1st time builder looking for some advice

[gawldy]

Hello All,

I want to build a good gaming rig, to play all modern upto date games and maybe have a 3 years plus use going forward.

My budget is actually £1000.

I have pulled together the following but am over budget, but can probably stretch to it.

Am seeking advice / reassurance that this will firstly all be compatible and secondly is good value (am I over doing it).

Was going to put a few main games (mmos) and OS on the SSD.

All comments welcomed, as complete novice and not going to be offended.

The Processor

Intel Sandybridge i5-2500K Unlocked Core i5 Quad-Core Processor (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache, Socket 1155) £167.40

The Motherboard

Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 Motherboard (Socket 1155, ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, HDMI, Bluetooth Module) £158.10

The Case

Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Midi Case Support Multiple Graphics Cards including NVIDIA 3-Way SLI, Cable Organizer Sits Behind the Motherboard Tray £88.94

The RAM

G-Skill 8GB Ripjaws X DDR3 1333 Dual Kit - Red £32.94

The Graphics Card

XFX Radeon HD 6970 - Graphics adapter - Radeon HD 6970 - PCI Express 2.1 x16 - 2 GB GDDR5 - DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort £272.49

The Hard Drive

SEAGATE 2TB 7.2RPM 3.5 6G/B SATA 64MB BARRACUDA XT 7200.12 £139.95

The SSD

Corsair CSSD-F120GBGT-BK Force Series 120GB Solid State Drive £151.99

The Optical Drive

Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x Blu-ray Player (Bare Drive with Software) £46.86

The Power Supply

Antec CP-850 - Power supply ( internal ) - ATX12V 2.3/ EPS12V 2.91 - AC 100-240 V - 850 Watt - active PFC - United Kingdom £101

Cooling Fan

Cooler Master Excalibur 120mm Fan £13

Operating System

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, Full Version (PC DVD), 1 User £99

Monitor

ASUS VE278Q 27 inch LED Widescreen Full HD 1080p with HDMI Display Port 2ms Response Time Picture in Picture £239.36


PRESENT TOTAL : £1511.03 (based on present Amazon.co.uk)

I look forward to your comments

 

[elayman]

You can cut a little cost by going with the OEM version of windows and possibly find a slightly better PSU (that one is only 80+, maybe find 80+silver if you can), and if you aren't planning on crossfire, you can drop down to a 600W

 

[tinmann]

You have a nice list of components. I don't think you should change a thing except to go with 1600 MHz ram instead of the 1333. I have the same motherboard and I use the Corsair Vengeance 1600 in blue because the motherboard is blue and it's $50.00 USD for 8gbs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

I see the Antec case you are considering also comes with blue led fans which matches up with you Motherboard nicely.
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Mid-Tower-Gaming-Hundred-V3/dp/B004ALI5KC.
Good luck with your project and keep us posted.

 

[gawldy]

Thank you very much for your replies guys.

I am happy to see the 3 days of trawling through countless forums and web reviews did some how sink in.

I didn't even notice the colour thing, not something I was looking at.

Of course it is NOW and have added in the Blue set of RAM to the spec

Corsair CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Vengeance Blu Memory Two Module Kit

Am going to wait a few days to ensure I don't get any more 2nd thoughts or doubts over it, then start ordering.

I will keep you updated of course.

Thanks again.

 

[gawldy]

Another question (sorry)

If I was to drop the Graphics Card and use an existing Radeon 5800 series, this wouldn't ruin the build would it?

Just looking at dropping the cost if possible and when I reviewed Graphics Hierarchy on this site it didn't appear to be a large step up.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6950-1gb-geforce-gtx-560-ti-gaming-graphics-card,2857-7.html

Maybe this is showing more of my newbie knowledge.

Thanks

 

[elayman]

I think it would be a huge step up in performance with the 6970. You could always get the gpu later if you wanted to wait for the 7000 series to come out too

 

[Elessar_Dan]

Honestly, id downgrade the CPU in that build. If you're building a gaming PC then you wont need something that good, going for something in the £100 range will do you just fine. And if you do that you could also downgrade your motherboard to something in the £100 pound range. On a gaming PC it is unlikely that your CPU is gonna cause a bottle neck.

