Please check my Spec!

[danlisa]

Helllllooooo :D Nice to see everyone is still where I left them. LOL

How are you all keeping?

I am here in search of knowledgeable PC tech people because quite frankly, I am a little rusty/noobish on all the current tech. :oops:

Please check and advise on this spec:

Budget = £1000 GBP inc VAT

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 Gaming Case
Power Supply: OCZ ZS 750w PSU
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz Sandybridge overclocked to 4.40GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Cooler: Corsair A50 CPU Cooler
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Hard Drive 1: 120GB SSD
Hard Drive 2: 500GB HDD
Graphics Card: PNY Geforce GTX 580 1536mb
Sound: Realtek 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium OEM

What do you think? Any improvements/alterations to be made while staying within budget?

Thanks for looking.:yeah:

EDIT - Will probably change to a GTX 670 2048mb GFX card. Good or bad move?

[TarJak]

Hey Dan,

That rig looks pretty neat. In terms of changing things out it depends on what you intend using it for. If you are just gaming this rig will be absolutely fine. If you are thinking of video editing or 3D rendering with CAD or the like then I'd probably plump for the i7 2600k processor to give you hyperthreading and a bit of future proofing.

Over-clocked i5-2500k would out perform stock i7-2600k. The differences are incredibly minor other than in applications than can use hyper threading. If you don't use apps that you know for a fact make extensive use of hyper threading, and provide a real advantage, then just get the i5-2500k because you probably wont notice any difference.

[danlisa]

Thanks TJ

Don't tell the wife.....but mainly gaming.:DL

However, basic video editing will also be attempted. We're only talking about 720p home videos, cutting, stitching and overlays etc, so nothing overly taxing.

From my limited knowledge of current tech (+ extensive googling) it seems like a sound system but I felt I needed some 'backup'. ;)

[HunterICX]

Just make sure the OS is 64-bit or else you're stuck on a 4gb RAM limit

HunterICX

[danlisa]

^
Yeah, it's certainly a 64 bit OS.

Thanks mate.

[danlisa]

OP updated with possible new GFX card.

[Herr-Berbunch]

OP updated with possible new GFX card.

When you first posted I looked at the price difference between the 580 and 680, the 670 I skipped completely for some reason.

Go for it. :yep:

[danlisa]

^ The 670 comes recommended. It's a KFA2 brand overclock which puts it equal/over the 680 specs for a £80 saving.

I think I'm settling on the posted spec, I just have to get the case dimensions to fit the storage I have. Would be sods law that the bugger won't fit.:haha:

I also need to wait on a response from the supplier to see if they would built it using the CM Storm Enforcer case for no extra cost. Would prefer the hidden bays at the front and the USB 3.0 slots.

EDIT - What does EVGA mean in terms of GFX card? There are numerous reports of the EVGA GTX 670 Bsod'ing in many games.

[Herr-Berbunch]

I had to remove the feet off my case to make it fit, I just had to make sure that no venting was done from below as some PSUs do that. Simply flip the PSU and all is well.

Don't know much about EVGA, I thought they were supposed to be very good... :hmmm:

[danlisa]

I had to remove the feet off my case to make it fit, I just had to make sure that no venting was done from below as some PSUs do that. Simply flip the PSU and all is well.

Both of my case choices put the PSU on the base using the inlet to draw cool air in. The rear and top vent are used for exhaust. I will have to ensure the case fits with its feet on.....although the shelf is grated, so it might be ok.

Why do they insist on putting PSUs at the bottom of case these days? They're great dust hoovers and heat rises, passing over GFX and CPU.:doh:

[Herr-Berbunch]

Why do they insist on putting PSUs at the bottom of case these days? They're great dust hoovers and heat rises, passing over GFX and CPU.:doh:

I don't know, but most have a large enough fan to exit all that heat created so is shouldn't be putting it into the case. So you've got three fans on your PSU, one in and two out? Doesn't sound right.

I'm back, and checked that PSU you've listed, only one 135mm fan, taking in from the case (or underneath if you have it that way) and pushing out the rear. :up:

[Arclight]

Think they stick it in the bottom so they can have a big grate on top, vent all the heat. I know in my old case quite a bit of heat would get "trapped" or circulate around the top.

Got a HAF922 now, brilliant case. Moves so much air that I'm sitting in a draft. :lol:



System looks brilliant. Only thing I could think off was the point Tarjak made about i5/i7. They are exactly as fast clock for clock, being the exact same chip, but the extra tech on i7 make them a bit faster in some cases.

You could opt for a Ivy Bridge (http://ark.intel.com/products/65520/Intel-Core-i5-3570K-Processor-(6M-Cache-up-to-3_80-GHz)) though. That one is the update to the Sandy Bridge 2500K. Prices here are about 10% higher than 2500k and it should net about 10% faster performance.


On a side note, question of my own: these CPUs have memory controller on-board and all list 13333MHz as max supported. How does that pan out when you stick in, say, a 1600MHz module? Will it benefit from extra bandwith, will it actually use that bandwith?

I stuck with low-latency 1333 myself because I couldn't find a good answer to that one. :hmmm:

[danlisa]

Can't answer that one Arclight, that stuff is right over my head.

My thanks to all. PC is now in the build queue and will be here Monday. It's going to be a long weekend.:cry:

Measured up for the case, it's a monster and won't fit my storage. Nevermind, the storage will make room.

Decided to remain with the i5 as after checking my commonly used apps (Adobe Suite), while HT is used, it is a marginal improvement and only on certain functions. It didn't warrant the extra cost.

Also, got the CM Storm Enforcer added for no extra cost.:rock:

[THE_MASK]

What about things like a gameing mouse and keyboard . Good set of quality headphones , headset . Buy the best motherboard and power supply unit you can afford .

[TarJak]

Can't answer that one Arclight, that stuff is right over my head.

My thanks to all. PC is now in the build queue and will be here Monday. It's going to be a long weekend.:cry:

Measured up for the case, it's a monster and won't fit my storage. Nevermind, the storage will make room.

Decided to remain with the i5 as after checking my commonly used apps (Adobe Suite), while HT is used, it is a marginal improvement and only on certain functions. It didn't warrant the extra cost.

Also, got the CM Storm Enforcer added for no extra cost.:rock:

I reckon you'll be pretty happy with the new rig. I plumped for an i7 because I do a fair bit of HD 1080p video editing and my daughter does CAD rendering which taxes the CPU pretty hard without hyperthreading. The cut in rendering times was noticeable. But if you don't do any CAD editing then you'd not get much gain for the extra coin.