First time builder, £900 budget

[NyuTrustan]

Hi all,

This computer will be my first own build, I'm upgrading as my aged laptop no longer runs some of the latest releases even on lowest settings; I figure it's time to replace. My budget is £900.

It will be solely used as a gaming rig and as such have avoided the i7's and 16bg ram. OS is sorted so that can be omitted.

I have tried to do as much research as I can and here is what I'm at so far (cost = £898)

Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX
http://www.waeplus.c...ck-Z77-Extreme4
£99

CPU: i5-3570k
http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B007RUZKK6
£169

GPU: Sapphire Radeon 7950 HD Vapor-X
http://www.waeplus.c...n-HD-7950-Vapor
£223

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2x4gb 1600MHz CL9
http://www.amazon.co...0T4DKBF6593Y3V8
£34

PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series 750W
http://www.amazon.co..._cp_computers_0
£81

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM Sata3 6Gbps
http://www.amazon.co...54296545&sr=8-3
£59

SSD: Samsung 830 series, 128gb, 6Gbps
http://www.waeplus.c...al-SSD---128-GB
£80

CPU cooler: Coolmaster Hyper 212 Evo
http://www.amazon.co...pf_rd_s=lpo-top
£23

Optical drive: Bluray reader, DVD read/write, LG
http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B00609Z78U
£53

Case: Still looking, but atm Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Midi
http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B004ALI5KC
£89


Basically my question is what's worth it and what isn't? I'm especially at a loss with the optical drives (Bluray pref), storage and PSU's.

Cheers in advance

 

[djangoringo]

Here you have a nice case : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Mid-Tower-Gaming/dp/B0055Q7BR4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354303513&sr=8-1

And cheaper psu : http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0045L4BJ6/?tag=pcp0f-21

Same quality/wattage.

I'd ditch the bluray drive for a dvd one : http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-GH24NS90-AUAA50B-SATA-Internal-Rewriter/dp/B007267YRC/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1354303924&sr=1-1 , if you're not planning too see bluray discs.

I see that those links don't work, but for the price no need for more changes.

 

[hbeduryan818]

Hi all,

This computer will be my first own build, I'm upgrading as my aged laptop no longer runs some of the latest releases even on lowest settings; I figure it's time to replace. My budget is £900.

It will be solely used as a gaming rig and as such have avoided the i7's and 16bg ram. OS is sorted so that can be omitted.

I have tried to do as much research as I can and here is what I'm at so far (cost = £898)

Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX
http://www.waeplus.c...ck-Z77-Extreme4
£99

CPU: i5-3570k
http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B007RUZKK6
£169

GPU: Sapphire Radeon 7950 HD Vapor-X
http://www.waeplus.c...n-HD-7950-Vapor
£223

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2x4gb 1600MHz CL9
http://www.amazon.co...0T4DKBF6593Y3V8
£34

PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series 750W
http://www.amazon.co..._cp_computers_0
£81

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM Sata3 6Gbps
http://www.amazon.co...54296545&sr=8-3
£59

SSD: Samsung 830 series, 128gb, 6Gbps
http://www.waeplus.c...al-SSD---128-GB
£80

CPU cooler: Coolmaster Hyper 212 Evo
http://www.amazon.co...pf_rd_s=lpo-top
£23

Optical drive: Bluray reader, DVD read/write, LG
http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B00609Z78U
£53

Case: Still looking, but atm Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Midi
http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B004ALI5KC
£89


Basically my question is what's worth it and what isn't? I'm especially at a loss with the optical drives (Bluray pref), storage and PSU's.

Cheers in advance

Everything on that case is good for gaming especially the cpu and mobo. The psu is very good one of the best in fact for that wattage. Optical drove you dont need a blue ray unless your goong to watch blu rays you can spend less for the ssd if your using it only as a boot drive. 64gb ssd should be fine for ssd

 

[g-unit1111]

64gb ssd should be fine for ssd

No - 64GB won't get you very far. After formatting and OS install you're left with less than 50% capacity and that's not really enough anymore. 128GB minimum.

That build looks good to me! The SSD and hard drive are a good choice. I'd skip BD-R and get a cheap optical drive, then upgrade to the 7970 if it's at all possible.

