Efficient-Budget Gaming Build, Opinions?

Phantom_Persona · Sep 26, 2012

Hello, first and foremost I'm from Portugal, I'm 20 and I've been following this website for quite some time now, I've assembled an idea for a build, which is the most budget-orientated but efficient as possible (I think).

I checked the stickied thread and I'll try to follow it's parameters, so here goes:

Approximate Purchase Date:
As soon as I have the money, so in a few months time (4-8).

Budget Range:
Around 700-800 € (For the main build, Case, Mobo, RAM, GPU, CPU, HDD)

System Usage from Most to Least Important:
From Gaming to Gaming.

Are you buying a monitor:
Yes (I'm fine with a 18.5 or 19" one (LED Preferably))

Parts to Upgrade:
Everything, a completly new build.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:
http://www.globaldata.pt/
http://www.pcdiga.com/index
http://chiptec.net/

(I know.. I know, they're in Portuguese, but I'm not shipping overseas and these stores are ones I can reach with public transportation /and/or by foot).

Location:
Montijo, Setúbal, Portugal. :kaola:

Parts Preference:
Intel for CPU, LC-Power for PSU.

Overclocking:
Nah.

SLI or Crossfire:
Later on.

Your Monitor Resolution:
I'm fine with native resolutions of 1366x768.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading:
Can't game today's decent titles.

Aditional Info:

My current build (set up by my father in early 2007):

P.S. The GPU's an ASUS EN 8600 GT.
The monitor I have right now supports 1280x1024 and is an acer AL1716.

It's outdated, and I need something new. :??:

What I want, is this:

CASE: (Cheapest possible but not TOO cheap (As in NOX Zen, lol)
Coolermaster Elite 372
CPU: (No OC required, tempting, but I'm happy with a 3450)
INTEL CORE i5 3450 (3.1GHZ) SKT 1155
MOBO: (As recommended by one of Tom's Hardware articles, any other MOBO choice is accepted)
ASROCK Z77 EXTREME4
PSU: (Heard good things about this PSU, plus the 80 PLUS sticker warrants my purchase)
LC-POWER 650W GREEN POWER V2.3
RAM: (I only go for Corsair Memory Sticks, nothing else (maybe Kingston))
CORSAIR KIT 4GB DDR3 1600MHZ VENGEANCE (CL9 - 1.5V)
GPU: (I'd like nVidia if possible)
SAPPHIRE TECHNOLOGY Radeon HD 7850 - 2 GB GDDR5 - PCI-Express 3.0
HDD: (Don't need more than 500GB)
WESTERN DIGITAL 500GB SATA III 16MB
SSD: (Later Buy)
CORSAIR SSD 60GB FORCE SATA III
CPU COOLER: (Later Buy/ When the Intel's Stock one puffs)
ARCTIC COOLING ALPINE 11 PRO REV 2
SOUND SYSTEM 2.1: (Possible later buy, I mainly use my Headset now but I'd like something to watch movies with someone)
LOGITECH LS21
MONITOR: (I don't dislike my acer.. But I love LED's, see where I'm going?)
Asus LED 18.5" Black (AS VW197DR BK/5MS/EU)

P.S. All the names were copy-pasted from vendor websites (that's why they look so "dorky").

Now I have a couple' a questions.
1#: I've seen a couple of good cards that stand up to 7850's prowess with only 1GB of GDDR5. My question is, is that 1GB really worth the price tag? I know for certain that VRAM has impact on two major things, Resolution and Anti-Aliasing (two things I love to max out) but seeing as I'll (probably) stick to 1366x768 for quite some time, would the leap to 2GB make a diference?

2#:: 4GB's RAM is nowadays the recommended for gaming, but a lot of gamers jump to 8GB, why? The more, the merrier, I know, but why not be a lil' more subtle?

3#: I'm stoked to get an OCZ Agility 3 since it's cheaper, or a Corsair Nova 30GB for the sole porpuse of my O.S. Any thoughts on this?

