New Build

D'Artagnan

Hi, so I posted about 6 months ago looking to build a computer. For a variety of reasons I never got a chance to buy and build. In the meantime my laptop died after more than 5 years service and I have been using my work laptop along with an Android tablet as a temporary solution. I've decided more or less on what I want and have included a build at the bottom of this post. I am also interested in purchasing from Komplett and QuietPC if possible. I've matched the below on Komplett to Hardwareversand and found the price difference to be very small. I also would like something that is quiet which can be a challenge for a high end pc.

1. What is your budget?
1500+

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer?
Home use, gaming, video editing

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?
no

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?
no

5. Do you need a monitor?
no

If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future?Im using a 26 inch tv screen as a monitor.Is this any good?

6. Do you need any of these peripherals?
No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking?
Potentially

8. How can you pay?
Credit card,paypal,cash

9. When are you purchasing?
This month

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

Several points/questions about the build:
1. I would like a quiet PC so going for a Fractal Design R3 - not available on Komplett
2. I plan to keep this for several years so happy to max out on CPU and GPU now. Also I haven't spent anything on a computer in over 5 years so I believe I can justify going for the i7 and high end GPU
3. As I said in point #1 I want a quiet PC so I need to know if I have enough case fans. Also is the 7970 going to be noisy and are their quieter versions available or should I look at an aftermarket cooler?

Suggested Build (Komplett)
Item|Price
Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5 GHz 8MB LGA1155|€319.95
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 - Socket 1155 - ATX|€137.95
ASUS Radeon HD7970-DC2-3GD5 - 3GB - PCI-E|€469.95
Corsair Vengeance - 16 GB 1600 MHz PC3-12800|€104.95
Noctua NH-D14 - 140mm|€77.95
2 x Noctua NF-S12B FLX - Case fan - 120 mm|€43.90
Cooler Master HTK-002-U1 - Thermal paste - white|€9.95
WD 2TB 3.5" SATA-600 IntelliPower 64MB|€112.95
Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" SATA600|€179.95
Asus DVD Burner - 24B5ST|€29.95
Corsair - Gaming GS700 - 700 Watt|€88.95
Shipping|FREE
Total|€1,576.40

Monotype

You don't need a PSU that powerful unless you're going crossfire. If you do want to go down that road, how about the Adata 850W instead? Almost identical PSU except modular (and cheaper).

Also, do you really need 16GB of RAM? Kind of depends on how serious you are with your video editing. Most people don't even use 4GB.
If you do want 16GB, here's it in 2 modules (and over a euro cheaper).
http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3ram/16gbgeilevovelocepc312800dualkit1600mhz2x8gb.html

D'Artagnan

Thanks Monotype. On PSU I really don't have a clue so just picked one I figured would be enough. How should one calculate right PSU to choose?

Regarding the RAM I should mention I will probably run a virtual Linux environment so the extra memory would be used for that. I will also run some statistical analysis from time to time. I have 12GB of RAM on my work desktop so I know how much I can use and with 16GB being so cheap I don't see any reason not to stick it in as I can see myself using a significant amount if I am doing any heavy data analysis.

Monotype

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7970/26.html

According to the link above Maximum consumption is 270W (unlikely stressful scenario, but useful to see how far it could go) and peak is 189W.

An overclocked i5 system with a few hard drives is usually well below 200W. More like 100-150W.

So a 550W PSU would give you plenty of room. If you wanted two 7970s, get a 750W PSU. Both should give you room for overclocking.
Have a read of the PSU guide in my signature for a bit more info on PSUs.

The Adata and the Corsair GS are built by the same company, CWT. I would consider the Adata to be a better choice on account of it being modular and cheaper.

D'Artagnan

Thanks I will make the change to Adata.

I will update the build and repost later today if I get a chance.

