New Possible Gaming Rig

Hardware Build a PC
1

Hi guys I just wanted to post a list of the new parts that i'm thinking of putting inside a new PC, that I will hopefully be building soon. I would love to get some feedback on what you thought on my choices and if you could possibly tell me what I should change if the parts are better/equal for the same price or cheaper.

Case - Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl with Window - £89.28

PSU - Corsair CX 750W - £67.97

Motherboard - Asus P8Z77-V LX - 83.72

CPU - Intel i5 3570k - £168.63

CPU Cooler - Corsair H100i - £91.32

Ram - Corsair Memory Vengeance Jet Black 8GB 1600MHz - £50.59

Hard Drive - Western Digital 1TB RE4 SATA II - £74.99

Graphics Card - EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB - £549.34

Overall Price - £1175.84

Possible Different Graphics Card - EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Superclocked ACX 2GB - £358.52

Overall Price - £985.02

Thanks guys :) any feedback would be great!

2

I have basically just put together the same build for my girlfriends birthday present (I'm not the one paying for it, lol *phew*) the only differences are:

I chose the full P8Z77-V (£150ish) motherboard and not the LX version you describe, so longs that board does what you know you want it to do, great. The reason I chose the full board was for Wi-Fi and a higher range of ports amongst other things. 

Another change was that I picked up an XFX Pro Series 750W (They have really nice PSU's so, why not.) 

Also, Instead of the GTX 780, I placed that exact EVGA GTX 770 SC /w ACX cooling you describe, it seems to be a perfectly placed card for its price/performance. a GTX 780 would have stretched her budget too far.

To further agitate her budget, she demanded an SSD, so a Samsung 840 was thrown in, id reccomend getting an SSD if you went with the 770 as you have spent significantly less!

Hope this helps, but if you don't mind the motherboard you have chosen now then you could stretch to the GTX 780, but I should imagine the EVGA GTX 770 isn't that far behind on performance. Just depends on how much paper you want to throw at it :)

Another thing, I'm sure you could find a 2TB hard drive with similar price and specs as that (Unless im mistakenly stupid now)

I will stop my rant now... oops!

3

Hi.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1aqh6

This is one proposed Intel gaming rig, I'm uncertain if you're interested in the AMD options. I chose the 3570k and the EVGA 770 purely based on your interest. The significant changes that I have made are the CPU cooler, PSU, and storage.

The Corsair CX series is an entry level PSU, don't cheap out on your PSU. 550W with a good amount of amps on a 12v rail is all you need for a fully overclocked, high-end system.

The H100i is overrated, in my opinion. Just because it is an all-in-one liquid solution, doesn't mean it will give you better temperatures than air cooling. Only liquid cooling I would recommend is a custom loop. Reduced temps, better aesthetics.

Reason I went against the GTX 780 is because it is an ultra high-end graphics card. I'm assuming you do not have an appropriate display for this card. A 1080p, 60Hz monitor is a major bottleneck. If you were going to upgrade to a multi-monitor setup, like eyefinity, or surround, I'd maybe recommend the 780.

Truthfully, I think the 7950 is the best choice of high-end card, for most displays. You can get one as cheap as £220, in the UK. It comes with Crysis 3, Far Cry: Blood Dragon, and Bioshock Inifinite. That's incredible value, I'd definitely recommend the 7950.

As for the storage, you don't want to spend massive amounts on mass storage. I added an SSD with the money saved on the CPU cooler. It will give your OS and game loading times a major boost.

4

Thanks for all that advice man! I'm going to stick with the LX motherboard simply because it's alot cheaper and I didn't want to exceed £1200. I've had a look around and I've found a really nice 2TB hard drive for the same price! It's a seagate barracuda and you can find it here.

