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Sharlaw

New member
Afternoon everyone.

I've been saving for a while and almost have enough to build myself a half decent machine.

I've been surviving on a work laptop for the last few years since my old system died, and am having serious gaming withdrawal.

This will be a multi purpose rig. For gaming, movies and work (vm's etc)

I've got half a spec worked out, it is missing the mobo, cpu and memory, since with the new gen intels coming out I wanted to see how things were then. I have just over 1k for the build in total.

Will need everything but keyboard (got an old G15 Logiteach), OS, and storage. Thanks to some very generous friends I have a 256Gb OCZ Vertex 4, a Crucial M4 128Gb, and a 2Tb Green SATA HD.

So to the build:

GPU: MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition

Monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2312HM 23" Widescreen LED Monitor

PSU: Seasonic X-Series 650w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply

CPU Cooling: Corsair Hydro H100i

Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D

Mouse: Logitech G400

Wireless: Asus PCE-N15

My main questions on this build are:
1) Is this any good? (vague I know and difficult to answer with the missing bits but any advice is welcome)

2) *Removed due to stupid question :P

3) Is the monitor any good? (I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to the monitors, I pretty much went with price and versatility when it comes to connectors.)

4) PSU, Again is this ok? I've done a fair bit of reading but always good to get double checked but those in the know. I hear they're good solid PSU's and wanted to go fully modular to again keep things nice and tidy.

So over to you guys/gals/notsure. Rip away, just remember that price is a factor as this has been years of scrimping and saving.

Edit: Changed case for the 650D it's a few more pennies but I think worth the investment. Removed associated stupid Q2
 
Last edited:
Sharlaw said:
Afternoon everyone.

I've been saving for a while and almost have enough to build myself a half decent machine.

I've been surviving on a work laptop for the last few years since my old system died, and am having serious gaming withdrawal.

This will be a multi purpose rig. For gaming, movies and work (vm's etc)

I've got half a spec worked out, it is missing the mobo, cpu and memory, since with the new gen intels coming out I wanted to see how things were then. I have just over 1k for the build in total.

Will need everything but keyboard (got an old G15 Logiteach), OS, and storage. Thanks to some very generous friends I have a 256Gb OCZ Vertex 4, a Crucial M4 128Gb, and a 2Tb Green SATA HD.

So to the build:

GPU: MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition

Monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2312HM 23" Widescreen LED Monitor

PSU: Seasonic X-Series 650w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply

CPU Cooling: Corsair Hydro H100i

Case: CM Storm Scout II

Mouse: Logitech G400

Wireless: Asus PCE-N15

My main questions on this build are:
1) Is this any good? (vague I know and difficult to answer with the missing bits but any advice is welcome)

2) Will the H100i fit ok in the Storm Scout? I prefer simple looks in cases, full black interior and ones that can be nice and tidy.

3) Is the monitor any good? (I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to the monitors, I pretty much went with price and versatility when it comes to connectors.)

4) PSU, Again is this ok? I've done a fair bit of reading but always good to get double checked but those in the know. I hear they're good solid PSU's and wanted to go fully modular to again keep things nice and tidy.

So over to you guys/gals/notsure. Rip away, just remember that price is a factor as this has been years of scrimping and saving.
Click to expand...



You realise we spend days writing reviews right. Try starting there we've already put a lot of work in to help you out......
 
Thanks for the reply Tom,

Of course, it was the vid on the AIO Watercooling Shootout that convinced me of the H100i.
I'm working my way though the written reviews and videos, and as above I'm adjusting my spec as I go if I think it's warranted.
I just wanted to post this to get some further comment.

Edit: Just to add I've been through some more of the reviews and looks like the case is out as it won't fit the H100i. Thanks for the nudge, missed it first time :)
 
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Look at the reviews and all and then come back with what you like or questions you have. Since you do know a little about hardware make your personal choices before you just ask for ours and you end building a rig we think is best.

Because you do not know much about monitors -this is where we would help- we can advise you to get a 120hz TN panel(looks like shit but fast) or a beautiful built IPS panel which is slower than TN but 100x better quality. IPS In my honest opinion are far more worth it compared to TN despite the reduce speed.
Which res do you want? Need to know that before we can actually advise which to buy.
 
Thanks for the advice NDB gone with your recommendation and stuck with the one I had listed. It's IPS and 1920 x 1080 which should do me fine, and after a while I'll prob get a second one.

1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail
1 x Corsair Dominator PLATINUM 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit
1 x Dell UltraSharp U2312HM 23" Widescreen LED Monitor
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver'
1 x Corsair Vengeance C70 Midi Tower Gaming Case - GunMetal Black
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
1 x Logitech G500 5700DPI Gaming Mouse (910-001262) £39.95
1 x Asus PCE-N15 300Mbps 802.11B/G/N Wireless PCI-E Network Adapter
1 x Corsair SP120 Quiet Series High Pressure Low Noise - Dual Pack
1 x NZXT CB-LED20-BU 24x Blue LED Sleeve
1 x NZXT CB-LED20-WT 24x White LED Sleeve

All in all very happy with the spec. Went all out on the memory but think it's worth it. Went i5 as don't think as I'll get any benefit from the i7, main uses will be gaming and work, running some VM's etc. Loving the case but will most likely replace the window as doubt I'll use the fan points in it.

