Please critique this build.

[xenthressa]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming (1920x1080) and programming

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Around 1100 euro's including tax and shipping

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Netherlands

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need
CPU
RAM
Motherboard
HDD
SDD
Videocard
Monitor
Case
Power Supply

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Not reusing anything

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920x1080, 23"

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Soon

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 x64


Here's what I was thinking, please critique.

• Monitor - Dell UltraSharp U2312HM
• Case - Antec Three Hundred Two
• Motherboard - Asus P8Z77-V LX
• CPU - Intel Core i5 2500 Boxed
• Ram - 2* 4 GB - Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M1A1600C9
• HDD - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB
• SDD - Crucial M4 ct128M4SSD2 128GB
• GPU - Asus HD7850-DC2T-2GD5
• PSU - OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W

 

[slh28]

Get the i5 2500K instead of the 2500, definitely worth the small premium. Even if you don't plan on overclocking (you should!) it will have much higher resale value. A cheap aftermarket cooler is also a good idea.
A 500W PSU may not be enough if you're planning future upgrades, decent PSUs last for years so it's always worth investing in a decent one.

Rest of the build looks good!

 

[E4g1e]

In addition to what slh28 stated, I'd strongly recommend ditching the Antec Three Hundred Two case on account of it being very cramped on the inside, especially from front to rear. If a hard drive is mounted in a certain bay in that case, the HD 7850 would be a tight squeeze. Search the forums for Danny Bui's posts for his list of recommendations for a case (note that the prices are in US Dollars, so you might want to check the prices for those alternative cases over there in the NL).

Second, the HD 7850 is not that good of a buy at current street prices, especially since the (significantly) faster HD 7870 is only slightly more expensive.

Third, I'd ditch that ModXStream Pro in favor of another brand, such as Corsair. The ModXStream Pro is not that good of a PSU, quality-wise, especially at its street price.

 

[xenthressa]

Hey guys appreciate your input

@slh28
Its a difference of 30 euros for the K version, seeing as this build isn't for me but for someone who has no intentions of overclocking I feel its worth saving the extra bucks personally.
Thank you for the feedback

@E4g1e
I'll look into the case and get back to you, thanks.
The 7850 is available for around 220-230 euro's , the 7870 goes for around 300 euro's which is a pretty big difference on this budget i feel
Regarding the PSU, i based the decision on this review which seemed to be pretty positive for a 50 euro PSU

Feedback always welcome

 

[Topweasel]

Hey guys appreciate your input

@slh28
Its a difference of 30 euros for the K version, seeing as this build isn't for me but for someone who has no intentions of overclocking I feel its worth saving the extra bucks personally.
Thank you for the feedback

@E4g1e
I'll look into the case and get back to you, thanks.
The 7850 is available for around 220-230 euro's , the 7870 goes for around 300 euro's which is a pretty big difference on this budget i feel
Regarding the PSU, i based the decision on this review which seemed to be pretty positive for a 50 euro PSU

Feedback always welcome

Then toss the Z77 mobo and get the H77. Z is for overclocking first 7 for gen and second 7 for feature set.

 

[slh28]

Hmm in the UK it's at most a £10 difference between the K and non-K versions. You can always pre-OC it and give it to your friend If you're spending 1k on a build I think it would be a good idea to have the unlocked CPU, OCing the 2500k is literally just changing the multiplier in the BIOS.

OCZ aren't the greatest brand, there's many reports of issues people have had with their SSDs and memory.

 

[Dangman]

Here's my notes:

Ram - 2* 4 GB - Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M1A1600C9

Ditch this RAM: It's rated at 1.65V which means that it has a higher chance of killing the CPU. The rest of the specs on that RAM is fine but the voltage is the deal breaker there. So find RAM that's rated at 1.5V and of similar specs and you'll be fine.

Yeah if you're not overclocking, ditch the Z77 and go for a H77 mobo. No need for the K version then.

As for the video card, how much is the GTX 560 TI and GTX 560 TI 448 Core over there?

PSU wise, like E4g1e said, I still wouldn't trust that PSU considering that's its from OCZ. Their customer support haven't been that great. The Antec High Current Gamer 520W, Antec Neo Eco 520C 520W, Seasonic 520W (whichever 520W model is cheaper), or the Corsair TX650 V2 would be my recommendations.

Case wise, I recommend the following cases:
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite Black ATX Case
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$88 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$85 - Corsair Carbide Series 300R ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$118 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Arctic White ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$125 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl ATX Case
$120 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$150 - Silverstone TJ04B-EW ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$164 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$170 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$220 - Silverstone FT02S-W ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case

 

[xenthressa]

Hello guys, thanks for the replies.

Decided to swap the case for a Lian Li PC-8N, swapped the PSU for a Corsair Enthusiast TX650 V2

As far as I could tell H77 motherboards have only a single PCI-E 16x slot which would rule out SLI possibilities in the future, seeing as it's a 20 euro difference we'll stick with the z77.

 

[Dangman]

Fair enough.

 

[E4g1e]

As far as I could tell H77 motherboards have only a single PCI-E 16x slot which would rule out SLI possibilities in the future, seeing as it's a 20 euro difference we'll stick with the z77.

Actually, not all Z77 motherboards support SLI at all. You see, the particular Z77 board that you picked in your original post does not support SLI at all - only AMD's CrossFire. This is because SLI requires the two PCI-e x16 slots to run in at least x8 - but the P8Z77V-LX supports dual-GPU operation only at x16/x4. Secondly, that P8Z77V-LX has only one x16 slot that's PCI-e 3.0 compliant; the secondary "x16" slot running at x4 is permanently stuck at PCI-e 2.0 (because it is run off of the Z77 PCH instead of directly from the CPU). NVIDIA will not support any slot operating slower than x8 mode in SLI. You will need to spend significantly more money than what the P8Z77V-LX costs in order to get an Asus Z77 motherboard that supports SLI. (The plain P8Z77V and higher support SLI in addition to CrossFire; the P8Z77V-LE and lower support only CrossFire.)

 

[xenthressa]

I actually meant to say crossfire, my bad, thanks for the explanation.
Also switched out the ram for 1.5v counterparts

Thanks for the advice.

 

[DirtyB]

Keep in mind if you go with one of the psus danny mentioned youd be pushing it going crossfire with most cards. Id say save the money now and maybe just upgrade to a better single card solution later.