"futureproofing"/motherboard please suggest alternate components

[gr8mohawk]

So i've been researching my build for a few weeks and have never built a pc before. These are the parts I had intended to go with:

MoBo £94.97 Gigabyte SKT-1155 Z77X-D3H
CPU £89 I3 3220
GPU £149.99 Saphire 7850 2GB OC
PSU £65.85 Corsair CX750 (happy with)
Case £49.99 zalman Z11 blue (happy with)
Wifi £15.22 TP Link TL-WN881ND 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Express Adapter (yes I know wires is better)

Total £465.02 before RAM and HDD

I was planning on making the system upgradable CPU/GPU wise when the i7 came down in price and other GPUs. I now understand than CPU price wont really change but chipset will and and I'll be stuck. I now need CPU and motherboard (and anything else you feel would be a benifit to me) suggestions to give me some longevity. This PC will be strictly gaming, I couldn't care less about video editiing or whatever. Overclocking wise, while it would be nice to have the option, unless the added cost now is going to really give me* a saving later. If not I would be happy to consider a cheap motherboard.

*never built a pc nevermind overclocked

I appreciate any help you guys can give me

FYI I will be playing on a 32" LCD at 1080p (selling my xbox so I can join the ranks of PC gamers)

 

[g-unit1111]

If you're playing games spend less on the CPU and more on the GPU. There really isn't any such thing as future proofing when it comes to games or any use for that matter. Cases, power supplies - those things won't change much. Everything else will.

 

[jonjonjon]

no need to get a z77 board for locked cpu. 750 watt psu is overkill and spending too much money. for less then 100 more i upgraded your gpu to a 7870, added a 128GB ssd, 1TB hdd and 8GB of ram. if you have more money look into getting a i5-3470 for £144.00.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£81.65 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3V Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£47.59 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.60 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.54 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Sandisk Extreme 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£161.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£49.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £538.06
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-01 02:14 GMT+0000)

i forget the wireless card for £15
http://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-WN881ND-300Mbps-Wireless-Express-Adapter/dp/B006BSPTAQ

 

[gr8mohawk]

I understand trying to future proof is folly, what I mean is what should I change in my build to give longevity. Should I plump for a good CPU and cheap out on my motherboard (forgo overclocking as I'm a newb), and upgrade my GPU later if a good value for money compatiable one becomes avaliable?

With a current gen CPU and cheap motherboard,(possibly one which supports only PCie 2.0) does anyone think many GPUs will come out in future which I would be able to use on a 2.0 slot or is it worth getting 3.0 now.

From what I've read current GPUs make very little use of PCIe 3.

Also overclocking, from what i've seen I'm sure I could have a crack at it, if the gains are worth itat an amature level.

 

[gr8mohawk]

no need to get a z77 board for locked cpu. 750 watt psu is overkill and spending too much money. for less then 100 more i upgraded your gpu to a 7870, added a 128GB ssd, 1TB hdd and 8GB of ram. if you have more money look into getting a i5-3470 for £144.00.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£81.65 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3V Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£47.59 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.60 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.54 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Sandisk Extreme 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£161.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£49.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £538.06
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-01 02:14 GMT+0000)

i forget the wireless card for £15
http://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-WN881ND-300Mbps-Wireless-Express-Adapter/dp/B006BSPTAQ

Thank you for your help but I should stress I'm on a tight budget. You added £73 to the cost of my build. I'm looking for "bang for buck" and longevity. I know that whatever I build I will need to get upgrades in 2-3 years, but the longer I can delay the better.

I'm as poor as a church mouse, that's just had an enormous tax bill on the very day his wife ran off with another mouse, taking all the cheese

 

[jonjonjon]

i agree you can't really future proof. every year something new comes out that's better. the only 2 things that really matter and constantly change are the cpu and gpu. i would suggest a 4 core cpu. even though the i3 has 2 cores and 2 threads with hyper threading. to overclock with intel you will need a minimum of a 3570k.

there is currently no difference with PCIe 2.0 and 3.0. the only possible advantage is when using sli/crossfire and even then its minimal. any current single gpu wont benefit for PCIe 3.0.

 

[jonjonjon]

Thank you for your help but I should stress I'm on a tight budget. You added £73 to the cost of my build. I'm looking for "bang for buck" and longevity. I know that whatever I build I will need to get upgrades in 2-3 years, but the longer I can delay the better.

I'm as poor as a church mouse, that's just had an enormous tax bill on the very day his wife ran off with another mouse, taking all the cheese

yes the price went up partly because your build had no hdd and ram. my build a lot more bang for the buck. you also gave no budget which makes it extremely hard to make suggestions.

 

[gr8mohawk]

yes the price went up partly because your build had no hdd and ram. my build a lot more bang for the buck. you also gave no budget which makes it extremely hard to make suggestions.

Sorry yeah, I fogot my budget didn't include HDD and RAM. My bad

But what do you guys thing about overclocking and value. Should I get a z77 and a K chip. Will I be able to stave of an upgrade before i start getting a bottleneck, or cheap out on the Mobo, forget about overclocking and just get the best CPU I can afford at stock.

I want to ride this hardware till I end up in mid-low graphics, upgrade my only in 1-1.5 years (if poss, and hopefully crank the graphics back up), then in another year or so upgrade my CPU and mobo if it really starts to hold me back . If that sounds like a realistic expectation.
Everyone says spend more on GPU than CPU, but if i plump for a decent i5 now instead of an i3 do you think my mobo and CPU upgrade could be held off for a little longer?

 

[gr8mohawk]

*upgrade my *GPU* in 1-1.5 years

 

[jonjonjon]

the i3 will be fine for now but if you are worried about the future i would look at a 4 core cpu. the 7870 should last you more then a year.