My New Build!

ParkyRFC

n00b
Joined
Jan 5, 2012
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Hi guys! Let me start off by saying, I have limited computer hardware/technology knowledge hence why I've created this thread. I've decided on the parts below from quite extensive research, reading and watching expert and user reviews! I have not purchased anything yet and I'm looking for feedback, be it positive or negative, don't hold back I will take all advice into serious consideration. There could be an embarrassing major flaw somewhere (feel free to insert face palm gifs:D) I will take it on the chin and learn from it. :) If you believe I can get better value for money on certain parts or if I push the boat out slightly for a certain part that would be a better purchase, please say.

The set-up below will be replacing a Dell Dimension 4600 (Dinosaur:D). I have been using this TANK for the best part of 8 years and I have to say it has been outstanding value for money, I've only had a few minor problems with it. Obviously as you will see this is a huge step up but after so long with a Dinosaur I felt it's about time to treat myself. :)

In terms of usage of this set-up, there will be plenty of web browsing, watching movies and I've just taken an interest in PC gaming. I will be capturing game play with a Hauppauge HD PVR and rendering footage with Sony Vegas. I won't be overclocking for the foreseeable future, really don't know enough about it tbh.

I'm from the UK and most of the parts listed will be from http://www.overclockers.co.uk/index.php. I know I could get parts cheaper from other outlets but I'm hoping I can get a deal with them for buying in such a bulk. In terms of my budget, I really can't afford to go any higher than what's below at the moment. (Just over £1,800).


Okay so here it goes:

Case: NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Full Tower Case - £114.98
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-034-NX&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

Additional Fan: Cooler Master Megaflow 200 - £10.56
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Mast...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1330581492&sr=1-1

Optical Drive: Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24B3ST SATA ReWriter - £20.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-056-AS&tool=3

Hard Disc Drive: Solid State Drive: Crucial M4 128GB SSD - £136.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-009-CR&tool=3

Hard Disc Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - £90.00
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-HD1...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1330750816&sr=1-1

Power Supply: Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2UK Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 - £65.15
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMP...1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1330755866&sr=1-1-catcorr

Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V GEN3 Intel Z68 - £134.40
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-493-AS&tool=3

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - £79.98
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-127-MS&tool=3

Processor: Intel Core i7-2600 3.40GHz - £239.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-359-IN

Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560Ti "448 Edition" - £229.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-173-EA

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB - £39.95
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-060-GS

Speakers: Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500 - £181.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-003-CS&tool=3

Keyboard: Filco Majestouch-2- £120.00
http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard_details.asp?PRODUCT=646

Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 3500 - £49.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-043-RA&groupid=702&catid=23&subcat=

Monitor: Asus VS248H-P - £157.72
http://www.passiontec.co.uk/_fenster.php?art_id=600721611&ref_id=Froogle_UK


You might notice I only have 1 HDD, the idea is to run my operating system, programs and applications off this drive. I have a 1TB external drive already which I use for media storage. Is this a feasible way to go? Or do you think I will need a bit larger SSD?

Any feedback would be much appreciated!

PS. I know some of the prices are incorrect..they change like the weather. :mad:
 
Last edited:
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Some questions:
1) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
2) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
3) Why Windows 7 Professional?
4) Are you planning on using SLI?
5) So is there a chance for overclocking or not?
6) Is that external drive connected by USB 3.0, eSata, Firewire, or USB 2.0?

As for your SSD question, 128GB is enough if you're rather frugal about space. However I recommend getting a larger SSD as a CYA measure. Or just grab a second hard drive if that external drive isn't connected via USB 3.0 or eSATA

The only real glaring problem with that setup is the AsRock motherboard: AsRock's mobos tends to vary in quality and have a relatively short warranty.
 
The other problem is that video card. Go with the 560 Ti 448 core, 98% of the performance for a lot less money!
 
