New Gaming PC €1600

abitmenthol

1. What is your budget?

€1600 or so, but I'll go a bit over if there is exceptional value to be had in any part of the build. Or indeed under if anyone thinks I'm wasting money anywhere.

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer?

Power mainly needed for gaming, but plenty of general everyday usage and will be doing some development (mainly .Net) also. I mostly play FPS games.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?

No, have a key already.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?

Not really, just a mouse I use with the current laptop.

5. Do you need a monitor?

Yes. Thinking of a Yamakasi Cateleap Q270, given all the talk of it here lately.
Would like the 1440p resolution, but am a bit worried about getting a dud version, or with lots of dead pixels. Will probably opt for one of the tested ones on ebay for the extra few quid. Also, wondering about the versions that can/can not be over clocked. Does the overclocking and 100Hz business really make a big difference vs the factory 60 Hz? Failing that a decent 22/23 inc monitor for about the same price would suit.


5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future?

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

Just have a decent mouse. Would like a decent LED backlit keyboard, but don't want to spend too much.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking?

Yes. Maybe not initially, but if I feel the need for a bump in the speed down the line I'd be happy too as long as I don't endanger the kit.

8. How can you pay?

Cash, Credit Card, Bank Transfer

9. When are you purchasing?

In the next couple of weeks, unless someone reckons there's some amazing new GPU/CPU etc just on the horizon waiting for, I'll postpone.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based?

Shouldn't need help unless I get lots of suggestions for water cooling etc. I've put together a couple of barebones PC's before no probs.


Suggested build so far from Hardwareversand.de:

Cooler Master HAF X, ATX, ohne Netzteil
124,45 €

Cooler Master GX Series PSU, 80Plus Bronze - 750 Watt
78,75 €

8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9
43,70 €

Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")
111,29 €

WD Caviar Green 2TB Sata 6Gb/s
102,99 €

ASRock Z77 Extreme6, Sockel 1155, ATX
167,78 €

Pioneer DVR-118LBK PATA
29,82 €

Interner Card Reader 8,9 cm (3,5") USB 2.0, bulk, schwarz
ready for dispatch
15,81 €

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort
388,48 €

Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155
212,12 €

Total: €1275.19 + approx €250/300 for the Yamakai Catleap on eBay = €1600

Any advice on any components is more than welcome. Reading around, I'm wondering whether I'm better going for the i5-3570k or the cheaper 2500k. Is the 2500k actually better when over clocked for cheaper? Would I need any extra cooling equipment for overclocking?

Also, I'm thinking the GTX 670 should be enough power for the current games on the highest settings for a 1 monitor 1440p setup? I would plan on maybe adding another 670 in SLI down the road as they get cheaper and the games are more demanding or if I decide to go dual monitor. Is there a better option? Will the PSU be enough?

I'd also like a quite PC, not sure how this is best achieved, is it mainly based on PSU and case selection?

Thanks for any tips and advice.

Eboggles

Nice build, but I would change a few things.

Item|Price
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€35.69
Intel Core i5-3570K Tray, LGA1155|€209.98
Thermalright HR-02 Macho|€33.89
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€125.45
LiteOn iHAS124-19 schwarz SATA|€17.50
XFX PRO750W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply|€84.45
Seagate Barracuda Spinpoint HD204UI 2TB SATA II|€99.34
Crucial M4 64GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€75.59
HIS HD 7970 IceQ X² Turbo GDDR5 3072MB DVI/HDMI/2xMiniDP|€432.51
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€118.76
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1252.15

Very quiet case, better GPU for 1440p (much better when overclocked), great CPU cooler and RAM that won't get in the way of the CPU heatsink .
Add in the Catleap and keyboard and you should be set. Really, you shouldn't need a 750 watt PSU nowadays but it should be fine for heavily overclocked CF 7970s and overclocked 3570k.

smileyj1987

For the little in price difference i would say you should look at the HAF-X if you like its looks It is quite possibly the best aircooled case in the world at the moment .

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=59499&agid=632&apop=1

Eboggles

smileyj1987 wrote: »

For the little in price difference i would say you should look at the HAF-X if you like its looks It is quite possibly the best aircooled case in the world at the moment .

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=59499&agid=632&apop=1

It's not silent though, and one of the requirements was a silent build. And it's not really the best air case either, some Silverstones, high end Corsair and Lian-Li cases beat the HAF-X.

Beez

Eboggles wrote: »

Nice build, but I would change a few things.