The 6950 is good, although http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-xfx-hd-6970-dd-cooled-pci-e-21-(x16)-5500mhz-gddr5-gpu-880mhz-1536-cores-2x-mdp-dl-dvi-i-dvi-hdm is selling it slightly cheaper.

You could also shave a few quid off by going with http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2tb-samsung-hd204ui-spinpoint-f4eg-sata-3gb-s-5400rpm-32mb-cache-89ms-ncq for your hard drive. Lower rpm, but if you have a second hard drive for booting and running apps then its not that big of a deal.

Which brings me to my next recommendation for saving money, which is to not get the SSD drive. They do make things start up faster, but i honestly dont think you'll get enough in-game improvement to warrant the 150 quid you're gonna spend on it. Maybe got for http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500gb-seagate-st500dm002-barracuda-sata-6gb-s-7200rpm-16mb-cache-85ms-ncq too boot stuff from? Or if you really want an SSD drive to boot from then you could get away with a much cheaper 60gb one instead of a 120gb.

You could save a few quid by just getting a bog standard dvd player for <15 quid, but that depends on how much blu-ray you're planning on using.

Also, bear in mind your case comes with 3x120mm and 1x200mm fans, so you probably dont need to buy anymore.

 

[gawldy]

Thanks for all the help guys.

I have made amendments taking in all of your expert advice.

I am very keen to keep the same CPU and Motherboard.

I will stick with my own GPU for now and look at upgrading when the 7 series is out, maybe this would justify the more expensive board and CPU on the initial build. Although maybe they won't be compatible (really struggled to understand if this was or wasn't the case, doesn't bode well I know)

Lowered the SSD size (great point only having OS and maybe 2 mmo's on it and few little bits)

Ditched the Blu-ray, no rush here in time maybe.

Ditched the extra fan.

And also changed the Hard Drive again valid and good point from Elessar_dan.

Changed the Monitor.

Please feel free to comment further, but the amended build as follows:

The Processor
Intel Sandybridge i5-2500K Unlocked Core i5 Quad-Core Processor (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache, Socket 1155) £167.40

The Motherboard
Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 Motherboard (Socket 1155, ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, HDMI, Bluetooth Module) £158.10

The Case
Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Midi Case Support Multiple Graphics Cards including NVIDIA 3-Way SLI, Cable Organizer Sits Behind the Motherboard Tray £88.94

The RAM
Corsair CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B 16GB (4x4GB) 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Vengeance Blu Memory Four Module Kit £68.00

The Graphics Card
Have a Radeon HD 5800 series already

The Hard Drive(s)
Samsung F4 EcoGreen 2TB 32MB 5400RPM 3.5 Inch SATA-II Internal Hard Drive - 3 Year Warranty - OEM £102.99

The SSD(s)
Corsair CSSD-F60GBGT-BK Force Series 60GB Solid State Drive £89.99

The Optical Drive
Samsung SH-S223C 22x SATA DVD RW Writer Burner £10.95

The Power Supply
Antec CP-850 - Power supply ( internal ) - ATX12V 2.3/ EPS12V 2.91 - AC 100-240 V - 850 Watt - active PFC - United Kingdom £101

Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium with Service Pack 1, 64-bit, English, 1 Pack, DSP OEI (PC) £73

Monitor
LG E2251VR 22 inch LED Widescreen Monitor - Glossy Black (HDMI, Backlit LED, 1080p, Full HD) £109.99

Total with all: £970.36

 

[gawldy]

A shameless bump maybe, but just want to check all still looks compatible.

General concern regarding case and PSU can't find nothing to confirm 100% that it will fit.

Also have assumed that this will all be fine if I add a 7 series GPU in the future or maybe a 2nd 5 series?

I could also save money dropping down to i3, but surley that is a step too far and I would need to upgrade sooner for new future games high end?

Again I look forward to any advice or comments.