First build

[Guest]

Hello, I'm about to order all the parts for my first gaming build, but I'd like some more opinions to be entirely sure

This is what I've planned so far:


Cooler Master CM 690 II
Asrock P67 Pro3
Intel Core i5 2500K Boxed
Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B
Sapphire HD6950 Dirt3 Edition
Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ, 1TB
Crucial m4 CT064M4SSD2 64GB
Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K2/8G
Sony Optiarc AD-7260S

However, as you can see I've still not decided on a PSU. I'm not 100% sure of how much watts I'd need. I was going to get an Extreme4 (motherboard) first, but decided to change it into a Pro3 as I'm not interested in crossfire.

What would you guys recommend me? And what other tips could you give to someone building his first pc?
I'm pretty certain I'll run short on SATA cables, as I'll be using an old HDD from my current computer too, but other than that, everything's welcome


Thanks in advance!

 

[gkay09]

^ The Pro3 board doesnt offer Crossfire, so if you want that option, then the Extreme4 would be a better option,...
PSU - A 650W+(700W would be good) PSU from Antec/ Corsair/ Seasonic/ Silverstone/ XFX would easily power 2x HD 6950s in Crossfire,...
If no Crossfire, the a 550W would do,...

 

[Guest]

^ The Pro3 board doesnt offer Crossfire, so if you want that option, then the Extreme4 would be a better option,...
PSU - A 650W+(700W would be good) PSU from Antec/ Corsair/ Seasonic/ Silverstone/ XFX would easily power 2x HD 6950s in Crossfire,...
If no Crossfire, the a 550W would do,...

Roger.

Not interested in crossfire, so 550W should be fine then

About the ram... I heard 1333 is the standard timing, to 'unlock' 1600 I'd have to OC, right?

 

[ps3hacker12]

yeah, 550W should be OK depending on the PSU, you can OC 1333Mhz ram to 1600 (like i have 😛) be sure to get ram moduels with good heatsinks tho.

i would reccommend looking for mobos here too:
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/
http://www.dabs.com/category/components-and-storage,motherboards-and-processors,motherboards/11143
and at novatech:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/

novatech and dabs also offer free PandP, but aria do charge for PandP.

 

[Guest]

Okay.

About the ram, I heard I should be looking for ram with 1.5V. The 1600's I've found all seem to state 1.65V, is that a bad thing?

For example:
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator_new/PartsInfo.asp?root=us&LinkBack=http://www.kingston.com&ktcpartno=KVR1333D3N9K2/8G
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/hyperx_us/partsinfo.asp?root=&ktcpartno=KHX1600C9D3K2/8G

 

[ps3hacker12]

Okay.

About the ram, I heard I should be looking for ram with 1.5V. The 1600's I've found all seem to state 1.65V, is that a bad thing?

For example:
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator_new/PartsInfo.asp?root=us&LinkBack=http://www.kingston.com&ktcpartno=KVR1333D3N9K2/8G
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/hyperx_us/partsinfo.asp?root=&ktcpartno=KHX1600C9D3K2/8G

hows this:
http://www.dabs.com/products/corsair-memory-4gb--2-x-2gb--vengeance-ddr3-1600mhz-cl9-7FGX.html?refs=50830000-418700000

 

[Guest]

hows this:
http://www.dabs.com/products/corsair-memory-4gb--2-x-2gb--vengeance-ddr3-1600mhz-cl9-7FGX.html?refs=50830000-418700000

Those look fine, but are way more expensive though.. (and only 4GB).
I don't want to shell out much more to upgrade from 1333 to 1600 as it only seems to give a marginal performance boost, so yeah.. I think those corsairs would be too big for the Mugen too.