Item|Price
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€35.69
Intel Core i5-3570K Tray, LGA1155|€209.98
Thermalright HR-02 Macho|€33.89
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€125.45
LiteOn iHAS124-19 schwarz SATA|€17.50
XFX PRO750W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply|€84.45
Seagate Barracuda Spinpoint HD204UI 2TB SATA II|€99.34
Crucial M4 64GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€75.59
HIS HD 7970 IceQ X² Turbo GDDR5 3072MB DVI/HDMI/2xMiniDP|€432.51
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€118.76
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1252.15
Very quiet case, better GPU for 1440p (much better when overclocked), great CPU cooler and RAM that won't get in the way of the CPU heatsink .
Add in the Catleap and keyboard and you should be set. Really, you shouldn't need a 750 watt PSU nowadays but it should be fine for heavily overclocked CF 7970s and overclocked 3570k.

I have the Asrock extreme4 and its an excellant board for the money, first time moving from ASUS but was not disapointed. I would not agree with the 7970 instead of a 670 GTX. It just doesnt make sense. 2GB RAM is loads at that resolution. The 670 is faster, more power efficient and quiter. I presume the Gigabyte OC is the windforce edition you listed? The referance design coolers are crap.

Eboggles

2gb isn't loads at that resolution, it's just sufficient. As well as that the 7970 is a better card as it can be overclocked like a champion. It's a high end card that will be crossfired later, so with two cards like that 2gb at 1440p in 1-2 years time will be crippled due to low memory. The OP is better off getting the card that performs better at high res, and has more memory, and can overclock better, no? The price difference is quite small so spending an extra €30 in a €1600 build is ok.

Beez

I dont think iv read one review recommending 7970 over a Kepler GPU, some say you would be mad to do so. Not saying the 7970 is a bad card, it just needs a price drop to compete. 2 GB is sufficient for a good while to come imo.

abitmenthol

Thanks for all the replies guys.

smileyj1987 wrote: »

For the little in price difference i would say you should look at the HAF-X if you like its looks It is quite possibly the best aircooled case in the world at the moment .

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=59499&agid=632&apop=1

Eboggles wrote: »

It's not silent though, and one of the requirements was a silent build. And it's not really the best air case either, some Silverstones, high end Corsair and Lian-Li cases beat the HAF-X.

The HAF-X is the case I have in my original build, so that's the one I was initially considering. Although I'd like a cool machine, I don't want it to sound like there's a hairdryer going constantly in the room. The quiter the better, but I don't need dead silence. Is there much of a trade off in noise levels vs temps between the two cases above. If the HAF-X is quite enough but has far better cooling I wouldn't mind, but if there isn't much in the difference in the temps I'd obviously like the quiter case.
Considering I porbably won't overclock initially anyway, would temps be a worry? If I went with the Corsair, does that leave much room for safe overclocking down the line?

Beez wrote: »

I have the Asrock extreme4 and its an excellant board for the money, first time moving from ASUS but was not disapointed. I would not agree with the 7970 instead of a 670 GTX. It just doesnt make sense. 2GB RAM is loads at that resolution. The 670 is faster, more power efficient and quiter. I presume the Gigabyte OC is the windforce edition you listed? The referance design coolers are crap.

Not really having too much knowledge on the motherboards, any tips are great. Thanks very much. I would like a motherboard that is pretty future proof though. Seeing as this is a pricey enough build I'd like to get a few years out of it and have room for manouvre when it comes to upgrading. How does the Asrock compare against the Asus in terms of this, or indeed is there any other motherboards worth considering.

The GPU I was looking at was indeed the Gigabyte OC, but if that's one to avoid I'll look at a different one. I've no great leaning towards either Nvidia or AMD, I'd just like a reasonably good value card that will run all the latest games more or less maxed out for the next while, and then down the line when performace isn't up to it I'd like to be able to add a second card to bump it up.

Eboggles

Go for the 7970 for great performance at 1440p and future proofing, and overclocking, and CF support, and silent operating, and great cooling. Go for the 670 if you're playing at 1200p and want a cool running card that will last you a while, combined with low power consumption.

abitmenthol

Eboggles wrote: »

Go for the 7970 for great performance at 1440p and future proofing, and overclocking, and CF support, and silent operating, and great cooling. Go for the 670 if you're playing at 1200p and want a cool running card that will last you a while, combined with low power consumption.

Cheers!

How much would temps be effected by overclocking the 7970? Would I need anything extra to help with the cooling of the GPU? I imagine it will be 1440p gaming if I go ahead with the Yamakasi monitor.

Beez

abitmenthol wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Not really having too much knowledge on the motherboards, any tips are great. Thanks very much. I would like a motherboard that is pretty future proof though. Seeing as this is a pricey enough build I'd like to get a few years out of it and have room for manouvre when it comes to upgrading. How does the Asrock compare against the Asus in terms of this, or indeed is there any other motherboards worth considering.

