[Attlee]

I posted a thread there the other week about whether the new Dell XPS was good value or not. I got a resounding no so I am going down the custom route for the first time. I'm looking for something similar to the XPS but more competitive price-wise.

I'd like the machine to run something like BF3 comfortably enough but super high resolution/FPS in action games isn't crucial as I will mostly be using it for RPGs and strategy games. I went with a 256gb SSD because I want to have the OS and Steam on the SSD. I haven't bought a PC in about 5 years so any advice or savings for my build would be great, thanks.

Is there anything else I need to include in terms of parts or are there any conflicts? I presume I would be told if there were when it's being built or when I select the parts?

1. What is your budget?
€1300 without monitor, €1400ish with.

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer?
-Going through the Steam back catalogue/offers
-Large amount of storage/memory for now with possibility to upgrade graphics card in a few years
-Memory intensive strategy games like Anno 2070, Shogun 2 and Sim City 4/5
-RPGs like Skyrim, Dead Island and Grimrock
-FPSs like Battlefield 3 at between medium and high settings.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?
No

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?
Keyboard/mouse/speakers

5. Do you need a monitor?
Yes, I have added one as part of the total, minus the monitor it comes to about €1270.

5a. If yes, what size do you need. 23-24" with HDMI for an Xbox.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals?
[Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] Wireless Card

7. Are you willing to try overclocking?
No

9. When are you purchasing?
In about three weeks from now

------Updated build based on feedback--------

Item	Price
Crucial M4 256GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")	€241.49
Sapphire HD 7850 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express	€229.59
Rechner - Zusammenbau	€20.00
TP-Link TL-WN951N, 300Mbps PCI-Adapter	€23.22
LG GH22NS50/70/90 bare schwarz	€17.67
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W	€52.08
Corsair Carbide Series 500R schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil	€96.63
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX	€121.49
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155	€212.85
16GB-Kit G.Skill Ares PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24	€78.80
Dell UltraSharp U2312HM	€188.70
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s	€104.02
Shipping	€18.99
Total	€1405.53

------Original Build I posted--------

Item	Price
Crucial M4 256GB SSD + Data Transfer Kit 6,4cm (2,5")	€303.44
XFX RADEON HD 6870 900M 1GB DDR5 DUAL DP HDMI DUAL DVI	€141.21
be quiet! PURE POWER BQT L7-630W	€68.06
ASUS Xonar DX 7.1, PCIe x1 (90-YAA060-1UAN00Z)	€59.41
Cooler Master 690 II Advanced USB 3.0 - pure black, ohne Netzteil	€88.73
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX	€121.49
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155	€189.79
16GB-4x-Kit Corsair PC1333 CL9 Dominator	€116.98
Samsung SyncMaster S24A300BL	€141.26
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s	€104.02
Rechner - Zusammenbau	€20
TP-Link TL-WN951N, 300Mbps PCI-Adapter	€23.22
LG GH22NS50/70/90 bare schwarz	€17.67
Shipping	€18.99
Total	€1414.27

[Skylinehead]

If you're not overclocking, bring the CPU down to an i5-2400/2500. Also lose the RAM, if 16GB is necessary (rarely) buy 2x8GB kits, much cheaper. Spend the rest on upgrading your GPU to a 7850.

[Jarren]

Your SSD can be purchased cheaper on Amazon.uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_...rnid=428432031

[frozenfrozen]

Are you sure you need that very expensive sound card? Your onboard audio will be more than good enough for the uses you've listened!
My advise would be keep the unlocked 'K' version of the CPU as it will allow you to get a lot more performance from your computer down the line. It's criminal not to overclock a cpu these days as it is so easy and is safe to do.

[luyolo]

Item	Price
Crucial M4 256GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")	€241.49
MSI Z77A-G43, Intel Z77, ATX, DDR3	€91.73
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155	€212.85
Corsair Carbide Series 500R White, ATX, ohne Netzteil	€99.17
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s	€104.02
16GB-Kit G.Skill Ares PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24	€78.80
Dell UltraSharp U2312HM	€188.70
ASUS Xonar DX 7.1, PCIe x1 (90-YAA060-1UAN00Z)	€59.41
LiteOn iHAS122-18 schwarz SATA	€16.26
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W	€68.99
Sapphire HD 7850 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express	€229.59
Rechner - Zusammenbau	€20.00
Shipping	€18.99
Total	€1430.00

I gave you an IB processor and a better GPU. The Monitor is also much a higher quality IPS. Are you going to be moving your rig a lot? otherwise i recommend you get an ethrnet cable instead of wireless.

[Genghiz Cohen]

Are there any locked Ivy Bridge processors out yet?
If I were you I'd nearly get and external DVD drive (€25 on Dabs.ie), I'd hate to ugly up the front of that case

[Skylinehead]

Originally Posted by Genghiz Cohen

Are there any locked Ivy Bridge processors out yet?
If I were you I'd nearly get and external DVD drive (€25 on Dabs.ie), I'd hate to ugly up the front of that case

A black DVD drive isn't going to hurt the looks of that much. I'm counting on it for mine

[Attlee]

Thanks guys,
I've removed the soundcard and changed the build to be closer to the one luyolo posted. Let me know if there's any changes you'd make.