I think.. That's it. Any tips, ideas or opinions? Thanks you guys.

g-unit1111 · Sep 26, 2012

1#: I've seen a couple of good cards that stand up to 7850's prowess with only 1GB of GDDR5. My question is, is that 1GB really worth the price tag? I know for certain that VRAM has impact on two major things, Resolution and Anti-Aliasing (two things I love to max out) but seeing as I'll (probably) stick to 1366x768 for quite some time, would the leap to 2GB make a diference?

That depends on resolution. If you're not running ultra high resolutions you won't need more than 1GB. If you want to run higher than that, you will need a 2GB card.

2#:: 4GB's RAM is nowadays the recommended for gaming, but a lot of gamers jump to 8GB, why? The more, the merrier, I know, but why not be a lil' more subtle?

BF3 and a lot of other resource intensive games will use at minimum 6GB so it helps to have more.

3#: I'm stoked to get an OCZ Agility 3 since it's cheaper, or a Corsair Nova 30GB for the sole porpuse of my O.S. Any thoughts on this?

There's better SSD choices than the Agility 3 - and 30GB will not get you very far, especially when you take into account formatting will leave you with ~26.5GB and a Windows install will take at least 20GB. If you're getting an SSD you want minimum 64GB, 128GB would be ideal.

I think.. That's it. Any tips, ideas or opinions? Thanks you guys.

First off - Arctic Cooling fans are overpriced junk. There's far better in this field like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo or the Noctua NH-U9B. But if you're not going to overclock skip the cooler entirely and put the difference back in the GPU.

Second - If you're not going to overclock there's no point in getting a Z77 motherboard, plus it won't fit in an mATX case. Go with H77 instead. for your budget I'd suggest something like this:

Case: Antec One - 55,30 €
PSU: Corsair CX600 V2 - 67,90 €
Motherboard: Asus P8H77-V LE - 104,40 €
CPU: 3.1GHz Intel Core i5-3450 - 180,00 €
RAM: 8GB G.Skill Ares 1600MHz 1.5V - 48,50 €
HD: 500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue - 64,20 €
Optical: LG DVD Burner - 17,90 €
Video Card: EVGA Geforce GTX 660TI - 298,60 €

Total: 836,80€

I went a little bit over budget but this should be a really killer system.

dscudella · Sep 26, 2012

Your build date is 4-8 months out. TBH, any information we give you now could be completely outdated by then. What currency is that?

g-unit1111 · Sep 26, 2012

dscudella :

Yeah that's true, I hadn't thought of that. But most of the new GPUs that will be out next year - the 7XX and 8XXX will be pretty much rehashes of the current models while the new processors will be 1 - 2 years out. You won't see another change this significant in GPU architecture until 2014 at least. The new Intel chips are at least a year away, maybe longer with the way Intel runs things. :lol:

The currency being used is the Euro.

dscudella · Sep 26, 2012

Euro, gotcha, thanks g-unit. I agree with what you're saying and it's good for the OP to get a sense of what they could get, but in that time frame prices might not drastically change, but their will be differences that could throw everything off.

zanedragonknight · Sep 26, 2012

Phantom_Persona :

I'll answer your questions first:

1. Graphics memory doesn't have as significant an effect on performance above 1 GB. If a 2GB variants is available, excellent, go for it, but the IMPORTANT thing is the TYPE of memory. As a rule, GDDR5 or 6 is always better then DDR2 or 3. Honestly, you only need 1 GB. The important thing is to have at least 4GB and as much as 8GB and a 64-bit Operating System to avoid memory bottlenecks and wastage.

2. 4GB is all you need on a 64-bit OS. 64-bit architecture is designed to use as much RAM as you put in the system. 8GB is more useful nowadays; it means you won't have to upgrade for at least 3 years, and a lot of games nowadays use a TON of RAM on higher settings.

3. The OCZ Agility is the better pick; it utilizes better, newer technology that has better support at higher speeds. Definitely, the PCZ Agility 3. If it's in your price range, you might want to check out the OCZ Vertex 3 or 4; they are even faster.

