Building a New PC Soon, but first, some questions.

[Zonino]

Hi everyone. I'm looking to build my second PC soon, but I realise in the grand scheme of things there's some basic info which I realise I don't know, and I want to make sure I'm getting the most out of the new PC while at the same time, making sure I don't go overboard and get parts that I won't be getting the full use out of, or parts that actually turn out to be sub par. So while I look at some of the guides here, I'd like to fire a few questions at you all.

First up, I'll probably only be getting a single Graphics card so I won't have need for multiple PCI-Express slots. With that in mind, would it be better/cheaper to get a micro-ITX motherboard with a smaller case, or would something like that have airflow/cooling issues with everything being closer together?

Speaking of motherboards, it's most likely going to be an i5 processor I get, but I don't know the difference between the different chipsets on the motherboard. I can only assume that Z77 are the current best... and obviously I should look at what the motherboard actually has in regards to Sata, Ram and PCI-E slots... but what is the actual difference between the chipsets?

Speaking of Sata. I've heard that HDDs don't get the full benefit of Sata 6Gb because of the limitations of their design. Is this true? And are the ones that are advertised just saying that they are compatible with the 6Gb slots?

Thanks in advance. I current computer has suffered from stability issues from the fact that I went in with a large amount of ignorance. I want to make sure I do it better this time.

 

[Michael31]

With motherboards I would not recommend getting a micro, get an ATX better for airflow, cable management

Also the difference in chip sets are that some are made for gaming and others are made for business and stuff like that.
The Z77 is a mix of both and is the "best" chip set available for the I5

Some HDD's dont benefit form 6GB and some do it all depends on the HDD

Also for your I5 I would get an I5 3570K they are very good processors and can be overclocked for more performance.

Good Luck with your build

 

[Zonino]

With motherboards I would not recommend getting a micro, get an ATX better for airflow, cable management

Also the difference in chip sets are that some are made for gaming and others are made for business and stuff like that.
The Z77 is a mix of both and is the "best" chip set available for the I5

Some HDD's dont benefit form 6GB and some do it all depends on the HDD

Also for your I5 I would get an I5 3570K they are very good processors and can be overclocked for more performance.

Good Luck with your build

Well that was quick!

My PC will mostly be used for gaming. I was probably going to get a Z77, of course I'll admit the price is off-putting, but as I said, I want to do this right.

Can you be more specific about the HDDs? Is there a way to check or know the difference?

And yeah, I knew about the i5s with the K could be overclocked. I was either going to get the 2500k or the 3570k, but considering there's only a very small price difference between them, I'll be getting the 3570k.

Oh also one more thing I nearly forgot. PSU. Now, the GPU I'll most likely end up getting is the 660Ti. It seems like the best card for my price range. For the PSU, I was thinking of getting a 650W one. Does it need to be 80+? I know they are more efficient, but again, it's the whole cost vs benefits debate.

Thanks again.

 

[samuelspark]

Well that was quick!

My PC will mostly be used for gaming. I was probably going to get a Z77, of course I'll admit the price is off-putting, but as I said, I want to do this right.

Can you be more specific about the HDDs? Is there a way to check or know the difference?

And yeah, I knew about the i5s with the K could be overclocked. I was either going to get the 2500k or the 3570k, but considering there's only a very small price difference between them, I'll be getting the 3570k.

Oh also one more thing I nearly forgot. PSU. Now, the GPU I'll most likely end up getting is the 660Ti. It seems like the best card for my price range. For the PSU, I was thinking of getting a 650W one. Does it need to be 80+? I know they are more efficient, but again, it's the whole cost vs benefits debate.

Thanks again.

All HDD's will run about the same speed, no matter what SATA it is as long as it is 7200RPM. A 650w is overkill for single 660 Ti. An 80+ rating generally means that it's not a total trash unit. Here's a list of good PSU's: http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

Good cheap PSU's:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045&Tpk=vp450

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182200&Tpk=rg630

 

[Zonino]

Thanks Samuel, that's good to know.

Like the name by the way. So familiar.

 

[Michael31]

The GTX 660ti is a very good card, Now you are going to want at least a 600watt PSU
That is 80+ and Bronze rating it will conserve power allot more and is worth the extra money

Dont think of the PSU as one of the cheap pieces. It should be as important as your CPU and GPU (but not as expensive)

Whats your budget for this build we might be able to help you out on a few pieces

 

[samuelspark]

The GTX 660ti is a very good card, Now you are going to want at least a 600watt PSU
That is 80+ and Bronze rating it will conserve power allot more and is worth the extra money

Dont think of the PSU as one of the cheap pieces. It should be as important as your CPU and GPU (but not as expensive)

Whats your budget for this build we might be able to help you out on a few pieces

You would be fine running it on a quality 450w. What are you talking about?

 

[Michael31]

You would be fine running it on a quality 450w. What are you talking about?

oh sorry your right, must of been reading something else It says right here that 450W will do

http://www.geforce.co.uk/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-660ti/specifications

 

[Zonino]

Sorry for the delay in getting back. Thanks for the further replies.

Michael31. I'm trying to keep my PC under £700 at the moment. I can go a little over, but would like to try and avoid that if at all possible. My last price check for the parts I was looking at put me just over £700 but I can get better deals if I shop around, and i'm hoping for Christmas sales to bring prices down even more, but if they don't I'm still going for it.

As for the 450W PSU, I assume I'd want to try and get 80+ for that just for the efficency. I must admit though... getting the lowest possible PSU wattage that is recommended for the card always worries me because I wonder "will it have enough power for everything else. Maybe that's me being silly, but there is going to be 2 HDDs, a SSD and any number of different USB things connected, and I don't want to get a PSU that'll be running at full capacity all the time.

