Planning to Build New pc, would appreciate a build opinion/problem spotting

[amesXducky]

Hi I'm planning on upgrading from my old pc (an E7400 intel core 2 duo based pc) to a modern pc, this is planning to be a mid range gaming pc for around £700/£800 (roughly $1000 but dont hold me to the value) but if needs must I could allocate more money to the build
*have since upped the budget to £1000 max since ive got extra shifts at work

The parts i'm currently looking at are:

A Coolermaster Storm Enforcer Mid ATX case or a Corsair Obsidian 550D

A P8Z77-V/Pro/Deluxe Motherboard

An I5 3570k (Ivybridge) processor

A Corsair H80 water cooler for the CPU (changed from H60 but may go with air cooled depending on size)

8 GB of Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 1600 RAM (2 x 4GB sticks) (Changed from Corsair Vengeance 1866 8GB)

A BeQuiet Pure Power L8 530W PSU (changed from OCX 500W ModXStream PSU)

Planning on getting a 120GB Vertex 4 SSD from OCX and a Caviar Green 1TB SataIII

Also I am thinking on either a 570, 580, 670 or 680 for the GPU - Will Most likely either be a EVGA or an ASUS DirectCU Model Since the benchmarks Ive seen view them as the best cooling without water cooling

This is my first full build and would appreciate any criticisms and or opinions on my choices but I would like to keep the Motherboard the same (the onboard wifi/bluetooth will be essential), and i5 or better CPUs (I would like a Quad Core CPU).

Thank you if you comment and hope you can help.

Edited to reflect new Ideas and comments

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MOBO

That's a pretty high end board, are you sure there isn't a cheaper alternative that'll still do everything you want?

RAM

1600Mhz is considered the sweet spot when it comes to RAM. In the vast majority of cases on an Intel i series build you won't see the difference between 1600Mhz and 1866Mhz. You should check this RAM out too, which is on sale at overclockers- MV-3V4G3D/US. It's not the prettiest but it'll overclock from 1600Mhz to 2400Mhz without loosening primary timings.

PSU

Which line of Corsair is the 650W?

CPU

Don't get tempted by an i7. Unless you really need hyperthreading, it's totally unnecessary. The i5 2500k is a great CPU (and regularly outperforms i7 2600k's in gaming benchmarks), it's Ivy Bridge equivalent is also very good but I don't know as much about it as I went with an 2500k.

One thing to remember. In a system that's built primarily for gaming, the GPU is where you should spend your money. If you're building it as a gaming rig then, personally, I'd spend less on the mobo and ram and more on the GPU.

[amesXducky]

it needs to be a z77 board since I want some futureproofing, i have given some thought since my inital post and has to be a mainstream board (not LX M etc) but normal pro or deluxe would be ok - i originally decided on deluxe for the extra usb slots but thinking back you can add a pci-e card or drive bay add-on to get them

decided on I5 3570k ivybridge since for a 10 pound difference over the 2500k gets me better performance and lower wattage

its a corsair Tx series which should be good for a non sli system (I think)

I have since decided on 1600 ram, vengeance 4gb sticks since its cheap at 20 pound per stickplus it looks good

not sure on the exact graphics card but it'll be an nvidia asus directcu card - it'll depend on current deals on online retailers

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The TX series is good for the money (any higher end Corsair PSU is) and should be fine for your needs. The one downside is that they're non-modular but with well thought out cabling you won't have to worry*... if cable management is an issue the check out the HX series. I hope it doesn't sound patronising but if you're buying RAM partially for how it looks (which there's nothing wrong with) then my advice would be to go to the manufacturer website, find the model and colour of RAM you want and then search for using the manufacturers reference code. With my first build I almost made the mistake of ordering the wrong coloured RAM because the image displayed on amazon was incorrect.

AS for the motherboard, I'll have a look for you while I've got nothing to do but you should check out pcpartpicker.com/uk you can sort components by various criteria including chipset. So you can get a list of Z77 so you know where to look. [EDIT] just noticed that the P8Z77-V Pro doesn't have bluetooth.



*I've lost count of the number of threads I've seen of people wanting to upgrade to a fully modular PSU to help with cable management when all they needed was a bit more thought and effort to reroute their current PSU's cables.

