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Close to pressing that 'BUY' button!

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...but its big spending for me, so I need to make sure I get this right :)

Hi all, I came across this site looking for OC guides to begin with and I found more than I has asked for! For informative info, and right now I'm ready (I think :s) to buy and build my first ever PC!

At first I didn't come with the intention to overclock. Just to build a powerful enough PC to play the latest and most hardware demanding of games, without hopefully struggling at stock clocks. But I wouldn't mind trying some very minor OC'n to start things off.

Please give me your thoughts and advice. Criticize anything you think I might be buying that's not right, or just won't go together etc. Thank you :)

Cooling wise I'm going along with fans. I don't want to touch water cooling, not anytime soon anyways.

I'm from the UK, unlike the many lucky buyers outside who usually buy their components a lot cheaper, I end up having to pay a hefty price on some components in comparison regardless of shopping online in the UK :p
I have tried hard to find the cheapest I can, but only from reputable and reliable sites that I know of. If anyone thinks I'm missing on a good deal that I've not happen to come across by all means give me a shout!

I really would like to buy this all by the end of the weekend at the very latest. I was going to just press the buy button right now, but I'm sure it will pay off to be a little more patient. :)

Anyhow here is my shopping list as follows (prices given in '£' GBP and links given to the actual purchase location):

Motherboard:
Asus MAXIMUS IV EXTREME-Z S1155 Intel Z68 DDR3 mATX
= £279.99 @ DABS

PSU:
Corsair 850 Watt Pro Series Gold AX850
= £139.99 @ EBUYER

CPU:
Intel Core i7 2600k 3.4GHz Socket 1155 8MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
= £237.27 @ EBUYER
BX80623I72600K

CPU Cooler:
Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator and Fan Quiet CPU Cooler
=£65.39 @ SCAN
NH-D14

Graphics:
EVGA 2.5GB GeForce GTX 570 HD NVIDIA Graphics Card
= £299.40 @ SCAN
025-P3-1579-KR
I don't intend to go SLI either, and I don't really think I need to. When this card drops down a lot cheaper perhaps then, because I think this card is waay too expensive as it is. On another note there is THIS Point of View 'ultra charged' version as well. Is it worth the extra money?? I'm also thinking on reliability and customer service as well.

Memory:
Corsair Memory Vengeance Black 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz CAS 9 XMP Dual Channel Desktop
= £48.96 @ scan
CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

SSD:
120GB SSD Corsair Force Series 3 Series SATA III - 6Gb/s Solid State Drive
= £142.94 @ SCAN
CSSD-F120GB3-BK
On paper I think this is ALMOST as good as OCZ Vertex 3 SSD, and it's cheaper which is always good for me.

DVD Drive:
LG Electronics 22x DVDRW L/S Bare Black + SW - OEM Black - GH22LS50.AUAU
= £16.82 @ dabs
Simple and cheap DVD drive, I don't need anything fancy here. No need for Blu-Ray; I have a completely separate setup for that.

Chassis:
Silverstone Raven SST-RV03B-W USB 3.0 Chassis
Silverstone Raven SST-RV03B-W USB 3.0 with Window Kit, no PSU
= £107.93 @ SCAN
I hoping I've made the right choice here and that everything fits with no trouble. I was originally going to go for a Coolermaster HAF X Black Tower Computer Case, but got diverted to Silverstone Raven rv3 instead. Again any thoughts on this would be great.

Monitor:

Asus VE278Q 27" LED Monitor
27" Asus VE278Q LED, 1920 x 1080, 2ms, 300 cd/m, HDMI/D-Sub/DVI-D/DisplayPort
= £283.52 @ SCAN
Now this monitor I had no objections to buying at first. But the only thing that's holding me back is 'lack' of video connectivity for my intended use. Not only did I want to use this for my PC, but I also had older generation games consoles on mind. For example my Playstation 2 has Component. I don't know if you can somehow get converters for these to be DVI and/or HDMI compatible, and wouldn't know how well they would work either. No major deal if nothing can be done here.
Alternatively if someone can suggest a better monitor for the price I am paying I would be grateful. I don't really want to compromise screen size, and I really don't want to be paying more either.
However if there's a monitor worth having more than the above, at a slightly higher price (say $50 max) then please tell me your recommendation. After all I'm paying all this money for 'top' hardware, I'd like to see the best of what it can produce on the lovely screen! :cool:
Also I intend to view and play games up to 1980x1080p.



