


But overall, if i went with these

Graphics card: GTX 670
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb [...] -dvi-dp-hd

RAM: 8GB should be enough.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CML8GX3M2A1600C9B-Vengeance-Memory-1600MHz/dp/tech-data/B0058J1Q7O/ref=de_a_smtd

Hard Drive: I am just waiting for your reply on this one.

PSU: should i go with a modular one or stick with the one i have? and will like 750W be enough or too much?

Case: i think i will stay with the 500R
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product [...] S4RF533X76

Motherboard: I will decide on that one within a few days, for now i have a lot of studying every night for the tests coming up in a few days.

Processor: I think I will go with the intel core i5-3570k. will it not be a bottle neck with any other parts?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product [...] ROKL5A1OLE

Optical disk drive: Something cheap, but will last a while. maybe upto £25 for it? I won't really use it anyway, just like a CD with a game or the OS.

Processor cooler: most likely Hyper Master Evo. Is there like a Hyper Master evo 2? i heard that one of them had like gaps between the copper wires that transfer heat, while the ones which didn't worked better. i want the one that has no gaps inbetween the cooling pipes things. Which one will that be?

Mouse: I think i will go with that one, unless you have a different suggestion?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product [...] ROKL5A1OLE

Keyboard: I am getting this keyboard(only if i will get the mouse above) because the blue will match my case colour and the mouse. :)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product [...] ROKL5A1OLE




Did i leave out anything needed? i have the monitor which i got like 1 months ago so i won't need that.
Will all the parts work together fine and will there be any bottle necks?
Ohh, and the GTX670, should i wait for the aftermarket coolers (if so, how long for them to come out?)

I hope you can answer all the questions i have up there.
THANK YOU! :)