1st Build Advice Needed - £1200

[Kern0ek]

Approximate Purchase Date: Late May.

Budget Range: £1200

System Usage from Most to Least Important:Gaming, Photography, Word Processing, Programming, Web surfing and Media

Parts Not Required: Key Board , Mouse, Monitor, Speakers.OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:Scan or Amazon

Country: UK

Parts Preferences: Intel for CPU otherwise not really

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe later on

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Been doing a fair bit of research and have come up with a build, ive just not got any practical knowledge of building PC so have probaly missed something

Coolmaster 690 II Advanced

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coolermaster-cm-690-ii-advanced-dominator-black-mid-tower-case-with-usb-30-w-o-psu

Asus Sabertooth Z77 Motherboard

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-sabertooth-z77-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-displayport-hdmi-atx

Intel 3570K when it comes out

MSI Geforce GTX 560 Ti TWIN FROZR II 1GB NVIDIA Graphics Card

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-msi-gtx-560ti-oc-twin-frozr-ii-40nm-4200mhz-gddr5-gpu-880mhz-shader-1760mhz-384-cores

Figured i could use this for a year or so till i can afford a much better one or maybe SLI?

3TB Segate

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3tb-seagate-st3000dm001-barracuda-720014-sata-iii-6gb-s-7200rpm-64mb-cache-8ms-ncq-oem

Could go down to 2TB but am likely to need the space for Photos and Video.

OCZ Agility 3 120GB SSD

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120gb-ocz-agility-3-ssd-25-sata-6gb-s-sandforce-2281-read-525mb-s-write-500mb-s-85k-iops

Corsair Memory Vengeance Black 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz CAS 9 XMP Dual Channel Desktop

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-jet-black-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-150v

Coolermaster RS600-AMBAD3 Silent Pro M 600W Modular Power Supply

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/600w-psu-coolermaster-silent-pro-m-modular-83eff-80-plus-bronze-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-quiet-fan-atx

12x BD-ROM Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/samsung-sh-b123l-bsbp-12x-blu-ray-bd-rom-and-dvdrw-combo-player-oem

Seem to come to around 1100 ish, When i know on what i want 100% will hunt around for cheaper deals etc.

These seem to be good and to budget but if anyone has a better suggestion im very open as i'm new to all this. Been wanting to build a gaming pc for a while but only just got the funds to do so.

Thanks

 

[Kern0ek]

Just realised i havnt included any extra cooling, Was thinking of using the Corsair H60 though ive heard mixed opinion on that one.

 

[g-unit1111]

Could go down to 2TB but am likely to need the space for Photos and Video.

Yeah - well 3TB is nice but you can always add more drives if your needs change - get a motherboard that has plenty of SATA ports to allow you to do so. The Agility 3 isn't the best choice for SSD either - anything based on the Sandforce 2 controller (Agility/Solid/Vertex 3, Patirot Pyro, Corsair Force, Intel 320/520, etc) would than a Marvell-based SSD (Crucial M4, Kingston Hyper X, Plextor M3, Samsung 830) would. The case I included makes it really easy to add or remove HDs.

Just realized i haven't included any extra cooling, Was thinking of using the Corsair H60 though ive heard mixed opinion on that one.

Liquid loops usually aren't the best idea - sure a closed loop is safer than an open radiator but air is always fail safe.

Try this build:

Case: Fractal Design Arc MIDI - £69.41
PSU: Seasonic X760 Gold - £141.31
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V Pro - £135.32
CPU: 3.30GHz Intel Core i5-2500K - £168.18
Cooler: Akasa Venom Voodoo - £39.95
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz 1.5V - £39.74
SSD: 128GB Crucial M4 - £112.94
HD: 1.5TB Western Digital Caviar Green - £93.78
Optical: LG DVD Burner - £13.14
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 - £329.75

Total: £1,153.11

Around the same price but I included a way better PSU and video card - if you're using Photoshop and want to setup multiple displays the 7950 will make it far easier than a 560TI will.

