First Build - Gaming PC
Last response: in Systems
Hi guys, I'm a total novice with PCs so please treat me like one. Assume I know nothing (and you won't be far wrong).
Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next month or 2
Budget Range: £1300 - £1500 (Current build is approx £1390)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming on the best settings hopefully for a few years to come, more gaming.
Parts Not Required: n/a - I need EVERYTHING
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Ebuyer.com dabs.com
Country: UK
Parts Preferences: Intel, Asus, Coolermaster, Corsair
Overclocking: Maybe in the future when I understand what it is and have decided if it's worth it or not
SLI or Crossfire: Ditto
Monitor Resolution: 1980x1080
Additional Comments: What I mostly want to know is:
1. Do I need to buy anything else to have a fully-functioning PC? Cables, parts, etc.
2. Is everything I've chosen compatible?
3. Is the build reasonably balanced?
OK here's my build:
Case: CM Storm Enforcer £68.28
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V PRO S1155 Intel Z77 DDR3 ATX £149.98
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K S1155 3.4GHz 6MB £179.92
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 980MHz 2GB PCI-Express 3.0 HDMI Overclock £329.98
RAM: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 XMS3 1600Mhz DIMM CL9 1.65V £41.98
PSU Corsair Memory 800W Gaming Series GS800 High Performance 80 PLUS® Certified PSU £78.99
SSD: Corsair Memory 120GB Force Series 3 SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" Solid State Drive (Read 550MB/s, Write 510MB/s) £86.98
HDD: WD 1TB Caviar Black SATA-III 3.5" Hard Drive £87.99
CPU Fan: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo £29.55
Soundcard: Asus Xonar DG 5.1 PCI Gamer Soundcard with Built-in Headphone Amp £23.98
Optic Drive: Sony 24x DVD-RW SATA Black Bare Internal Drive £12.99
Monitor: Iiyama PLE2473HDS LED TFT 24" Monitor £148.40
Keyboard: SteelSeries Merc Stealth Gaming Keyboard £49.98
Mouse: SteelSeries Ikari Optical Mouse - USB £29.98
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium w/SP1 ~£70
Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next month or 2
Budget Range: £1300 - £1500 (Current build is approx £1390)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming on the best settings hopefully for a few years to come, more gaming.
Parts Not Required: n/a - I need EVERYTHING
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Ebuyer.com dabs.com
Country: UK
Parts Preferences: Intel, Asus, Coolermaster, Corsair
Overclocking: Maybe in the future when I understand what it is and have decided if it's worth it or not
SLI or Crossfire: Ditto
Monitor Resolution: 1980x1080
Additional Comments: What I mostly want to know is:
1. Do I need to buy anything else to have a fully-functioning PC? Cables, parts, etc.
2. Is everything I've chosen compatible?
3. Is the build reasonably balanced?
OK here's my build:
Case: CM Storm Enforcer £68.28
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V PRO S1155 Intel Z77 DDR3 ATX £149.98
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K S1155 3.4GHz 6MB £179.92
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 980MHz 2GB PCI-Express 3.0 HDMI Overclock £329.98
RAM: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 XMS3 1600Mhz DIMM CL9 1.65V £41.98
PSU Corsair Memory 800W Gaming Series GS800 High Performance 80 PLUS® Certified PSU £78.99
SSD: Corsair Memory 120GB Force Series 3 SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" Solid State Drive (Read 550MB/s, Write 510MB/s) £86.98
HDD: WD 1TB Caviar Black SATA-III 3.5" Hard Drive £87.99
CPU Fan: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo £29.55
Soundcard: Asus Xonar DG 5.1 PCI Gamer Soundcard with Built-in Headphone Amp £23.98
Optic Drive: Sony 24x DVD-RW SATA Black Bare Internal Drive £12.99
Monitor: Iiyama PLE2473HDS LED TFT 24" Monitor £148.40
Keyboard: SteelSeries Merc Stealth Gaming Keyboard £49.98
Mouse: SteelSeries Ikari Optical Mouse - USB £29.98
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium w/SP1 ~£70
More about : build gaming
Gaming wise I think you are all set.