[amesXducky]

Cabling isn't an issue, I have quite a bit of experience wiring computers, just not doing a full build

Bluetooth isnt really why I wanted this board, its for the inbuilt wifi mostly

Ive been pricing things up on overclockers.co.uk since their prices are fair, still cheaper than scan and ebuyer on some items

and the colour doesnt matter on the ram, its more the physical look that I like but thank you for the help

[Phage]

Actually you do see an increase in performance on stock frequencies between the 2500k and the 2600k. It's simply that the bang-for-buck is far better with a 2500k, especially if you OC them.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/t...2100-tested/20

However, SB are all EOL, so unless you're heading for a massive OC, I'd recommend the 3570k IB chip as the more appropriate pair for your Z77 board.

The direct Cu cards take up three slots. make sure that you have enough room on your board for anything you may want to add, such as a sound card.

[csgohan4]

The TX series is good for the money (any higher end Corsair PSU is) and should be fine for your needs. The one downside is that they're non-modular but with well thought out cabling you won't have to worry*... if cable management is an issue the check out the HX series.

*I've lost count of the number of threads I've seen of people wanting to upgrade to a fully modular PSU to help with cable management when all they needed was a bit more thought and effort to reroute their current PSU's cables.

Some people may prefer to have fully modular as if they need to swap out PSU's for upgrades or have cables that they don't use it would be easier and tidier. Some people may not have a large case for those extra non modular non functional cables.

Having said that, it is not advisable to use cables for different models of PSU's, for e.g Corsair ax850 cables are different from AX 1200. So this may be negative point. Although not a deal breaker.

[amesXducky]

It seems you misunderstood me phage
I have never considered getting a i7
I did say id be getting a 3570k over a 2500k but thanks for point that out
Not sure on sound card but thats a lesser priority compared to the rest of the build at this point

[Pob255]

I'm pretty sure phage, was correcting the incorrect information loading... had given in the sb i7 being worse than the sb i5 in game bench marks, yes 4cores with HT is pointless in games so benchmarks show little difference between the i5 2500k and i7 2600k what small difference there is is down to higher base clock speeds.

And he pointed out that the i7 is not recomended, not because it's slower but because the i5 is much cheaper and nearly as fast.

on PSU front, if your sticking to a single graphics card solution then don't bother going higher than a 550w it's really not needed.

Graphics card is the area where you'll want to be spending the money, you could get away with an i3, or probably you current pc just put a decent graphics card in there and it'll be good for many games.

You should be able to overclock the e7400 up to 3.5ghz easy, it's really no slouch for gaming even now.
the times when you really need more than a dual core can cope with is when you start getting into multiple cards, feeding multiple or 3d monitors

if you're not planning to overclock then asus LX or LE are fine, if you are planning on overclocking then personally I would get a better board, the weak VRM's on these boards can hold up to short term overclocking, but I'd not trust them over the long term for running an overclocked system.
I've gone the cheap motherboard route before and while fine at first I've regretted it later

[amesXducky]

You should be able to overclock the e7400 up to 3.5ghz easy, it's really no slouch for gaming even now.
the times when you really need more than a dual core can cope with is when you start getting into multiple cards, feeding multiple or 3d monitors

if you're not planning to overclock then asus LX or LE are fine, if you are planning on overclocking then personally I would get a better board, the weak VRM's on these boards can hold up to short term overclocking, but I'd not trust them over the long term for running an overclocked system.
I've gone the cheap motherboard route before and while fine at first I've regretted it later

I accidentally broke one the main pci-e slot for my old motherboard holding the e7400, hence the upgrade (my dog ran past while I was putting in new graphics card and knocked it to the floor breaking the pci-e connectors into the slot ) plus it was a stock motherboard, the sort prebuilt store systems put into pcs so not really designed for overclocking

I am planning to overclock up to at least 4/4.4 ghz max on the i5 3570k with a h60/80 cooler
i decided on the pure p8z77/pro/deluxe boards for the wifi go and I'm sticking to one of them though may go the whole way and get the deluxe for the 2nd ethernet port for when I have my own place and internet and not relying on family wifi