Now, recommendations based on your components;

I wouldn't say the case you have selected is bad, but there are better options in that price range; I myself am getting the Cooler Master Enforcer Mid - Tower, which would be completely compatible with your set up, and provide a few more bays for your hard drives and more space. It would give you two USB 3.0 ports on the front, with their cables inside so you can connect hem easily. Plus, it looks awesome. You NEED the USB 3.0's to make your system future-proof.

Intel Core i5 3450 is fine, but you ought to update to the 3550 at least; it will give a significant performance boost. You don't need overclocking, so no need to get anything with a "k" suffix.

ASRock Extreme 4 is a good choice, but a bit "meh"; for a little bit more, you could get the much better extreme 6; this is ALSO future proof, as the Z77 chipset is compatible with Ivy Bridge processors, in case you need to upgrade in the future.

PSU is fine, if a bit too much overkill. You're system only needs around 420 Watts, maximum. You can calculate that at this site:

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Go for the Corsair Vengeance (go Corsair!).

The 7850 is a good choice for that price range; the best possible, I think (not so sure when it comes to AMD). I always take Nvidia, because I personally find them easier to tinker with. But your choice is fine. Someone may contradict me.

I'd tell you to at least get 1 TB on that WD, but the 500GB is fine too.

Don't go for the Corsair SSD, like I said before; OCZ is usually better.

CPU cooler is a bit unnecessary; as long as the room your computer is in has air conditioning, you'll be fine. My own Inspiron 530's cooler never broke even once in 6 years. I basically replaced it for no reason, other then increased air flow.

You shouldn't replace you monitor unless it's really, really outdated or it's resolution is way too low. The one you have should be enough, replace it when it dies. Again, your choice really. Replace it if it's a CRT (if it has a gigantic white box on the back, lol).

And you should be good to go!

Onus · Sep 26, 2012

Avoid Sandforce-controller SSDs, especially anything from OCZ, as they were plagued with reliability issues. You want a Marvell-controller drive, like a Samsung 830 or Crucial M4. Since you're not buying for a while, keep an eye on the new Samsung 840.
I won't touch CM products with a 10' pole, no matter how good. The company has been proven in competent technical reviews to be dishonest, and dishonesty should have consequences. Fortunately, they have competitors in every market where they are found, offering equivalent (or better) products for the same price. For example, a review on Frostytech found the Xigmatek Gaia to be a better cooler than the Hyper212+, and it also runs 6db quieter. On a tight budget, and not overclocking, the stock cooler will likely be sufficient, however an aftermarket cooler will typically be quieter.

g-unit1111 · Sep 26, 2012

zanedragonknight :

You're completely wrong on #2 - 4GB RAM is all you need with a 32-bit OS, not a 64-bit one. Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit will address up to 16GB of RAM while Win 7 Pro and Ultimate do away with the RAM limitations.

As for the SSD - avoid Sandforce and especially avoid OCZ - they're plagued by driver updates and unreliability. Stay away from them. You want something from Crucial, Samsung, or Plextor. Or even the Sandisk and Mushkin drives are reliable from what I hear, and the new Corsair Neutron series is supposed to be good as well.

I won't touch CM products with a 10' pole, no matter how good. The company has been proven in competent technical reviews to be dishonest, and dishonesty should have consequences. Fortunately, they have competitors in every market where they are found, offering equivalent (or better) products for the same price. For example, a review on Frostytech found the Xigmatek Gaia to be a better cooler than the Hyper212+, and it also runs 6db quieter. On a tight budget, and not overclocking, the stock cooler will likely be sufficient, however an aftermarket cooler will typically be quieter.

I had a Xigmatek Gaia and it completely fried a build I was using and I almost lost the CPU on top of that. It's currently sitting on my desk as an expensive paper weight. I'd go with a Noctua NH-U9B if you're not using the Hyper 212.

Phantom_Persona · Sep 26, 2012

Wow, thanks for all the replies guys, interesting read!

Though I'm a lil' stuck, it's hard pouncing around each and every reply of yours whilst X says A and B sucks, and Y says A and B are great. Is there no middle-ground?

