New build, case advice & component advice needed please

G

Genesius

New member
Hi everyone.

I'm working on a build for a friend. It's a gaming rig so the GPU has to take priority and therefore the majority of the budget.

He has a hard budget of £700 all in.

Going with a 3570k
750w psu (probably a cx750 unless anyone can advise a cheaper alternative that's good)
Unsure on board as yet

But I need a case for it.

It must have good air flow and be able to fit a 240 radiator. I was thinking a CM690 but that's just because I've got one!
£70 is the budget on the case so what options are available? I like the look of the Shinobi but I need to get that rad in there without modifying the case.

Any ideas?

Any input on other components would be great. Am thinking of a GTX 670 but budget and my lack of knowledge of the gpu market are hindering my decisions.
 
I was thinking something like this:

Scan_zps10e310b4.png


Just a tad over budget, but it would be a good setup! MSI have the best z77 boards out there and even the cheaper ones like the G45 will overclock pretty well.

I find that the 200R actually looks quite a bit like a Shinobi, but because it's made by Corsair, it can fit a 240mm rad (H100/H100i)! :)

The SSD is what makes it go over the budget by just a bit, but I do recommend him to keep it. It speeds up the computers boot- and loading times by so much, even if you only have Windows on it (64GB does not leave a lot of space for applications). Also a 1tb 7200RPM storage drive for all his games and files.

7870 overclocked edition to run most current games on high settings (will have to turn games like Far Cry 3 down a bit though) and he'll get 2 free games with it. Also even got a black & blue colour scheme going with that mobo and ram :p

CX750M power supply as it's partly modular, which will help you hide the cables. It's relatively cheap and it can run Crossfire! The mainboard also supports that, so he can add another card later if he wants.

This is done on Scan.co.uk
You might be able to get some parts cheaper on Aria or Overclockers but you'll have to check that yourself. Hope this helped a bit with your decisions :)
 
Haha, those striders even fit the colour scheme pretty well!
I do agree that for this, 500 Watt would be enough but the 750 Watt is in there just so he has to ability to upgrade to Crossfire. If he doesn't need CrossfireX, get a 500 Watt.

Also agreed on the 128GB SSD, but I picked a 64GB as I already went a bit over his budget ;)
 
In my opinion, any gaming rig built today for more than £500 should be using atleast a 7870 Tahiti LE...
Those cards are at such a good price at this moment, you should definately have a look at one...
 
Thanks for all the help.

I think the 200R is the right case
8gb of corsair vengence
i think ill stick to the CX750M, he may want SLI or X-fire in the future and ive never used the Silverstone PSU's.
The MSI MPower looks like a great board (not as good looking as the Sabertooth but he has a tight budget)
i5 3570K

now i need to decide about a GPU, SSD, hard drives & cooling.

I think any SSD is better than a standard hard drive. I run 2 64gb M4's. to be honest they are ok, but the firmware cant be updated under UEFI so mine are a bit slow in terms of SSD's.
I think i could save some money and get a Sandisk 64gb. Not the best but SSD is better thsn no SSD and it saves a little bit.

he already has a 1TB sata so thats not in the budget.

is the 7870 Tahiti LE going to be good enough? the budget sort of dictates i suppose. I wanted to put a 670 in it but i just dont see how for the money.

That Aria deal is brilliant.

Lastly - as if there wasnt enough to squeese from the budget......Water.

He needs water if im going to OC the Ivy Bridge. The stock cooler isnt going to cut it.
Im thinking about getting a used H100 but that leaves no room to cool the GPU in the future. Custom water system i think will be too far out of the budget to get ok'd, but does allow for an upgrade to cool the gpu at a later date. The swiftech isnt out yet and is too expensive.

At a bit of a loss with the water side of it as there isnt much money left and he doesnt want to go with air. So i either lose something, cut back or try and get used bits to build the water system. Cant downgrade the graphics though.

What are your thoughts?
 
I think you want to squeeze too much into the budget. The Mpower is a great board, but not for that budget. Same goes with the 670 or even watercooling!

Besides, things like coolers are things that can be easily replaced later. For now, the stock cooler with no overclock would suffice. It works, that's all you need when you're on a tight budget, same goes for the motherboard.
 
i think you might be right. ill see whats about and pick up a closed loop only if theres enough cash left. He asked, and i am try to do a super build on a budget but you cant have it both ways.

that aria deal is soo good, i just looked at getting one to replace my 560ti but OSX (hackintosh dual boot) doesnt support it so that a bit of a git.

i think the budget can stretch to the M power though. I dont think £150 is too bad for that board the original giga z77xud5h is more as is the sabertooth and they were what i was going to use.

Ill let you all know how i get on.
 
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