Going for a black/blue theme, so should look fairly good :)

Just have to sell a kidney or two to top off the funds for it and should be good to go. Any criticisms or advise are welcome.

One main question will the PSU be enough to potentially add a second GPU for crossfire later on?
 
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The I7 should help a little bit in VMs...
The MSI card isn't exactly quiet... I have one and in gaming i can hear it unless it get really into the game and block the world out. I would say mine as well wait a little bit for prices to come down and then grab a 770 or 7970.
C70 IMHO is an ugly case and there are better options for the money.
PSU is good but i only recommend Gold/Plat. rated psus. Please note that you get better effiencey in the Uk than in the US(240volt compared to 110v).
 
I'll do some reading and see if I can see how much the i7 may help, roughly £85 more for the i7 4770K so will see what I can dig up.
How long ago did you get that card, as I believe there is a new revision out where they've fixed some of the fan and fan control issues out.
I'll hit the lists of PSU's and see what I can find.

Thanks for the advice again. It's much appreciated.
All in all I think I'm gonna end up spending around £1500 on this so want to get as good as I can.
 
Sharlaw said:
I'll do some reading and see if I can see how much the i7 may help, roughly £85 more for the i7 4770K so will see what I can dig up.
How long ago did you get that card, as I believe there is a new revision out where they've fixed some of the fan and fan control issues out.
I'll hit the lists of PSU's and see what I can find.

Thanks for the advice again. It's much appreciated.
All in all I think I'm gonna end up spending around £1500 on this so want to get as good as I can.
Click to expand...

I have the good card. It's loud above 50 and annoying above 60. at 70 it's terrible.

Mine as well stay with Ivy if Haswell doesn't have any more benefit to you.
 
Cool I shall do some checking up on those points. I'd imagine it will be a few weeks before the benefits of haswell in different applications becomes apparent. Who knows maybe in additional stepping releases they may sort out some of the heat problems as well, but that may not be all that relevant in my case, although I will be trying to overclock a bit.
 
Yeah that's one reason I went for the H100i

Beyond that I'd assume the next step is a dedicated watercooling setup.
 
That's what you will need to OC on haswell. At a certain point in volts temps will skyrocket no matter what unless under LN2 or other sub zero cooling.
 
PSU wise why not go for something like a Corsair AX760, you can pick one of those up for around £130, or if you can't stretch that far and want to stay with XFX, why not the 750W Pro Balck Edition, it is fully modular over the semi-modular of the xxx edition and is 80 plus gold not 80 plus silver? And they are around £100, If it were me i would spend the extra cash to get a power supply i know is going to last, like the AX760, and with that there is plenty of room to add another GPU for crossfire!!

Also im guessing you are getting the SP120 fans for push pull on the h100i, because if you were getting them to replace the ones that come in the box it would be a waste of money as the ones in the box are sp120 just without the coloured rings!! just a thought.
 
Right, I've dropped the LED's and fans. I can add things like those down the road if they're really needed. But they're not as critical to the build.

I've also decided to change the PSU to the Corsair AX860i it's a bit of a step up but I think worth it considering just how important the PSU is.

My only think really with a ?? against it is the GPU, I'm happy with the 7950 but just not sure on the brand.
There seems to be a lot of different aspects to picking the brand.
RMA procedure (uk based or not)
Manufacturers warranty (2/3 years)
Speed (some are clocked slightly higher etc)
Build quality (Noise from fans and general brand quality)
Not necessarily in that order.
I'm sure this is one of those things that's fairly personal. But for a guy who's last GPU was an AGP Asus v9999GE (yes that's how long ago I built my last pc lol) I've not had the experience to form an opinion of the manufacturers that are available as many things have changed since then. So any suggestions on which 7950 to go for?
 
Sharlaw said:
Right, I've dropped the LED's and fans. I can add things like those down the road if they're really needed. But they're not as critical to the build.

I've also decided to change the PSU to the Corsair AX860i it's a bit of a step up but I think worth it considering just how important the PSU is.

My only think really with a ?? against it is the GPU, I'm happy with the 7950 but just not sure on the brand.
There seems to be a lot of different aspects to picking the brand.
RMA procedure (uk based or not)
Manufacturers warranty (2/3 years)
Speed (some are clocked slightly higher etc)
Build quality (Noise from fans and general brand quality)
Not necessarily in that order.
I'm sure this is one of those things that's fairly personal. But for a guy who's last GPU was an AGP Asus v9999GE (yes that's how long ago I built my last pc lol) I've not had the experience to form an opinion of the manufacturers that are available as many things have changed since then. So any suggestions on which 7950 to go for?
Click to expand...

That all sounds good, for your 7950 i would either go with the XFX or Gigabyte, i believe they both have 2 yr warranties and they both in my opinion will serve you well they both have the same clock speed at 900mhz. both are well build, but i do not have first hand experience just going of what people say. Hope that helps!!

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-...900mhz-1792-cores-dual-link-dvi-i-hdmi-mdp-pl

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-...hz-gddr5-900mhz-1792-cores-hdmi-mini-dpplusfr
 
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