3XS Z77 Performance GTX and Monitor upgrade queries

[adurbidge]

Hello gang,

I'm a big fan of Scan computers and having had three extremely good experiences with previous Scan computer purchases, am looking to go for number 4. However, a few questions as I'm always bamboozled a bit by all the latest technology versus what I actually need. Apologies in advance for any amateurish errors I make.

I've highlighted my actual questions in blue.

My requirements are for a gaming system that can play the latest games at 1920x1200 - I don't have multi-monitor setups, but I do like to crank up detail as much as I can, especially things like AA. The games I mostly like to play are SWTOR, and other RPGs like Deus Ex HR, Witcher 2, Mass Effect series, etc. As a lot of these games have a lot of "face-time", that's why I like to have high detail so people's faces are smooth, not jagged.

I was thinking the 3XS Z77 GTX system might suit my needs. Do you guys agree? I see the basic config is for £1300 - I could happily spend another £200 or so on any nice upgrades, especially ones that will make the system quieter and/or last longer (in terms of not melting, rather than future-proofing). Any particular upgrades people recommend? I don't really know anything extra fans or different cases etc, sorry. Should I consider the Vengeance OC system instead?

Also, I currently have an old Dell 2407WFP monitor from a few years ago - has monitor technology developed sufficiently since then to justify buying a new one? I'd be willing to spend £400-500 on a new monitor if they're significantly better these days, but I don't really know if they are. I like my current monitor, probably the only thing I'd say is that it doesn't display black all that well, it kinda has a weird flatness to it, rather than being a "deep black" akin to darkness etc. Sorry, not sure what the actual term is for that graphical metric. Resolution wise I'm happy to stick with 1920x1200, I don't want a massive 30 inch screen.

Thanks in advance for all your help,

Alex

[Nocode]

Hi Alex

I'm in a similar boat to you, looking to buy a 3XS and looking at either the '3XS Z77 Performance GTX' or '3XS Z77 Vengeance OC' - but admit I haven't owned a Scan PC before - but have heard nothing but good things about them, and the build quality/cabling etc all looks spot on.

I think the main difference between the Performance GTX and Vengeance OC is the latter has an i7 by default instead of an i5, and has the option of going for the Corsair H100 self-contained water cooler instead of an H80. I'm personally looking at the Vengeance, but then downgrading the i7 to a i5 but keeping the H100. It appears to be a few degree's cooler than the H80 due to a larger radiator, and I personally don't think gaming these days requires an i7, an i5 should suffice unless you're doing loads of CPU intensive tasks such as AV encoding etc.

In terms of nice upgrades to make the system quieter/cooler/last longer - I'd suggest you get a good case. I've currently got a very noisy machine with loads of fans and I've finally decide going for a nice quiet rig is important. I'm looking at the Corsair Obsidian 550D as the build quality looks great and it's a quiet case without dramatically sacrificing the cooling. Take a look at a review here. Also, as someone has suggested to me recently - it's worth upgrading your PSU to a higher wattage than you need originally because you might later decide to add another GPU and you don't want to have to replace your PSU.

Also, go for an SSD - everyone seems to be telling me if there's one worthwile upgrade it would be that. Ideally get one large enough to house your OS and games. The same applies for RAM, it's cheap as chips these days, so don't skimp there. In terms of GFX, I'm looking at a GTX 670 because it's £100 cheaper than the GTX280 and based on the same design, with just some things turned-off/removed. Also, an overclocked GTX270 seems to beat a stock GTX280. In terms of graphics memory, I think if you're playing at 1920 x 1200 than a 2GB card is fine, I don't think you need 4GB of VRAM unless you're playing at res above that.

