Z77 2500K All-Rounder

[pazz]

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Approximate Purchase Date: May 2012

Budget Range: £500-£650

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Office, Video Encoding, Storage

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Any UK Online Supplier

Country: England, United Kingdom

Parts Preferences: No preference, but good value with maximum warranty length

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (for upgradability in 1 or 2 years time by buying another card possibly)

Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050 (excellent screen for colour gamut but not the greatest resolution unfortunately)

Additional Comments: Case needs to be aluminium and high quality build (Mac-like)

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Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
BX80623I52500K

Crucial 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz Ballistix Sport Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V
BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU

Seagate 1TB Barracuda 3.5" SATA-III Hard Drive - 7200RPM 64MB Cache
ST1000DM003

ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 S1155 Intel Z77 DDR3 ATX
Z77 Extreme 4

Samsung SH-222BB 22x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA Optical Drive - OEM Black
SH-222BB/BEBE

Gigabyte GTX 560 OC Edition 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI Mini HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card
GV-N56GOC-1GI

OCZ Technology ZS Series 550W 80+ Bronze Power Supply
OCZ-ZS550W-UK

Lian-Li PC-A05FNB Aluminium Tool-less Midi Case Black USB3.0
PC-A05FNB

 

[foscooter]

Case: Antec P280

PSU: Corsair AX750.

RAM: Corsair Vengance 8GB kit (2x4GB) DDR3-1600

Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V Pro

Wait, that's my build.

Way your choices. Other than you might need more than 550W PSU, looks good.

 

[azeem40]

For CF 560, he won't need more than 650W.

 

[pazz]

Case: Antec P280

PSU: Corsair AX750.

RAM: Corsair Vengance 8GB kit (2x4GB) DDR3-1600

Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V Pro

Wait, that's my build.

Way your choices. Other than you might need more than 550W PSU, looks good.

Thanks for the reply.

Antec P280 is a little out of my budget @ £100 for a case.

ASRock Z77 is better value than the Asus and yet has same features

 

[pazz]

For CF 560, he won't need more than 650W.

The PSU is a bit of a concern at only 550W Will it be sufficient for the spec I've quoted? I can always swap it upon buying another GPU in a years time.

I read somewhere that 1x decent GPU is always beter than 2x SLi/CrossFire though? So I could in a years time just swap single GPU for something better when the technology has moved onto PCI-E 3.0.

 

[azeem40]

For your specs, it is fine.

 

[pazz]

Is the GTX 560 good enough for 1680x1050 BF3 @ ultimate detail?

 

[azeem40]

It should give you 30fps, but otherwise, I'd just run at high.

 

[pazz]

The card I've spec'd is slightly overclocked at 830mhz core and seems great value.

Then next year I'll have another £200 to invest in newer better GPU. It just the cash for the whole system which is forcing me to only get a mid-range GPU.

 

[pazz]

I've found out the case only fits 270mm length GPU cards

 

[foscooter]

Case: Antec Three Hundred Two

 

[pazz]

The Three Hundred Two is a little loud according to reviews and favours thermals (probably from the entirely open front bezel) and also I'm willing to budget for a full Aluminium tower.

Although the Lian Li PC-A05N will fit the card I've spec'd I dont want to have to replace it when I come to upgrade.

Is 270mm small?

 

[azeem40]

Get the HAF 912, it can fit your GPU easily.