Gaming/Everyday PC Spec - Feedback welcome before I order!

SaijoBob

Member
I heard good things about the PC Specialist website from the gaming forum I regularly visit, so when it came to reviewing my upgrade options I thought I'd check the site out. Very impressed with how easy it is to spec something out, and the price seems very reasonable as well.

This is the first time I will have ordered a custom-build PC though, so want to check with the forum that everything selected is appropriate. I have a little flexibility on the price - can add/subtract £100 where there is either no real benefit for my needs or a small upgrade that will be worthwhile.

Looking for a reasonably powerful PC that will let me play pick up anything from Steam and be able to play at high settings for a while to come. I'll be splitting gaming on a monitor for things like Diablo 3 and Battlefield 3, and would like to hook it up to a 46" HD TV for console-like games (e.g. Batman Arkham City, The Witcher 2).

I'm not planning on overclocking, and am interested in a PC that will last around 4-5 years without being totally left behind. Also don't want anything too noisy as it will be used in the living room.

So, spec is below and all feedback appreciated!


Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2700k Quad Core (3.50GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP (Special Offer)
Free Item
FREE Battlefield 3 with any Nvidia1.5GB GeForce GTX 580!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE Barracuda SATA 6Gb/s HDD, 32MB Cache (7200rpm)
SSD CACHE DRIVE
20GB INTEL® SSD 311 SERIES - SLC CACHE DRIVE FOR SYSTEM / 1st HDD
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
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£16)
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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Price: £1,228.00 including VAT and delivery
 

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
If you could stretch just a little more this would be ideal


Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics No need for the 2700k, the i7 2600 is pretty much identical and will give you the same performance as 0.1GHz is nothing really. The 'k' processors are for overclocking really.
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB) This is fine, the faster RAM wont really help
Graphics Card
3GB AMD RADEON™ HD7950 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable In a few years you might be glad to the 3GB onboard memory vs the 1.5GB of the GTX 580 + the 7950 is a little faster for not much more
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW) Mightaswell have your OS + apps installed on a proper SSD rather than a cache drive
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE Barracuda SATA 6Gb/s HDD, 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 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£87) Plenty fo room to add another 7950 if you need to in a couple of years to boost peformance
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
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,305.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/

That build is just a little more, the main reason is the addition of the full blown SSD. Much better to have a proper SSD over a cache drive in my opinion, that way you get to decide what you put on it.
 

SaijoBob

Member
Thanks for your suggestion - have done some reading and the RAM and SDD suggestions look good.

The reason I originally selected an nVidia card is because of the horror stories around AMD card drivers and compatibility with games I had come acroess. Is this still an issue, or are the two types more closely comparable now?
 
Top