Peripherals/ Extras:


2nd HDD:
1TB Western Digital Caviar Green Hard Drive - HDD
1TB Western Digital WD10EARX Caviar Green, SATA 6Gb/s, IntelliPower, 64MB Cache, 8ms, Quiet
= £43.16 @ scan
WD10EARX
With the intention to have a second drive just to store crap on. Not to run games off, or anything heavy demanding. Power efficient, cool, and silent. If anyone wants to suggest an alternative please advise thanks.

Keyboard:
Logitech G19 Keyboard with Colour LCD Display - USB UK Layout
920-000978
= £119.99 @ ebuyer
I'm sorry I'm a total sucker for this I couldn't help myself! Even though the price is ridiculous IMO, I just need to have it!!

Mouse:
Still deciding!

Game controller:
Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Controller For Windows / Black (PC / Xbox 360)
= £30.99 @ PLay.com
JUST BOUGHT. I don't think I can really go wrong with this.

OS:
Windows 7 64-bit, Ultimate
= Already have.

Surge Protection:
Belkin 8-Way Max Series SurgeMaster with Tel 2m
= Already have.


GRAND TOTAL
= £1,816.35 GBP / $2,955.67 USD (with more to add).......= OUCH!!!

If there's anything else you think I should add, or somehow completely missed off please let me know also.

Again thanks for reading my PC shopping list, and will be very grateful for any help and suggestions etc given :)

Moyt
 
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Let me just start off by saying....Welcome to techPowerUp! The best, friendliest, and most informative forum I have ever had the pleasure of joining and contributing.

Now...down to business..

You say that you will probably try mild OC'ing later on in the system's life when new games start to really wear down the PC. If this is the case, then the motherboard you picked out is very much overkill.

Motherboard: Asrock Z68 EXTREME4 Socket 1155 8 Channel HD Audio...

PSU: Unless you are going to get a second graphics card to SLI or Crossfire, then I recommend taking it down a notch; http://www.dabs.com/products/corsair-750w-corsair-modular-psu-5KBP.html?refs=418520000
750w and still 80Plus Silver certified

CPU: That's fine

CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9900A-LED PWM Socket 1156 1366, 775, AM...
This is a LOT cheaper than that Noctua, but I'm sure performs just as good.

Graphics: Try to see if you can get a cheaper AMD HD 6970 vs. that GTX570 you picked out. In most cases, the 6970 outperforms the 570 (given that the games aren't nvidia optimized)

SSD: The 1 you picked out is fine, although I've heard of bad stories of Corsair's Force series, I'd say pick out another SATA 3 otherwise you can take the risk and deal with Corsair's RMA process.

DVD DRIVE: That's fine

Chassis: That's fine

Monitor: That's fine
 

Frick

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Aye, hold back on the motherboard. It's very much overkill, the same with the PSU really. Especially so since you say you do not intend to do SLI.
 
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If there's anything else you think I should add, or somehow completely missed off please let me know also.

Moyt

Welcome to TPU

Most have them but I didnt see any headset. Just in case you forgot. :D
 

xbonez

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Personally, if I were you, this is what I would do:

Save some money on the motherboard.
Leave the PSU as it is.
Save some money by not getting the SSD and the WD Green. Instead getting two WD Blacks / Spinpoints in RAID 0.

Put all the money I saved into a more powerful graphics card.

My reasoning: the first component to get out of date in a high end system is the video card. Your processor etc will hold out for even the most intensive game for a lot longer than your video card.
 
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Thanks everyone so far for their responses on this, and taking the time to read my post. The more the better. :)
Even if people views differ I can easily decide myself where to go with this.


@ happita, thanks for the detailed suggestions.

Motherboard: This was me jumping at the best thing there was without really considering if I really need this overpowered piece of kit. I was just soo fixated on the excellent reviews this MB was getting.
Asrock Z68 EXTREME4 Socket 1155
- I will very much consider buying this after reading some good reviews, while saving me some nice dollars!

PSU: I went for the 850w to kind of future proof the system in case I ever decide to go SLI. But then I'm sure even a 750w would suffice for SLI configuration, IF for example I eventually ended up with x2 GTX 570s?
Ebuyer sellers the 750w Gold for £126.29. You still suggest I should go for 750w silver @ around £115?

CPU Cooler: The Noctua I went for because regardless of its high price tag, it's had excellent reviews all around. The Zalman CNPS9900A-LED I am reading some mixed opinions about on the web. Very good and some unsatisfied. Maybe it's just people 'set-ups' where things just don't work out as good it should. I don't know. :eek:
Some say the Scythe Mugen 2 is a slightly better option from one very detailed review, yet the Noctua NH-D14 apparently performers better than the Scythe 2. All mixed up reading like that :p
My mind is still set on the Noctus, it's still up there as one of the top CPU coolers from all the reading I've done :D
Of course I am still open to suggestions from everyone! :)

Grapphics: Call me very picky and ignorant...... but I usually only go for Nvidia, please nobody hate me for this haha.
Still going for that 750 gtx because I'm confident it will still play almost all modern games without a problem but also because of the 2.5gb memory. Also when the gtx 570 starts to struggle with future modern games, the prices on these 2.5gb cards should be dropped and that's when I'll go SLI with them.
It's hard to come across the HD 6970 right now. A lot of them seem to be pre-orders at the moment where I am??