 

[Why_Me]

Here's a few alternatives. Some of these components are located @ Dabs, but most likely can be found @ Scan also.

http://www.dabs.com/products/asrock-z77-extreme-4-s1155-intel-z77-ddr3-atx-80XR.html?refs=4294943314-50568&src=3 £109.99 Inc VAT
ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 S1155 Intel Z77 DDR3 ATX

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.us.asp?Model=Z77%20Extreme4 <----- a better look at that board

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-p8z77-v-lk-s1155-intel-z77-ddr3-atx-81WY.html?refs=4294943314-50626&src=3 £114.99 Inc VAT
Asus P8Z77-V LK S1155 Intel Z77 DDR3 ATX

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z77V_LK/ <----- a better look at that board

http://www.dabs.com/products/sapphire-technology-ati-radeon-7870-1000mhz-2gb-pci-express-3-0-hdmi-80T7.html?refs=55570000-4294943360&src=3 £259.99 Inc VAT
Sapphire Technology ATI Radeon 7870 1000MHz 2GB PCI-Express 3.0 HDMI

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-ati-radeon-7870-1010mhz-2gb-pci-express-3-0-hdmi-directcu-ii-818Y.html?refs=55570000-4294943360&src=3 £279.99
Asus ATI Radeon 7870 1010MHz 2GB PCI-Express 3.0 HDMI DirectCU II

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/HD_7870_Direct_Cu_II/ <----- Review with benchmarks for that Asus 7870

This psu down below is manufactured by Seasonic for XFX as are all XFX psu's and the mid and upper tier Corsair psu's.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-carbide-series-400r-black-mid-tower-gaming-case-w-o-psu £89.98 Inc VAT
XFX 750W XXX Black Edition Single Rail Semi Modular PSU

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=184 <----- Review of that power supply

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-carbide-series-400r-black-mid-tower-gaming-case-w-o-psu £77.28 Inc VAT
Corsair Carbide Series 400R Black Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/carbide-series-pc-case/carbide-series-400r-mid-tower-case.html <----- a better look at that case

Also you do not want RAM with tall heat spreaders. It does nothing more than impede your cpu heat sink. Look for low profile RAM like this down below.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-jet-black-lp-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-15v £39.74 Inc VAT
Corsair Memory 8GB Vengeance Jet Black Low Profile 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz CAS 9 XMP Dual Channel Desktop

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cooling/cpucoolers/rr-212e-16pk-r1.html £29.99 inc vat
Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Coolers+-+Air/CPU+Coolers/Cooler+Master+Hyper+212+EVO+Quiet+CPU+Cooler+?productId=47248 £29.99 inc. VAT
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Quiet CPU Cooler

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Storage/Hard+Drives+-+SSD/100GB+-+260GB+SSD/Mushkin+Chronos+120GB+2.5%22+SATA-III+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+?productId=45660 £99.95 inc. VAT
Mushkin Chronos 120GB 2.5" SATA-III Solid State Hard Drive

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Storage/Hard+Drives+-+Internal/3.5+Inch+SATA+Drives/640GB+-+1TB/1TB+Seagate+ST1000DM003+Barracuda+7200.12+SATA+III+6Gb%2Fs+Hard+Drive+-+HDD+?productId=48501 £74.34 inc. VAT
1TB Seagate ST1000DM003 Barracuda 7200.12 SATA III 6Gb/s Hard Drive - HDD

 

[naf]

Advice above me seconded, except you might consider 16 gigs of RAM. It's dirt cheap you're likely to appreciate it while photoshopping and programming.

 

[Kern0ek]

Cheers for the replies guys.

Good call on the ram, that would have been a nightmare.

Seems I've chosen a overly expensive motherboard Ill have a good look at the ones you've suggested.