[Noxvayl]

I am not a fan of the closed loop Corsair liquid coolers, cost too much for the performance given. These results show little improvement over a top end heatsink:
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...-at-44ghz.html
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/coolin...review/?page=5

I'd purchase this cooler myself: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/therm...75-and-am2-am3

Coolermaster cases are great but I am a big fan of the Corsair 550D after installing my system in one, it is very well made and easy to use. Great options for good airflow with 6x 140mm fan slots and 2x 120mm slots at the front. With the same fans and system the 550D has slightly better airflow than my old Coolermaster CM690 and has much better functionality with quick release side panels, drive bays and good cable management.
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/chassi...n-series-550d/

CPU and motherboard are good, I am getting the same using Gigabyte UD5H instead of the Asus.

PSU I'd go for a Be Quiet, Enermax or Seasonic PSU; I personally own the Enermax MODU82+ 525W and it has been working for 4 years now. Even with SLI GTX 680s/HD7970s you won't need more than a 600W PSU, 500W is probably the sweet spot for your system with an overclock and single GPU graphics card.

I agree with other posters suggesting DDR3 1600Mhz, not worth the extra money for 1866Mhz. I am going for these:
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/part...D1608DE1TX0CEU

Crucial have great customer service and free UK delivery within 3 days normally.

Hope that helps.

[amesXducky]

I'm not a big fan of air coolers (no pun intended), they take up far too much vertical space and honestly they dont look good for me, i'll keep my eyes out for one I like the look of though

I did have a look at the 550D for the noise cancelling - If I do get an air cpu cooler then I will get it instead of the CM case

Thanks guys, you've given me quite a bit to think about

One last thing based on what Noxvayl said - does the PSU brand matter?(corsair, OCX, Be Quiet etc), I know the 80+ certification is a must for any gaming PSU but is the PSU brand preference based or is there a noticable performance difference between brands?

[csgohan4]

I know Corsair do 7 year warranty. If you buy from scan you can just return it to them rather than mailing to Netherlands RMA centre saving you some money. Enermax only do 5 years on their PSU, you have a uk based RMA centre but they mail it to Germany regardless if you need a new one or repaired on, so takes even longer.

Performance wise they reach minimum standards as according to their bronze, silver or Gold standards. But beware platinum are not worth getting at the moment with looser voltage regulation and ripple, not to mention the cost

[amesXducky]

I know Corsair do 7 year warranty. If you buy from scan you can just return it to them rather than mailing to Netherlands RMA centre saving you some money. Enermax only do 5 years on their PSU, you have a uk based RMA centre but they mail it to Germany regardless if you need a new one or repaired on, so takes even longer.

Performance wise they reach minimum standards as according to their bronze, silver or Gold standards. But beware platinum are not worth getting at the moment with looser voltage regulation and ripple, not to mention the cost

Thanks, So its more noise and modular/look preferences than performance? Ok thats good to know, Ive changed my choice from the OCX to the Be Quiet 530W modular - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...23&subcat=1083

Also a major point - I'll be changing the stock thermal paste on the h80 to arctic silver since I've got a spare bit lying around from when I put a new cooler onto my dads pc

Just so people know I'm pricing up the general build on overclockers uk since scan has rapidly changing prices etc so its good to get an expected price and I can't save a basket on scan

PS I've updated my build on the first post to reflect what you've all said

[csgohan4]

Thanks, So its more noise and modular/look preferences than performance? Ok thats good to know, Ive changed my choice from the OCX to the Be Quiet 530W modular

Generaly, but we all have our preferences. But for a non bias view, look at the warranties by brand and what the retailer you buy from can do for you if anythign goes wrong. In addition their reviews to see if they have any problems with noise and noise e.t.c. But you can;t go wrong with a corsair, enermax, seasonic

[Pob255]

sigh . . . the majority or corsair psu's are seasonic or CWT and a couple Flextronics, corsair don't make psu AFAWK they do design the outter casings and specify things like cable lengths and some other minor component change requests.

I'd suggest having a look at the xfx psu's, also made by seasonic, 5 year warranty, Antec HCG or true power new