I worked on a hardware store and truth be told, OCZ's Agility (or was it Vertex? Hmm..) 3 came "broken" (so to speak) quite often. RMA's were hell with those units. I was expecting by now any firmware update should have fixed any issue (stopped working there, unemployed at the moment, which is why I say it'll take me 4 to 8 months to get something new).

As for the GPU choice, there's a few HD7850 in 1GB edition, would those be advisable? If not, can someone direct me towards a good nVidia solution? I've seen a lot of 560 Ti suggestions but benchmark wise, the 7850 ALWAYS wins by a good 10 FPS margin.

Also.. The "Crappermaster" (hahahaha) Elite 372 is mATX? I thought it was ATX standardized.

And.. What's the diference between EXTREME 4 and EXTREME 6 in ASRock's MOBO's? Any clarification on that? I really REALLY don't want to go and waste out a bundle of money for meager features (Since I'm not planning to OC at all, anything related to that is.. Meh).

As for CPU Cooler.. Well my room doesn't have Air Conditioning, it could get really hot during Summer, an older mobo of mine fried like that once! I went with Arctic Cooling because costumers at the store had really good experiences with them, so I was inclined towards that.

Oh and another thing, earlier it was suggested a H77 board. Should I really aim for those? When I worked at the hardware store Those H77 (Or any with H prefix) would go wonkers with 1600 MHz RAM, is that still in effect today, or has it calmed down?

Thank you everyone. Please keep the messages comming.

g-unit1111 · Sep 27, 2012

I worked on a hardware store and truth be told, OCZ's Agility (or was it Vertex? Hmm..) 3 came "broken" (so to speak) quite often. RMA's were hell with those units. I was expecting by now any firmware update should have fixed any issue (stopped working there, unemployed at the moment, which is why I say it'll take me 4 to 8 months to get something new).

That's why I'm a little iffy on OCZ - they make some pretty decent products and also a lot of crappy one - and their RMA department is incredibly difficult one to work with. One of the easiest was EVGA - I just returned a defective motherboard to them and they sent me a brand new one in box.

As for the GPU choice, there's a few HD7850 in 1GB edition, would those be advisable? If not, can someone direct me towards a good nVidia solution? I've seen a lot of 560 Ti suggestions but benchmark wise, the 7850 ALWAYS wins by a good 10 FPS margin.

Go for the 2GB model - if you want to run high resolutions and get any decent frame rates then you need the 2GB model. There's no point in purchasing a 560TI anymore - it's been outdated for a while now. The 660TI is much better but it will run you quite a bit more. If you want to pay more than the 7850 - the 7870 is a bit more but will be a better performer.

Also.. The "Crappermaster" (hahahaha) Elite 372 is mATX? I thought it was ATX standardized.

At least the version they sell here in the US is mATX - I don't know if the same model numbers carry over to Portugal or not.

And.. What's the diference between EXTREME 4 and EXTREME 6 in ASRock's MOBO's? Any clarification on that? I really REALLY don't want to go and waste out a bundle of money for meager features (Since I'm not planning to OC at all, anything related to that is.. Meh).

They're almost the exact same board - the Extreme 6 adds a front USB 3.0 bracket but that's about it.

As for CPU Cooler.. Well my room doesn't have Air Conditioning, it could get really hot during Summer, an older mobo of mine fried like that once! I went with Arctic Cooling because costumers at the store had really good experiences with them, so I was inclined towards that.

There's way better fans you can get now. I like the Noctua ones the best, try this: http://www.globaldata.pt/index.aspx?p=ProdDetailRef&ProdRef=NCT017

Oh and another thing, earlier it was suggested a H77 board. Should I really aim for those? When I worked at the hardware store Those H77 (Or any with H prefix) would go wonkers with 1600 MHz RAM, is that still in effect today, or has it calmed down?

