[Skylinehead]

1. What is your budget? €1200 excluding VAT

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming (BF3, Fallout, Skyrim, Civ5), Software Programming (Eclipse, Visual Studio, Spring)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No, free from Dreamspark

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? External 1TB HDD, so mass storage not a problem

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? 1080p Samsung B2330 23", no.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Mouse/Keyboard

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yup

8. How can you pay? Any

9. When are you purchasing? Possibly now, possibly next month. Haven't decided

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Don't need help

So lads, finally time! Will be able to get VAT off, so I'm assuming HWVS is still the best to go for with 19%?

Anyway.

Item	Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155	€212.07
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX	€129.53
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort	€386.40
Corsair Carbide Series 500R White, ATX, ohne Netzteil	€93.52
8GB-Kit G.Skill Sniper PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24 (DDR3-1333)	€45.39
XFX PRO650W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply	€76.21
Samsung SSD 830 128GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box	€110.24
Sony Optiarc AD-7280S-0B schwarz	€17.14
Corsair Hydro Series H100 (Sockel 775/1156/1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3/FM1)	€92.21
Razer DeathAdder Re-Spawn, USB, 3500 dpi	€45.47
Shipping	€18.99
Total	€1227.17

CPU - obviously.
Motherboard - would like to SLI/XFire eventually
Graphics - undecided, on two fronts: 670 or not, and if so, which one? Have my eye on the Gigabyte Windforce, MSI Power Edition, Gainward Phantom and Asus DirectCUII.
Case - definitely getting that one
RAM - picked that to complement the motherboard, purely aesthetic.
PSU - could go for the Super-flower, but not sure on the LED, and XFX are very good.
SSD - easy choice
Optical - doesn't matter
Cooler - would like to try the H100, entry-level watercooling etc, might replace the loudass fans.
Mouse - seems to be the right choice.
Keyboard - I want this one, but the reviews say German layout for some reason. Anybody got a reason why?
Headphones - more for music than gaming, but going for these

Comes in about €1103 excluding VAT, or €1362 with VAT. Suggestions appreciated!

[Eboggles]

Looks great, I'm planning on getting Scythe Gentle Typhoons for my soon to be watercooled rig, they seem like the best replacement for stock fans. The 1150RPM ones are pretty much silent and have great static pressure. That said, I'll only be using an Antec H20 620 or Thermaltake Water 2.0 so your mileage may vary.

[BhoyRayzor]

I have an ex VAT build with a lot of the same components, same processor, motherboard, PSU, case and SSD - probably because you were one of the ones who suggested a build for me

I compared my ex VAT shopping list between Komplett/Dabs and HWVS and buying here works out roughly €50 cheaper with coupons added

[Skylinehead]

Originally Posted by Eboggles

Looks great, I'm planning on getting Scythe Gentle Typhoons for my soon to be watercooled rig, they seem like the best replacement for stock fans. The 1150RPM ones are pretty much silent and have great static pressure. That said, I'll only be using an Antec H20 620 or Thermaltake Water 2.0 so your mileage may vary.

Could always put two Typhoons in for 20 quid and use them elsewhere (push-pull maybe) if I'm not bothered by the noise. I assume they can be controlled by the H100's fan controller?

[Eboggles]

Originally Posted by Skylinehead

Could always put two Typhoons in for 20 quid and use them elsewhere (push-pull maybe) if I'm not bothered by the noise. I assume they can be controlled by the H100's fan controller?

Yeah I think they can.

[ZeroThreat]

You reckon that 128gb SSD is enough storage, or perhaps add one of these http://www1.hardwareversand.de/7200+...+6Gb+s.article for storing other stuff?

EDIT : Sorry didn't notice you already said you had a 1tbh external storage drive, my bad.

btw, this is the current build I'm thinking of, similar to yours apart from larger ssd (which has just gone out of stock again), slightly cheaper ram and different PSU, and without your elaborate cooling setup

Item	Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155	€212.07
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX	€129.53
2 x 8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9	€73.42
Corsair Carbide Series 500R schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil	€95.10
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s	€101.96
Thermalright HR-02 Macho	€34.89
Samsung SSD 830 256GB SATA II Paper Box	€206.84
Samsung SyncMaster S27A750D	€445.73
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort	€386.40
Super-Flower SF650P14XE Golden Green Pro 80plus gold	€81.15
Razer DeathAdder Re-Spawn, USB, 3500 dpi	€45.47
Sony Optiarc AD-7280S-0B schwarz	€17.14
Shipping	€18.99
Total	€1848.69

[Skylinehead]

Originally Posted by ZeroThreat

You reckon that 128gb SSD is enough storage, or perhaps add one of these http://www1.hardwareversand.de/7200+...+6Gb+s.article for storing other stuff?