Some questions:
1) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
2) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
3) Why Windows 7 Professional?
4) Are you planning on using SLI?
5) So is there a chance for overclocking or not?
6) Is that external drive connected by USB 3.0, eSata, Firewire, or USB 2.0?

As for your SSD question, 128GB is enough if you're rather frugal about space. However I recommend getting a larger SSD as a CYA measure. Or just grab a second hard drive if that external drive isn't connected via USB 3.0 or eSATA

The only real glaring problem with that setup is the AsRock motherboard: AsRock's mobos tends to vary in quality and have a relatively short warranty.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll answer your questions as best as I can.

1) I will hopefully be purchasing the new PC within the next 2 weeks. I won't be building it myself, will be taking it to a store.

2) I'll be honest, I'm familiar with these terms but don't know an awful lot about them.

3) Seemed to be a popular choice with good reviews.

4) No. But wouldn't mine having the potential to in the future.

5) No, is the most likely answer.

6) USB 2.0

Like I said above, this system will be used for general use and some gaming. I'm not a hardcore gamer but would like a system that can play games well. I'd say the majority of gaming will still be on my PS3, I will be capturing a lot of footage with a Hauppauge HD PVR and rendering it using Sony Vegas.

I need a system that I can rely on, I'm not someone who upgrades every 6 months. (Dell for 8 years :D) In saying that, I would like the potential to upgrade.

I chose the ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Pro basically because of the reviews it was receiving. I will take another look at some boards and get back to you.

The other problem is that video card. Go with the 560 Ti 448 core, 98% of the performance for a lot less money!

I've taken a look at this card, will defo take this into consideration! Thanks for the feedback.
 
If you can't tell the difference between W7 Home and W7 Pro, then chances are you don't need W7 Pro since W7 Home will handle all your needs.

If you are not overclocking, no reason to go with the 2600K, so save your money and go with the 2600. Alternatively, if you wanted to save more money you could go with a 2400 or 2500 CPU, the only difference is they don't have Hyper Threading like the 2600 does but games these days don't take advantage of hyper threading anyway. It can benefit you with the video editing though.
 
2) I'll be honest, I'm familiar with these terms but don't know an awful lot about them.
Fair enough. Well USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, and RAID is pretty much standard these days on many good motherboards out there. So you don't have to worry about that.
3) Seemed to be a popular choice with good reviews.
As Skillz said, no point then for you to get Windows 7 Pro. You should be fine with Windows 7 Home Premium.

5) No, is the most likely answer.
In that case, drop the CPU down to the Core i7 2600 then

Like I said above, this system will be used for general use and some gaming. I'm not a hardcore gamer but would like a system that can play games well. I'd say the majority of gaming will still be on my PS3, I will be capturing a lot of footage with a Hauppauge HD PVR and rendering it using Sony Vegas.
Well your external drive is gonna be too slow for capturing purposes. And that SSD isn't large enough nor is it advisable to record directly to SSD. As such, your best bet for both performance and reliability would be to record the footage to a hard drive. Which means that you will have to buy a hard drive in addition to the SSD. Just grab a 1TB or 2TB drive and you should be fine.
I chose the ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Pro basically because of the reviews it was receiving. I will take another look at some boards and get back to you.
In general, the other motherboards that I would totally recommend over that AsRock:
$180 - Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard
$200 - Asus P8Z68-V Pro/GEN3 Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard
I've taken a look at this card, will defo take this into consideration! Thanks for the feedback.
Hopefully this card should be in stock by the time you buy:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-173-EA
 
Good luck with your build! I was using 2x MSI GTX 570 twin frozrs for a while. beastly cards in sli. Will probably be selling them on here soon.
 
Okay guys I have been receiving similar feedback elsewhere regarding the motherboard and CPU. I have now edited my OP. :D

I hope to add another drive to the list, will report back later after some research. Thanks for all your help!
 
