Gaming Rig, Please help.

[EricShaun]

Hey guys, First post but have been taking a peek around the forums for quite some time. Not by any means technically gifted when it comes to computers but I know a wee bit, And have learnt a few things while reading these forums!

So I'm after a gaming rig, Mostly to play the Likes of Battlefield, CoD, Hitman Absolution, Counter strike, WoW and Starcraft 2 all on high settings of course, Among others. Please take a look below and see if you can see anything wrong with my choices.

All that I will say is I do believe cooling to be important as When I get into a gaming session it can last for quite some time! (Baby and Wife permitting!) So wouldn't want to pick a poor case or CPU cooler.

Thanks, Much appreciated guys.


Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-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
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd 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
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H40 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£39)
Extra Case Fans
2 x 12CM Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof) (£9)
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
2 PORT USB 3.0 INTERNAL PCI-EX CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 60 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 2013
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector + Auto Power Off Function (£19)
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 7 to 9 working days

Ps. Would probably hope this PC to last me 3/4 years.

 

[vanthus]

Looks very good,nice case,same one I have.The CPU cooler is more than adequate,though you could drop to the triple copper heatpipe cooler if not planning on overclocking.
Most sources say the GTX 680 isn't worth the money as the GTX 670 is almost as good,but yes,very nice build.

 

[EricShaun]

Hey thanks for your reply. Not planning on overclocking as I think (correct if I'm wrong) it doesn't show any improvement while gaming?

Hmm the GTX 670 is quite a price drop! Would this GPU handle the mentioned games without any worries do you think?

 

[vanthus]

Hey thanks for your reply. Not planning on overclocking as I think (correct if I'm wrong) it doesn't show any improvement while gaming?

Hmm the GTX 670 is quite a price drop! Would this GPU handle the mentioned games without any worries do you think?

Yeah,overclocking won't really improve gaming performance any.
The GTX 670 will handle any game with ease,it's probably the best buy out for gaming at the moment.

 

[EricShaun]

Magic! I knew I was right to ask before ordering

Hows the case for noise by the way? Not really an issue just wondering.

Also can you tell me if there's any significant improvement in having 2 SSD's? Rathers than the one main. I've already got a new 1TB External I got bought for my birthday you see.

 

[vanthus]

Magic! I knew I was right to ask before ordering

Hows the case for noise by the way? Not really an issue just wondering.

Also can you tell me if there's any significant improvement in having 2 SSD's? Rathers than the one main. I've already got a new 1TB External I got bought for my birthday you see.

I hardly notice any noise at all,but have different components and I suppose every ones perception of noise is a bit different.
Can't see any advantage in having 2 SSD's,I would stick with one along with the Caviar black,very good choice.
Here is a comparison of the 680 and 670 cards,showing how little performance difference there is,the Vram doesn't really matter.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/598?vs=555

 

[EricShaun]

Nice one! Thanks very much dude! You've sold me! So big a price hike yet so little performance difference. Glad I came on over to the forums.

Thanks once again mate for all your help.

 

[EricShaun]

With the whack of money I'll be saving on the build, I'll probably upgrade my monitor too!
(Its about time I did anyway!)

 

[vanthus]

Nice one! Thanks very much dude! You've sold me! So big a price hike yet so little performance difference. Glad I came on over to the forums.

Thanks once again mate for all your help.

Glad to help.I see your a hearts fan,I'm a celtic fan,does that mean our friendship is over already.

 

[EricShaun]

Thanks man.

Haha, No mate not at all. The Wife (to be.. in two weeks(eeeek)) is also a celtic fan along with her entire family. I'm used to it lol.

 

[vanthus]

With the whack of money I'll be saving on the build, I'll probably upgrade my monitor too!
(Its about time I did anyway!)

Good idea,it amazes me the amount of people posting about having problems with their old VGA monitors after spending loads on a new computer,it is after all the end product in a way.

 

[Narcotics]

Hi Eric, One other thing you could do that would not cost much more is upgrade the PSU to a 750TX or 850TX for future upgrades. Or if you're like me and will buy the next best single card instead of SLI, The 650TX will be more than sufficient.

 

[vanthus]

If thinking of SLI,you would also need to change the motherboard to one that is SLI capable,
something like the P8Z77-V LK.

 

[EricShaun]

I would love to get SLI at some point..... But I just can't see it being on this rig if I'm honest, misses wouldn't have it for one, space is also an issue.

So I think the 650 should be ok huh? After 3/4 years I'll be upgrading and will probably try get SLI up.

 

[vanthus]

I would love to get SLI at some point..... But I just can't see it being on this rig if I'm honest, misses wouldn't have it for one, space is also an issue.

So I think the 650 should be ok huh? After 3/4 years I'll be upgrading and will probably try get SLI up.

Do you mean the 670?the 650 is pretty weak by todays standards.

 

[EricShaun]

Do you mean the 670?the 650 is pretty weak by todays standards.

The 650 PSU sorry. Or am I getting totally confused.

RE the monitor; Am I right in thinking the response time is lower the better? So 4 MS is good?

 

[vanthus]

The 650 PSU sorry. Or am I getting totally confused.

RE the monitor; Am I right in thinking the response time is lower the better? So 4 MS is good?

Ah,sorry it was me getting confused,I thought you meant the graphics card
the 650W PSU will be fine for one GTX 670.
The lower the response time the better for gaming,far as I know.
The 22" IIYAMA E2273HDS (£119) supplied by PCS seems pretty popular,Response Time 2ms.

 

[beg]

If you run a Raid0 ( stripped ) configuration there is a performance boost on the SSDs which is quite significant, but isn't something that is considered necessary

 

[Mango(MarkWright)]

Hey Eric, I know you won't overclock, but in 1-2 years time you might wan't your machine to go faster, so maybe get the 3570K, just in case?

 

[EricShaun]

Hmm is an idea Mango, Wouldn't I have to then upgrade the cooling, case etc? Do you think overclocking would benefit gaming after 1-2 years? Won't be used overly for anything else than that.

Assuming that's what you meant Mango. I'm a bit of a numpty with the insides.