SSD: 120GB SSD Corsair Force Series 3 - I'm sure these issues have been sorted out. I know certain models were all recalled back and free replacements where offered to customers. I don't think there should be any issues now. By all means recommend an alternative if I should still make a change, so long as it's not more costly for similar specs.



@Frick - I intend to SLI when the system starts to struggle with more modern games in the future, but I'm sure even 750w is enough for that even right?:)



@Altered - Headphones. Good point.
At the moment I use these Earonsonics SM3 earphones, but that's just for general use.
I know it's not exactly the same as headphones, and I'm not very knowledgeable in that department either. So by all means anyone recommend a decent gaming pair and I'll have a read into them thanks. :)
In the past I would come across things like 7.1 surround headphones and all sorts but never thought much of it.
How advanced this technology is now I don't know. I wouldn't mind experiencing it first hand to hear for myself, but I'll see what you guys suggest, and then I'll have a read into that too.




@ xbonez
- Thanks for your thoughts on this.
I still want a SSD as my primary drive and a (fairly cheap but decent) HDD for all my junk where nothing strenuous will be run off it what so ever, there's just no stopping me from getting a SSD right now :p Unless that Raid 0 setup will outdo the SSD.

As for graphics I first thought this way as well. Just get the most I can get for my buck on graphics.
I'm sure the gtx 570 (if I don't for the HD 6970 or any other card) will hold its ground for a fairly decent time to come.
I should have originally put in my first post that SLI is a future option. Apologies for misleading people there.
Originally I was going to buy a THIS GTX 580. I was recommended to consider a 3GB GTX 580(!!!) even, which retails at stupid prices right now!:twitch:
But then here's some of the reason's I didn't go for the extreme high end GPU option.

- I won't be running any more than up to 1080p resolution.
- I won't be running 3D or triple screens
- From what I understand 28nm GPU's will be out soon. So I would assume all these 40-45nm GPU's will drop in price nicely for a second card for SLI (especially when the time comes when I really will need to go SLI).




Finally
(for now)...
*pheeew*
Ok now here's another route to go down. Scan.co.uk a very reliable and reputable supplier do something called '3XS Overclocked Bundles'.
What do you think from the z68 chipset range??
3XS Bundle Features
A selection of the finest components handpicked and certified by the 3XS team.
Hand built in our state of the art 3XS lab.
Soak tested under 100% load for 24 hours to ensure complete stability
Shipped with CPU cooler and memory in place for ease of installation.

Note
This 3XS OC bundle is part of our Custom Series range, as such it has the maximum amount of configurable options. If you require any assistance please do not hesitate to contact
Not sure about the choice of coolers, but I'm sure If I rang I could expand on the choice of components I want to have.
This pre-overclocked bundle would also save me the hassle of attempting to OC myself, and a 4.6ghz 2600k bundle that's been thoroughly tested doesn't sound too shabby. But of course this takes the fun away from playing about with OC myself (as safely as possible!!)

I also worked out if I went for a typical setup like THIS; i7, Asus, be quiet cooler, 8gb Corsair @ £482.52. Then it would work out..
£482.52 + £1184.74 (rest of the other components from my original list) = £1667.26 / $2,714.52

One major downside in this is reselling individual components would be difficult when upgrading as I don't think I would get the retail boxes with the OC'd bundle.
Also I believe I would only be covered up to 28 days only. I'm not entirely sure with this part, and assuming with their configurations I wouldn't be able to touch bios which might also void warranty.
Something to consider and look more into if I took that path.


Any thought after allllllllllllll that :rolleyes: No need for a full reply if it's too much, just talk about any bit's you feel the need to comment on.

Again thanks again for looking, and hopefully this will be sorted out soooon!:)
 
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BTW I'm suprised no one said the G19 Keyboard was overkill :p
 

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Bring the CPU back to i5 2500K too, there is no need for 8 threads for the moment. The Noctua D14 is also overkill, you might want to drop it down to something lighter if you are not overclocking heavily. No harm in having a heavy heatsink + low fan speed though. Get a 2TB harddrive too, its not that much more expensive (at about £20 more max). Keyboard is good (and no one complained because you said you really want it), but then for that price you might as well go for a Mechanical keyboard instead. Razer Black Widow is the easiest to find, but Zowie is good too, along with Steelseries 6GV2 or 7G. Not as flashy or with as many gimmicks, but dramatically better keyboards. I don't really want to wear out such an expensive keyboard in a few years, hence the mechanical keyboard suggestion. Nothing wrong with graphics, even AMD fanboys will say the GTX570 is a good card for the price.