If you don't need to overclock you don't need the features of Z77. H77 would work just fine. I hadn't heard that about the RAM but I'm guessing it has more to do with voltages than the speed. That's when systems will go haywire.

malbluff · Sep 27, 2012

Phantom_Persona :

The only OCZ SSD that's any good is the Vertex 4. The two SSD's that are universally liked are Samsung 830's and Crucial M4's
Whilst I would tend to avoid CoolerMaster, for PSU's, the rest of their stuff is ok. The Hyper 212Evo is fine for modest overclocking.
For Ivybridge; For overclocking Z77, or Z75. No overclocking of CPU, H77. There are others, but those the best.
If you find what really justifies difference between Extreme4 and 6, perhaps you'd let me know.
Both H77 and Z77 will take 1600 MHz RAM, with Ivybridge.

g-unit1111 · Sep 27, 2012

The only OCZ SSD that's any good is the Vertex 4. The two SSD's that are universally liked are Samsung 830's and Crucial M4's

The Plextor PX-M3 also gets a lot of praise and uses the Marvell controller but it's significantly more expensive.

Sandisk and Mushkin SSDs are also well liked around here even though they use Sandforce, and the new Corsair Neutron series I've heard is good which uses the Toshiba Toggle NAND controller.

Whilst I would tend to avoid CoolerMaster, for PSU's, the rest of their stuff is ok. The Hyper 212Evo is fine for modest overclocking.

My work PC uses a HAF 912 and a Hyper 212+ - never had a single issue with either. The HAF 912 is a great case for the price and I've used a lot of crappy cases in that price range.

Onus · Sep 27, 2012

I've got a Gaia that keeps my OC'ed 970BE around 30C. I didn't recommend it based on personal experience though, but on the Frostytech review. Similarly, I don't recommend against CM cases because almost every one I bought (before I knew better) had minor issues, since most people like them; that recommendation against is because of the company's willful dishonesty. Read the HardwareSecrets reviews, and Gabriel Torres' comments about what they said in an interview if you want the grisly details.
I have bought enough [different] Rosewill cases to be confident in recommending them. Their fans are quiet and move enough air, and they tend to come with more included fans than similarly priced competitors. I'm not sure they're available in Portugal though, since they are Newegg's house brand.

Phantom_Persona · Sep 27, 2012

If you don't need to overclock you don't need the features of Z77. H77 would work just fine. I hadn't heard that about the RAM but I'm guessing it has more to do with voltages than the speed. That's when systems will go haywire.

Yup, I can't recall the exact model but I'm pretty sure it was an H prefix of the ASUS brand. Whenever we tried to set X.M.P (or manually set the RAMs to 1600 MHz) the board would boot up with an Overclocking error. And ever since that experience I've been deviating away from any kind of H-prefix stuff. Bad mojo if you ask me.

Go for the 2GB model - if you want to run high resolutions and get any decent frame rates then you need the 2GB model. There's no point in purchasing a 560TI anymore - it's been outdated for a while now. The 660TI is much better but it will run you quite a bit more. If you want to pay more than the 7850 - the 7870 is a bit more but will be a better performer.

Well.. Discard the whole if-you-want-to-game-in-higher-resolutions, as I don't plan to go higher than 18.5" or 19"

, is 1GB still visable?

In the HD 7850 field, who manufactures it best? Gigabyte? MSI? Etc.

I've got a Gaia that keeps my OC'ed 970BE around 30C. I didn't recommend it based on personal experience though, but on the Frostytech review. Similarly, I don't recommend against CM cases because almost every one I bought (before I knew better) had minor issues, since most people like them; that recommendation against is because of the company's willful dishonesty. Read the HardwareSecrets reviews, and Gabriel Torres' comments about what they said in an interview if you want the grisly details.
I have bought enough [different] Rosewill cases to be confident in recommending them. Their fans are quiet and move enough air, and they tend to come with more included fans than similarly priced competitors. I'm not sure they're available in Portugal though, since they are Newegg's house brand.

Nope, no Rosewill cases in Portugal.

Most brands you see for sale here are name-brands (ASUS, Corsair, Kingston, etc).

P.S. Thanks for the replies guys, keep' em comming!

