Help with Build!

Tsukimi

Hi all,

I'm EXTREMELY new to building computers so I was hoping you all could give me a bit of help.

I've been playing on a 6 year old laptop for the last few years and I just got enough money together to invest in a new computer so I'm looking to build one myself out of curiosity and also because I've heard it's alot cheaper.

I mainly use my computer to play wow and starcraft 2 and will definitely be playing Diablo 3 when that comes out, but I wouldn't class myself as a hardcore fps gamer who needs the BEST computer for the job, I just want to run those 3 games on ultra really, that's my main goal.

I'm also an architect so I use my comptuer alot for Photoshop and various 3D modeling packages so it needs to be able to handle that.

Now, the only site I could find that seemed to deliver to Ireland was www.scan.co.uk so that's where I got all my prices from, if there are better sites to order from I would love to hear from anyone who has any information.

My budget is ideally around 800e. The cheaper I can get it the better really!

So here's the build:


Coolermaster Elite 430, Black, Mid Tower Case with side Window 120mm Front LED Blue Fan, w/o PSU
Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, 1155, Sdy Bridge, QuadCore, 3.3GHz, GPU 850Mhz, 95W, Retail
Asus P8P67 Rev3, Intel P67, S1155, PCI-E 2.0 x16, DDR3 2200(OC), SATA 6Gb/s, SATA RAID, ATX
500GB Seagate ST3500413AS Barracuda 7200.12, SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.5ms, NCQ
1GB EVGA GTX 460 SE, 3400MHz GDDR5, GPU 648MHz, Shader Clock 1296MHz, 288 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/ mHDMI
600W Corsair CMPSU-600CXv2 Builder Series, 80 PLUS, 80% Eff', EPS 12V, 120mm Fan, Single 12V Rai
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50Vl
Corsair Cooling Air Series A50 Performance CPU Cooler Intel LGA 775/1366/1156, AMDAM2/AM3
23" Samsung SyncMaster 2333T Full HD DVI/VGA 1920x1080 300cd/m2 50000:1 8ms TFT Monitor
120mm Akasa Apache Black Ultra Silent Fan HDB bearing PWM fan *OEM Fan Only
Sony DDU1681S-0B 18x DVD-Rom SMART-X Sata Black OEM

https://secure.scan.co.uk/aspnet/Shop/SavedBasket/Show.aspx?id=992b117b04644c3bb798784641c71fca

I would like to get the cost down as much as possible without sacrificing too much performance so any tips on that would be fantastic! I'm not made of money unfortunately

ANY help at ALL with the build would be hugely appreciated as I'm totally out of my depth here with all this stuff so anything at all would be great as I plan to order on Friday so

Cheers for all the help in advance guys.

Mister Man

Well, whats your budget?
Would it have to be an Intel build, or would you go AMD if it meant cheaper?
Are you planning on Overclocking? If you aren't you can take the CPU Cooler off.
Everyone seems to recommend the Spin Point Harddrives, I haven't used one yet, alot I'm planning on putting it into my new build, maybe check that out.
Motherboard, seems a bit expensive too me, maybe someone will correct me, but I dunno, maybe consider going down a grade on it.

If you plan on shopping with Scan.co.uk I recommend signing up to http://www.avforums.com/ You get free shipping that way (After 14 days, someone will be able to fill in the blanks better then me on that though)

Hardwareversand.de - Select English at the top right. They also ship to Ireland (I Thought it was 30Euro, but on my mock up build it says 3.99....So I don't know really.)
Also Pixmania.ie are a Irish company that sell PC parts. Work checking them out.

That's about all I can think of now anyway. Hope it helps.

Tsukimi

Ideally my budget would be around 800e (the build I linked is around 850 I think but I'd prefer it to be cheaper).

I have no preference for Intel vs. AMD but I have heard that the i5 2500k is a really decent build so I was thinking I would go with that. As for overclocking its definitely something I'd be interested in trying out as I believe it would be more efficient in the long run as spending the extra money on the CPU cooler should hopefully future proof the i5 a bit more? I don't really know

As for the motherboard that + the monitor are the two items I've done the least research on really, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The same goes for all the parts really, I've only been researching for about a week now and I'm not techy at all so it's all very confusing to me tbh.

