New Computer Spec 2012

[absy84]

Hi, I'm new to this world of building computers therefore would appreciate any advice please.

I'm trying to build a pc for general use as well as gaming. I do not have any specific budget, but would like to build costs reasonable (around £1000 - not sure if this is too much or too little. I've done some research and come up with the components below:

Case: NZXT Phantom Black Full Tower Case £94.94
Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme6 Intel Z677 (Socket 1155) DDR3 £169.99
Processor (CPU): Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50Ghz (Ivy Bridge) Socket LGA1155 OEM £259.99
Heat Sink & Fan: NZXT Havik 140 CPU Cooler £54.98
Graphics Card:Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 WINDFORCE 3X 2084MB GDRR5 £319.99
Memory (RAM): Cosair 8Gb DDR3 1600Mhz Dominator Memory £44.55
Hard Drive(s): Cosair 240gb Force 3 SSD 2.5 SATA-III £146.99
Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64 Cache (OEM) £118.19
Power Supply (PSU) OCZ ZX Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £124.99

Am I spending too much on this computer for general and some gaming?

Are there are better components I should chose instead of those chosen above?

Any advice would be great including tips regarding choosing the best components.

 

[mcnumpty23]

would suggest a 3570k

£80 cheaper and should be more than adequate for your needs

and do you really need 3tb of storage?

1tb is much more than most people need

and a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is almost £20 cheaper than that cooler but still very good

 

[tdzmuzza]

i agree with the above,i5 3570k if your mainly gaming,but i7-3770k if your going to be rendering and doing cpu demanding stuff,3tb is massive, 1 would be ace for storing your games and stuff on, also look at the 212 EVO from coolermaster good cpu cooler.

 

[absy84]

Thanks for the advice

Asides from gaming, I am planning to have 2 monitors attached to this system so I can do work on one and perhaps watch movies on another.

i5 still more than adequate?

Any thoughts on the other parts or any other considerations?

 

[mcnumpty23]

i5 is still adequate

you also dont need 850w psu

a good 750w would be more than enough and still be future proof

 

[absy84]

thanks points noted.

And the graphics card, motherboard and memory?

Also how do I choose which SSD drive to go for?

Sorry I'm completely new to all of this.

 

[blacknemesist]

Are you planning on Overclocking the CPU?If your not avoid the 'k' series,they are more expensive and have the same clocks @ stock than the equivalent non 'k' CPU but they have unlocked multipliers to allow a greater overclock.
If overclocking I would also go for a Noctua D14 which is more expensive but much better specially when trying very high overclocking.

 

[mcnumpty23]

great graphics card

motherboard is up to you--i prefer asus myself

memory--depends which cooler you get --you may be better getting low profile memory if you want to fill all the slots at a later date--ram is dirt cheap

ssd--for me samsung 840

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-162-SA&groupid=701&catid=2104&subcat=2394

 

[absy84]

No I have no plans to overclock - correct me if i'm wrong, think this is not required for general use and some gaming.

I want a sturdy laptop which will last me a good few years, which will be easy to upgrade from time to time. I have set aside £1000 - £1500 (is this too much???).

Based on the comments above, the spec looks like:
Case: NZXT Phantom Black Full Tower Case £94.94
Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme6 Intel Z677 (Socket 1155) DDR3 £169.99
Processor (CPU): Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40Ghz (Ivy Bridge) Socket LGA1155 OEM £179.99
Heat Sink & Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooler £26.99
Graphics Card:Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 WINDFORCE 3X 2084MB GDRR5 £319.99
Memory (RAM): Cosair 8Gb DDR3 1600Mhz Dominator Memory £44.55
Hard Drive(s): Cosair 240gb Force 3 SSD 2.5 SATA-III £146.99
Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64 Cache (OEM) £118.19
Power Supply (PSU) OCZ ZX Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £124.99

I'm open to suggestions and any alternatives anyone may have.

 

[absy84]

thanks mcnumpty23 - I had a look at samsung 840, read the reviews. sounds gd.


I will stick if the cooler you suggested I guess. What memory would you suggest? My understanding is that 8gb is more than enough for my purposes?

 

[mcnumpty23]

8gb is enough--though allowing future proofing to 16gb wont hurt

something low profile like

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-017-SA

or

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-307-CS

personally the samsungs as they can run 1600mhz at only 1.4v

overclocking isnt required for general use and some gaming--but can give a large boost for free

theres £12 difference between 3570 and 3570k so to me the 3570k is a no brainer

with that heatsink overclocking should add 25% to 30% performance increase

 

[tdzmuzza]

youll want a OCD vortex ssd one one the best out there (personally),everything else is mint,save some money on your PSU 750 will be more than enough.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Systems by Mousemonkey

 

[absy84]

mcnumpty23 - why would i go for low profile ram? what are the benefits?

does this look better guys?

Based on the comments above, the spec looks like:
Case: NZXT Phantom Black Full Tower Case £94.94
Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme6 Intel Z677 (Socket 1155) DDR3 £169.99
Processor (CPU): Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40Ghz (Ivy Bridge) Socket LGA1155 OEM £179.99
Heat Sink & Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooler £26.99
Graphics Card:Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 WINDFORCE 3X 2084MB GDRR5 £319.99
Memory (RAM): Cosair 8Gb DDR3 1600Mhz Dominator Memory £44.55
Hard Drive(s): OCZ 240 Vertex 3 SSD £155.00
Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64 Cache (OEM) £118.19
Power Supply: Cosair TX 750 V2 PSU 80plus Bronze Certified £81.38

 

[tdzmuzza]

much better,but still not really much need for 3TB hard drive.