New kit - i2500k quiet gaming

[hank]

It's been ages (many years) since I did a build. I'm after an i2500 quiet gaming rig that I will overclock till stable.

Is the build I've done OK:

http://OLD_BUILDwww.scan.co.uk/saved...61243f5076cc8a

I've added two psu's, seasonic's, and don't know if either are good or even possible with the rest of the kit.

Also, not sure on the 16gb ram for £100, Scan has the same ram in 8gb that is around £45 - is it as simple as buying two lots of 8gb for £90 or do I need 16gb together?

Any other thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

edit: PS. my initial budget was £550 so I've gone way over.... any advice on bringing the level down would help also.

[hank]

Not sure if the link will work so here's the spec:
Saved Basket
Basket name: 2500k
Prices may have changed depending on date last viewed

Qty Link No. Description Scansure
Available Ex VAT Inc VAT
1 LN28746
1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.9ms, NCQ £33.98 £40.78
1 LN31980
520W PSU, Seasonic M12II-520, Modular, 87%Eff', 80 PLUS Bronze, SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, Quiet Fan, ATX £59.98 £71.98
1 LN31983
620W PSU, Seasonic Bronze S12II-620, 87% Eff', 80 PLUS Bronze, Quiet Fan, ATX £59.62 £71.54
1 LN33579
Sony AD-7260S-0B 24x DVD±R, 12xDVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RWx6 ,12xRAM SATA, Black, OEM £13.39 £16.07
1 LN35333
Fractal Design Define R3, Black Pearl, Mid Tower Case w/o PSU £57.89 £69.47
1 LN36726
Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, S1155, Sandy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.3GHz GPU 850Mhz 6MB Cache 95W Retail £136.15 £163.38
1 LN37177
Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 CPU Cooler Intel 775/1155/1156/1366 AMD 939/AM2/AM2+/AM3 £15.63 £18.76
1 LN37257
Icy Box IB-864-B 3.5" 6x Slot Card Reader with 3x USB 2.0, 1x eSATA and 1x USB 3.0 £12.89 £15.47
1 LN39389
Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3, Intel Z68, S 1155, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, RAID SATA, PCIe 2.0 (x16), VGA On Board, ATX £101.68 £122.02
1 LN40236
16GB (4x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance LP Jet Black, PC3-12800 (1600), Non-ECC, CAS 9-9-9-24, XMP, 1.5V £84.16 £100.99
1 LN41042
1GB Sapphire HD6850 Vapor-X Graphics Card + Deus Ex 3 £114.68 £137.62

Total £869.70

[Pob255]

Ok for gaming don't bother with 16gb it's not needed, I'm not really sure anything over 4gb is needed yet.

Don't get that cpu cooler, it's ok but nothing great, I'd only consider it in a clearance restricted case, which the R3 is not

Low cost cooler http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...m2-am2plus-am3
For the price it's great, correctly setup the PWM and it's quiet too.
However if you want to push that 2600k and still be quiet then I'd look for something more.

One of the all in one water coolers would be a good option for low noise and overclocking http://www.scan.co.uk/products/antec...plus-am3-3plus or http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsa...66-am2-and-am3

Also the 6850 might not be enough for you, depending on resolution I'd look at a 6870 or 6950 at least, or on the nvidia side a gtx560 non-ti (neck and neck with the 6870) or the gtx560ti which is around the same as the 6950

[watercooled]

I would definitely drop the amount of memory for a gaming rig, and if you want to spend the extra, put it towards a faster GPU, a 6870 for instance. And the usual speech of consider waiting for Bulldozer - should offer better value for money and/or lower Intel prices. I have a Fractal R3 myself and really like it.

[hank]

Thanks I've updated the list.

Still not sure on the psu, and if it is compatible with the rest of my kit whilst being reliable and silent (?).


http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/ce...38c06f430a4245

LN28746 1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.9ms, NCQ £33.98 £40.78
LN29319 Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus, 4 Heat Pipes, with 120mm Quiet Fan LGA775/1155/1156/1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3 £18.28 £21.94
LN31980 520W PSU, Seasonic M12II-520, Modular, 87%Eff', 80 PLUS Bronze, SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, Quiet Fan, ATX £59.98 £71.98
LN35333 Fractal Design Define R3, Black Pearl, Mid Tower Case w/o PSU £57.89 £69.47
LN36726 Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, S1155, Sandy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.3GHz GPU 850Mhz 6MB Cache 95W Retail £136.15 £163.38
LN37257 Icy Box IB-864-B 3.5" 6x Slot Card Reader with 3x USB 2.0, 1x eSATA and 1x USB 3.0 £12.89 £15.47
LN37741 1GB Sapphire HD 6870 Vapor-X, 4200MHz GDDR5, GPU 900MHz, 1120 Stream Processors, DVI/ HDMI/ mDP + Deus Ex 3 £124.98 £149.98
LN39293 Samsung WriteMaster SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM £11.49 £13.79
LN39389 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3, Intel Z68, S 1155, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, RAID SATA, PCIe 2.0 (x16), VGA On Board, ATX £101.68 £122.02
LN40235 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance LP Cerulean Blue, PC3-12800 (1600), CAS 9-9-9-24, XMP, 1.5V £36.80 £44.16

Total £734.36


Thanks again.

[this_is_gav]

The PSU is fine.

[ed^chigliak]

Antec High Current Gamer 520W PSU - 88% efficient Quiet fan £48 (Scan today only)
G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V £35 (Ebuyer)

Money saved - buy even more GPU with the cash. PSU is Seasonic by another brand.

[Alicarve]

I would be more tempted to go for corsair tx650 but thats just me and i would go for a p67 board like the asus sabertooth

[hank]

I would be more tempted to go for corsair tx650 but thats just me and i would go for a p67 board like the asus sabertooth

Any reason why? I don't have any benefit of experience with these components so your thoughts would be helpful.

[Alicarve]

the 650w gives you more headroom and corsair make quality psu's
if you are getting the 2500k i am guessing you are looking at oc it? if so the asus p67 sabertooth mobo is a good board to do this with

[EvanJackPenn]

If you're buying a separate CPU cooler, there's no need to get the retail version which comes with a cooler. Unless the warranty is any different, I'd save the few pounds

[Goobley]

Yeah you can buy an oem cpu because the warranty is void on your cpu if you use an after market cooler anyway. However when things go wrong I like to have a backup heatsink (although I know have at least 3)

[hank]

Waiting for some more reading and especially last minute advice before taking advantage of any new "today only" deals tomorrow.

[hank]

This is my final build so far:

http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/ce...38c06f430a4245

do I need to order any cables?

[watercooled]

You should get all the cables you need included with the components.

[hank]

The following PSUs are also made by seasonic:

0-761345-0-7600-9 - 650W PSU, Antec TruePower New Modular, 82%Eff', 80 PLUS Bronze, SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, Quiet Fan, ATX

620W PSU, Antec High Current Gamer HCG-620, 88% Eff', 80 PLUS Bronze, EPS 12V, Quiet Fan, ATX v2.3

Would any of the above be a better buy than the one I have chosen (below):

LN31980 520W PSU, Seasonic M12II-520, Modular, 87%Eff', 80 PLUS Bronze, SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, Quiet Fan, ATX £59.98 £71.98


OR - what psu's would you recommend?