As for Hardwareversand.de I had a quick check on them there and they seem to be coming in a bit cheaper alright, but only by about 20 or 30 euro so I think I'll stick with Scan unless someone can find me a similar build on the German site (I would really prefer to stick to one website to order everything from really if at all possible).

And as for the Spin Point Harddrives I don't even know what they are lol >.<

merc.ie

Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155
MSI P67A-GD53 (B3), Intel P67, ATX, DDR3
Powercolor HD6850 PCS+ 1024MB Dual-DVI/HDMI/Displayport
4GB-Kit DDR3 Crucial Value PC1333 CL9
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB, SATA II (HD502HJ)
Cooler Master 690 II LITE
BenQ G2222HDL
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W
Sony NEC Optiarc, SATA, bulk
Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B, CPU-Kühler

Comes to €810 with delivery but the case can be scaled back if you need to bring it below 800.

Tsukimi

Oh wow that is alot of parts that are different to my own, is that a superior build to the one I linked? I'm extremely confused!

big man andy

Tsukimi wrote: »

Oh wow that is alot of parts that are different to my own, is that a superior build to the one I linked? I'm extremely confused!

Here's a dumb Q's maybe but, have ya factored in the cost of an OS?

Tsukimi

I already have a copy of windows 7 that I can use yeah:)

slave1

Mister Man wrote: »

If you plan on shopping with Scan.co.uk I recommend signing up to http://www.avforums.com/ You get free shipping that way (After 14 days, someone will be able to fill in the blanks better then me on that though)

You get £7.99+VAT off your shipping cost (as this is the cost of standard UK delivery and that's specifically what the offer is i.e. free standard UK delivery)

Kromdar

DONT get the 2500K
tom's harware charts [for gaming] show that there's no real difference with the two, in terms of gaming. you can save a little bit by getting the regular 2500. unless you've found somwhere that does both for the same price.

also in terms of RAM if you're using a 32 bit os it will register less than 4gb, something liek 3.5gb [need a ref] so don't be surprised when you see less on the system information after install.

and a final FYI, always check the deals of the day on komplett/pixmania/etc to see if you can get a cheap ass graphics card.

Monotype

Do get the 2500K

• overclocking capabilities which are easily done with even the stock heatsink
• better integrated graphics
• better resale vale (probably)

I think it's definitely worth the extra €7.

Tsukimi

Yeah I definitely think I'll go with the 2500k as I want to learn about overclocking anyway so

The sales man just said I could swap to:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-(2x2gb)-corsair-vengeance-ddr3-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-150v

instead of the RAM I already had...any ideas of the pros/cons?

Also...my GPU seems to be the SE....is there any way of maybe getting a different card...or maybe taking some other parts down a notch so that I can get the non-SE version of my card?

Cheers

Monotype

Are you ordering from scan then?

Pro
The RAM is faster than that in your original post, and I suppose it looks nice.

Neutral
RAM doesn't usually get that hot and there's little benefit from the tall heatspreaders

Con
Big heatspreaders can interfere with other components - i.e., CPU heatsink.

Tsukimi

Yeah I'd say I'll go with scan then, unless anyone thinks that the german site build is superior? It's 50e cheaper over all.

Tsukimi

Okay so I found that the German site was actually going to come in way cheaper so I'm ordering off that + Amazon and Komplett now. Below is the updated build, as always please suggest things that could be improved;


UPDATED BUILD:

NZXT Classic Series GAMMA - Mid tower - ATX - no
(http://komplett.ie/Komplett/site/Catalog/ItemDetail.aspx?ItemNo=15572609)

Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155
(http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=41224&agid=1617)

MSI P67A-G45 (B3), Intel P67, ATX, DDR3
(http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46898&agid=1601)

4GB-Kit G-Skill Ripjaws PC3-10667U CL9
(http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=29670&agid=1192)

Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W
(http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=30069&agid=1628)

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 - 1GB, PCI-Express
(http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38244&agid=707)

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ)
(http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28152&agid=689)

LG DH18NS schwarz bare SATA II
(http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=39120&agid=834)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 - Pro PWM Rev.2
(http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28345&agid=669)


BenQ G2222HDL 21.5-inch Widescreen LED Back-Light Monitor
(http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002UJ31A0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=04QKDHY24FCZX15EX8KB&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294)



I'm also going to buy a case fan or 2 (120mm) but I'm not sure which ones so suggestions would be great.