The GPU I was looking at was indeed the Gigabyte OC, but if that's one to avoid I'll look at a different one. I've no great leaning towards either Nvidia or AMD, I'd just like a reasonably good value card that will run all the latest games more or less maxed out for the next while, and then down the line when performace isn't up to it I'd like to be able to add a second card to bump it up.

I used to always buy ASUS as they have always been very reliable, Asrock used to be part of ASUS and after splitting out have started to compete against them. Asrocks recent boards are excellant, for the money they are hard to beat. I have the Asrock Extreme4 with a 3570k overclocked to 4.5Ghz stable. I could push it higher but i dont need any more speed than that. Its got 8 SATA ports and a esata connection also. The equivelant Z77 ASUS is €50 more. The board is slightly smaller than usual ATA format so end does not have screw mounts so i would just take a bit of care when plugging in SATA cables, try not to put any strain on the right side of the board. The Asrock Extreme6 is normal size with a few extra features. I have no trouble recommending Asrock im very happy with mine.

As for the Gigabyte card, if its the windforce edition its a very good card. Lots of people overclocking them to 1250 Mhz boost clock, at that speed they outpace a overclocked 7970 in most games.

smileyj1987

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/700+-+800+Watts/38017/Super-Flower+SF750P14XE+Golden+Green+Pro+80plus+gold.article

Maybe you should consider this PSU as it is a gold psu , which means there is less power waste from the socket . Which will save you a few Quid on your Electricty bill .

abitmenthol

Eboggles wrote: »

Nice build, but I would change a few things.

Item|Price
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€35.69
Intel Core i5-3570K Tray, LGA1155|€209.98
Thermalright HR-02 Macho|€33.89
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€125.45
LiteOn iHAS124-19 schwarz SATA|€17.50
XFX PRO750W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply|€84.45
Seagate Barracuda Spinpoint HD204UI 2TB SATA II|€99.34
Crucial M4 64GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€75.59
HIS HD 7970 IceQ X² Turbo GDDR5 3072MB DVI/HDMI/2xMiniDP|€432.51
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€118.76
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1252.15

Very quiet case, better GPU for 1440p (much better when overclocked), great CPU cooler and RAM that won't get in the way of the CPU heatsink .
Add in the Catleap and keyboard and you should be set. Really, you shouldn't need a 750 watt PSU nowadays but it should be fine for heavily overclocked CF 7970s and overclocked 3570k.

Thanks Eboggles, just looking over your respec and one thing that had me curious was why you changed the RAM. I originally had the Corsair Vengence which ran at 1600Mhz (http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=40701&agid=1193) which you swapped out for the above which is only running at 1333Mhz. I assume you swapped it out for the heatsinks on the original RAM, but I presume I'd still be better off with 1600 Mhz RAM, or will it not make much of a difference.
I see the following 1600 Mhz RAM doesn't seem to have heatsinks which stick out as much and shouldn't get in the way of a CPU cooler. Would that perhaps be better?

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/1600+Low+Voltage/48886/8GB-Kit+Corsair+XMS3+PC3-12800U+CL9.article

abitmenthol

Ok Guys, Here's the latest stab at the build. Apologies I wasn't sure how to copy from hardwareversand site in a table format as above.

Thanks for all the tips. Please feel free to throw more nuggets my way.

Corsair Obsidian Series 550D, ATX, ohne Netzteil
118,76 €

ASRock Z77 Extreme6, Sockel 1155, ATX
167,78 €

Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155
212,12 €

8GB-Kit Corsair XMS3 PC3-12800U CL9
42,61 €

GAINWARD PCX GTX 670-2048MB-Dual DVI-HDMI-DP Phantom
404,33 €

Super-Flower SF750P14XE Golden Green Pro 80plus gold
95,68 €

Thermalright HR-02 Macho
33,89 €

Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")
111,29 €

WD Caviar Green 2TB Sata 6Gb/s
102,99 €

Interner Card Reader 8,9 cm (3,5") USB 2.0, bulk, schwarz
15,81 €

LG GH22NS50/70/90 bare schwarz
17,83 €

Total: 1.323,09 € (plus postage 18.99)


A little over budget maybe, but I should still be able to get the Catleap for around 300 hopefully.

I've changed the case to the Obsidian Series 550D as recommended as it should be quiter that the Coolmaster. Hopefully won't affect temps too badly.

I've stuck with the extreme6 mobo as I believe it has a bit more room on it and is a little more future proofed.

The RAM hopefully shouldn't get in the way of the CPU cooler added. Please correct if I'm wrong.

I think I'll stick with the GTX 670 too with a view to going SLI down the line.
I'll stick with the larger SSD too as I think the 64 GB is a bit small.

Any other tips or suggestions please feel free to add.
Thanks again.

Beez

I would either get the Gigabyte windforce or the ASUS DirectCU II. They are the best non reference 670's.

Have a read of this thread: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18400740