All in One ---- Build Questions

Jay Dee

Hi,

I'm looking at putting an AIO together.

I have looked at a number of sites including PCSpecialist but I am getting confused, with the number of options available.

What I would like is if someone can give a "simple english" opinion on the following :--

CPU
Intel core i7 quad core processor i7 - 3770 ( 3.4gh) 8mb cache or
Intel core i7 quad core processor i7 - 3770s ( 3.1gh) 8mb cache
What is the difference ??

Graphics
2gb nvidia geforce gtx 660 2*dvi hdmi 3d ready or
2gb nvidia geforce gtx 770 2*dvi hdmi 3d ready

Memory
difference between WD 1tb Caviar black and Velociraptor ??

I have googled these items but its too complicated for me,
Are there any combo's that will / will not work together ??

I'm also open to other suggestions.
Budget is in the region of € 1500.00

Desktop or laptop is not an option.

Will be used for work and gaming " Medium rather than top end"

Thanks

Jay

RikuoAmero

Okay, from what you listed

The 3770 (no S) is locked, meaning you can't overclock it (you can enable Turbo on it if I recall correctly, but no manual overclocking).
The S model, you can do some slight overclocking, but not much. If you do want to overclock, look for a 3770K, K series CPUs are unlocked for overclocking.
My choice between the two is the non-S, it's faster.

The two Nvidia cards are very different. The GTX 770 is about the same performance as a 680 so is faster by default than a 660, so go for that one. Also, they both have what's called GPU Boost, but two different versions of it.

The 660 has GPU Boost 1.0, where the card will automatically overclock itself up to a certain target you set in terms of power consumption, so you can tell it, start from a default, base clock of whatever it starts off at (can't remember) and ramp yourself up until you hit say 900 Watts power consumption.
The 770 on the other hand has Boost 2.0, which not only watches for power consumption, but temperature, so you can tell it to stop ramping itself up until it hits X watts power consumption or a certain temperature, like stop at 80 degrees C or whatever.

Sorry about the hard drives, can't think of a difference between them off the top of my head.

Jay Dee

Hi,

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.
A few more questions if you don't mind.

The 770 card is 2gb, but the 4gb is available for € 40.00 extra, approx.
Is this any extra benefit ?, I know its 2gb extra, but is there any need/use for it ??.

Are these parts compatible, or is that a stupid question ?
Do some cpu's work better with some cards or does it not matter?

Would you select these parts for a build, or do you favour other parts ??
Anything else I should look out for/ be aware of ??

Thanks

Jay

RikuoAmero

Jay Dee wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.
A few more questions if you don't mind.

The 770 card is 2gb, but the 4gb is available for € 40.00 extra, approx.
Is this any extra benefit ?, I know its 2gb extra, but is there any need/use for it ??.

Are these parts compatible, or is that a stupid question ?
Do some cpu's work better with some cards or does it not matter?

Would you select these parts for a build, or do you favour other parts ??
Anything else I should look out for/ be aware of ??

Thanks

Jay

The extra memory on graphics cards only really is of benefit if you're using multiple monitors or are using one monitor with greater than 1080p resolution. There are plenty of gaming monitors that do 2560 x 1600, which is more than your standard full HD 1920 x 1080.
If the work you mentioned earlier is video editing, then yes, that would benefit you as well.
If all you're doing is gaming on a single 1080p monitor, then a 2GB version is enough.

Yes the parts are compatible, and no, there isn't such a thing as a CPU being more compatible or working better with graphics cards versus another, at least not as far as I've heard.
Lastly, are you building this yourself, or is this one of those pick-your-parts-we-build-it-for you sites, like Dell? Either way, an AIO is a terrible choice, since all the components are in the same case as your actual monitor, it means worse cooling for one thing for your components.
If you're in southern Dublin, I could help you choose out components and then build it for you, even showing you how to go about it.

EDIT - Forget the last line, I see now you're in Cork.

Jay Dee

Hi,

Thanks for the info.
I am looking at PCSpecialist site, the 24" powerglide.
Have a look, I would appreciate a view.

I understand the shortcomings of an AIO but a laptop is too small, and a desktop is not portable, which I do need. I see it as the best option, even though it has its shortcomings. I also find thet a laptop of this ype of spec is way too exoensive.
The AIO is coming in at € 1300/1400 delivered.

I appreciate the build offer, but we are too far apart, thanks anyway.

Jay

RikuoAmero

Mornin'

I've gone through the options for your PowerGlide.

In 2) Choose your core components
Go for
24" Matte Full HD
Intel Core i7 3770 3.4GHz
8GB Samsung 1333MHz
2GB Geforce GTX 770

In 3) Hard Drives...
Go for 240GB Kingston SSD
An SSD is a Solid State Drive, much faster than a traditional hard drive. If you're worried about needing more space, you can get an external hard drive later, but an SSD is fantastic for loading speeds and boot up times.
Everything else is fine. I recommend going with Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit /w SP1, but if you want to, go for a different or...shudder...Win 8.
Office Software, don't bother with Microsoft's expensive crap, as soon as you get your computer, download LibreOffice, it's free.
Antivirus, download Avast, don't bother paying for Norton or any of the other ones.
I won't bother with the Peripherals and Accessories, pick whatever you need

BloodBath

Windows 8 is fine. It's faster with a lot of programs and boots way faster than 7.

If you don't like metro or any other windows 8 features they can be disabled. You can make it run identical to 7 or previous versions of windows with the likes of "classic shell".