D'Artagnan

Ok so updated build from Komplett

Item|Price
Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5 GHz 8MB LGA1155|€319.95
ADATA - HM-850 - 850 Watt - ATX|€84.95
Power Adapter from Schuko to UK adapter|€0.00
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 - Socket 1155 - ATX|€137.95
Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" SATA600|€179.95
WD 2TB 3.5" SATA-600 IntelliPower 64MB|€112.95
Corsair Vengeance - 16 GB 1600 MHz PC3-12800|€104.95
ASUS Radeon HD7970-DC2-3GD5 - 3GB - PCI-E|€469.95
Noctua NH-D14 - 140mm|€77.95
2 x Scythe Gentle Typhoon D1225C12B1AP-11|€39.90
Asus DVD Burner - 24B5ST|€29.95
Shipping|FREE
Total|€1,558.45

Seems the PSU comes with a plug adapter? How reliable are Adata compared to the better known names?

And case will be a Fractal Design R3 around €100

Any thoughts about anything that should be changed?

ZeroThreat

D'Artagnan wrote: »

Ok so updated build from Komplett

Item|Price
Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5 GHz 8MB LGA1155|€319.95
ADATA - HM-850 - 850 Watt - ATX|€84.95
Power Adapter from Schuko to UK adapter|€0.00
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 - Socket 1155 - ATX|€137.95
Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" SATA600|€179.95
WD 2TB 3.5" SATA-600 IntelliPower 64MB|€112.95
Corsair Vengeance - 16 GB 1600 MHz PC3-12800|€104.95
ASUS Radeon HD7970-DC2-3GD5 - 3GB - PCI-E|€469.95
Noctua NH-D14 - 140mm|€77.95
2 x Scythe Gentle Typhoon D1225C12B1AP-11|€39.90
Asus DVD Burner - 24B5ST|€29.95
Shipping|FREE
Total|€1,558.45
Seems the PSU comes with a plug adapter? How reliable are Adata compared to the better known names?

And case will be a Fractal Design R3 around €100

Any thoughts about anything that should be changed?

The fan seems pricey, would this not be sufficient, http://www1.hardwareversand.de/Intel+AMD/52671/Thermalright+HR-02+Macho.article it's supposed to be pretty quiet afaik.

This is a good card you could consider probably better price /performance than that 7970 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/2048MB/59042/Gigabyte+GeForce+GTX+670+OC%2C+2GB+GDDR5%2C+2x+DVI%2C+HDMI%2C+DisplayPort.article

unless of course you have a preference for amd cards

The dvd-drives are cheaper here also http://www1.hardwareversand.de/S-ATA/59333/ASUS+DRW-24B5ST+Retail.article

The other stuff may be slightly cheaper on hwvs (apart from the 830 SSD), but of course the freight is €19 flat per order. I'm not sure if you'd want to pay via bank transfer in advance though

Can't say I have enough experience with PSUs to comment on the adata.

Monotype

Adata are a new entrant to the PSU world, but as I said, it should be actually very similar to Corsair's GS and TXm lines. Adata are mainly in the memory business, long time with RAM and they have a few SSDs too. Corsair have a big name for themselves in PSUs even though they've only been in the PSU world a relatively short time.

If you want reviews of Adata's PSUs, read them at the PSU review database linked in my signature.

The PSU comes with a plug adapter because komplett's stuff usually comes from mainland Europe and the boxes have corresponding plugs.

The Corsair Vengeance RAM has high heat spreaders, you'd want to check to see if they fit under that CPU heatsink.

Tea_Bag

that 7970 has a 3 slot cooler. it might become problematic if you plan to crossfire or populate some PCIe/pci slots with WiFi/sound cards etc.


komplett don't have a great range to choose from though. I'd also look into a gtx670. it should be quieter apparently.

are you sure HWVS is only slightly cheaper? I'm on my phone so can't check for you, but you'd be surprised.

ZeroThreat

The only higher priced item seemed to be the SSD, at least from the items I compared.

D'Artagnan

Ok thanks for the feedback.

@Monotype, thanks for the feedback on the memory. Anyway way of checking this before ordering? I think I have seen other builds posted here with the same memory and CPU cooler.