5

I've had a look at that PC that you've built on there and it looks really sweet! I'll definitely change my power supply to something of a bit higher quality. The cooler however that you've chosen i'm not sure about, my current system has got a Coolermaster 612s and i'm not overly happy about how much space it takes up, it makes the system look extremely cluttered (seeing how its in an Antec 300 case) so im not a fan of big heatsinks like that. Thats one of the reasons that i wanted an all in one water cooler, the case i've chosen has got that window in it so when i look inside i dont just want to see a big old heatsink sitting there, i want something that looks slick and has decreases the heat alot, BUT i'm not going to be overclocking the CPU so do you think that the H80i will be better? I definitely want an all in one water cooler however. My set up only consists of a 1080p 60hz monitor so do you think i should cut back to a 770 instead of a 780? One of the reasons that i chose the 780 was because I thought that it would last alot longer than a 770 before it started to fall behind with the games. If i do go with the 770 then i will definitely consider adding in an SSD.

6

If you're not overclocking the CPU, I'd recommend just grabbing a cooler master Hyper Evo, to be honest.

Costs £20. It would still allow for some overclocking, and run quieter than the stock heatsink Intel supply. It takes up a smaller foot print, since it only comes with one fan, you can install a second fan.

Erm, the Phanteks 12DX... it isn't as large as heatsinks come. I actually own one, and it is cooling my Haswell i7, the 4770k. Does a fantastic job. It only covers the CPU socket, it doesn't interfere with the tall heatsink on RAM modules et cetera. So, I recommend it, but there are definitely other options. I would disagree with the H80i more than I disagree with the H100i. Based on its cost to performance ratio. You can achieve the same thermals for half the cost of these AIO coolers. If you want the H80 because of some sort of preference, then that's fine. As long as you get everything you need, right?

But yeah, you don't want to spend lots on a heatsink if you're not going to overclock, regardless of its footprint. If you're not overclocking, you could just use the stock heatsink, since that happens to be quite small.

As for GPU longevity: People bought a GTX Titan, because it was "all they were ever going to need". Then the GTX 780 emerged, which runs on the same GK110 chip as the Titan. And with both cards at stock speeds, the 780 offered anything from 90-102% of the gaming performance of the Titan, for almost half the cost. And the 780 was released a few months after the Titan. Buying a GPU long-term isn't always the smartest choice.

To tell you the truth, there is very little difference between the high-tier cards. The 7950/7970/670/680/770 are all pretty much neck and neck. It is quite possible to buy a 7950 that beats a 7970. It is "luck of the draw". You can get a good card, you can get a bad card. They all trade blows, with some games favouring ATI, and some favouring Nvidia.

Hope that all makes sense. And I definitely recommend XFX PSUs, like the other guy mentioned. However, you don't need 750W for the motherboard you are using. You can only use one graphics card on that LX motherboard you've chosen. 750W is appropriate for two GPUs. It might be an idea to pick out a different motherboard. For an extra £20, you'll hit the £100 price point. You can find plenty of decent motherboards that would allow 2-way configs with crossfire or SLI support. That's just something to consider, that might prolong the life of the system.

7

Thanks for all the help man. Looks like i'll be cutting back for a 770, either one would be a big improvement over my 560ti :) . I will also be changing my cooler to heatsink instead of spending alot of money on a water cooler, seeing as i wont be overclocking its pointless having a water cooler, and plus ill save money so i can buy an SSD. But ill up the motherboard a little so later on i can add in another 770 maybe? Could you possibly recommend me a good PSU for what i will be getting now? Seeing as you said a 750w would be better for multi-gpu set ups, i would prefer a hybrid modular by the way. Thanks! You've help to save me alot of money.

8

I would suggest saving a bit on the Video card and getting a SSD. Get all the option to OC even if you are not yet the bug will get you soon enough :)

9

Also what cooler do you guys think i should get?

10

I would definitely give yourself the option of a second GPU (whatever you decide to choose). However, it probably won't be necessary. A single 770 should max out 9/10 with nearer 60 FPS. Your display can only handle a maximum of 60FPS. Because 60Hz = 60 frames.

