Gaming Build ~€1000 Club3d,Corsair SSD, i5, Quiet PC

platinums

I have chosen a spec based on bits of the popular rigs that have appeared in this forum.
Pretty run of the mill but it's been a while since i built a PC like this so would n't mind some honest feedback on the specs/setup
The PC will be in the living room so silence is golden, I don't want to hear the fans when im watching a film so I picked a H40 cooler. Is this suitable?

Cant wait to get my hands on the Club 7950. That things going to get tweaked! Speaking of which, will I need better than stock coolers for it when i OC it? Then again, Silicone Lottery and Sods Law might might culminate in me getting a poorly overclockable version.

I plan on upgrading the graphic maybe next year, I notice on this motherboard
- 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot (PCIE2: x16 mode)
- 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (PCIE3: x4 mode)
Does that mean a 2nd GFX Car will run at a slower speed? If so is that going to be very noticable?

I have chosen a 256GB SSD, with the intention of installing Arma and the like to it, (currently 50gb with mods) is this overkill, will a 128gb do? Should I aim to use the Z77/Intel Smart Response instead which will use a portion of the SSD as cache?

1. What is your budget?
[€900-€1200]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer?
Gaming - Arma II, Hitman + other current gen

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No

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

5a. If yes, what size do you need? No Not yet, I have a 19, but will be grabbing a Catleap early next year.

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1280x1042] [Yes - Catleap]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Need Wireless Card and possibly some speakers, budget on speakers is around €50 (might not sound to great? )

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes]

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser]

9. When are you purchasing? Immediately

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? I should be ok. Mullingar if anyone is feeling helpful. Although I dont think there will be any tricky bits. Even the Water Cooler is plug and play?

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€207.02
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€54.44
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9|€36.74
Club 3D Radeon HD 7950 royalKing, 3GB GDDR5, AMD Radeon HD 7950, PCI- Express|€286.86
WD Red RD1000S 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB|€137.99
FRACTAL DESIGN Define R4 Black Pearl|€101.00
Samsung SSD 840 250GB SATA 6Gb/s|€165.89
Corsair Hydro Series H40 (Sockel 775/1155/1156/1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3 +/FM1)|€59.05
ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP, Sockel 1155, ATX|€78.74
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1146.72

VinLieger

Id go for another SSD, the 840 hasnt got great reviews and though samsung are pushing it as a natural successor to the 830 you can see from this review it really isnt
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/11/samsungs-840-series-ssd-reviewed/

platinums

VinLieger wrote: »

Id go for another SSD, the 840 hasnt got great reviews and though samsung are pushing it as a natural successor to the 830 you can see from this review it really isnt
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/11/samsungs-840-series-ssd-reviewed/

HWVS have unfortunately discontinued the 830 250GB. That was my first choice. The intel 520 was my other choice, but its rather more expensive but from what I hear thoroughly tested and stable.

VinLieger

platinums wrote: »

HWVS have unfortunately discontinued the 830 250GB. That was my first choice. The intel 520 was my other choice, but its rather more expensive but from what I hear thoroughly tested and stable.

Yeah i know ran into the same problem yesterday but dabs.ie still have a few left,
http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-256gb-830-series-sata-6gb-s-2-5--ssd-laptop-kit---free-norton-ghost-15-7SRB.html?refs=50429&src=3
its more expensive plus delivery but worth it from what ive read about them

Genghiz Cohen

You have a H77 motherboard in there. Bump that to a Z77 if you want to overclock, drop the k from the processor if you don't. (Get the Z )

I'd be worried about the H40, the H100 can sometimes have issues with loud fans and pumps. And you'd have to crank the 40 to get similar cooling out of it. Maybe a good air cooler would be in order.

A couple of 120mm Gentle Typhoons or similar running at half speed for the case would be nice too. I was getting slightly high temps out of my R3 until I put a few extra fans in it.

