£1000 build need advice

[FrozenDonut]

This is my budget (£1000 roughly) does this look reasonable and will it work? its my first time building a pc, I want to play games at high graphics - appreciate any advice thanks.

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Unlocked Processor - Retail
be quiet! Dark Rock Advanced Quiet CPU Cooler
Seagate Barracuda Green 1TB 3.5" SATA 3GB/s Internal Hard Drive
750W OCZ ZS Series 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply
G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 Intel Z68 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard
Corsair Force Series 3 V2 60GB 2.5" SATA-III Solid State Hard Drive
XFX AMD Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

all in this case :Cooler Master CM Storm Enforcer Black Midi Tower Windowed Chassis w/ USB3.0


also using a TP-Link 300Mbps Advanced Wireless N PCI Adapter [TL-WN951N] as i have to use wireless internet.

thanks

 

[chulex67]

Change the Cpu to a I5 2500k, you will not see a diference in gaming between I7 and i5 2500k, Get Another brand of Psu Antec and Corsair are good Brands, With your budget you should get at least a 6970 or Going with 2 Gtx 570. or 2 6950

 

[dharmenparikh]

Change the CPU to 2500k...hyperthreading does almost nothing for gaming,

change the cooler to CM 212+(it will get you to 4.5ghz at 1.35-1.38v easily),

get a cheaper motherboard such as the Asrock z68 extreme 3 or even the P67 boards. Also you don't need gen 3...not a single video card right now needs more than x8 pcei gen 2 speeds...Also motherboards within a given chipset perform within 98-100% of each other..even the $300 performs the same as a $120 board if they are using the same chipset. The only difference is features..so make sure you're not spending more for stuff you won't use.

Get an 850W PSU with 70amps on 12v rail..don't worry about those 80+ stickers..its all fraud..manufacturers cherry pick pieces to get the certification. You can get decent brands for $80-$100 in the US.

You need to focus on spending the maximum amt of money on the graphics card....atleast $350-$400 if you ask me because thats the whole point of a gaming system. A good motherboard, good PSU, good cooler, good ram is not going to do anything for gaming when you compare it to a good graphics card. You need at a minimum Radeon 6970 or 2x 6950 2gb or 2 X 7870/7850 (upon release).

For Ram get the cheapest ram thats 8gb...1600mhz...cas 9 or 8...all ram perform the same and have the same chance of going bad...they all come with lifetime warranty. In the US...patriot sells those specs in 4gb x2 for $25 sometimes.

For your SSD try to get an agility 3 or Force 3 or any other 90gb SSd. In the US you can get them for under $100 sometimes. 60gb can cause issues but 90gb is enough capacity for windows+2-3 games+ other applications. Don't go for the caching thing in z68...a pure SSD is insanely better than HDD+SSD combo.

Your case is reasonable but you can save some more perhaps by getting a CM 690 II or cougar evolution...assuming they have deals..still its a decent case. I just think you can get something for under $70-$80 and focus more on the video card.

You guys have way too many taxes in the UK..when I think of 1000 pounds..I think $1500 due to the conversion..which can buy a much better system in the US..but 1000 pounds is more like a $1100-$1200 system with all the taxes in the UK.

 

[metal orient]

For £1033.21 (including P&P and VAT) you could get this:

Intel i5 2500k £165
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Intel+Core+i5-2500K+3.30GHz+%28Sandybridge%29+Socket+LGA1155+Unlocked+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=43216

Asus P8Z68 Gen 3 £135
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Intel+1155+Z68+%28B3%29/ASUS+P8Z68-V%2FGEN3+Intel+Z68+%28REV+B3%29+Socket+1155+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=47124

8GB Corsair LP 1600 C9 £39
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR3/Dual+Channel+1600MHz/8GB+Corsair+Vengeance+Blue+LP+%282x4GB%29+DDR3+PC3-12800C9+1600MHz+1.5v+Dual+Channel+Kit+-+CML8GX3M2A1600C9B+?productId=45510

Dual Asus 560Ti's £167 (£334)
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Asus+GeForce+GTX+560Ti+DCII%2F2DI%2F1GD5+DirectCU+II+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=43564

CM 212 Evo £19
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cooling/CPU+Coolers/Cooler+Master+Hyper+212+EVO+Quiet+CPU+Cooler+?productId=47248

Crucial m4 128GB £145
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Solid+State+Drives/Crucial+m4+128GB+2.5%22+SATA-III+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+?productId=44258

Corsair HX750w £114
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/Modular+700-950W/750W+Corsair+HX+Series+80PLUS+Silver+Modular+Power+Supply+?productId=36021

Coolermaster Storm enforcer £68
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/MIDI+Tower/Cooler+Master+CM+Storm+Enforcer+Black+Midi+Tower+Windowed+Chassis+w%2F+USB3.0+?productId=44604

Would be pretty powerful, i didn't include an HDD as the SSD is 128GB and should keep you going for a while. You can always add an HDD later anyway.

 

[FrozenDonut]

Thanks for the advice, ive changed it quite a bit, does this look better?