I also need to get a new keyboard, but I just want something standard like the Microsoft Digital Media Keyboard 3000 ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Digital-Media-Keyboard-3000/dp/B001727L3Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1307210329&sr=8-4) but I can't find anywhere that stocks it for less than €30 which is too expensive for it imo.

Thanks a million guys

Mister Man

Tsukimi wrote: »

NZXT Classic Series GAMMA - Mid tower - ATX - no
(http://komplett.ie/Komplett/site/Catalog/ItemDetail.aspx?ItemNo=15572609)

Probably save yourself money if you bought a case with HWVS wouldn't you?

Tsukimi

Probably but I couldn't find a recommended case on their site, any suggestions?

Mister Man

I've heard good things about Antec cases.
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=23029&agid=631&apop=1
Seems like a good solid case too me. On another note Komplet are falling apart. Back when I made my first build, they were the good to place, now everyone seems to avoid them.

Tsukimi

That's great to know, I'll pick up that case then, it has room for 2 fans anyway I think which should be fine I don't really care what it looks like :P

Any advice on the build? Does everything look okay?

Mister Man

Tsukimi wrote: »

That's great to know, I'll pick up that case then, it has room for 2 fans anyway I think which should be fine I don't really care what it looks like :P

Any advice on the build? Does everything look okay?

This would be my personally choice (Because I'm a fanboy of ATI =P)

I'd change the Graphics Card with a AMD Radeon HD 6850
Now I wouldn't normally recommend buying from two online stores, but Pixmania.ie are selling the Radeon HD 6850 for 109.90 & 125.89 incl VAT/Shipping so it works out about a tenner cheaper then buying it from HWVS & it will bring down PayPal charges on your HWVS order (If you are using PayPal that is)
Although not a HUGE saving, I think it's worth it. Now the one on Pix is a Non branded (I.e, no XFX/Sapphire/EVGA etc) card, but I ordered it and I got the Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 (which is 20Quid more then the non branded card) I don't know if I got lucky, but the only difference was it came with the DVI To VGA, Molex to 6pin and a case badge.
With the extra tenner you save, you can even throw in a keyboard from HWVS, this one looks fine to me
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=39246&agid=754

Other then that, seems pretty solid to me

**EDIT** Here's the link to the Radeon HD 6850 Card - http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/9074812/art/pixmania/radeon-hd-6850-1-gb-gddr5.html **EDIT**

Tsukimi

Perfect thanks for that, I'll definitely look into that!

I've heard ordering keyboards off that german site can be dodge tho! End up with getting a keyboard with umlauts and stuff lol?

Cheers man

Mister Man

You're right actually! Never thought of that!
Well, in that case, Tesco sell Technika Wireless keyboards and mice.(Own brand I might think?) I use the keyboard myself, cost me 12 Quid I think. It's perfect really. After all, a keyboard is a keyboard at the end of the day.
It's really light on battery's too, only changed them I think once or twice in the year and bit I've had it.

Tsukimi

Oh nice one that's exactly what I want like, I have no time for these massive gaming keyboards :P I just need it to work like lol! Cheers!

Tsukimi

Just posting my build before I go ahead and buy it Let me know what you think!

Also, does payment with PayPal go through faster on hwvs.de than bank transfer? I'm thinking it's worth the 20e to get it done faster tbh! And I presume I can use my credit card with my PayPal acc to order it? Not getting paid till Friday and I want to order this tonight:


NZXT Classic Series GAMMA - Mid tower - ATX
http://komplett.ie/Komplett/site/Catalog/ItemDetail.aspx?ItemNo=15572609

MSI P67A-C43 (B3), Intel P67, ATX, DDR3
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=44929&agid=1601&apop=3

Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=41224&agid=1617

4GB-Kit G-Skill Ripjaws PC3-10667U CL9
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=29670&agid=1192

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC, 1024MB GDDR5, PCI-Express
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=43717&agid=707

Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=30069&agid=1628

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ)
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28152&agid=689

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 - Pro PWM Rev.2
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28345&agid=669

LiteOn iHAS124-19 schwarz SATA
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=44944&agid=699

BenQ G2222HDL 21.5-inch Widescreen LED Back-Light Monitor
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002UJ31A0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=04QKDHY24FCZX15EX8KB&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294

It will be mainly used for World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, with alot of Photoshop for college etc thrown in!

