First Gaming PC Build

[burns94]

Hi Guys,

I am building my first gaming pc to play games such as battlefield 3 and skyrim.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/q0u3
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/q0u3/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/q0u3/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£149.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£56.10 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£29.59 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£50.00 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£177.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case (£37.18 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W ATX12V Power Supply (£35.32 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £548.12
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-28 22:37 GMT+0000)

Are these parts compatible and good enough to play modern games?

Also will they be compatible with windows 8?

Thanks

 

[macgreen]

You'll want a z77 motherboard when you get an i5-3570k CPU. A B75 is a barebones, basic motherboard that doesn't let you overclock (which is the main reason to get a 3570k CPU). If you don't plan to overclock, then you should switch the CPU with a 3450, 3470, or 3550 instead. There's nothing really incompatible between the CPU and mobo, but you can't overclock the CPU when you use a b75 mobo.

Otherwise, it looks alright. I'd personally recommend a PSU that is around 500-550w (at least) when you're getting any card that's more powerful than a Radeon 7770 or a GTX 650.

 

[burns94]

Thanks for you response

I was supposed to click on the Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H anyway, but i must have chosen the wrong one.

I have updated the motherboard and psu, is this better?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/q0CJ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/q0CJ/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/q0CJ/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£149.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£77.60 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£29.59 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£50.00 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£177.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case (£37.18 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£47.99 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £582.29
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-28 22:53 GMT+0000)

thanks

 

[macgreen]

No problem. It looks good, but you will probably want to also get an after-market CPU Cooler, rather than relying on the stock cooler that comes with the CPU for any overclocking.

 

[burns94]

No problem. It looks good, but you will probably want to also get an after-market CPU Cooler, rather than relying on the stock cooler that comes with the CPU for any overclocking.

Okay thanks

Also What gpu would you say is better

EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Superclocked NVIDIA Graphics Card - 2GB
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-660-superclocked-28nm-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-1046mhz-boost-1111mhz-cores-960-dp-dvi-hdmi

Or

SAPPHIRE TECHNOLOGY Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition - 2 GB GDDR5 - PCI-Express 3.0 (11199-00-20G)
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/11913913/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-7870-ghz-editio.html

 

[macgreen]

It depends on what you're planning to play and how high a detail you're going for. AMD tends to be better with Ultra-high details, but the 660 does just fine at lower detail levels as well, and typically costs less at the same time. The 660 may also play certain nvidia-based games better than the Radeon cards can, but they're roughly the same. The AMD usually has a slight edge thanks to being able to more easily handle higher anti-aliasing levels, and there are lots of people 'round here who prefer AMD cards, but either should work quite well for most games you'd want to play.

Of course, if we're going off of opinion, I'd probably go with the Radeon 7870.

 

[burns94]

It depends on what you're planning to play and how high a detail you're going for. AMD tends to be better with Ultra-high details, but the 660 does just fine at lower detail levels as well, and typically costs less at the same time. The 660 may also play certain nvidia-based games better than the Radeon cards can, but they're roughly the same. The AMD usually has a slight edge thanks to being able to more easily handle higher anti-aliasing levels, and there are lots of people 'round here who prefer AMD cards, but either should work quite well for most games you'd want to play.

Of course, if we're going off of opinion, I'd probably go with the Radeon 7870.

I would be using it to play games like battlefield 3 hopefully on Ultra.

I was initially going to get the sapphire hd 7870 but i dont think it supports windows 8, so i choose the gtx 660.

 

[macgreen]

The trick is that with the card you chose on the site you linked to... it's yet to be released (it says pre-order on the site). That's the main reason I'd recommend the 7870 (it's available, unlike the 660). It should support Windows 8, you just need to download the latest drivers. I haven't heard of any driver issues between Win8 and a video card, personally, so it should be fine.

 

[burns94]

The trick is that with the card you chose on the site you linked to... it's yet to be released (it says pre-order on the site). That's the main reason I'd recommend the 7870 (it's available, unlike the 660). It should support Windows 8, you just need to download the latest drivers. I haven't heard of any driver issues between Win8 and a video card, personally, so it should be fine.

Cool thanks, so when i build the computer, do i install the disk that comes with the graphics card or go straight to the website to get the windows 8 drivers?

 

[macgreen]

Just go for the website. Chances are that the drivers provided were burned onto the disc before Win8 came out (or simply aren't up to date), so just head for AMD's website for the latest drivers. That's what I did (but hey, I'm running Win7).