Edit:

So, from these latest replies (I'm still keeping the case, it has an ATX Factor and I 'sorta like it, a lot of them passed by my hands whilst I worked on the store) I garnished these new additions:

SAMSUNG SSD 830 64GB SATA III

And.. Even though I ended that last phrase in plural, I have no idea what else to add. :/

Edit 2:

Tom's Hardware just published an article that Intel's dropping i5 3450.. What gives?

g-unit1111 · Sep 27, 2012

Yup, I can't recall the exact model but I'm pretty sure it was an H prefix of the ASUS brand. Whenever we tried to set X.M.P (or manually set the RAMs to 1600 MHz) the board would boot up with an Overclocking error. And ever since that experience I've been deviating away from any kind of H-prefix stuff. Bad mojo if you ask me.

Interesting - never heard of that happening before. But you can't overclock on an H77 though.

Well.. Discard the whole if-you-want-to-game-in-higher-resolutions, as I don't plan to go higher than 18.5" or 19" , is 1GB still visable?

Yeah you probably won't need more than that.

In the HD 7850 field, who manufactures it best? Gigabyte? MSI? Etc.

There has been several hundred pages of debate about that here. :lol:

I personally like Sapphire only because I've had the best luck with their cards.

Phantom_Persona · Sep 27, 2012

g-unit1111 :

Seeing as 1600 MHz is already considering Memory Overclocking (Right?) I can guess that's why I've found a few issues.

(Still, any suggestions on a good H77 MOBO?)

Ah pity, well I'm a fan of Sapphire as well.

It's tough planning a build ahead. Can't wait to game properly in a few months, especially with titles like AC III and Dishonored.

Edit:
Just scrolled up and saw the: ASUS P8H77-V

What about the: ASUS P8H77-M PRO ? What're the differences between the -V and the -M PRO?

zanedragonknight · Sep 27, 2012

g-unit1111 :

Actually, I'm not. 4GB is more then enough for the system being put together, at the very least. I mentioned that, twice, and to go for 8GB if possible, twice.

I've never had isssues from OCZ, so thanks for clarifying that. I haven't used Crucial (it's not available in India), so I can't gauge their reliability, but I've worked with over a dozen OCZ's and haven't had a single failure or update error. I agree, in that case; stay on the safe side. I'd still take the Vertex 3 or 4, but that's my opinion.

In a bit of a reversal, I've had issues with the Corsair Series before, which is why i did not recommend them. It seems you now have 2 SSD companies to avoid.

And honestly, why all the unnecessary hate? Cooler Master's Enforcer is a good Mid Tower Case, whatever the company did in the past. It's got slots for a watercooler in the future and a 200mm or two 120mm fan's on the top, and the special edition has a slot for another fan on the side. Plus, all model's have a 200mm on the front. It's got enough room for up to 5 HHD's, and the optical bay's can be converted. It can fit a Nvidia 680 with a HDD cage removed. It's got two USB 3.0's and 2.0's on the front, and it isn't an ugly case by any means. It's a good product.

zanedragonknight · Sep 27, 2012

Phantom_Persona :

If your room doesn't have air conditioning, either get a better cooler or an air conditioner. If Portugal is above 25 C in the summer, that computer can cook you entire room. I kid you not, that happened to me for 3 months, to the point where perormance was reduced by 30% (though the fact that it gets up to 40 degrees here doesn't really help). I eventually got my AC, so my system is fine now. Also, getting a good cooler will only cool the insides of you PC; it will still make your room hotter. So watch out!

H77 doesn't allow you to overclock or use Crossfire/SLI. That's the biggest difference. If you want to use multiple GPU's in the future (which I'm 90% sure you mentioned above) then you need a Z77 chipset. That's why I recommended the ASRock Extreme 6. Also, Z77 (and anything with the 77 suffix, meaning the H77 too) are forwards-compatible; they will work with the Ivy Bridge architecture, and the new >21nM processors Intel is working on. Those are coming out in late 2013 anyway, so don't wait for those.

zanedragonknight · Sep 27, 2012

You know a thread is hot when you've got multiple Quote-ception.

