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Help,Fitting a gaming set in a budget 1200 GBP.

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Hello everyone. I'm seeking your expertise. :) 

I had planned to spend 1200 GBP on a pc and monitor. My salary came in 200 gbp less than expected. So I want to squeeze it in under 1100 GBP, I know the title says 1200 GBP, it's a typo.

I made a build for myself in June, I am aware that many things have changed since then, like the new GTX 660 Ti and price drop of 7950.

I have decided not to crossfire or SLI my graphics cards in future and instead getting a new beefy card,that's why on my new build I changed Mobo and PSU.


Here is the build I made in June:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£156.90 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£38.15 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£59.99 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£78.80 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (£350.99 @ Dabs)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case (£93.00 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£92.99 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer (£12.96 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor (£227.05 @ CCL Computers)
Other: Razer Sphex Gaming Mouse Mat - Hard Surface 9.99 GBP
Other: Microsoft Sidewinder X4 Keyboard (UK Layout) 34.49 GBP
Total: £1312.42
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-02 01:12 BST+0100)

===============

Here is the NEW amended build, I made today. I'm not 100% sure if the chosen mobo and graphics card are good. I am planning on OC CPU to 4.0-4.4 . I will buy a new HDD in end of September. I wanted to get and SSD now instead of bugger HDD, so I don't have to reinstall windows. In September, I will have additional spare 700 GBP to burn on my pc, possibly gonna get a 42" 3D TV, for my PC - fps games etc.. At the moment I don't want to go over 1100 GBP. Is it worth waiting till end of September to get my initial build? I have been waiting since June, spending countless hours doing research. I feel that GTX 670 is too powerful for gaming in max 1200p on one screen and not worth the money. I want to hear your input on this. I want to order everything on Sunday night, GMT +0.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£109.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£38.15 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£78.80 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card (£263.99 @ Novatech)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case (£93.00 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer (£12.96 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor (£227.05 @ CCL Computers)
Other: Razer Sphex Gaming Mouse Mat - Hard Surface 9.99 GBP
Other: Microsoft Sidewinder X4 Keyboard (UK Layout) 34.49 GBP
Total: £1075.52
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-02 01:04 BST+0100)

More about : fitting gaming set budget 1200 gbp

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Basically fine. The one thing that concerns me, slightly, is 550W for power supply. Whilst it is theoretically adequate, it leaves no scope for overclocking, or any additions. I appreciate the financial restriction, but I would be more comfortable with at least 600W, even 650W, if you are planning any substantial overclocking.

malbluff said:
Basically fine. The one thing that concerns me, slightly, is 550W for power supply. Whilst it is theoretically adequate, it leaves no scope for overclocking, or any additions. I appreciate the financial restriction, but I would be more comfortable with at least 600W, even 650W, if you are planning any substantial overclocking.



Thanks, I will change that to 650W. Will I be ble to max out the current games, like bf3 and GW2 gaming in 1200p or in 1080p in 3D?

i recommend you to get a modified version of my 1200$ build... here you go:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: NZXT HAVIK 120 75.8 CFM CPU Cooler (£38.54 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£117.98 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£36.19 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£59.99 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£87.99 @ Dabs)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (£329.99 @ Novatech)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£78.49 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£92.99 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Asus ML239H 23.0" Monitor (£156.73 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1173.83


*the 750w psu is a future crossfire, i found some 650w PSUs but the price difference was nule.

*the 7970 performs better than the GTX 670

*this build has a lot of overclocking potential, even with a second 7970

*the vertex 4 performs better than the M4.

*add the keyboard/mouse you want.
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jokimazi said:
Thanks, I will change that to 650W. Will I be ble to max out the current games, like bf3 and GW2 gaming in 1200p or in 1080p in 3D?

Your build is capable of playing most things at "max" settings, at 1920x1080, or 1920x1200. Idroid's obviously gives you that little bit more, in frame rates. It's a question of whether budget will stretch. There's nothing, obvious, that you can leave out, 'til later.

idroid said:
i recommend you to get a modified version of my 1200$ build... here you go:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: NZXT HAVIK 120 75.8 CFM CPU Cooler (£38.54 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£117.98 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£36.19 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£59.99 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£87.99 @ Dabs)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (£329.99 @ Novatech)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£78.49 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£92.99 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Asus ML239H 23.0" Monitor (£156.73 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1173.83


*the 750w psu is a future crossfire, i found some 650w PSUs but the price difference was nule.