Re: monitors, I've got a Dell 2407WFP that's 4-5 year old and I'm still very happy with it. I'm sure technology has moved on since, but probably not enough to justify replacing a working 2407WFP with another 24". If I was replacing my monitor I'd look at a 27" or 30" and upgrade the graphics card or graphics VRAM for the higher res - but at that size you really need to be sitting a metre back from the screen, so your setup/desk space becomes an issue

Hope that helps, a lot of the above is based upon my current thought process for my upcoming build. Let me know if you think otherwise on any of the points as I'm learning and like you trying to make sure I pull together a good build.

Cheers, Paul

[jjc_uk]

Strangely enough, I have ordered the 3XS Z77 Performance GTX with the Corsair Obsidian 550D the changes I made were Ram to 16Gb,EVGA 4GB GeForce GTX 670 Superclocked NVIDIA Graphics Card (LN45146) and removed the added sound card (don't see the need), I honestly think this system is more than powerfull for pretty much anything I can throw at it and will possibly be my last ever pc purchase. Monitor wise I will keep my samsung B2430, I think you're average monitor's nowadays are good enough the only set-up I would like to upgrade to would perhaps be an eyefinity 3 monitor solution, however I cant really justify it at the moment.

good luck with you're choices

James

[drharvey12]

Hi Alex,

I pretty much agree with everything that Nocode has said and his reasoning.

Getting a good case is important as it will allow for a cleaner build with less cables to obstruct airflow through the system. I've heard good things about the HAF 912 & 922 cases which are on the cheaper end of cases. If you're happy to spend a bit more (which is a worthwhile investment IMO as if you get a decent one it can last 10 years or more) then the Corsair 550D, 650D or 600T as Nocode recommends will all do a decent job. I've got the Corsair 800D which is probably a little larger than you need but I have been very happy with it and the Scan build team have managed to pack an awful lot of stuff into it very neatly.

For gaming an I5 tends to be the go to processor of choice as very few use hyper-threading in any meaningful way. Most people seem to still recommend the Intel 2500K as a great gaming processor although I would probably go for the Intel 3570K as Ivybridge has the benefit of PCI-E 3.0 and a newer architecture. I will say though that there are only a few multi-card configurations (typically 3 or more GPU's) which actually manage to saturate the bandwidth available in the older PCI-E 2.0 so it's not something that I think you will notice a difference form it now. However in the future if you upgrade to a more powerful card(s) then it would be useful to support the 3.0 standard without necessarily having to change your motherboard and processor at the same time.

As far as keeping the chips cool you'll want a good case with decent airflow to keep your graphics card cool. Then an all-in-one watercooling unit should be a good way of keeping your processor cool (and dust free too)! If your chips are cool then the fans should be able to run slower which will mean less noise so a case that is dust free and with no airflow obstructions is the best way to keep your PC quiet. I'd maybe speak to the Scan sales team about the stock fans that come with whichever case you want to get as they might be able to suggest a quieter alternative.

I did see this bloke on here saying that the Corsair H100 models might have some issues: http://forums.hexus.net/scan-3xs-sys...00-cooler.html

Scan are going to sort it for him but just thought I'd mention it as he was suggesting it was a known problem with this cooler.

I don't know too much about your monitor I'm afraid but my advice would be to wait and see. Try your new system on it and if you're happy with the image that it's putting on your screen I wouldn't bother. I don't think that there have been any major improvements in monitors over the last few years unless you want to give 3d a go. From what I've heard about the implementation of it though most people seem to be moderately umimpressed with it at the moment and think it doesn't really justify the extra expense. Going to a monitor that supports 120hz is supposed to give you smoother gameplay if you have a setup that can run the game at that FPS rate though. I'm still very happy with my 24" Iiyama Prolite though and I don't think I'll be changing it in the near future......unless Scan do an incredible deal for a 27" at 2560x1440 or something similar!