Also lots of people seem to like this cooler
Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO

would that be good enough for a bit of overclocking with a 2500k or 3570k

Getting 16gb of ram seem quite a lot more than just 8gb so not sure about that, would i notice the difference in games.

What's the best way of working out the wattage required for my system, quite confused by how much im going to need.

 

[Why_Me]

Cheers for the replies guys.

Good call on the ram, that would have been a nightmare.

Seems I've chosen a overly expensive motherboard Ill have a good look at the ones you've suggested.

Also lots of people seem to like this cooler
Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO

would that be good enough for a bit of overclocking with a 2500k or 3570k

Getting 16gb of ram seem quite a lot more than just 8gb so not sure about that, would i notice the difference in games.

What's the best way of working out the wattage required for my system, quite confused by how much im going to need.

The CM EVO is a good cooler for the money and it allows you to add another fan to it for a "push - pull effect" to bring the temps down a bit more. The reviews on the 3570K haven't come out yet, but with the 2500K anything past 4.4ghz - 4.5ghz nets you about nothing in regards to more FPS. Anything past that is for bragging rights only and I see no reason to put more voltage in a cpu when it shortens it's life span.

With the RAM....if your editing big files then look at 16GB other wise 8GB is fine. As far as wattage goes, 750w gives you ample headroom in case you decide to add extra fans, drives, over clock, etc...

 

[Kern0ek]

Wicked think ill go with that then. Come up with a revised build what do you think

coolmaster 690 II

Asus Sabertooth z77

2500K or 3570K

1TB HDD barracuda

SDD 128Gb crucial m4

Sapphire 7950

coolmaster hyper 212 evo

8GB Ran corsair vengeful low profile

Coolermaster RS600-80GAD3-UK Silent Pro Gold 600W Modular Power Supply

comes to around £1100

think this will last a while, will add more ram when i have the money and add more HDD space. Would love a i7 but just can afford/justify it.

 

[Silvune]

Some people use PSU calculators.
I prefer looking a video cards reviews in particular as they consistently have information about power consumption for the whole system.

In the case of the Sapphire HD 7950 3GB OC:
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4543/sapphire_radeon_hd_7950_3gb_oc_video_card_in_crossfire/index.html
Shows a system with an i7-3960X and two of the above GPUs drawing 550W at the wall under 3DMark11. So anything above 550W (with four PCIe connectors) will power a build with two 7950s, most people like to go above the minimum though.

A Chinese review has measured the ripple and noise on the 12V rail on the SPG 600W as 116mV on full load, which is just inside the spec.
Other members of the SPG series from western based review sites have shown similiar results so I think that result is plausible.
I would not want ripple and noise to be that high on a unit I owned, so don't recommend it to others.

If you want a PSU with an 80Plus Gold rating, modular, but no more expensive then this is your option:
Cougar GX 600W £90
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/b003ut83ca/geizhals07-21/ref=nosim?m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
The 800W version is the same price.

However you still have £100 left, so ~£15 more for this is well worth it:
NZXT Hale90 650W 80Plus Gold Modular £105
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-psu-nzxt-hale90-hale90650m-modular-90eff-80-plus-gold-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-quiet-fan-atx-v22

 

[Why_Me]

Wicked think ill go with that then. Come up with a revised build what do you think

coolmaster 690 II

Asus Sabertooth z77

2500K or 3570K

1TB HDD barracuda

SDD 128Gb crucial m4

Sapphire 7950

coolmaster hyper 212 evo

8GB Ran corsair vengeful low profile

Coolermaster RS600-80GAD3-UK Silent Pro Gold 600W Modular Power Supply

comes to around £1100

think this will last a while, will add more ram when i have the money and add more HDD space. Would love a i7 but just can afford/justify it.

I would go with a quality 750w psu so you have some headroom if and when you add another one of those cards. An 850w would even suffice. Look at XFX, Seasonic Antec, Silverstone, Corsair or Enermax for a quality psu.