New Rig Spec

[dankellys]

Looking at building a new Rig. Web Design, Graphic Design/Photo Editing and some gaming. Have a look at my planned setup and let me know what you think. It is pretty much at the absolute limit of my budget:

[vinnyT]

Looks good, no items stick out in a bad way, good choice on the ssd. Have fun putting it together.

[dankellys]

Looks good, no items stick out in a bad way, good choice on the ssd. Have fun putting it together.

Cheers VinnyT.

The only real questions I have are:

1. Will that Graphics Card fit that board OK, as it is quite a 'wide' card.
2. Will that board fit the case ok, and does anyone know what the airflow is like in that case (as I may upgrade PSU and Graphics at some time in the future, and dont want heat to be an issue when i do).


EDIT: Also, will the stock Heatsink and Fan provided with the chip be sufficient, or should I go for an aftermarket Heatsink and Fan? Something like the Zalman CNPS7X-LED?

Cheers.

[dokdek]

The graphics card will fit the board perfectly fine, if it werent to fit, it would be because of your case, but the Zalman Z9 is a great budget case, and the 7850 isnt a long card by any stretch of the imagination, so everything would be fine. Along with your heatsink question, since the i5 you have isnt overclockable, you wont be producing a ton of heat. The only point of getting an aftermarket heatsink would be to reduce noise, as the Intel stocks do run quite loud.

[scaryjim]

Only thing I'd question is the monitor choice if it's for graphics/photo editing, as (judging by the price) that's probably a TN monitor and they tend not to have brilliant colour reproduction. If it's only for web graphics it shouldn't matter too much, but if you're thinking of doing anything in print then it might be worth some further investigation (Hexus has a couple of monitor buffs, so hopefully one will drop in and fill in the blanks I've left ).

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I already listed some better monitors in your last thread:

http://forums.hexus.net/pc-hardware/...g-new-rig.html

Go for standard 1600MHZ DDR3 - the 1866MHZ RAM is a waste of money with a SB Core i5. TBH,even 1333MHZ is fine as that is the default memory speed for SB.

Also, I mentioned this monitor too:

http://www.dabs.com/products/viewson...m_content=Q200

It uses a 6 bit matt IPS panel and gets good reviews. You also can get cashback on Dabs purchases.

One of the higher end ones would be better,but since you mentioned adding another monitor at a later date,the VX2336S-LED will be a good choice for your budget.

[dankellys]

Go for standard 1600MHZ DDR3 - the 1866MHZ RAM is a waste of money with a SB Core i5. TBH,even 1333MHZ is fine as that is the default memory speed for SB.

I was thinking of switching the CPU to: 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 3570K 3.40GHz Socket LGA1155. I know it is going to push me over budget, but figured if I am going to build this machine, i might as well do it properly (even if it does take a few weeks longer to build). Would you recommend this chip/RAM combo? Is this CPU overclockable?

Also, I mentioned this monitor too:

http://www.dabs.com/products/viewson...m_content=Q200

It uses a 6 bit matt IPS panel and gets good reviews. You also can get cashback on Dabs purchases.

One of the higher end ones would be better,but since you mentioned adding another monitor at a later date,the VX2336S-LED will be a good choice for your budget.

Cheers CAT-THE-FIFTH, I will be going for the monitor you suggested there, with DABS cashback

[dankellys]

Right here is my final(ish) spec. Cant quite decide on RAM and CPU. If i go for the higher spec of the 2 options, total price is £931, the lower of 2 is £890. Any feedback would be appreciated:

MONITOR: ViewSonic VIE 23 IPS - £120 (before cashback) *****DABS CASHBAK********

CPU: 1. 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 3570K 3.40GHz Socket LGA1155 - £179.98
2. 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 2310 2.90GHz Socket LGA1155 - £143.99

RAM: 1. Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900 C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit - £47.99
2. Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit - £42.99

MOBO: MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) Motherboard - £77.99

HDD: Seagate 1TB SATA 3 Performance Hard Drive OEM ST1000DM003 - £63.23

SSD: Samsung 128GB 830 Series SSD - Solid State Drive - MZ-7PC128D/EU Slim 7.5mm - £79.99

DVDRW - 24x Black SATA DVDRW Sony AD-7280S-0B OEM Bare Drive - £13.16

CASE: Zalman Z9-U3 Mid Tower Case No PSU - £45.95

PSU: OCZ ZS Series 550W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply - £48.66

GPU: Gigabyte HD7850 OC AMD/ATI Graphics Card - 2GB - £185.74

Keyboard and Mouse: Cherry Wireless Keyboard and Mouse - £55.16

Sound Proofing: Akasa AK-PAX-2 PaxMate II Acoustic Sound Proofing Kit - £13.18