Have a 1TB external that I may or may not convert into an internal SATA drive, but either way I'm good for storage.

[glynf]

The H100 controls two fans, though I find it craps out at times, with fans running 100% and not ramping down, then having to reset unit=pain in hole.
Better off plug both fans into the mobo and leaving the pump at its 2nd setting to do its thing, works way better.

If you're serious about xfire, go with a 750w min, and check a few reviews re. cooling in SLI as some aftermarket coolers like he phantom dump air into the case, not ideal when both GPU's are close. Reference designs are much better as all air is exhausted through the backplate. EVGA & Zotac do factory overclocked cards that dump air out the back plate as well.

Nice build, and good luck with it.

[Skylinehead]

Originally Posted by glynf

The H100 controls two fans, though I find it craps out at times, with fans running 100% and not ramping down, then having to reset unit=pain in hole.
Better off plug both fans into the mobo and leaving the pump at its 2nd setting to do its thing, works way better.

If you're serious about xfire, go with a 750w min, and check a few reviews re. cooling in SLI as some aftermarket coolers like he phantom dump air into the case, not ideal when both GPU's are close. Reference designs are much better as all air is exhausted through the backplate. EVGA & Zotac do factory overclocked cards that dump air out the back plate as well.

Nice build, and good luck with it.

Yeah the H100 isn't ideal for fan control, so I might just leave it to the motherboard, means I can control everything with the 500Rs controller.

I assumed 650W would be enough for SLI, but I can always go up a little more. I'll definitely look into the coolers, pretty sure the Twin Frozr cooler does it well so if HWVS get the Power edition in stock I'll get that.

[glynf]

650W would be fine, but if you OC the CPU and/or both GPU's you won't be long running out of juice

BTW deadly case, great cable management.

[Skylinehead]

Originally Posted by glynf

650W would be fine, but if you OC the CPU and/or both GPU's you won't be long running out of juice

BTW deadly case, great cable management.

It's so lovely. If only it had the Vengeance C70's power/reset buttons, they're awesome

As for 750W PSU, same model or is there better out there?

[Nazata]

Originally Posted by Skylinehead

As for 750W PSU, same model or is there better out there?

The TX750 isn't as cheap as some alternatives but is one of the best 750W PSUs around. It's also modular. A lot of the competition is cheaper, but this PSU will last and allow huge upgrade potential.
A review from bit-tech: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/psu..._cmpsu-750tx/6
I'm definitely considering it for my build which is very similar to yours(ordering once Ulster Bank manages to sort themselves out...).

Are you looking for a modular or a non-modular PSU?

[Skylinehead]

Originally Posted by Nazata

The TX750 isn't as cheap as some alternatives but is one of the best 750W PSUs around. It's also modular. A lot of the competition is cheaper, but this PSU will last and allow huge upgrade potential.
A review from bit-tech: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/psu..._cmpsu-750tx/6
I'm definitely considering it for my build which is very similar to yours(ordering once Ulster Bank manages to sort themselves out...).

Are you looking for a modular or a non-modular PSU?

No preference, modular would be nice but it's not a necessity.

Have it down to:

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/artic...id=1630&apop=5

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/700+-...50Watt.article

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/700+-...s+800W.article

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/700+-...s+780W.article

but can't decide on what's best, my PSU knowledge is pretty limited. Any advice on the keyboard issue I mentioned in the first post would be appreciated too

[Monotype]

Is 800W necessary? Would two 670s use that kind of power?
Even if you were to you estimate 200W maximum for each card if you were overclocking and including an overclocked CPU, I think that 600W would be enough, or 650W to be generous with expansions.

I wouldn't buy the Atlas; a bit low in quality.
The TX750M is overpriced; you could buy much the same 850W Adata PSU for €85 from komplett.

If you're looking to spend that kind of money, then what about the 700W modular golden green @ €106?
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/600+-...odular.article

[Skylinehead]

I think I'd rather not spend quite so much, you figure the 650W XFX is enough?