As far as things like RAM and PSU's go then I would always prefer to spend the extra on the PSU. Having adequate power which is delivered to your components stabily is really of the utmost importance. I've seen so many people put amazing stuff into their PC and then get the cheapest PSU and wonder why they have issues. The Corsair models that Scan have recommended are all very good and I'd stick with one of them as opposed to swapping it out for anything cheaper. For gaming 8GB of RAM seems to be the sweet spot at the moment. I certainly can't recall seeing any game that I have played use over 6GB in total with Windows and everything running too. Bearing in mind that Windows 8 will supposedly use even less resources than Windows 7 I'm not too sure whether more RAM will be needed in the next few years anyway. Obviously applications like 3D rendering and video editing can use it so if you plan on doing anything like that then extra RAM is worth getting. If you just plan on gaming I'd recommend sticking with just 8GB.

Hope this helps you a bit but as myself and others on here have found speaking to the Scan sales team is probably the best way of getting the right system built for you. They really know their stuff and having spent a decent time on the phone to their sales team in the last couple of weeks I can confirm that they are not going to put something expensive into your machine if you don't want it. They really do want to get you a system that represents good value to you and that performs amazingly well. I would always go with whatever they recommend but armed with your own research beforehand so you are able to explain exactly what you want your PC to do and what you think will be the best way to do it. This is what I did after months of research and I still ended up changing about 6 bits after speaking to their advisor and I am so glad I did. The PC they upgraded for me is awesome and I wouldn't change it now

[Nocode]

Strangely enough, I have ordered the 3XS Z77 Performance GTX with the Corsair Obsidian 550D the changes I made were Ram to 16Gb,EVGA 4GB GeForce GTX 670 Superclocked NVIDIA Graphics Card (LN45146) and removed the added sound card (don't see the need)...

Do you have the machine yet? Would love to see build pics!

[adurbidge]

Many thanks for the replies, dudes - very much appreciated! I think I will definitely look into spending a bit more cash on a case, and maybe the cooling system too. I'll give the Scan team a call and chat through the options - will update thread with my order!

[Nocode]

No problems, indeed let us know how you get on! Good luck.

[Vaad]

Hello,
Having just received my z77 Performance GTX I can tell you that yes it will play everything you chuck at it at that Res and Full Spec. I changed two things on my system. I went with the corsair H80 water cooler and had 16GB of ram installed.. Just because I could. Apart from that its all default and its a pure dream!

[Nocode]

Hello,
Having just received my z77 Performance GTX I can tell you that yes it will play everything you chuck at it at that Res and Full Spec. I changed two things on my system. I went with the corsair H80 water cooler and had 16GB of ram installed.. Just because I could. Apart from that its all default and its a pure dream!

Out of interest, how much of the 16GB is your system using when running games etc? I'm having an internal debate whether to get 8GB or 16GB. I know the later is only another £35, but it's still £35 and I'm not convinced I could run enough programs to consume even 8GB. Most games are 32-bit, so I guess they can only use a max of 3GB. Therefore, in an 8GB system that leaves 5Gb for OS and everything else running. Hmmm, anyone help me out?

[jjc_uk]

Out of interest, how much of the 16GB is your system using when running games etc? I'm having an internal debate whether to get 8GB or 16GB. I know the later is only another £35, but it's still £35 and I'm not convinced I could run enough programs to consume even 8GB. Most games are 32-bit, so I guess they can only use a max of 3GB. Therefore, in an 8GB system that leaves 5Gb for OS and everything else running. Hmmm, anyone help me out?

I think you are right in your assumptions Nocode, 8Gb is probably plenty, I however have ordered 16Gb purely because I have always tried to buy the best spec I can afford at the time.

James

[cactusjack]

...I can confirm that they are not going to put something expensive into your machine if you don't want it. They really do want to get you a system that represents good value to you and that performs amazingly well. I would always go with whatever they recommend but armed with your own research beforehand so you are able to explain exactly what you want your PC to do and what you think will be the best way to do it. This is what I did after months of research and I still ended up changing about 6 bits after speaking to their advisor and I am so glad I did. The PC they upgraded for me is awesome and I wouldn't change it now

Very true words here - Scan sales do not try and push the most expensive components on to you. They give you a balanced view - I had done my own research before hand which helped.