Looking for views on this spec.

kenrow

Member
Would be appreciative of any feedback on this spec.

Case
InWIN GT1 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD FX-8350 Eight Core CPU (4.00-4.20GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A99FX PRO R2.0 (DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s,CrossFireX/SLI)
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - DVI, HDMI, 2 x mDP - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 150Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Windows 10 Upgrade
FREE Upgrade to Windows 10 with all Windows 7 & Windows 8.1 Purchases*
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 10 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE
Keyboard & Mouse
Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000
Mouse
Razer® Deathadder Chroma Gaming Mouse - 10000dpi
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1


Thanks in advance.
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
I would not get an amd CPU for your budget.

Case
InWIN GT1 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z97-P: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980 - 1 DVI, 1 HDMI, 3 DP - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£69)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
60cm White LED Strip (£10) - To Compliment The Colours of Your Case
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,079.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-haswell-pc/GFJI2pxQuk/
 

kenrow

Member
Thanks for the comments. I have taken them on board and made a couple of changes and reposted in a new thread. Please let me know what you think thanks.
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Thanks for the comments. I have taken them on board and made a couple of changes and reposted in a new thread. Please let me know what you think thanks.

You don't need to open a new thread, if it is for the same system you get better feedback by sticking to your original thread to avoid others repeating similar comments
 

kenrow

Member
You don't need to open a new thread, if it is for the same system you get better feedback by sticking to your original thread to avoid others repeating similar comments

OK Keynes :eek: I have amended the original to take on board your advice and made a few changes to keep within my budget. The main change is the graphics card. I've changed down to the 970 because it should be enough to cover my needs (performance and purse); upgraded the case; added an ssd card and separate storage and put a couple more fans in for top of case; more power to cover future upgrades, like a second card. This keeps the price below £1000 and leaves me room to get a couple of peripherals. I'm looking forward to hearing what your thoughts are. Thanks in advance.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R5 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z97-P: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - 2 x DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD BLACK WD2003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
You can't add a 2nd gpu , your motherboard and psu do not support it. Adding chassis fans are not required as long as you have a decent case, preferably non-quiet case that offer better coolong and more suited for gaming. The v300 ssd has performance issues. If you don't plan to add a 2nd gpu the motherboard and psu are fine, if you are thinking of adding one you will need to upgrade those which will increase the price since significantly, a better option would be to have a stronger single gpu like the gtx 980 or amd 390x
 

kenrow

Member
You can't add a 2nd gpu , your motherboard and psu do not support it. Adding chassis fans are not required as long as you have a decent case, preferably non-quiet case that offer better coolong and more suited for gaming. The v300 ssd has performance issues. If you don't plan to add a 2nd gpu the motherboard and psu are fine, if you are thinking of adding one you will need to upgrade those which will increase the price since significantly, a better option would be to have a stronger single gpu like the gtx 980 or amd 390x

Edit to previous message:
I've made changes as per your advice - hopefully ;) Please let me know if it's OK. One thing I have noticed about the case I have chosen, the Fractal Design R5, is that the sound-proofing door obstructs both front facing fans included with the case. Will this cause an issue with airflow, and consequently affect the systems cooling? Apologies for any confusion caused by post order.

Thanks again.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R5 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z97-P: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ R9 390 - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 12, Eyefinity
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD BLACK WD2003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 10 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
A quiet case compromise on cooling to lower noise, the amd 390 (reference) also runs quite hot so you could benefit from a gaming case.
 

kenrow

Member
A quiet case compromise on cooling to lower noise, the amd 390 (reference) also runs quite hot so you could benefit from a gaming case.
Thanks. I will probably go for the Corsair 230T Compact Gaming Case. Thanks again to all of the help and advice to my posts.
 

kenrow

Member
Please consider this second build I've put together based around AMD. Firstly on it's own merit and secondly how you think it compares with the Intel based build earlier. Budget is same (£1050) and for gaming. Thanks again for any comments.