As for mice there are plenty to choose from, MX518 for all time favourite, G500/G700 to continue the Logitech trend, Cyborg RAT for fanciness, Steelseries kinzu/Xai for simplicity and functionality, you just have to find your niche here.

Game controller, I don't really know what to say. You buy a super expensive computer *because* you want to game with keyboard and mouse. Otherwise a £250 PS3 is much better for purpose, simpler and provide almost as much graphics capability.

As a general rule of thumb you should not get the most expensive items to start with if you are planning to overclock, one wrong move and you have just flushed the equivalent of a few month's worth of food down the drain. As a always hungry uni student I cannot oversee that :p
 
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Since I am not a major sound guru I read through a lot here TPU's Gaming Headphone/Headset Thread I am sure the Logitech headset I use is probably not on the list but since it was free I (Brother went into service) I took them. :D

If you go SB on the CPU check out the Intel Smart Response Technology I know the Z68 chipset boards supposedly offer this. It might be a better way to gain more storage and not lose the fast feel if the SSD. I don't have it so I cant say from personal experience how well it works but it might be an option.

Personally after looking at the i5 2500K reviews etc I think it is a much better budget chip that is from what I can tell is but a fraction off of the 2600 in gaming FPS in a lot if not most cases. And easily OCs quite a large amount for the masses from what I see on the net. That is why unless Bulldozer is = or better I will probably be going that route myself. Just something to consider if your on a budget like me.
 
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Thank you for informative reply Fourstaff.
Some good 'knocking some sense into' tips there :)

My bad for not going into details on the usage of this PC as well as other details. I should have also added that I plan to use this for some HD video recorded, and photo editing. Maybe some music mixing too, but nothing way tooo major.
I just assume that modern high end hardware demanding games will be the most stressful of uses on the system.
But give me a PS3 that does that lot nicely and I'm sold; Some Linux mod? Maybe a PS5? :D

Second hard drive in fact I was going to only go for a 500gb to begin with before posting here. I already have around 4TB of external memory. But for the same reason you suggest of jumping to 2tb from 1tb, is why I decided from 500GB to 1tb for the odd £15-£20 difference heh.

Thank you again for the detailed recommendations on the mouse, especially on the keyboard; you make perfect sense about the durability of having one. I'm sure the G19's are solid enough for some good wear and tear, but I'll certainly rethink about what to buy on that part as well as other parts you have suggested either way.

Overclocking major f-ups is what I dread, even with some minor tweaks. I'll be adding marshmallows and steaks to that shopping list for a nice BBQ, in case the whole set up goes into blazes. Cheers! :toast:
 
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Since I am not a major sound guru I read through a lot here TPU's Gaming Headphone/Headset Thread I am sure the Logitech headset I use is probably not on the list but since it was free I (Brother went into service) I took them. :D

If you go SB on the CPU check out the Intel Smart Response Technology I know the Z68 chipset boards supposedly offer this. It might be a better way to gain more storage and not lose the fast feel if the SSD. I don't have it so I cant say from personal experience how well it works but it might be an option.

Personally after looking at the i5 2500K reviews etc I think it is a much better budget chip that is from what I can tell is but a fraction off of the 2600 in gaming FPS in a lot if not most cases. And easily OCs quite a large amount for the masses from what I see on the net. That is why unless Bulldozer is = or better I will probably be going that route myself. Just something to consider if your on a budget like me.

Thanks Altered, I've got quite some homework to do when I get around to picking the right headphones as well.
There seems to be a lot of good ones out there. But just like buying earphones, they can be anything from 10s to easily 100s of dollars. I'll see what I come up with :p

Intel's, smart response technology. I would certainly like to have the right hardware to make use of that.

2500k is definitely the way forward for gaming use purposes, and value for money.
And someone mentioned AMD's Bulldozer CPU to me as well. Smaller nm GPU's and whatever else just waiting to be released around the corner also. It's always like this and I can't wait I'm afraid, so I'm just going to make do with what I can right now.
That's how it'll always be I guess.

