Gaming PC UK Max £1500 Spec Check

[dagmike]

Hey guys,

I'm planning to build a new PC that will be prodominantly for gaming and multimedia in General. My budget is £1500 (less is better) and am going to buy in early January 2012. I am planning to play the latest DX11 games on high/ultra. I will be overclocking also. Monitor Res: 1920x1080. Prefered UK site: www.aria.co.uk

Specs

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

Motherboard: MSI Z68A-GD55-G3 Intel Z68 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard - https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Intel+1155+Z68+%28B3%29/MSI+Z68A-GD55-G3+Intel+Z68+%28REV+B3%29+Socket+1155+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=46424

RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance Blue LP (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit - https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR3/Dual+Channel+1600MHz/8GB+Corsair+Vengeance+Blue+LP+%282x4GB%29+DDR3+PC3-12800C9+1600MHz+Dual+Channel+Kit+-+CML8GX3M2A1600C9B+?productId=45510

Hard Drive (just for storage OS going on SSD) : 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALX 3.5" SATA III Hard Drive - https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Hard+Drives/SATA+%28Serial+ATA%29/500GB+to+1TB/1TB+Western+Digital+Caviar+Blue+WD10EALX+3.5%22+SATA+III+Hard+Drive+?productId=45412

CPU Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler - https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Coolermaster+Hyper+212+Plus+CPU+Cooler+?productId=39577

Optical Drive: Samsung S222AL/RSMS SATA Lightscribe 22x DVDRW with Black , Silver, Beige Bezel - Retail Box - https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Blu-Ray+%2F+DVD+Drives/DVD%C2%B1RW+Dual+Layer+Writers/Samsung+S222AL%2FRSMS+SATA+Lightscribe+22x+DVDRW+with+Black+%2C+Silver%2C+Beige+Bezel+-+Retail+Box+?productId=45439

SSD (for OS Win7 mainly): Corsair Force Series 3A 60GB 2.5" SATA-III Solid State Hard Drive - https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Solid+State+Drives/Corsair+Force+Series+3A+60GB+2.5%22+SATA-III+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+?productId=47204

PSU: 750W Coolermaster GX 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply - https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/700-950W/750W+Coolermaster+GX+80PLUS+Bronze+Power+Supply+?productId=46097

Graphics Card (possibly SLI in the future): Asus GTX 570 Direct CU II 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Asus+GTX+570+Direct+CU+II+1280MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=43791

Case: Zalman Z9 Plus Midi Tower Chassis - https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/MIDI+Tower/Zalman+Z9+Plus+Midi+Tower+Chassis+?productId=44436

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1, Operating System, Single, - OEM - https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Microsoft+Windows+7+Home+Premium+64+Bit+SP1%2C+Operating+System%2C+Single%2C+-+OEM+?productId=38272

A few questions:
Will the OEM version of Win7 be the same as the retail apart from only 64 bit and only 1 user?
Will everything fit in the case I'm getting?
And will I be able to run Skyrim on Ultra?

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[aaronstyle]

First of all, nice build.
Second of all, I can't answer your windows question.
Check the dimensions of your case, and graphics card, to see if it will fit.
You should have no problem with skyrim.

I would change your PSU, perhaps. Corsair, Antec, Seasonic are excellent choices, so I hear. I stand by Antec and ASUS products with confidence. I love My antec 1200 case, and I'm using an antec 550w PSU, Got my phenom II oc'd to 4 ghz, and my gtx 460 OC'd at 870 core.

Also, I think ASUS makes better Motherboards than MSI, based on benchmarks, and user reviews. But that's just my inner fanboy speaking, I'm sure.

HDD prices are out of this world right now. So perhaps buying a smaller HDD for now until prices drop could save you some cash.

Hope my opinion was useful to you. Thanks!

Here is a link with a similar build to yours as far as CPU and Graphics go. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/skyrim-performance-benchmark,3074-6.html


Edit: Mushkin also has some really great gaming modules that have beat G.skill and Corsair Vengeance in some tests. But Corsair Vengeance RAM is still serious, nonetheless, and performs just they way it sounds. With a vengeance!

 

[FinneousPJ]

It's a bit early to be posting now if you're buying in almost two months. This market moves very, very fast

 

[dagmike]

Thanks a lot for the advice I will keep looking. And I know the market moves fast but I just got kinda excited as its my first build and I'm just a big kid inside

 

[aaronstyle]

Answers
1. Win7 OEM yes that's correct
2. Just a quick look at your components it seems to work. I'm 99%...
3. Yes

Tweak options: 4gb ram

I would aim for a 120gb + SSD so you can install the games on it too. This will reduce there load times.

I agree with you on the SSD, HDD prices are outrageous right now.

However I don't agree with 4 GB of ram.

Allbeit I'm on Vista (yeah pick on me if you will) I've always got tons of browser pages up, streaming videos, Torrents up, and a game or two. Fallout NV, and Sc II.

That will use up a solid 4-6 gigs of ram.

Although most people probably don't do that type of thing, I strongly recommend 6+ gigs of RAM. DDR 3 is significantly cheaper than it was even 6 months ago.

 

[dagmike]

Well thats fine, I reckon I only ever have my browser, spotify and then a game open so I think I'll be okay with 4gb ram.

 

[dagmike]

Do these sticks of ram look okay because they are just as cheap as the 4gb ones I saw earlier:
8GB Exceleram Rippler Sandybridge-Series (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz - 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

 

[FinneousPJ]

Well, they're 1.5V and 10 year warranty. I guess it's a good deal

 

[dagmike]

Yeah, true if anything were to go wrong and seeing as I don't plan on OCing them the warranty should still stand. Thanks

 

[aaronstyle]

Yeah, true if anything were to go wrong and seeing as I don't plan on OCing them the warranty should still stand. Thanks

I would still go with Corsair. They are tried and true, proven through use and abuse. Taking risks can be... Risky, obviously. In my opinion it's better to use your knowledge to your advantage. Corsair RAM is well worth the money. and you can OC it if you must, down the road. It's probably more expensive because they use higher end hardware, and can handle the type of abuse that cheaper RAM can't handle.


All in all, it's up to you. But you can't go wrong with Corsair Vengeance RAM.

 

[dagmike]

alright man cheers, I'll bare that in mind