850W is complete overkill for a single GPU setup. In fact, even for a multiple GPU setup we generally recommend 750W. Therefore, you should be fine with a 650W unit, but if you just want piece of mind then go with a 750W unit.
 
Is there a reason you'd go with the Core i7 2600 (non-K) over Core i5 2500K? You're talking, what, a 2GHz difference? A difference that can easily be made up with a very light OC...and the 2500K costs a bit less. Will he notice really any difference between the 2600 and 2500K with what he's using the PC for? Just curious about the logic of going with the 2600 over the 2500K. 2500K seems to me to be a more flexible option that costs a bit less = more bang for the buck?
 
Is there a reason you'd go with the Core i7 2600 (non-K) over Core i5 2500K? You're talking, what, a 2GHz difference? A difference that can easily be made up with a very light OC...and the 2500K costs a bit less. Will he notice really any difference between the 2600 and 2500K with what he's using the PC for? Just curious about the logic of going with the 2600 over the 2500K. 2500K seems to me to be a more flexible option that costs a bit less = more bang for the buck?

It's a 100Mhz difference, not 2Ghz ;) In any case, the OP isn't overclocking so a light OC is out of the question. However the 2600 does have HT which means that for the video rendering that the OP is planning on doing, he's actually gonna get more performance out of the i7 2600 than the 2500K when both CPUs are at stock speeds. Now if the OP was just gaming, then the Core i5 2400 (If not overclocking) and Core i5 2500K (if overclocking) are the better bang for the buck choices since most games don't take advantage of more than 4 cores/threads.

With that said, if the whole video rendering is just gonna be a hobby and not something he's gonna do a lot of, then yes he can drop the CPU down to the Core i5 2400 (If not overclocking) and Core i5 2500K (if overclocking)
 
Edited OP again. Decent enough drive? I normally go with Seagate, I've got an internal 320GB in my Dell and my external is a Seagate 1.5TB, both been very reliable although the external can be a bit slow.

I've got a question about my external actually. Why does it take so long to open a notepad on my main drive? For whatever reason my external will start to make a noise as if it's waking up after a sleep lol and once it's ''awake'' (takes about 3-4 secs) the notepad will open. I just don't get how it can interfere with things on my main drive. Once it's awake it's fine and quick enough.

Danny, on Skillz point about the PSU, what do you think?
 
It's a 100Mhz difference, not 2Ghz ;) In any case, the OP isn't overclocking so a light OC is out of the question. However the 2600 does have HT which means that for the video rendering that the OP is planning on doing, he's actually gonna get more performance out of the i7 2600 than the 2500K when both CPUs are at stock speeds. Now if the OP was just gaming, then the Core i5 2400 (If not overclocking) and Core i5 2500K (if overclocking) are the better bang for the buck choices since most games don't take advantage of more than 4 cores/threads.

With that said, if the whole video rendering is just gonna be a hobby and not something he's gonna do a lot of, then yes he can drop the CPU down to the Core i5 2400 (If not overclocking) and Core i5 2500K (if overclocking)

Oh, duh...Mhz yes, thanks for the correction. I hated computer programming because I always made stupid little errors like that that would F up the entire script. Guess I didn't read that OP doesn't plan to overclock. I guess I also wasn't aware of the HT in only the i7 series CPU's. Life's been busy...hard to keep up with all the new tech specs.
 
Edited OP again. Decent enough drive? I normally go with Seagate, I've got an internal 320GB in my Dell and my external is a Seagate 1.5TB, both been very reliable although the external can be a bit slow.
Here in the U.S, that particular drive is often overpriced considering that there are faster or at similiarily performing drives from Seagate, Samsung, or Hitachi drives that are cheaper. But if that WD drive is the cheapest 1TB 7200RPM drive you can find, it's an ok choice.
I've got a question about my external actually. Why does it take so long to open a notepad on my main drive? For whatever reason my external will start to make a noise as if it's waking up after a sleep lol and once it's ''awake'' (takes about 3-4 secs) the notepad will open. I just don't get how it can interfere with things on my main drive. Once it's awake it's fine and quick enough.
Did you install whatever note-pad program you're using on the external drive?
Maybe the notepad's recent files list includes a file located on the external drive?
Maybe that notepad app scans for all available drives at first so that it can access drives faster?

