Is this a good PC?

[Ansab001]

Hi I am a first time buyer
I need a PC for High lvl gaming, Movie watching and movie editing. Is this a good spec? I've went to sites like Bit Tech to get reviews and think i've built the ideal but i would love the feedback of some proper pros like yourselves. Is this PC good and has it got good balance?

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-950 (3.06GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P6X58D PREMIUM: DDR3, USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM)
12GB KINGSTON HYPER-X TRI-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (3 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1536MB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DirectX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TX SERIES (TX750) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£89)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£105)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (£31)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Pro 2010 (1 License Product Key Card) (£239)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£139)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® G110 Gaming Keyboard with Backlighting (£68)
Mouse
Logitech® MX™518 Optical Gaming Mouse (£26)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 Stereo speakers with Rich bass and 360-degree sound (£46)
Headsets (VOIP)
Logitech® ClearChat PC Wireless™ Headset High-performance & wireless (£69)
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) (£135)

I'd like to add this PC will never be off. At nights i download so the better half can use it for her artistic animations and Architecture software during the day and watch BBC Iplayer in the corner (women and multitasking >.<) So i'm hoping it lasts 3 years before we buy another one. I'll also use it to edit for a movie company in Britain. Sometimes its realy heavy stuff. But over the weekends im a big gamer so i need the ultimate overall device.


Here is an alternate ive created using the SandBridge Processors
Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H67-M LX SI: MICRO ATX MAINBOARD, LG 1155, SATA 6.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1536MB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DirectX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TX SERIES (TX750) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£89)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£105)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (£31)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (1 License Product Key Card) (£75)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£139)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® G110 Gaming Keyboard with Backlighting (£68)
Mouse
Logitech® MX™518 Optical Gaming Mouse (£26)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 Stereo speakers with Rich bass and 360-degree sound (£46)
Headsets (VOIP)
Logitech® ClearChat PC Wireless™ Headset High-performance & wireless (£69)
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) (£135)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 12 NOON) (£19)
Build Time

 

[Stappa]

Very nice M8, u should consider the new i7-2600k cpu its an awsome piece of tech also a moderate O/C which will do justice to the 1600mhz ram?,possably a BR RW??and maybe a 1000w+ modular PSU for future proofing(SLI ETC)? BTW modern onboard sound is prob as good as the S.C you've picked?in the end its all down to money lol

 

[Ansab001]

heres an tweaked sandybridge, but if anyone with more tech know how can tell me the real difference between the two except the sandy and the extra 4g ram and better s.c

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH P67: The Ultimate Force
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1536MB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DirectX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TX SERIES (TX750) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£89)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£105)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium - Fatal1ty Champion Series (£145)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (1 License Product Key Card) (£75)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£139)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® G110 Gaming Keyboard with Backlighting (£68)
Mouse
Logitech® MX™518 Optical Gaming Mouse (£26)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 Stereo speakers with Rich bass and 360-degree sound (£46)
Headsets (VOIP)
Logitech® ClearChat PC Wireless™ Headset High-performance & wireless (£69)
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) (£135)

 

[Ansab001]

what does O/C stand for soory my accronyms arnt that good >.>

 

[Phoenix]

It stands for overclocking. With the C240 cooler, K version CPU and 1600mhz RAM you should get the overclocked version of the i7-2600:
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-1155-overclocked/
Or just save the money and get a triple heat pipe cooler, 1333mhz RAM and the regular i7-2600.

 

[Ansab001]

my budget is 3000 and the 1600mhz 16g ram is actually cheaper than the 1333mhz. But saving money right now isn tthe issue since im still under my budget, what i need to know is what can be improved or made to be more balanced(especaily for future proofing least 3 years down the line)

 

[Ansab001]

Also what is the main differece between the i72600 and i7 2600k is it jsut the easier capabililty for o/c? Cuas then thier no point going for the i72600k yet unless the chip itself has also improved than the 2600

 

[Phoenix]

The K versions are unlocked allowing you to overclock them and they have better integrated graphics. With a budget of £3,000.00 though you could get a much better performing system like this:


Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz @ max 4.20GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 PRO: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™ / SLI SUPPORT
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD6970 - 2 DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DirectX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
2nd Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD6970 - 2 DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DirectX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W PRO SERIES GOLD (AX1200) 80+ MODULAR PSU (£209)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£105)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC COOLING MX-3 HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium - Fatal1ty Champion Series (£145)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (1 License Product Key Card) (£75)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£139)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® G110 Gaming Keyboard with Backlighting (£68)
Mouse
Logitech® MX™518 Optical Gaming Mouse (£26)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 Stereo speakers with Rich bass and 360-degree sound (£46)
Headsets (VOIP)
Logitech® ClearChat PC Wireless™ Headset High-performance & wireless (£69)
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) (£135)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,971.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-1155-overclocked/

 

[Ansab001]

Thanks Phoniex

Anotehr thing i need to ask is I want to use MY SSD for operating software and editing software ONLY. I was wondering a few things.


Is it easy to use your Drives for seperate things. Because I was thinking of getting the 60gig SSD for operating and movie editing,
600gig velocoraptor for games
2tb for movies, music, photos and software files.

However I am not very confident if this can actually work. Is it easy to do? Will thier be interaction problems if i tried running games from a different HD than the operating softwre, will using this method not utilise the full power of the PC.

 

[MickyG]

Is it easy to use your Drives for seperate things. Because I was thinking of getting the 60gig SSD for operating and movie editing,
600gig velocoraptor for games
2tb for movies, music, photos and software files.

However I am not very confident if this can actually work. Is it easy to do? Will thier be interaction problems if i tried running games from a different HD than the operating softwre, will using this method not utilise the full power of the PC.

That would be a fine setup, and yes, it would work, you'd just have to remember to install the correct things on the correct HDD's. Also you should probably wait until the new gen SSD's are out in a couple of weeks time before getting an SSD (get the rest of the computer up and running but maybe buy a cheapy HDD to put the OS on for now then transfer it over to the SSD?), but that's just my thoughts, it's up to you in the end

G

 

[Ansab001]

Thanks for all your help guys puttign my order in here is my final PC, Notice i have gone for a higher psu for future for adding another gx580 card and I wont buy the PC untill the new SSD comes out. Also I will speak to PCS to see if i can get the black
2TB WD Black HD on slot 3 which right now isn't an option for 3rd or 4th drives. And put drive 1 as my SSD

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH P67: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR!
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1536MB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DirectX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
60GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
450GB VELOCIRAPTOR WD4500HLHX, SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
3rd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W PRO SERIES (HX1000) 80+ MODULAR PSU (£175)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£105)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium - Fatal1ty Champion Series (£145)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (1 License Product Key Card) (£75)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£139)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Internet 350 USB Keyboard (£9)
Mouse
Logitech® MX™518 Optical Gaming Mouse (£26)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z-2300 2.1 Extreme THX®-certified 2.1 performance (£139)
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) (£135)

 

[Meds]

That is one hell of a PC! The only query I have is you have spent a fortune on the PC yet seem to have skimped slightly on the monitor? I presume this is down to living space (if so, I feel your pain!) if not then why not get a 24" or 27" IIyama?

 

[Ansab001]

unfortunatly 22 inch is all that can fit what currently is the study. In the future though when(the better half wont let me do it yet) i get to revamp the study and get a much bigger spac ill get a better monitor. (And at the same time hopfully another grpahics card)

 

[Meds]

Sounds good! I'm in the same situation, 22" TFT is all I can squeeze into the corner of my living room. I dream of a study & dual monitors @ home

 

[Chaosphere]

Just a thought... the i5 2500 is performing better in quite a few than the i7 2600, and the i5 2500k proving the better overclocker... If you don't need to run ridiculously processor intensive applications, you may want to consider the i5. Even if money isn't an issue, it may suit your needs better than the more expensive cpu.

 

[Grinder]

This is why I suggest that PCS do some performance charts to help people with thier configurations because as far as I'm aware the 2600K will always be faster than the 2500K unless you have a bad chip it will O/C better as well