If you want case suggestions here's what I would recommend in that price range:

- Antec 300 V2: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/antec-three-hundred-two-black-mid-tower-performance-gaming-case-w-o-psu
- Corsair 300R: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-carbide-series-300r-black-mid-tower-gaming-performance-case-with-usb-30-w-o-psu
- Cooler Master Storm Scout: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/cooler-master-storm-enforcer-black-mid-tower-gaming-case-with-side-window-usb-30-w-o-psu-new-version
- Fractal Design Arc MIDI: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/fractal-design-arc-mid-tower-performance-case-w-o-psu
- Fractal Design Define R3: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/fractal-design-define-r3-usb-30-black-pearl-mid-tower-case-new-cable-routing-noise-absorbing-w-o-psu
- NZXT Phantom 410: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/nzxt-phantom-410-white-with-blue-trim-mid-tower-2x120mm-1x140mm-with-window-w-o-psu

 

[NyuTrustan]

I did have the 7970 in my build to start until it was suggested that the difference isn't that big (whereas the price difference is £80). I figured I'd just OC the 7950 slightly to bring it up to the 7970 standards. Would this do?

Thanks all for the advice so far!

 

[g-unit1111]

I did have the 7970 in my build to start until it was suggested that the difference isn't that big (whereas the price difference is £80). I figured I'd just OC the 7950 slightly to bring it up to the 7970 standards. Would this do?

Thanks all for the advice so far!

You won't get 7970 numbers but you'll get better than average.

 

[glina]

Basically my question is what's worth it and what isn't? I'm especially at a loss with the optical drives (Bluray pref), storage and PSU's.

Cheers in advance

Looks like a very solid build.
Cooler master 412S is the upgraded version of the 212S at a similar price - I'd look into that option, or you could take an even more powerfull cooler alltogether (Noctua, Thermaltake Silverarrow, or even a watercooler) if you plan to OC (I guess you do if you chose the 3570K)..

750W is overkill for this build even with strong OC, unless you plan to add a second gfx for crossfire later on. 500-600W is already more than enough. I was recently choosing between FSP Aurum Gold 600W and Seasonic G-Series 550W , both 80Plus Gold certified. Went with the FSP as it was considerably cheaper.

Also your case choice is on the expensive side - I'd look into some alternative options. Maybe a mini-ATX? You could then buy the Asrock z77 Extreme-4M mobo which will save you some money comparing to the full sized version.

For the money saved I'd upgrade the SSD to a Samsung Pro 840, 256GB.
128GB seems more than enough at first, but it gets filled up sooner or later and you'll be moving stuff around to make space.

16GB memory is not that much more. I'd go with that in 2x 8GB config.

 

[NyuTrustan]

Looks like a very solid build.
Cooler master 412S is the upgraded version of the 212S at a similar price - I'd look into that option, or you could take an even more powerfull cooler alltogether (Noctua, Thermaltake Silverarrow, or even a watercooler) if you plan to OC (I guess you do if you chose the 3570K)..

750W is overkill for this build even with strong OC, unless you plan to add a second gfx for crossfire later on. 500-600W is already more than enough. I was recently choosing between FSP Aurum Gold 600W and Seasonic G-Series 550W , both 80Plus Gold certified. Went with the FSP as it was considerably cheaper.

Also your case choice is on the expensive side - I'd look into some alternative options. Maybe a mini-ATX? You could then buy the Asrock z77 Extreme-4M mobo which will save you some money comparing to the full sized version.

For the money saved I'd upgrade the SSD to a Samsung Pro 840, 256GB.
128GB seems more than enough at first, but it gets filled up sooner or later and you'll be moving stuff around to make space.

16GB memory is not that much more. I'd go with that in 2x 8GB config.

Thanks for the insight. I'm leaning towards a 750W as when the 7950 no longer runs things on max I'll buy another (then much cheaper) 7950 and Crossfire them so I will probably buy the PSU suggested in a few comments above.
In regards to the mini-ATX v ATX, the mini was in my build origionally until I read a few complaints about a lack of room on the MoBo when using certain brands of CPU cooler and RAM. I also figured a slightly larger one would help keep the componenets more spread out; to help the cooling. Of course that's just me speculating, I'm sure someone will be able to clarify for me on the ATX v Mini-ATX ?

Will take a look at the 256gb. 16gb isn't expensive but is perhaps unnecessary for now, it will be easy to upgrade at a later date.

 

[NyuTrustan]

Oh and I will probably be changing the case to the CM Storm Enforcer.