Danny, on Skillz point about the PSU, what do you think?
He's right: If you're not going for SLI, you're fine with a quality 650W PSU at most. And even thats a tad overkill. If you are going for SLI, then a quality 750W PSU would be enough. Maybe a 850W if you're really that worried about power use.
 
if it was up to me id i was getting a 2600 id go with the k version since the multiplyer is unlocked and eh 25 dollars more
 
Here in the U.S, that particular drive is often overpriced considering that there are faster or at similiarily performing drives from Seagate, Samsung, or Hitachi drives that are cheaper. But if that WD drive is the cheapest 1TB 7200RPM drive you can find, it's an ok choice.

Had another look and came across this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-HD1...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1330750816&sr=1-1

Would save me £21 :D I assume this is a better option, so have added it to my OP!

Did you install whatever note-pad program you're using on the external drive?
Maybe the notepad's recent files list includes a file located on the external drive?
Maybe that notepad app scans for all available drives at first so that it can access drives faster?

I'm really not sure what's happened but your theory sounds right. It's not a huge issue I was just curious to what was causing it.

He's right: If you're not going for SLI, you're fine with a quality 650W PSU at most. And even thats a tad overkill. If you are going for SLI, then a quality 750W PSU would be enough. Maybe a 850W if you're really that worried about power use.

Can't see myself needing multiple graphic cards so I have changed the PSU to a CORSAIR Professional Series HX655, which saves me £50. You guys advice has saved me a fair bit. Much appreciated!

One other point, do you think I will need a sound card?

if it was up to me id i was getting a 2600 id go with the k version since the multiplyer is unlocked and eh 25 dollars more

When I first created the thread I had no intentions of overclocking mate hence why I was advised to bump it down. Over the last few days though from reading and researching hardware I've become more and more interested in learning more about computer technology in general. Just spent the last hour reading TechTerms.com :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
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Danny, on Skillz point about the PSU, what do you think?

On top of that. If you don't want a modular PSU (I do, so I'd pay the money for it... but that's just me) then you can get the Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2UK Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 PSU for like £65.15 saving you about £25. That's ~$40 USD and it would be worth that for me to go modular unless I'm on a strict budget. You'll also get additional PCI-E ports on the HX650 where as they TX650 only has two (Which is all you'll need unless you plan to use multiple GPUs) and the HX650 has 9 SATA connections where as the TX650 only has 8. Though the TX650 has about 1A more than the HX650, not a big deal. :eek:

Up to you though. :)
 
Good choice.


Probably due to your choice of speakers. Though I recommend asking over in the Computer Audio subforum for advice on speakers and sounds cards.

Cheers, I will ask over there.

On top of that. If you don't want a modular PSU (I do, so I'd pay the money for it... but that's just me) then you can get the Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2UK Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 PSU for like £65.15 saving you about £25. That's ~$40 USD and it would be worth that for me to go modular unless I'm on a strict budget. You'll also get additional PCI-E ports on the HX650 where as they TX650 only has two (Which is all you'll need unless you plan to use multiple GPUs) and the HX650 has 9 SATA connections where as the TX650 only has 8. Though the TX650 has about 1A more than the HX650, not a big deal. :eek:

Up to you though. :)

Tbh most of that went way over my head :D I'm not necessarily on a tight budget, on the other hand, there's not much point paying more if you don't need to.

I take it this is the PSU you're eluding too?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Ser...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1330758222&sr=1-1
 
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Hey I just want to thank everyone for their help in this thread, particularly Danny and Skillz, you guys advice was invaluable. Thank you!
 
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