Almost there now with what I'm aiming to buy :)
 
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Motherboard: http://www.dabs.com/products/asrock-z68-extreme-4-lga1155-intel-z68-ddr3-atx-7H3W.html?refs=42620000 - £136 (instead of £280)
CPU: http://www.dabs.com/products/intel-core-i5-2500k-3-30ghz-lga1155-6mb-79Q8.html?refs=4294944663 - £165 (instead of £238)
PSU: Corsair Professional Series AX750 750W Modular PSU... - £127 (instead of £140)
2nd HDD: http://www.dabs.com/products/samsung-1tb-spinpoint-f3-7200rpm-sata-3gb-s-32mb-65QC.html?refs=50429 - £40 (instead of £44)
Case: NZXT Tempest EVO Midi Tower Case - No PSU | Ebuyer... - £82 (instead of £108)

Saved £260.

EDIT: Actually, because of the savings in the list I made, go with the GTX 580 instead:
KFA2 GTX 580 Anarchy Edition 1536MB GDDR5 Dual DVI... - £387 (from £300)

£260-£87=saved £173

SSD: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/cruc...gb-s-ssd-mlc-flash-read-415mb-s-write-260mb-s - £288 (from £143)

£173-£145=£28

You saved £28 pounds, but you got a better card, a bigger (and slightly better) SSD, and a slightly better 2nd HDD just for toning down your motherboard, CPU, PSU and case choices.
 
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@ entropy13. Thanks for your suggestions.
Motherboard I am strongly considering the ASRock Z68 Extreme 4. But I might also stray towards either the Asus P8Z68-V Pro, or the Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P.
I'll read into them and see what I decide today. :)
More suggestions are welcome, even though I've been recommended the ASRock Z68 Extreme 4 numerous times :p

Case - I'll be sticking with the Raven. Based on what people have personally recommended to me and its approval here.

Graphics - considering it's the 2.5gb GTX 570 I'm going for and what I don't intend to use it for i.e. I won't be running any more than up to 1080p resolution OR running 3D or triple screens, will a 1.5gb GTX 580 really be worth purchasing for the extra £87, and have any major advantages for me? If it will, I might reconsider.

SSD.
Corsair Force Series 3...
Read: 550 MB/s
Write:510 MB/s

Crucial RealSSD M4...
Read: 415 MB/s
Write:260 MB/s

More storage is always good, but performance is priority for me on this, unless I'm missing something here.
I know the Force 3 had its hiccups in the past but that's been long sorted. Also after the OS installation along with anything else I might need, I've worked out I'll roughly have 80GB of free space, excluding any games installations which I'll only install and play one at a time most likely. So I should be more than okay for free space on the c:

Really appreciate you and everyone here having to try and save money.
So long as I'm going sensible and not going OTT with the components without a very god reason (MAXIMUS IV EXTREME-Z *ahem* :p) then I should be ok.
I will be guilty with some things though like the keyboard:roll:

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Almost ready to order. Though ordering today will make no difference because it won't be delivered until Tuesday, so I will place my orders on Monday now.
Gives me room to make yet more changes if needed :D
 

Fourstaff

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System Name Orange! // ItchyHands
Processor 3570K // 10400F
Motherboard ASRock z77 Extreme4 // TUF Gaming B460M-Plus
Cooling Stock // Stock
Memory 2x4Gb 1600Mhz CL9 Corsair XMS3 // 2x8Gb 3200 Mhz XPG D41
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Power Supply Corsair CXM500w // CM MWE 600w
Depending on price, I think the Crucial and the Force comes pretty close to beating one another. Its fine to sacrifice speed for space, even with the Crucial its going to be blazing fast. If you are doing some HD recording, it might be worth considering the 2600K, if its just some random clip here and there for an hour or so, the 2500K will be fine. If you are still not willing to settle for the Extreme4 then I would like to add my vote to it too. Too much choice can be a pain sometimes :)

One thing I want to highlight is that whatever you get, its still going to be fast, as long as you have not experience faster stuff.
 
Joined
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System Name Alienware m15
Processor Intel® Core i7 8750H
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Storage Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB
Case Space black anodized aluminum
Software Windows 8.1 Pro x64
Fast is good, insanely faster is delicious! :p

Considering I've been stuck with a HP HDx18 laptop (now broken) with specs of:
2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8400, 4gb memory, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT Graphics, x2 250GB HD's @ 5400 rpm....
Which is the best I've ever owned, I think it'll be totally understandable that my balls might drop, and my eye brows fall off my face in experiencing such an upgrade first hand :D

I'm done with the shopping list, and confident to do my ordering 2mo. I'll post what I got when I've finally purchased the goods.

I want to say 'thanks' also to everyone here for their input! :)

I just hope it all goes together nicely without causing a nuclear meltdown when I press that power button!
 
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