Case
CORSAIR 230T COMPACT GAMING CASE - RED LED
Processor (CPU)
AMD A4-6300 Dual Core APU (3.7GHz) & Radeon™ HD 8370D Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® A68HM PLUS FM2+ (M-ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X FURY DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ R9 390X - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 12, Eyefinity
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD BLACK WD2003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe AMD CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 10 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Mouse
Razer® Deathadder Chroma Gaming Mouse - 10000dpi
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
It is unbalanced. There is a reason why an Intel CPU was suggested for your budget. An apu CPU (A4-6300) is not suitable for gaming with a dedicated gpu and it is likely to bottleneck your gpu especially for more CPU bound games.
 

kenrow

Member
It is unbalanced. There is a reason why an Intel CPU was suggested for your budget. An apu CPU (A4-6300) is not suitable for gaming with a dedicated gpu and it is likely to bottleneck your gpu especially for more CPU bound games.

Thanks for the reply Keynes. As you can probably detect by now, I'm no expert :eek: in the technicalities of computer architecture and am grateful for all the help you and the community are providing; it's very much appreciated. Can anyone suggest an AMD core build centred around the R9 390X (motherboard, cooler etc,), suitable for quality gaming for a budget of a £1000? Maybe it can't be done, I don't know! Or, am I best just to go intel?
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Thanks for the reply Keynes. As you can probably detect by now, I'm no expert :eek: in the technicalities of computer architecture and am grateful for all the help you and the community are providing; it's very much appreciated. Can anyone suggest an AMD core build centred around the R9 390X (motherboard, cooler etc,), suitable for quality gaming for a budget of a £1000? Maybe it can't be done, I don't know! Or, am I best just to go intel?

Same as the specs previously posted but with the 390x replaced. i5 and so on, you can modify the previous specs by clicking on the url link
 

kenrow

Member
Same as the specs previously posted but with the 390x replaced. i5 and so on, you can modify the previous specs by clicking on the url link

Yes, I've just done that and it takes me over budget too much and can't justify it. You see my problem is bang for buck. "Like everyone's" I hear you say and that's the rub alas! I would like to settle for the GTX 970, not only because of the seeming stability and driver support with it but also the increased power consumption and heat generation of the AMD cards. I know my last build suffered from this due to an AMD card and don't really want to go there. So in a nutshell that's my predicament! The other factor is the gaming style that goes on in this household. I'm not a driving aficionado and suck at FPS! No, I'm an mmorpg kind of guy and so is my daughter. We play GW2, ESOUT, Dragon Age and WOW. And although these games can tolerate lower performance rigs I want the best I can get for my money and they can be quite demanding on high settings. So, maybe there are some words of wisdom to help me solve this. I hope so :eek:

Whatever, I will be choosing pcspecialist to build my rig and will be ordering soon. Thanks again.
 

kenrow

Member
I am going to be using my existing monitor - an Asus LCD P225HQ - and I will probably need either an adapter or new lead to connect to it. It has DVI 1 connections which I believe are not compatible with the GTX 970 card. Can anyone tell me whether I will need an adapter and what kind or if there is a lead that can be purchased to connect the two?
IMG_0009_0492_2.jpg IMG_0012_0495_2.jpg

NB I have posted this query in Technical Help under Peripherals and haven't had any reply so thought maybe someone here can. Sorry if I've broken etiquette.
 
Last edited:

kenrow

Member
OK I have finally placed my order for my new desktop (spec below). I want to thank everyone who helped with advice and made this experience a very pleasant one and much more so than my last desktop purchase.

Case
CORSAIR 230T COMPACT GAMING CASE - RED LED
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z97-P: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - DVI, HDMI, mDP - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk
500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD BLACK WD2003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 10 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE
Cable Tidy
PCS 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1
 

GeorgeHillier

Prolific Poster
OK I have finally placed my order for my new desktop (spec below). I want to thank everyone who helped with advice and made this experience a very pleasant one and much more so than my last desktop purchase.

Case
CORSAIR 230T COMPACT GAMING CASE - RED LED
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z97-P: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - DVI, HDMI, mDP - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk
500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD BLACK WD2003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 10 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE
Cable Tidy
PCS 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

How much did it come to? Looks good, only think I'd ask is why the 500GB SSD?
 
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