Dear all,
In July, I am considering purchasing a gaming system.
I am mainly into MMORPGs and RPG games. I currently own a Dell system – approx 4 years old (with an ATI 4850 card). It has served me well over the years – but the high temperatures reached by the card and the poor cooling in the system were off-putting at times. I am not very hands-on with taking PCs apart or putting them together – hence my preference to buy from a reputable company who offer an onsite warranty, where appropriate onsite support can be provided in the case of something going wrong with hardware. I did consider Dell again, but it seems the Dell owned Alienware was the only way to go for gaming- and they don’t seem good value for money. Scan seem to be the only other company I can find that offer an onsite warranty and who have a good reputation.
With the above in mind, I am looking at gaming systems. My budget is approx £1300, and I would want the system to last me approx 3 years before I consider buying another. I would be looking for the system to play games at mid to high level settings – I am not an enthusiast and I don’t look for perfection with graphics or frame rates – just smooth play in general.
This is the spec I am considering £1,381.74:
3XS Z77 Performance GTX - Custom Series - Updated May 2012
Coolermaster CM 690 II Lite, Black, Mid Tower Case (£51.69)
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H, Gen 3, Intel Z77 Chipset
Intel Core i5 3570K, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache (£144.95)
Thermalright Macho Performance CPU Cooler
No overclocking (in the interests of stability)
8Gb (2x4Gb) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600Mhz
2GB EVGA GTX 680, 1006MHz GPU, 1536 Cores, 6000MHz GDDR5
600W Corsair Gamer Series
60GB OCZ Agility 3, SandForce SSD, Read 525MB/s, Write 475MB/s
2TB Seagate Barracuda, SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache
Pioneer DVR-S19LBK DVD Writer
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
2 Years Scan Extended System Warranty (£1001 - £2000)
I have a few questions, and would be grateful for any advice:
1) How does the above spec look, as far as lasting for 3+ years of gaming
2) Is there any noticeable benefit of the Intel i7 over the i5 processor?
3) Will a 650W Corsair Enthusiast, Modular PSU provide any significant benefit or greater reliability over a 600W Corsair Gamer Series PSU?
4) Thermalright Macho Performance CPU Cooler reviews look ok – I did consider the Corsair H80 Hydro Series, however reviews on the web note how noisy it is. Does anyone here have any specific thoughts on the H80 vs Thermalright Macho?
5) I know nothing about cases – all I am after is a case that has good cooling, is very easy to open if needed, and comes with decent fans (unlike my current Dell). After doing some reading, the Coolermaster CM 690 II Lite seems to fit that bill - But I am out of my league here! – does anyone have any further thoughts on appropriate cases?
Thank you in advance for any advice!



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