 

[samuelspark]

Sorry for the delay in getting back. Thanks for the further replies.

Michael31. I'm trying to keep my PC under £700 at the moment. I can go a little over, but would like to try and avoid that if at all possible. My last price check for the parts I was looking at put me just over £700 but I can get better deals if I shop around, and i'm hoping for Christmas sales to bring prices down even more, but if they don't I'm still going for it.

As for the 450W PSU, I assume I'd want to try and get 80+ for that just for the efficency. I must admit though... getting the lowest possible PSU wattage that is recommended for the card always worries me because I wonder "will it have enough power for everything else. Maybe that's me being silly, but there is going to be 2 HDDs, a SSD and any number of different USB things connected, and I don't want to get a PSU that'll be running at full capacity all the time.

Get the Antec VP 450. 450w of continuous power and 550w max along with 80+ efficiency. Most affordable PSU as well.

 

[samuelspark]

Sorry for the delay in getting back. Thanks for the further replies.

Michael31. I'm trying to keep my PC under £700 at the moment. I can go a little over, but would like to try and avoid that if at all possible. My last price check for the parts I was looking at put me just over £700 but I can get better deals if I shop around, and i'm hoping for Christmas sales to bring prices down even more, but if they don't I'm still going for it.

As for the 450W PSU, I assume I'd want to try and get 80+ for that just for the efficency. I must admit though... getting the lowest possible PSU wattage that is recommended for the card always worries me because I wonder "will it have enough power for everything else. Maybe that's me being silly, but there is going to be 2 HDDs, a SSD and any number of different USB things connected, and I don't want to get a PSU that'll be running at full capacity all the time.

Get the Antec VP 450. 450w of continuous power and 550w max along with 80+ efficiency. Most affordable PSU as well.

 

[Zonino]

Right, so with the advice I've gotten here and browsing the forums I think I've settled on a list of parts. I'd appreciate any feedback anyone would like to give.

Processor: Intel i5 3570k OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/367824-intel-core-i5-3570k-3-4ghz-socket-1155-6mb-cache-oem-processor-cm8063701211800

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H
http://www.ebuyer.com/386271-gigabyte-ga-z77-ds3h-socket-1155-vga-dvi-hdmi-7-1-channel-audio-atx-motherboard-ga-z77-ds3h

RAM: Corsair Vengence 8Gb DDR3 1600
http://www.ebuyer.com/262580-corsair-8gb-ddr3-1600mhz-vengeance-memory-cmz8gx3m2a1600c9b

GPU: Gigabyte Nvidia GTX660Ti
http://www.ebuyer.com/393785-gigabyte-gv-n66toc-2gd-gv-n66toc-2gd

SSD: Sandisk 128Gb Pulse
http://www.ebuyer.com/387080-sandisk-128gb-pulse-ssd-slim-sdssdp-128g-g25

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500Gb 7200RPM
http://www.ebuyer.com/272944-seagate-500gb-barracuda-internal-hard-drive-st500dm002

PSU: Antec VP 450
http://www.ebuyer.com/245675-antec-450w-psu-120mm-fan-vp450-4x-sata-1x-pci-e-0761345-06451-4

Aftermarket Cooler: Arctic Freezer 7 Pro
http://www.ebuyer.com/176157-arctic-cooling-freezer-7-pro-rev-2-socket-775-1156-1155-1366-ac-frz-7pr2

Case: Antec One Case
http://www.ebuyer.com/341400-one-middle-tower-case-black-no-psu-in-0-761345-15970-8

DvD Drive: Samsung SH-224BB
http://www.ebuyer.com/397468-samsung-sh224bb-bebe-sh224bb-bebe

Right. Well the grand total for this is about £750. A little over what I'd like, but not outwidth the realm of managebility. The SSD is there because I've heard they're great for the operating system and for some games... but I'm not convinced loading games faster is needed as much for online gaming when you normally have to wait for other people to load, so I could remove it.

For the HDD, would I be better getting one with a 32Mb Cache if I dropped the SSD and used this for gaming?

I think that's everything but please, if you see anything glaring let me know. Still got some time before I order, but as I said, want to make sure I'm doing everything right.

 

[mikerockett]

Seems like a good build. A few comments though.

Make sure to get the low profile version of your RAM, you could struggle getting it under the cooler otherwise.

Definitely get the SSD, if you've not had one before you'll love the extra speed you get out of load times.

That particular SSD i've not heard of before and cant find much info on it. May be better going for a more well known and reliable one like the Samsung 840 or the one i use and find to be excellent which is the Corsair Force 3

Only other thing i'd change is the case but that's purely personal preference.

 

[Zonino]

Seems like a good build. A few comments though.

Make sure to get the low profile version of your RAM, you could struggle getting it under the cooler otherwise.

Definitely get the SSD, if you've not had one before you'll love the extra speed you get out of load times.

That particular SSD i've not heard of before and cant find much info on it. May be better going for a more well known and reliable one like the Samsung 840 or the one i use and find to be excellent which is the Corsair Force 3

Only other thing i'd change is the case but that's purely personal preference.

That Samsung SSD looks pretty good and it's only £10 dearer. I'll look into it. And Low Profile Ram, right I'll look into that too.

What would you use as a case? I'm trying to strike a balance between form and price, which is why I took that case, but I'll admit it's not the nicest looking case, but then it's really what's inside that matters isn't it?

 

[mikerockett]

You should be able to find corsair vengeance low profile on ebuyer. They will fit under the cooler as I have both.

Personally id get the force 3 as it's on offer at the moment.

Case really is just personal preference, the one you picked will work with your components so there's no issues. Take a look on PC part picker uk and see all the cases for around your budget and pick the one you like.