I believe the i5 3450 was cancelled because there are already far too many intel's in that price range, and the much better i5 3550 (which costs almost he same) was stealing most of it's sales. So, it was cancelled. Again, you should go for the i5 3550 for more processing at a tiny price difference, or the 3570k for overclocking, which you do not need.

By now, I think we've worked out that you should go with the Samsung, since OCZ and Corsair have sold bad products.

IMPORTANT: Anything in the Asus line with an -M is a Micro-ATX board. This is not what you want, and some parts may not be compatible with it. You want the normal ATX form factor. The ASUS P8H77-V is the only Asus H77 that is an ATX board. All the others, the -V, -VLE, and -MLE are Micro-ATX.

I'm still sticking firmly with my recommendation; go for the ASRock Extreme Z77. I thought you said you needed Crossfire/SLI at the top of the page? If so, you need a Z77 board.

Can you give a link to the Coolermaster Elite 372 that you are buying? Does it come with all the fans?

malbluff · Sep 27, 2012

Yes, the AsusP8H77-v only supports crossfire, so you want Radeon, if going that route, and want to add 2nd card.

Phantom_Persona · Sep 27, 2012

(Seeing as there's multiple answers, here's what I'll do)

@zanedragonknight:

Altough I've seen OCZ get a few issues from the past, I can't wash all of them as equally bad, I mean they still sell a couple' a units enough to warrant "sequels". Yet, the only brand I haven't heard complaints were Samsungs, so I'm going for that 64GB one (altough I was recommended 128) after I buy my system.

I mean, besides a computer I have to save up for University, studies are also important.

Portugal during summer is easily over the 25ºC Celsius mark most of the times. Turns out my room's quite large though as I just moved recently and I've got a big and open window, This is also on the third floor and it somewhat feels more fresh here (but I'll have to decide that when actual summer comes, right now it just ended and fall's upon us here).

As for the whole H, Z and M thingymajingy, I'm also pretty sold on the ASRock's Z77 Extreme 4 board, but I still want to go cheaper than that (the diference is I could save up for about 40€, and that's a lot).
Anyways, I'm not doubting your knowledge but here's what I found on P8H77-V's page. (Thanks malbluff!). On the overview section it pertains something about Crossfire. I ask now the following, have these boards come up with any issue regarding Crossfire or any other technology? Like my previes experience with 1600 MHz RAM's?

As for the link of the Coolermaster Elite 372, here it is.

So, to recapitulate...

SSD:
SAMSUNG SSD 830 64GB SATA III seems to be a good choice.

MOBO:
P8H77-V LE is PCDiga's only choice at 103€ though has a mATX factor due to LE (I thought LE just meant cheaper production line?)

ASUS P8H77-V is GlobalData's choice at 105€ but not LE.

CPU:
i5 3550 is Chiptec's choice at 197€

I think that's it, thank you everyone, and keep on postin'

Edit: I have this deal on Pixmania (another store, though not strictly hardware) which features a Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 - 2 GB at the low price of 185€
I wonder if it'll last a couple' a months :lol:

Onus · Sep 27, 2012

zanedragonknight :

It isn't what they did in the past, it is what they are still doing now, and plan to continue doing. I don't care if their cases are mithril. The company is dishonest, and dishonesty should have [dire] consequences.

malbluff · Sep 27, 2012

Phantom_Persona :

(Seeing as there's multiple answers, here's what I'll do)

@zanedragonknight:

Altough I've seen OCZ get a few issues from the past, I can't wash all of them as equally bad, I mean they still sell a couple' a units enough to warrant "sequels". Yet, the only brand I haven't heard complaints were Samsungs, so I'm going for that 64GB one (altough I was recommended 128) after I buy my system.

I mean, besides a computer I have to save up for University, studies are also important.

Portugal during summer is easily over the 25ºC Celsius mark most of the times. Turns out my room's quite large though as I just moved recently and I've got a big and open window, This is also on the third floor and it somewhat feels more fresh here (but I'll have to decide that when actual summer comes, right now it just ended and fall's upon us here).