Although I think you should try and cut costs i.e.
smaller hard drive,
borrow a friend's windows 7 disc or torrent it from the piratebay,
a cheaper motherboard at half that price,
not buying an SSD, certainly not an SSD at 120GB (and I don't think the quicker load times are worth the price)
Not buying a gaming keyboard because to me that just seems silly
Only having 4GB of ram - enough for games
An 800W PSU is Overkill
that's just me though
Although I think you should try and cut costs i.e.
smaller hard drive,
borrow a friend's windows 7 disc or torrent it from the piratebay,
a cheaper motherboard at half that price,
not buying an SSD, certainly not an SSD at 120GB (and I don't think the quicker load times are worth the price)
Not buying a gaming keyboard because to me that just seems silly
Only having 4GB of ram - enough for games
An 800W PSU is Overkill
that's just me though
Don't listen to this guy^
First off, don't pirate windows. And to the poster above, please do not promote that behavior here, it isn't appropriate.
Secondly, your build is fine.
Keep the SSD. 120GB is the sweet spot and it does make a difference. Not in gaming, but for the speed of your PC. I would suggest a different brand like Crucial or a Mushkin Enhanced.
Getting a smaller HDD is silly. You aren't going to pay 1/3 of the cost for 1/3 of the space, so you won't really save much money but will lose a lot of room.
Get whatever KB you like, I don't see the need in it but some people like them.
Get 8GB of ram, it's not that much more expensive.
You could come down on the PSU a little if you want. If you aren't ever going to Crossfire you could come down to a 550-600W PSU. If you plan to possibly Crossfire like your OP stated, you will need 750-800W.
You definitely could save on that mobo. You could get an Asrock extreme4 for way less and still have almost the same exact features.
Lastly, don't waste the money on a sound card unless you have some elaborate surround sound system, the sound on the mobo is very good.
To your questions:
1. You shouldn't need any additional cables. Your mobo comes with SATA cables and the PSU has everything else.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
First off, don't pirate windows. And to the poster above, please do not promote that behavior here, it isn't appropriate.
Secondly, your build is fine.
Keep the SSD. 120GB is the sweet spot and it does make a difference. Not in gaming, but for the speed of your PC. I would suggest a different brand like Crucial or a Mushkin Enhanced.
Getting a smaller HDD is silly. You aren't going to pay 1/3 of the cost for 1/3 of the space, so you won't really save much money but will lose a lot of room.
Get whatever KB you like, I don't see the need in it but some people like them.
Get 8GB of ram, it's not that much more expensive.
You could come down on the PSU a little if you want. If you aren't ever going to Crossfire you could come down to a 550-600W PSU. If you plan to possibly Crossfire like your OP stated, you will need 750-800W.
You definitely could save on that mobo. You could get an Asrock extreme4 for way less and still have almost the same exact features.
Lastly, don't waste the money on a sound card unless you have some elaborate surround sound system, the sound on the mobo is very good.
To your questions:
1. You shouldn't need any additional cables. Your mobo comes with SATA cables and the PSU has everything else.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
My nephew has one of those keyboards and I love it!
I put the ASRock mobo in the build like Cranked suggested, used that pcpartpicker site to shave some extra £'s off aswell. Now I've got up to £340 to spend on a monitor.
I was looking at the Achieva ShiMian PC Monitor. I'm a bit confused though as to what would look better for gaming. A 2560x1440 DVI-D, or 1080p HDMI. Assuming the screens were about the same size?
I put the ASRock mobo in the build like Cranked suggested, used that pcpartpicker site to shave some extra £'s off aswell. Now I've got up to £340 to spend on a monitor.
I was looking at the Achieva ShiMian PC Monitor. I'm a bit confused though as to what would look better for gaming. A 2560x1440 DVI-D, or 1080p HDMI. Assuming the screens were about the same size?
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