*the 7970 performs better than the GTX 670

*this build has a lot of overclocking potential, even with a second 7970

*the vertex 4 performs better than the M4.

*add the keyboard/mouse you want.


Why NZXT CPU cooler over HYPER 212? Is it 1/3 better compared to price? :) 

The ASUS monitor is famous about bleeding light? I have seen DELL in real life and the 16:10 is amazing, plus the extra 120 pixels adds to the sharpness. But it has 8ms, and today I read, that 8ms may have a ghosting. I'm happy to go with ASUS, but any reasoning behind it, other than it's cheaper?

No optical drive means, I will have to install widows from USB flash drive? If I buy a new one, will it be automatically recognised on my new system, without any problems?

I will take out HDD, and buy it in September. Case wise, I was on fence in between 500R and NZXT 410, I like that 500r has better front intake than NZXT, and if I'm not mistaken,than NZXT has a hole under mobo.


Regarding GPU, I thought SAPPHIRE offers better cards from RADEON, I might be mistaken. This gigabyte design is good for cooling, when I read a review about the same design for GTX 670, but the problem was with 3 smaller fans being louder than 2 larger ones on other cards. Any input? :) 


Thanks everyone for your replies, they are very helpful!! :) 

jokimazi said:
Why NZXT CPU cooler over HYPER 212? Is it 1/3 better compared to price? :) 

The ASUS monitor is famous about bleeding light? I have seen DELL in real life and the 16:10 is amazing, plus the extra 120 pixels adds to the sharpness. But it has 8ms, and today I read, that 8ms may have a ghosting. I'm happy to go with ASUS, but any reasoning behind it, other than it's cheaper?

No optical drive means, I will have to install widows from USB flash drive? If I buy a new one, will it be automatically recognised on my new system, without any problems?

I will take out HDD, and buy it in September. Case wise, I was on fence in between 500R and NZXT 410, I like that 500r has better front intake than NZXT, and if I'm not mistaken,than NZXT has a hole under mobo.


Regarding GPU, I thought SAPPHIRE offers better cards from RADEON, I might be mistaken. This gigabyte design is good for cooling, when I read a review about the same design for GTX 670, but the problem was with 3 smaller fans being louder than 2 larger ones on other cards. Any input? :) 


Thanks everyone for your replies, they are very helpful!! :) 

Dell are excellent monitors. The best ones are fantastic. i'm saving up for a 27". Don't worry about 8ms, it's not an issue if under 10.
Don't see ANY reason not to have optical drive. Not as if they are expensive.
The Corsair 500r is excellent case, got one earmarked for my upcoming build.
The Gigabyte windrush GPU's are very quiet. Certainly no worse than others. The single fan ones usually discharge out of the back of the case, which seems to create more noise.

jokimazi said:
Why NZXT CPU cooler over HYPER 212? Is it 1/3 better compared to price? :) 

The ASUS monitor is famous about bleeding light? I have seen DELL in real life and the 16:10 is amazing, plus the extra 120 pixels adds to the sharpness. But it has 8ms, and today I read, that 8ms may have a ghosting. I'm happy to go with ASUS, but any reasoning behind it, other than it's cheaper?

No optical drive means, I will have to install widows from USB flash drive? If I buy a new one, will it be automatically recognised on my new system, without any problems?

I will take out HDD, and buy it in September. Case wise, I was on fence in between 500R and NZXT 410, I like that 500r has better front intake than NZXT, and if I'm not mistaken,than NZXT has a hole under mobo.


Regarding GPU, I thought SAPPHIRE offers better cards from RADEON, I might be mistaken. This gigabyte design is good for cooling, when I read a review about the same design for GTX 670, but the problem was with 3 smaller fans being louder than 2 larger ones on other cards. Any input? :) 


Thanks everyone for your replies, they are very helpful!! :) 


The NZXT cooler (according to a review i just read) keeps an i7 950 overclocked to 4Ghz and 1.25v at 71°C under FULL LOAD (prime 95) and the CM 212 EVO keeps it at 77°C a 6° degree difference is a fair difference for the price difference.

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