Let me know what you think!

Tsukimi

Bump....anyone?:P

slave1

Personally, I'd go for a bigger hard drive, 2TB are not that expenisve and some of the 6gig SATA ones are coming down in price (if your M/Board can provide 6gig).
When I built mine last week I went with 8gig RAM given the price these days.
Have you priced this build at both Scan and HW for cost comparison?

Tsukimi

Thanks for the advice!

I have priced a _similar_ build on scan.co.uk but a lot of the parts are not available there.


I would MUCH prefer to order from Scan, but it seemed a good bit more expensive there? The parts that didn't really match up were the RAM, CPU and GPU, as well as the PSU. So it would be a pretty different build I think and I have gotten advice on the parts from HWVS, so if I was to make a scan build I would need to go through that process again - unless someone would like to suggest a similar priced build from scan?:P:P

Fluffy88

I am by no means an expert so this is just how I see things and is probably completely wrong :P

Just a quick look through HWVS and I found a 1TB SATA3 HDD for same price, but because it's SATA3 rather than SATA2 it runs at 600mb/s rather than 300. I think it would be a good choice to go for the SATA3 if your motherboard can use it.
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=42805&agid=1342

Again still no expert but looking at the RAM, I found 4GB @1600MHz rather than your 1333MHz at the same price, but maybe there is something I am missing here. Hopefully someone that knows can actually give some proper feedback on these.
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28068&agid=1193
Slave1 suggested going up to 8Gb of RAM I'm not sure you would need to do that, 4Gb should be plenty fine to run most computers but you mentioned 3D modelling so possibly you might use the extra RAM while using those programs.


Don't forget I'm a complete n00b I am just in here to try and learn because I hope to build my own computer in the near future.

Tsukimi

I had heard that Samsung and G-Skill were good brands of products so thats kinda why I went with those, but the SATA3 vs SATA2 option is a very interesting one I'll definitely have to reconsider, as for the RAM, I think I'll stick with the 4GB atm, and upgrade to 8 when necessary?

Tehachapi

Kromdar wrote: »

DONT get the 2500K
tom's harware charts [for gaming] show that there's no real difference with the two, in terms of gaming. you can save a little bit by getting the regular 2500. unless you've found somwhere that does both for the same price

Obviously comparing the 3.3ghz 2500 and 3.3ghz 2500k will yield identical benchmarking results - THEY ARE THE SAME CPU! It's just the 2500k has it's multiplier unlocked so you can easily overclock it without overclocking anything else in the system.

Tsukimi

Tehachapi wrote: »

Obviously comparing the 3.3ghz 2500 and 3.3ghz 2500k will yield identical benchmarking results - THEY ARE THE SAME CPU! It's just the 2500k has it's multiplier unlocked so you can easily overclock it without overclocking anything else in the system.

Yeah I plan on overclocking it as I've heard it's extremely easy!

Fluffy88

I actually just noticed that the HDD I linked to is actually "Green" which means it probably sacrifices performance for power-consumption. But it's Average Seek Time is 8.5 ms compared the the 8.9ms of the one you posted, so I'm confused :P

The mobo you posted has 4 RAM slots so going with 2x2Gb chips of RAM and adding another 2 at a later stage if needed will be perfect imo.

Have you looked into getting an SSD for your OS and programs? That will always offer a good performance increase.

Tsukimi

I have thought about an SSD, but it will probably have to wait as my budget can't really fit it in atm, I've heard fantastic things about OS on SSD's, supposed to be lightning quick!

Also, just realised that komplett.ie don't stock my case anymore, any suggestions on hardwareversand.de for a decent case for around €50?

Fluffy88

I saw this one recommended a few times by people and I have seen the make being mentioned as one of the better one's.
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=23029&agid=631