 

[ps3hacker12]

Those look fine, but are way more expensive though.. (and only 4GB).
I don't want to shell out much more to upgrade from 1333 to 1600 as it only seems to give a marginal performance boost, so yeah.. I think those corsairs would be too big for the Mugen too.

there is also this...:
http://www.dabs.com/products/kingston-4gb--1-x-4gb--ddr3-1333mhz-dimm-240-pin-cl9-7FS4.html?refs=418680000-50830000-468490000

 

[Guest]

there is also this...:
http://www.dabs.com/products/kingston-4gb--1-x-4gb--ddr3-1333mhz-dimm-240-pin-cl9-7FS4.html?refs=418680000-50830000-468490000

Yeah, I was going to get a set of those before I looked into the 1600-1300 mhz thing.

 

[ps3hacker12]

Yeah, I was going to get a set of those before I looked into the 1600-1300 mhz thing.

if your looking to OC then go for 1600Mhz ram if not then the performance difference beetween 1600 and 1333Mhz ram is marginal.

 

[Guest]

if your looking to OC then go for 1600Mhz ram if not then the performance difference beetween 1600 and 1333Mhz ram is marginal.

I'm looking to overclock, yeah, but not that much. The thing that seems to bother me the most about the ram is the voltages. The 1600 all seem to run at 1.65V, a bit over Intel's recommended max voltage level..

 

[ps3hacker12]

I'm looking to overclock, yeah, but not that much. The thing that seems to bother me the most about the ram is the voltages. The 1600 all seem to run at 1.65V, a bit over Intel's recommended max voltage level..

if your buying off ebuyer, you could go for this (better/cheaper ) mobo instead:
http://www.dabs.com/products/gigabyte-ga-p67-ds3-b3-lga1155-intel-p67-ddr3-atx-7JWD.html?refs=469740000-468330000

samsung spinpoint f3 cheaper on dabs:
http://www.dabs.com/products/samsung-1tb-spinpoint-f3-7200rpm-sata-3gb-s-32mb-65QC.html?q=samsung%20f3

that crucial M4 drive cheaper on dabs:
http://www.dabs.com/products/crucial-64gb-m4-sata-6gb-s-2-5--solid-state-drive-7GL0.html?q=Crucial%20m4%20CT064M4SSD2%2064GB

if your planning on gaming at 1080p on 1 monitor this card would be fine:
http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-ati-radeon-6950-hd-810mhz-1gb-pci-e-hdmi-directcu-ii-7L66.html?q=6950

if you wanna stay at 2gb then theres this:
http://www.dabs.com/products/xfx-ati-radeon-6950-hd-800mhz-2gb-pci-express-2-1-hdmi-79BQ.html?q=6950

or if you wanna stick with the sapphire:
http://www.dabs.com/products/sapphire-technology-ati-radeon-6950-hd-800mhz-2gb-pci-express-hdmi--includes-dirt3--7K58.html?q=Sapphire%20HD6950%20Dirt3%20Edition

you know that DVD drive is only DVD-R i would reccommend going for a DVD-RW drive atleast. And are you sure that cooler will fit in that case?

and if you don't plan on OCing more than about 4Ghz then this would be a good cooler to consider also:
http://www.dabs.com/products/arctic-cooling-freezer-13-pro-cpu-cooler-7H0S.html?q=arctic%20freezer%2013

 

[Guest]

I'm from Belgium so I'm basing most of the motherboard/HDD/.. choices on the prices near me.


The 2GB 6950 can be unlocked to a 6970(more or less), hence the choice.
Good call on the DVD drive, I'll look into it.

Cooler fits the case, but as I'm not really planning on OC'ing that high, I could go with a smaller one...

 

[ps3hacker12]

I'm from Belgium so I'm basing most of the motherboard/HDD/.. choices on the prices near me.


The 2GB 6950 can be unlocked to a 6970(more or less), hence the choice.
Good call on the DVD drive, I'll look into it.

Cooler fits the case, but as I'm not really planning on OC'ing that high, I could go with a smaller one...

if your looking at unlocking you should look for a reference design card, there have been newer cards not being able to unlock tho.

 

[Guest]

Sapphire HD 6950 - 2 GB - dirt 3 edition is what I'm looking at