Randomsub

Honorable
May 2, 2012
2
0
10,510
Hey guys,

Need some help to make sure everything is compatible (I'm fairly sure everything is) and to see if anyone has any recommendations to make over any items on my list or if I've been careless and I'm missing anything crucial. I keep thinking I've forgotton something very important :S I've bolded comments regarding anything I'm not too sure about.

Case - Fractal Define R3 (USB 3.0 version)
http://www.ebuyer.com/236437-fractal-design-define-r3-black-pearl-case-usb3-0-fd-ca-def-r3-usb3-bl
I'm also grabbing three extra fans for it. How useful are extra case fans?
http://www.ebuyer.com/151390-xilence-black-120mm-case-fan-4pin-with-3pin-adaptor-coo-xpf120

Motherboard - MSI Z77A - G43 Socket 1155 ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/345353-msi-z77a-g43-z77-socket-1155-8-channel-hd-audio-atx-motherboard-z77a-g43
Is this a good motherboard?

CPU - Intel i5 3450
http://www.ebuyer.com/349022-intel-core-i5-3450-3-1ghz-socket-1155-6mb-cache-retail-boxed-processor-bx80637i53450
I'm not sure about the CPU. Is it really worth me getting a 3570K and get a good air cooler for overclocking? I'm expecting games to be GPU limited instead of CPU limited. And I'll probably upgrade before I get any major CPU bottlenecks

GPU - Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 (it's a non reference cooler but at stock clocks). I'm planning on overclocking this.
http://www.ebuyer.com/349747-sapphire-hd-7850-2gb-dvi-hdmi-dual-mini-displayport-pci-e-graphics-card-11200-00-20g

PSU - Coolermaster Silent Pro (modular) 600W
http://www.ebuyer.com/160256-coolermaster-600w-silent-pro-modular-psu-50a-single-rail-9x-sata-rs-600-amba-d3
I know Coolermaster don't do stellar PSUs but this seemed to have good reviews and was well priced compared to Corsair. Any suggestions to get something different?

Boot Drive - Corsair Force 3 SSD 120GB
http://www.ebuyer.com/268693-corsair-120gb-force-3-ssd-cssd-f120gb3-bk-cssd-f120gb3-bk

Storage Drive - Seagate Barracuda 2TB
http://www.ebuyer.com/319641-barracuda-2tb-sata-3-5in-7200rpm-64mb-6gb-s-in-st2000dm001

Memory - 8GB 1600MHz Crucial Ballistix Sport
http://www.ebuyer.com/342352-crucial-8gb-2x4gb-ddr3-1600mhz-ballistix-sport-memory-kit-cl10-1-5v-bls2cp4g3d1609ds1s00

Is it worth paying £5 more to get the Corsair low profile vengeance instead?

Optical Drive - Samsung 12x Blu-Ray Drive. SH-B123L
http://www.ebuyer.com/240172-samsung-sh-b123l-sata-blu-ray-optical-drive-retail-sh-b123l-rsbp

Operating Software - Retail Windows 7 Home Premium
http://www.ebuyer.com/168373-microsoft-windows-7-home-premium-complete-package-1-pc-gfc-00025

Monitor - LG IPS Monitor. 23" 1920x1080
http://www.ebuyer.com/284103-lg-ips235v-ips-lcd-led-23-hdmi-monitor-ips235v-bn

I'm also buying a mini USB wireless adapter and an external memory card reader.

I need some suggestions regarding a decent wireless mouse and a keyboard. I'm eyeing the Logitech G700 and Microsoft Sidewinder X4. Any suggestions?

I appreciate any feedback :) My maximum budget is £1350 but ideally I'd like it to be less. I'm currently on £1126 including delivery and a few other small peripherals and I still need to pick out extra peripherals such as mouse, keyboard, webcam etc.
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
I'm also grabbing three extra fans for it. How useful are extra case fans?
http://www.ebuyer.com/151390-xilen [...] coo-xpf120

Extra case fans are only as useful as your case has mounts for it. You can't use more fans than your case has mounts for so when you purchase those - keep that in mind. I personally wouldn't include those in the initial budget - Fractal Design cases are very well designed and are very well ventilated to begin with. Get the extra fans once you get your build up and running and then you can see how the air flow is routed in your build.

I'm not sure about the CPU. Is it really worth me getting a 3570K and get a good air cooler for overclocking? I'm expecting games to be GPU limited instead of CPU limited. And I'll probably upgrade before I get any major CPU bottlenecks

That's halfway true - however even the best GPUs are only as good as the hardware that surrounds them. You always want to get the single strongest GPU you can for your budget as opposed to two weaker ones.

Is this a good motherboard?

I'm personally not the biggest fan of MSI around here as most of the regulars know - you're better off going with something from Asus, Asrock, or Gigabyte.

Is it worth paying £5 more to get the Corsair low profile vengeance instead?

I personally like Crucial, Kingston and G.Skill all better than Corsair for RAM but if you want to use them just make sure it's the low profile version.
 

Randomsub

Honorable
May 2, 2012
2
0
10,510
Ok, thank you very much for your reply. So just to clarify, would you recommend that I stick with my i5 3450 or get a i5 3570K and an aftermarket cooler?