Intel Core i5-2500K
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Intel+Core+i5-2500K+3.30GHz+%28Sandybridge%29+Socket+LGA1155+Unlocked+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=43216

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Quiet CPU Cooler
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cooling/CPU+Coolers/Cooler+Master+Hyper+212+EVO+Quiet+CPU+Cooler+?productId=47248

8GB Exceleram Rippler Sandybridge-Series
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR3/Dual+Channel+1600MHz/8GB+Exceleram+Rippler+Sandybridge-Series+%282x4GB%29+DDR3+PC3-12800C9+1600MHz+-+ERS303A+?productId=47170

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 3.5" SATA III Internal Hard Drive
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Seagate+Barracuda+7200.12+500GB+3.5%22+SATA+III+Internal+Hard+Drive+%5BST500DM002%5D+?productId=46054

MSI P67A-G45 Intel P67
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/MSI+P67A-G45+Intel+P67+%28REV+B3%29+Socket+1155+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=44075

OCZ Agility 3 120GB 2.5" SATA-III Solid State Hard Drive
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Solid+State+Drives/OCZ+Agility+3+120GB+2.5%22+SATA-III+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+?productId=47341

750W XFX Core Edition 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/700-950W/750W+XFX+Core+Edition+80PLUS+Bronze+Power+Supply+%28Seasonic+OEM%29+?productId=45334

Cooler Master CM Storm Enforcer
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/MIDI+Tower/Cooler+Master+CM+Storm+Enforcer+Black+Midi+Tower+Windowed+Chassis+w%2F+USB3.0+?productId=44604

That all adds up to £647, im looking for a graphics card for around £300-£350 but im not sure whether to go SLI/crossfire or whether to get a single card, what would you recommend? I was thinking something like :

PowerColor AMD Radeon HD 6950 1024MB (crossfire)
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/PowerColor+AMD+Radeon+HD+6950+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=48169

Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti (SLI)
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Asus+GeForce+GTX+560Ti+DCII%2F2DI%2F1GD5+DirectCU+II+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=43564

for a single card i was thinking of pushing budget slightly for something like this :
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-020-PN&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

assuming that OcUK isnt a good make?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-146-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

Is this build better? does it still all work? Thanks once again will take any advice.

 

[metal orient]

Can't really find fault with that build.
A few thoughts though:

I would get low profile ram as they won't interfere with cpu coolers. (e.g. corsair vengeance LP)

OCZ branded SSD's apparently are having a few problems and it's better to go for mushkin or crucial.

A single card will most likely give you less problems than a multi card setup but will be less powerful. 2 560Ti's are more powerful than a 580, the only question mark i'd have is the 1GB Vram which will mean you won't be able to crank AA so high as a bigger Vram equipped card would, however if you're running at 1080p i doubt it'd be a real problem. I think OcUK will probably be fine, but most likely won't overclock as well as a more expensive brand.

 

[FrozenDonut]

Do you think there is a problem with getting the 60/64gb SSD's? was thinking https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Solid+State+Drives/Corsair+Force+Series+3+V2+60GB+2.5%22+SATA-III+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+?productId=47204

I only want it for windows so i was hoping to get a smaller one for less money, also then i would have a little more for graphics card, which I think I will go with a single card.

 

[FrozenDonut]

also was looking at this Graphics card:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-249-AS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

but it looks wider than the others? will that be a problem for possible SLI in the future?

 

[metal orient]

No problem at all with 64GB SSD's, however you should be made aware that bigger drives perform a little better than smaller drives.
I'd recommend looking at this Tom's Guide for SSD's:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-review-benchmark,review-32364.html

It does recommend OCZ drives, but be aware that they seem to be more likely to fail.

yeah that ASUS card is a 3 slot rather than 2 slot cooler, your motherboard will support SLI but the fans won't have much room to breathe so a 2 slot cooler would be better, if your sure you want to SLI.

 

[FrozenDonut]

I found that PNY GPU (2 slot) on amazon for same price as the ASUS one so i think ill get that.

The most important thing is that all the parts are compatible, so just to clarify, the following are definately compatible?

Intel Core i5-2500K
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecial [...] ctId=43216

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Quiet CPU Cooler
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com [...] ctId=47248

8GB Exceleram Rippler Sandybridge-Series
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com [...] ctId=47170

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 3.5" SATA III Internal Hard Drive
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecial [...] ctId=46054

MSI P67A-G45 Intel P67
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecial [...] ctId=44075

OCZ Agility 3 120GB 2.5" SATA-III Solid State Hard Drive
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecial [...] ctId=47341

750W XFX Core Edition 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com [...] ctId=45334

Cooler Master CM Storm Enforcer
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com [...] ctId=44604

PNY nVIDIA GeForce GTX 580
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004BF95GU/ref=asc_df_B004BF95GU6318074?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B004BF95GU

 

[FrozenDonut]

sorry I meant this as the SSD

Corsair Force Series 3 V2 60GB 2.5" SATA-III Solid State Hard Drive
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Solid+State+Drives/Corsair+Force+Series+3+V2+60GB+2.5%22+SATA-III+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+?productId=47204

 

[metal orient]

Yep looks fine.

 

[FrozenDonut]

ok thats what ill get then, thanks for all the help and advise

 

[hellfire24]

good build,i would suggest these changes-
get a better RAM.one's here-
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR3/Dual+Channel+1600MHz/8GB+Corsair+Vengeance+Red+%282x4GB%29+DDR3+PC3-12800C9+1600MHz+1.5v+Dual+Channel+Kit+-+CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R+?productId=48118
get this mobo for more future proofing and high overclocking potential-
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Gigabyte+GA-Z68X-UD3P+Intel+Z68+%28REV+B3%29+Socket+1155+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=44487
MSi twinfrozer is an awesome cooler and overclocks well.