On the other hand, you could look into a 1440p monitor, multiple monitors, or a 120-144Hz monitor. That way you could gain the value/benefit from dual card configurations or a ultra high-end GPU, like the 780.

11

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xigmatek-cpu-cooler-gaiasd1283

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2

Cheap CPU coolers, that most people in these forums would recommend.

Edit: All the CPU coolers (including the phanteks) do not block the RAM slots. But, in the interest of saving money, the above are cheap, and good.

PSUs: 

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1750xxxb9

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1750bbefx

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-power-supply-hale82750m

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu750ax

All supplies are good or dual 770s, and will leave extra headroom for custom watercooling loops, any other extras. Truth is, most of these power supplies are manufactured by one company. I think the XFX is best value. Made by Seasonic, probably the best OEM.

12

You'll need to pack the backplate with at least 2mm washers on the H100i.  And I mean underneath the thick plastic washers that are already on the backplate.

Otherwise it won't make good contact.  Be all loose and give you shit temps.  The H100i is a real hit and miss unit.  I don't recommend them.

My Green LED blown, Blue and Red are the only ones left.

Fans make an annoying buzzing noise.

The software is buggy.  I really don't like it.

People have had worse experience than me with the H100i as far as the product itself goes.

One of my Sata Power plugs was dodgy and it fried melting both plugs.  That put the shits up me.

That was the end of my H100i.  Gotta submit RMA for PSU and H100i.  (Hassels)

Back on air now and never been happier with my trusty old Xigmatek Balder.

So my recomendation to you is.  Get a Xigmatek Dark Knight Hawk, the temps are just as good while being 10 times quieter and way cheaper.  Also with it's narrow profile it won't block any Ram slots.

One thing though, the H100i does look sexy.

Oh yeah don't bother with the WD RE4 unless you're going to do raid 5 or 10,  Caviar Blacks are fine for Raid 0 and 1.

13

I havent got any space for more monitors so multiple monitors is an idea that i cant take on. And buying a 120Hz+ monitor would only be extra money that i need to spend if i did get a 780, so I think i'll get the 770 and later on down the line i might invest in new monitor and a second 770 :). by the way could you recomment me a PSU and CPU cooler that i could get? I dont want a huge heatsink like the 612s in my current system because it covers 3 of the ram slots!

14

Just had a look at that Xigmatek Dark Night Hawk......... AND OMG thats one nice looking heatsink! Well it looks alot nicer than my current Coolermaster Hyper 612s, it's being added onto the list. :)

15

Yeah it's real nice.  My Xiggy Balder is the same design but it's Nickle Plated and has a different mounting solution.  I just edited my last post bout the HDD.  You could get a WD Caviar Black 2 TB, great drives the blacks 5 year Warranty is a major plus. :D

16

Hmmmm which hard drive, could you guys also recommend me a good PSU for what i'm getting now? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=14&subid=1955

17

Recommended PSUs are listed above, the list is not exhausted, there are more options. It seems to me that you've got plenty of budget headroom. You could also invest in a larger SSD. Perhaps the 256GB Samsung 840 pro.

SSDs and PSUs are worth the investment. You can carry them from rig to rig. Same with HDDs. I personally buy Western Digital blues. Some people recommend blacks. Seagate Barracudas are ok. Truth is, HDD are all just as likely to fail. I usually go with a trusted brand, like Samsung, WD, Seagate. Then, just get the cheapest HDD with the capacity I need. Whether it be 1TB, 2TB, or 500GB

18

Or the HDD with the best warranty

19

Are the Caviar Greens by western digital any good?

20

Bit pointless. Their unique selling point is that they have lower power consumption. But this reduces their performance and stuff. And generally, they aren't right for the price. I don't know anyone who has bought a green drive. Though, it shouldn't really matter. Since, it is just mass storage. It's like arguing what USB pen drive is better. They all do the same job, largely. Just pick up any 1tb (maybe 2tb) 7200 drive, from a decent brand.