As for the whole H, Z and M thingymajingy, I'm also pretty sold on the ASRock's Z77 Extreme 4 board, but I still want to go cheaper than that (the diference is I could save up for about 40€, and that's a lot).
Anyways, I'm not doubting your knowledge but here's what I found on P8H77-V's page. (Thanks malbluff!). On the overview section it pertains something about Crossfire. I ask now the following, have these boards come up with any issue regarding Crossfire or any other technology? Like my previes experience with 1600 MHz RAM's?

As for the link of the Coolermaster Elite 372, here it is.

So, to recapitulate...

SSD:
SAMSUNG SSD 830 64GB SATA III seems to be a good choice.

MOBO:
P8H77-V LE is PCDiga's only choice at 103€ though has a mATX factor due to LE (I thought LE just meant cheaper production line?)

ASUS P8H77-V is GlobalData's choice at 105€ but not LE.

CPU:
i5 3550 is Chiptec's choice at 197€

I think that's it, thank you everyone, and keep on postin'

Edit: I have this deal on Pixmania (another store, though not strictly hardware) which features a Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 - 2 GB at the low price of 185€
I wonder if it'll last a couple' a months :lol:

If you've had an issue with H77 and 1600 MHz, I suspect that was with SandyBridge processors, which don't have native support, for 1600 MHz, even with "77" chipsets. There is no problem with Ivybridge. The slight drawback with H77, is that most (I'm not certain if it's ALL) don't support SLi, only Crossfire. Even using locked processor, if using nVidia, Z77 is better, from that point of view. If using Radeon, H77 is the more cost effective choice.

Phantom_Persona · Sep 27, 2012

@malbluff

I see, it's indeed true the CPU's we installed back then were SandyBridge, none were Ivy (they were simple and budget-wise computers (not for gaming)).

P.S. Added note, I can 'kinda scratch the back of my mind that they weren't H77, but instead H67 MOBO's, is that relevant in any way?

Anyways... Since I'm going for a Radeon card and, by your word the H77 is a more cost effective choice, would you recommend the ASUS P8H77-V?

Another question, since my choice diverted to an i5-3550, should I use the stock cooler until it's performance dips (or Summer time reaches) or change it right out of the box and keep the former for any "emergency"?

Edit: Out of curiosity, I used Coolermaster's Comparison tool and compared the three Elites (370, 371, 372), the only changes are design and size, the latter being the biggest.

Edit 2:
Right now, this is what I have.

[MBO]
ASUS P8H77-V = 104.40€

[BOX]
Coolermaster Elite 372 (RC-372-KKN1) = 39.9€

[PSU]
LC-POWER 650W GREEN POWER V2.3 (LC6650GP3) = 53.50€

[RAM]
CORSAIR KIT 4GB DDR3 1600MHZ VENGEANCE (CL9 - 1.5V) = 29.50€

[GPU]
SAPPHIRE TECHNOLOGY Radeon HD 7850 - 2 GB GDDR5 - PCI-Express 3.0 (11200-07-21G) = 185.99€

[CPU]
INTEL CORE I5-3550 3.3GHZ (3.7GHZ TURBO) 6MB BOX = 196.9€

[HDD]
WESTERN DIGITAL 500GB SATA III 16MB = 64.20€

[SSD]
SSD Samsung 2.5" 830 64GB (MZ-7PC064B/WW) = 69.90€

THE WHOLE THING
[Aprox. 745€] [Aprox. 960$ ?].
THE WHOLE THING WITHOUT SSD (Later Buy)
[Aprox. 675€] [Aprox. 870$ ?].

This price is nice as it's below the budget I had planned (leaving me with room for other things) and serves me well nicely.

Keep raining the suggestions and opinions please.

malbluff · Sep 27, 2012

That mobo is fine. With regard to cooler, I don't anticipate any great issue with the stock one, it's just, in a hot environment, it's going to be working harder, and therefore noisier. Whether it is worth fitting an aftermarket cooler now, or "wait and see (or hear)", is debatable. Either way, you should use low profile RAM, to avoid a likely clash.
My only slight concern is that power supply, as I am not familiar with it. I don't know if it's just not widely available. It may be very good, but I can't confirm that.

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