New Build Advice

[samtayuk]

I'm going to get an aftermarket cooler now. I just think it will be better to get one now then later.

Can anyone recommend one?

I have been looking at: Arctic Cooling Freezer i30

Thanks
Sam

[Willzzz]

I ake it this means you are sticking with the expensive 3570k?

The i30 is fine, but I'd still recommend saving money for a new graphics card over spending more money on the CPU.

[samtayuk]

Yes I'am, I did consider an AMD but I just always wanted Core i5.

[Willzzz]

But are you committed to overclocking it?

Getting a 3470 over a 3570k can save you almost £100, that goes a long way towards a new graphics card.
The difference in games from overclocking just won't be noticeable.

[samtayuk]

What motherboard would you recommend with the 3470?

Sam

[Willzzz]

Well this is where you can make additional savings, you'd need to think about what you need, you could go for something like this:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...vi-d-micro-atx

There's only 1 SATA-III, but that's fine as long as you only want 1 SSD.
There's also limited USB3, 1 internal and 2 on the back, but that is fine for most users.

[Phaz0r18]

I have that SanDisk SSD and it's pretty quick.

I'd upgrade the RAM, memory is pretty cheap and it'll help when you're doing other things besides gaming i.e. having multiple programs open...

[Willzzz]

I wouldn't upgrade the RAM, the priority here has to be saving money for a decent graphics card.

8gb is fine for multiple programs, beyond very special usage cases.

[samtayuk]

In was going for 16Gb of RAM but decided against it to get a SSD.

Sam

[Biscuit]

I have that SanDisk SSD and it's pretty quick.

I'd upgrade the RAM, memory is pretty cheap and it'll help when you're doing other things besides gaming i.e. having multiple programs open...

I wouldn't upgrade the RAM, the priority here has to be saving money for a decent graphics card.

8gb is fine for multiple programs, beyond very special usage cases.

Im with Willzzz on this one, 8GB of 1600Mhz is more than enough for i5 in a normal windows environment

[Willzzz]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/PWWT

Under £550, assuming you do have a DVD/HDD spare from your current machine.

Plus you can flog your 550 Ti for at least £50.

[Biscuit]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/PWWT

Under £550, assuming you do have a DVD/HDD spare from your current machine.

Plus you can flog your 550 Ti for at least £50.

That website is top, never seen it before!

It has picked a 1 x 8GB ram stick though

[Willzzz]

Oh whoops, well it was just meant to be a rough outline anyway.

[Phaz0r18]

In was going for 16Gb of RAM but decided against it to get a SSD.

Sam

Fair enough. I'd also think at about how often you're planning on upgrading your PC too, its all well and good building a £500 budget gaming machine but if you have to put new parts in it every year you're better off starting out with good components that will last you longer...

IMO.

[Biscuit]

Fair enough. I'd also think at about how often you're planning on upgrading your PC too, its all well and good building a £500 budget gaming machine but if you have to put new parts in it every year you're better off starting out with good components that will last you longer...

IMO.

4GB is just about enough RAM, 8GB is overkill but represents the best value per performance ratio, 16GB is way overkill unless you have a specific need for lots of RAM (media editing or virtualisation for example). I dont see anything more being necessary until he needs to change the entire platform anyway. Remember this is intel, so without buying second hand he will have to change the motherboard and CPU when this time comes around.
Going for a hard drive instead of an SSD will instantly introduce a bottleneck which will be felt in the system. For longevity of his day 1 purchase, he is making the right choice here.

[qaz_92]

Apart from the refurb, looks good.