@Tea_Bag, I don't plan to do crossfire or sli so not a huge issue.......provided it fits in the case in the first place. I am inclined to go for AMD as I had an issue with the last nVidia card I had and know a few people who have had issues with them. I am prepared to give up a few FPS in return for a more reliable card.

@Zerothreat, I would like to order with Komplett as I have bought from them before and like dealing with them. They are struggling a bit so happy to send some business their way. They also have free shipping whereas I would have to pay for shipping I think with HWVS which will increase the total price.

D'Artagnan

Bump

Following up on Monotype's comment is there any way to know if the memory is going to fit with the cooler? Anyone with that cooler able to answer or recommend memory that will fit?

Thanks, holding off buying until I know everything will fit

BhoyRayzor

D'Artagnan wrote: »

Bump

Following up on Monotype's comment is there any way to know if the memory is going to fit with the cooler? Anyone with that cooler able to answer or recommend memory that will fit?

Thanks, holding off buying until I know everything will fit

you would need to get the low profile one

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=compatibility_ram_gen&products_id=34&lng=en#DDR3_Corsair

Monotype

You can get a pretty good selection of RAM at memoryc and their prices are often a little better than komplett in this line.

You could get two sets of this Geil:
http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3/8gbgeilpc3128001600mhzvaluepluscl9.html

Or for slightly slower but 16GB in two sticks for cheaper:
http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3ram/16gbgskill1333mhzpc310600dualchannelkit2x8gb.html

Or some other Gskill stuff with different heatspreaders
http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3ram/8gbgskillddr3pc312800ripjawsxseriesforsandybridge.html

http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3ram/8gbgskillpc312800areslowprofile1600mhzdualkit.html

lukasbolander

I would get a monitor if I were you. TVs don't really work that well in my experiences.

D'Artagnan

Monotype wrote: »

You can get a pretty good selection of RAM at memoryc and their prices are often a little better than komplett in this line.

You could get two sets of this Geil:
http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3/8gbgeilpc3128001600mhzvaluepluscl9.html

Or for slightly slower but 16GB in two sticks for cheaper:
http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3ram/16gbgskill1333mhzpc310600dualchannelkit2x8gb.html

Or some other Gskill stuff with different heatspreaders
http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3ram/8gbgskillddr3pc312800ripjawsxseriesforsandybridge.html

http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3ram/8gbgskillpc312800areslowprofile1600mhzdualkit.html

Thanks. On the verge of purchasing. Just waiting for a friend to get back from holidays who has experience building computers. Looking forward to this. Will be a massive step up from the Motorola Xoom I have been using since my laptop died a few months ago

keithb93

lukasbolander wrote: »

I would get a monitor if I were you. TVs don't really work that well in my experiences.

My tv works perfectly with my computer.

challengemaster

keithb93 wrote: »

My tv works perfectly with my computer.

If you're using the computer for anything serious, or even gaming you're wasting a lot of potential that you've just paid for a powerful PC. Higher response times (input lag, ghosting) and generally lower resolutions on a much bigger screen. HDTV's AFAIK can't go above 1080p, and some might only be 720p. Also colours, hue, etc will be off in terms of video/photo editing, and I'm not sure exactly how well a TV can calibrate compared to a monitor.

If a 22" and a 30" screen are both run at 1920 x 1080, they have the same pixel count but on the 30" the pixels have to be larger, meaning you'll actually have a better image on the 22" screen.

BhoyRayzor

all depends on how you game. if using an xbox 360 controller and sitting in a recliner two metres away a 32" or higher LED tv would be a better set up

D'Artagnan

lukasbolander wrote: »

I would get a monitor if I were you. TVs don't really work that well in my experiences.

Apologies, I grabbed the list of questions for my first post from another thread and didn't notice that it has been modified to include a point about a tv. I don't need a monitor as I have a Dell U2412m monitor which I will be using.

Sorry about that.