Ivy Bridge Build for friend

[IronEgg]

I'm building a Gaming PC with the nVidia 700 Series GPU

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570
GPU: MSi nVidia 770 Lightning
Motherboard: AsRock Z77 Extreme 4
PSU: Corsair GS-600
RAM: Kingston HyperX Blu (2x8GB)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM
Case: Cooler Master K380
Optical Drive: LG 24x

Total: SGD$ 1708

I have very constrained choices due to my country. Altough, I might replace the RAM with the G.SKILL (2x8GB) 1600MHz

[Willzzz]

So which country are you in? What options do you have available?

[IronEgg]

Singapore. For PSUs, reliable ones, 2 brands, Corsair and Cooler Master.
GPU, Asus, GIGABYTE, MSi, EVGA.
Only 1 Card is available for e EVGA, that's the Titan. It's nearly a thousand bucks, not going to get it. For Memory, Kingston HyperX Blue and G.SKILL RIPJAWS X. MoBo, AsRock, Asus and GIGABYTE. For HDDs, Western Digital (Expensive) and Seagate. That's about it.

[Willzzz]

If you are going for a 3570 (non-K) can you get away with a B75 or H77 motherboard?
Do you need the features on the Extreme 4?

Is Haswell available?
It's only a modest boost, but it usually doesn't cost much more either.

[IronEgg]

Haswells are available, the MoBos for them are like gold! The processors (i5-4670) is almost the same price as the i5-3470K. My friend want dual-SLI. He's saving for another GPU like the 770 OC version.

[Phage]

I'm surprised There's so little choice. Is Bugis market no more ?

[chris_summers1994]

why are you opting for the 3470 as opposed to the 3570k? also do you plan on getting an aftermarket cooler?

[IronEgg]

Typo. He likes to go to 4.2 GHz. I need to get a liquid cooler. Will the H80i make the cut?

[Willzzz]

Easy.

You could save and get a H55 or Seidon 120.

Or just a standard air tower cooler.

[chris_summers1994]

I would stick to the h80i, you will be ble to keep your cpu cooler and keep the noise levels down just that little bit more and will have the full features of corsair link software available.

[Willzzz]

Erm.. an H55 or air cooler will be quieter.
An H80i might shave a few extra degrees off your temps but what do you gain from that?

[chris_summers1994]

why do you think an older worse cooler will be quieter than a new higher end one?

[Willzzz]

Fewer fans?

I imagine that is the reason.
I mean you could run the H80i on quiet mode, but then you'd lose the extra cooling performance.

[chris_summers1994]

You are better running more fans at lower speeds than one at high speed if you want to keep noise down, also it has a thicker radiator. The page linked below also shows how the h80i produces better temperatures with lower noise than the h55 but also has the potential to provide extra cooling as and when needed, which is easily changable through the corsair link software.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6530/c...zxt-compared/5

[Willzzz]

As I said ONLY at quiet setting.

So you could spend an extra £30 to gain 0.4C, that's like spending £75 to save 1 degree.

Or you could get even lower temperatures with even less noise and even less cost with a decent air cooler.

[chris_summers1994]

Yes but it gives you option for higher performance if you want it. It is always better to take a moto of getting more than you currently need to prepare for the future than just make do.