First custom built gaming pc

[Yuters]

Hi, for the past few years I have been using fairly cheap laptops which are inadequate for gaming, so recently I decided to build my own:


Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB

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

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD7870 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE

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
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

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

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Price: £918.00 including VAT and delivery.

Please tell me if anything needs changing

 

[keynes]

You may want to consider a better case for a gaming rig, if you are planning to overclock your CPU you need a better CPU cooler otherwise get the i5-3570 (non-k)

 

[micmcc]

What's your budget? I'd recommend The Coolermaster 690 II and opting for GTX 660 Ti instead of AMD. I have always been an advocate of Nvidia GPU's, you may pay a little more but the quality and driver support is a lot better.

 

[vanthus]

I would upgrade the case as Keynes suggested,maybe to something like the InWIN MANA-136 BLACK GAMING CASE for £49.Nothing wrong with the 7870,it's a very good graphics card,I have an older AMD card myself,the 5870,no problems with drivers and it can still handle any new game I've tried.

 

[micmcc]

I am biased of course, based on my poor experience with AMD GPU's in the past. They are excellent value for money I agree, I just don't recommend them over Nvidia personally. All depends on your budget and needs.

 

[vanthus]

I am biased of course, based on my poor experience with AMD GPU's in the past. They are excellent value for money I agree, I just don't recommend them over Nvidia personally. All depends on your budget and needs.

The top end AMD graphics cards do the job,I know Nvidia cards can possibly give a few extra FPS in games here and there,but are they worth the extra money? I don't think so,but I know I'm in the minority.

 

[Grimezy]

I would recommend downgrading the ram to 1600mhz unless you plan to overclock and also upgrading the hard drive to a Caviar Black.

Also, please please please upgrade the case. Overlooking the case in a gaming rig is one of the biggest mistakes you can make unless you like watching your components fry. As others have suggested, the CM690 II Advanced is a good choice for cooling an airflow but any case between £70-£90 should be adequate for your build. Most will come down to personal preference.

 

[micmcc]

The top end AMD graphics cards do the job,I know Nvidia cards can possibly give a few extra FPS in games here and there,but are they worth the extra money? I don't think so,but I know I'm in the minority.

It's probably a non-issue now as components have changed dramatically over the years, but I remember I always used Nvidia GPU's and the first time I experimented with Crossfire, all my games performed poorly. It seems most games are optimized for Nvidia and I just flat out refuse to go there again. I'm not an Nvidia fan boy by any means, they have just never given me any problems.

 

[Grimezy]

It's probably a non-issue now as components have changed dramatically over the years, but I remember I always used Nvidia GPU's and the first time I experimented with Crossfire, all my games performed poorly. It seems most games are optimized for Nvidia and I just flat out refuse to go there again. I'm not an Nvidia fan boy by any means, they have just never given me any problems.

There is actually talk now that more games will be optimised towards AMD as the next gen consoles will run on AMD chips. It was apparently quite evident in Tomb Raider as well that the Nvidia drivers were extremely buggy and performed poorly. I think it depends on the game, I own an Nvidia card and I have no complaints at all. I think they have some great drivers and features but then I also read about some of AMD's latest releases and they seem quite intriguing as well.

 

[Yuters]

Thanks for your advise. I have made a few adjustments:

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3470 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache

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

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD7870 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB 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
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

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
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

I have kept the graphics card the same because many people say that it is just as good or better than the 660 and also is cheaper. Do I need to change the network facilities or is this fine?

 

[micmcc]

There is actually talk now that more games will be optimised towards AMD as the next gen consoles will run on AMD chips. It was apparently quite evident in Tomb Raider as well that the Nvidia drivers were extremely buggy and performed poorly. I think it depends on the game, I own an Nvidia card and I have no complaints at all. I think they have some great drivers and features but then I also read about some of AMD's latest releases and they seem quite intriguing as well.

I agree, perhaps it's just luck that all the games I play are geared towards Nvidia. I notice you have the same monitor as me. My friend has the 670 too and loves it.

 

[Grimezy]

I have kept the graphics card the same because many people say that it is just as good or better than the 660 and also is cheaper. Do I need to change the network facilities or is this fine?

How do you plan to connect to the internet? Your mobo has built in wireless which works very well for me and you will also have the standard ethernet port on the back so you should be fine.

I agree, perhaps it's just luck that all the games I play are geared towards Nvidia. I notice you have the same monitor as me. My friend has the 670 too and loves it.

Yea I've never had issues with my graphics card so maybe it's minority cases and it's a great monitor, I did a lot of reading before buying it between the whole 60hz IPS panel vs 120hz tn. Pretty chuffed with it but kind of wish my 670 had a bit more grunt to bump up to 144fps more often. I can achieve it in some games but not really the latest ones unless I turn a lot of things down. Still performs brilliantly at lower frames though.

 

[Yuters]

My wireless is terrible so I usually use an Ethernet cable