You could change the 840 to a Crucial M4 and get similar performance to the 830.
As for 256 being overkill, it's only overkill if you can't afford it

platinums

Changed the build, this is based on Hardware i can get at a discounted price and some more reviews i have been reading

Item|Price
Corsair Neutron GTX Series SSD 240GB |€195.04
2x Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition - Case fan - 140 mm |€25.16
Intel Intel Core i5 3570K BOX|€180.00
be quiet PURE POWER L8-CM 630W PSU|€66.55
ASUS P8Z77-V|134.26
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9|€36.74
Club 3D Radeon HD 7950 royalKing, 3GB GDDR5, |€286.86
BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0 black|€53,03
WD Black 2tb WD2002FAEX|€120.43

Shipping|€18.99
Total|€ 1,117.89


This is mind boggling, the amount of choice, let alone the reviews you need to go through. Hope all this research pays off.

Motherboard is now WiFi, has Dual GPU PCI-E and PSU with 2x 8 pin and 2x 6 pin for the addition of a 2nd GPU later on. Although, one GPU runs at 16x, where as 2 will run as 8x each, does that make it 6 of one and 1/2 dozen of the other speed wise? Jesus too many questions.

I take it the Boxed i5 comes with a stock cooler?

The Corsair SSD has brilliant reviews, (uncompressed benchmarks).
I was thinking of getting a 128GB Samsung SSD now, which would leave potential for getting another to put in RAID later on. Not sure if that idea will stand up in 6 months time though.

Genghiz Cohen

Is this still for a quiet build?

U_Fig

For a quiet build I'd be looking for a factual design define r4 as the case it's sound dampening will help with silence.. Also look at the bitfenix ghost.. The bitfenix shinobi is a good case for the price but I'm not sure if it'll be great for quietness

tuxy

The main deciding factor will be the cpu and gpu cooler. Of course a case with good sound dampening will help too.

Genghiz Cohen

Also change the HDD to a Green for that little bit of silence.

Make sure that whatever case you buy comes with voltage adapters for the case fans. If not buy a few and cut down their RPM/noise.

Genghiz Cohen

Also, something to think about is size. Is there space in the sitting room for an R4?

platinums

Ok more modifications.
If Im going to spend €100 on a case ill get a good one, the P280 has dome decent review and its a bit roomier. It also looks quite similar to teh R4 which i like.

Stuck now though as I can get a ASUS HD7950-DC2-3GD5 HD7950, Direct Cooling 2, 3GB DDR5 256bit Memory, PCIE x 16 90-C1CRN0-U0UAY0BZ for €266.40.. This seems like a good price, but is the card any better than the royaKing. i wonder.

Item|Price
Corsair Neutron GTX Series SSD 240GB |€195.04
Intel Intel Core i5 3570K BOX|€180.00
be quiet PURE POWER L8-CM 630W PSU|€66.55
ASUS P8Z77-V|134.26
1x 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9|€33.99
Club 3D Radeon HD 7950 royalKing, 3GB GDDR5, |€286.86
Antec Performance One P280|€95.10
WD Black 2tb WD2002FAEX|€120.43

Shipping|€18.99
Total| € 1,131.22

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Also change the HDD to a Green for that little bit of silence.

Make sure that whatever case you

The reviews say it peaks 30dba, which is not much more that the fans, so ill keep the black for the performance.

EDIT - I lied, the review says 34dba when accessing, but i still cant bear a slower Green hardrive. I have a green in my nas which I might swap if its too noisy.

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Also change the HDD to a Green for that little bit of silence.

Make sure that whatever case you buy comes with voltage adapters for the case fans. If not buy a few and cut down their RPM/noise.

there should be a nice space for it and the new case has variable top fans, I'll furnish with soem more fans at a later date.

platinums

I still haven't purchased ( well apart from the RoyalKing in a box beside me i had to pause purchase mid buying frenzy) but the good advice has made me change my mind about some it the parts again.
I'll post the final build at some point when it's complete.
Thanks again