First build upgrade friendly computer

[BrickBrain]

Hi everyone!
I've been reading up the past few weeks and deciding on the best configuration I can squeeze in my budget for an upgrade friendly 700 GBP build. This is what I have come up with.

I decided to use the new LGA2011 socket because it will have more additions further down the road and coupled with the x79 chipset I will be able to do a complete x16/x16 Crossfire in the next few years. Furthermore the motherboard I picked has 8 RAM slots if I need them. I was originally going to go with the i5 3570K, but it doesn't support the full PCIe needed. (I don't know how much you lose by using only 8pcie lanes, but originally I had the GTX660Ti in mind)

I will mainly be playing BF3 and Diablo 3 for now, as well as doing photoshop work. Overclocking is not a priority.

Any thoughts and comments greatly appreciated, as this is only my first build!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (£215.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI X79A-GD45 (8D) ATX LGA2011 Motherboard (£146.15 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£24.49 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£161.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£35.05 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£53.49 @ Ebuyer)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £702.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[ittimjones]

it looks pretty solid to me. I would place a little money into graphics, because in gaming, a great GPU is more important than a good CPU.

Also, you might wana consider faster RAM 1600MHz is starting to get a little dated...
2133MHz is really good.

other than those two things, it looks solid. nice work for first build

PS. If you plan to OC later, you should get an after market cooler. Any simple cooler that stands and blows the air through the heatsink towards a case exhaust if good, but I really like the closed loop liquid cooling units, like the Corsair H60.

 

[BrickBrain]

Thanks for the feedback, ittimjones. I completely agree with all of your suggestions but it's a bit of a stretch for my budget. I'd love a more powerful PSU so I can SLI/Crossfire/Overclock easier in the future, a good aftermarket cooler, better graphics and faster ram, but all of that would put me well over my limit. Most I can manage I think is around 200 pounds for the GPU. (Maybe a 7970?, what would be a good Nvidia one?) What would be something that wouldn't bottleneck the CPU? Also is it a good idea to get less RAM but faster speed now, and add the second channel later?


Sorry for my newbie questions, I am not experienced with this at all.

it looks pretty solid to me. I would place a little money into graphics, because in gaming, a great GPU is more important than a good CPU.

Also, you might wana consider faster RAM 1600MHz is starting to get a little dated...
2133MHz is really good.

other than those two things, it looks solid. nice work for first build

PS. If you plan to OC later, you should get an after market cooler. Any simple cooler that stands and blows the air through the heatsink towards a case exhaust if good, but I really like the closed loop liquid cooling units, like the Corsair H60.

 

[BrickBrain]

Maybe as a quick side note I should mention that I am going to run everything on a single monitor at 1920 x 1080. (Asus PA238Q)