Quiet Gaming spec

[liakey]

Hullo all. After my dad had such good experience with PCS, I decided to give them a shot instead of a large upgrade. The pc is going to be used primarily for gaming so I need power. However, I'd also like it to be quiet. Thoughts?

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® MAXIMUS V GENE: M-ATX, INTEL Z77 ROG MOTHERBOARD

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)

Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD


Price: £1,257

[Teaz]

welcome to the forum

Good so far, do you have a budget? Some things could be tweaked to balance out the spec Any peripherals, then do state them aswell.

[liakey]

Thanks for the swift response.

Budget would be as close to £1200 as possible. I already have all the peripherals I need or will be upgrading them as and when, so it's tower unit only. I know it's a tired phrase, but 'future proofing' is my aim here really; after this spending money on it will be a rarity. I might be adding a soundcard down the line, so I don't know if the m-atx board will be a hindrance there. My current system performed well but suffered from inexplicable crashes when running some games, so stability and compatibility between components is a must as well. Other than that I'm open to suggestions.

[Teaz]

Do you require an OS as it wasn't selected in the provided build?

[liakey]

The price in post 1 includes windows 7 and office home edition.

[Teaz]

Solid build to certainly consider diving for :

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R3 - BLACK PEARL CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3550 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)

Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Total: 1204

The remaining 'future proofing' I'd ask on is, will you be considering to add a second gpu later in future? depending, you may need a bigger psu watt or you could obtain and swap whatever it is in future for the current if that point ever comes.

[liakey]

Unlikely to go SLI in the future; don't see myself having a multi monitor set up, and my current machine has taken everything thrown at it on a single card. But thanks for the heads up.

I'm still leaning towards the slighly better processor; I can take the dvd drive from my current rig and fit it to the new one, meaning only a bluray drive is necessary. Will I see much difference if I lower my RAM to 1333mhz?

Final point I'm still musing is the case. I'd rather not spend £89 on one unless I have to. Is the Fractal really worth the money, and strike the right balance for silnce and cooling, or should I go for a cheaper case and possibly spec in water cooling?

Cheers for your help thus far.

[Teaz]

Then the spec stands fine where it is. Having a second gpu doesn't have to go ahead with a multi monitor setup, people just do it for extra gaming power.

For the cpu its good where it stands, if your budget is fine to stretch then nothing wrong with going for the i7. I just left it as the i5 for 2 main reason which was not going maintain it in your budget and its performance is near to the i7. The i5 is capable of handling tasks as a work horse so no harm if you wish to make the upgrade to the i7 if your budget is fine with that

For the dvd drive, you can take your old one and pop it in but if you did that and require to have a blu ray drive, then you will be having two drives in total. I would recommend going for a single blu ray player, that will take your budget by some margins? I'm just doing my best to keep it to your budget limit

For the ram, you wouldn't really notice a difference for the everyday use. The higher clock speed rams are usually for overclocking purposes. 1333mhz is perfectly fine.

For the case, I know where you're coming from on it as it's what I had felt when I started buying/learning computers. The components you have, are high tech and sticking it inside a basic case will not provide it any airflow or recommended 'protection' or flexibility. Cases do get overlooked quite a lot. It's like buying high tech equipment only to just have it stored in a garden shed without a lock. Kind of the same applies many for other things you could say. Having a good case will help cool the components and extend life span. About the case, it's quiet and good cooling at the same time which is why many choose it as a bang for buck case in terms of cooling and quietness. If you're uncertain, you could read through this review about it which also states other details which may answer you questions clearer

[bigben]

The spec. Teaz made is really good.
As Teaz said, a better case will allow for better airflow and more room for new components. The last thing you want after spending £1200 on a computer is have all the components fry.
The faster processor will make no difference in gaming.

[liakey]

I'll probably go for the more expensive case then, and give the RAM and processor some thought. Thanks for your help guys; after several years out of the loop it's good to have people to hand who know what they're talking about. Will get back once I've ordered.

Edit: Eating my words here, as I actually have another question. Has anyone had any experience with the Intel cache SSD system instead of a full blown SSD? I'm thinking of going with one instead of the 120gb SSD to reduce costs, or scrapping the SSD altogether. Your thoughts would be appreciated.