Item	Price
Crucial M4 256GB SSD + Data Transfer Kit 6,4cm (2,5")	€303.44
Dell UltraSharp U2312HM	€188.70
LG GH22NS50/70/90 bare schwarz	€17.67
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155	€212.85
MSI Z77A-G43, Intel Z77, ATX, DDR3	€91.73
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s	€104.02
16GB-Kit G.Skill Ares PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24	€78.80
Sapphire HD 7850 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express	€229.59
Rechner - Zusammenbau	€20.00
Corsair Carbide Series 500R schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil	€96.63
be quiet! PURE POWER BQT L7-630W	€68.06
TP-Link TL-WN951N, 300Mbps PCI-Adapter	€23.22
Shipping	€18.99
Total	€1453.70

Originally Posted by luyolo

Are you going to be moving your rig a lot? otherwise i recommend you get an ethrnet cable instead of wireless.

I won't be moving it much but I have one in my current PC and it's very handy if I need to move it temporarily.

Originally Posted by Genghiz Cohen

If I were you I'd nearly get and external DVD drive (€25 on Dabs.ie), I'd hate to ugly up the front of that case

I've had a mac mini and have come to really miss having a built-in drive. I have an external LG drive but it's very noisy.

Speaking of noise - luyolo you changed the fan I had to a Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W; what's the advantage of that over the be quiet! PURE POWER BQT L7-630W ?

Originally Posted by frozenfrozen

It's criminal not to overclock a cpu these days as it is so easy and is safe to do.

I don't mind overclocking but I'm not really factoring it into the build.

[Skylinehead]

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...6112&agid=1145

Don't think there's any real need for the data transfer kit?

[Jarren]

Have a look at this monitor.

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/1117429...tml#pix-review

Just another alternative.

[luyolo]

Originally Posted by Attlee

Thanks guys,
I've removed the soundcard and changed the build to be closer to the one luyolo posted. Let me know if there's any changes you'd make.



I won't be moving it much but I have one in my current PC and it's very handy if I need to move it temporarily.


I've had a mac mini and have come to really miss having a built-in drive. I have an external LG drive but it's very noisy.

Speaking of noise - luyolo you changed the fan I had to a Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W; what's the advantage of that over the be quiet! PURE POWER BQT L7-630W ?


I don't mind overclocking but I'm not really factoring it into the build.

It is a more power efficient PSU.

[AlmightyCushion]

Amazon's prices on crucial m4s are really good right now. The 256GB is less than £200.

[Serephucus]

What are you ears like? Lots of people here don't mind onboard sound. I can't stand it. Differs wildly from person to person.

Do you have ~230GB of games / applications? If you have more, you're going to end up installing Steam to a mechanical drive, and moving stuff over to the SSD, which to me sounds like a pain. Might want to look into something like a 750GB Momentus XT instead. Hard drive with built-in SSD caching, gets you to about 80% of SSD speeds.

I'd swap back to the Extreme4 board also; I don't trust Gigabyte since the Z68 fiasco. Having said that, I haven't actually looked at any of their Z77 stuff, so I guess I'll get back to you on that.

That PSU doesn't look fantastic. Maybe something like this instead.

[Attlee]

Originally Posted by Serephucus

What are you ears like? Lots of people here don't mind onboard sound. I can't stand it. Differs wildly from person to person.

Do you have ~230GB of games / applications? If you have more, you're going to end up installing Steam to a mechanical drive, and moving stuff over to the SSD, which to me sounds like a pain. Might want to look into something like a 750GB Momentus XT instead. Hard drive with built-in SSD caching, gets you to about 80% of SSD speeds.

I'd swap back to the Extreme4 board also; I don't trust Gigabyte since the Z68 fiasco. Having said that, I haven't actually looked at any of their Z77 stuff, so I guess I'll get back to you on that.

That PSU doesn't look fantastic. Maybe something like this instead.

My last two machines have had onboard sound and I haven't really noticed the difference. My machine before that (about 8 years old) had a soundblaster card; would it be worth reusing that or have soundcards moved on?

My Steam install is about 150gb at present but I don't mind moving GCF files around if I have to. Having Steam and Windows 7 on the SSD is one of the main things I want to do.

I've changed back the board and updated the PSU; is there anything else I should change?

Also with the SSD why are none available when I try to add a hard drive through the PC Configurator? I have it as a seperate item in the basket so I presume I install it myself; do I need to buy anything else for the SSD?

Item	Price
Crucial M4 256GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")	€241.49
Sapphire HD 7850 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express	€229.59
Rechner - Zusammenbau	€20.00
TP-Link TL-WN951N, 300Mbps PCI-Adapter	€23.22
LG GH22NS50/70/90 bare schwarz	€17.67
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W	€52.08
Corsair Carbide Series 500R schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil	€96.63
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX	€121.49
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155	€212.85
16GB-Kit G.Skill Ares PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24	€78.80
Dell UltraSharp U2312HM	€188.70
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s	€104.02
Shipping	€18.99
Total	€1405.53

[Skerries]

onboard sound would be better than your old SB card
you will have to install the SSD yourself but that is just a case of attaching a SATA cable and power to it and plugging into your motherboard, there usually aren't dedicated slots for SSD's so most people leave it hanging in the case but I used velcro on mine to stick to the side of the case