# Buying Soon, Final Checks... Please Help :)



## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

I had a previous thread regarding my build ideas but due to financial issues had to postpone the dream of building myself a new computer  

But now, you'll all be happy to know, i am ready and willing to fork out the necessary cash to realize my build. 

All i need to know before i do this, is that I'm not buying anything stupid or have any bottle-necks in my system... and generally any other advice regarding my system is greatly appreciated. 

All the components are in the 'ebuyer' list below \/

Lists | Ebuyer.com 

Thanks All..


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

You don't want an OCZ PSU.

Stick with XFX or Seasonic for the PSU for top quality and a 650W will do just fine.

I personally would change the monitor to somthing like Samsung, Asus, LG, Acer.

The rest looks fine to me.


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Alright will do, thanks for your advice


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Ebuyer doesn't seem to stock much stuff in the way of xfx or seasonic, could you possibly recommend a similar priced alternative to the one on my list. 

After a brief search i came up with this, XFX Core Edition 650W PSU - 80Plus Bronze EasyRail [P1-650S-NLB9] from Overclock.co.uk although i'm not so sure about the company or how reliable they are. 

And with regards to the monitor, what kind of size will i be able to go up to? could i manage a 24" like this? LG E2442TC-BN 24" LED LCD DVI Monitor | Ebuyer.com

Thanks


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## Vadigor (Apr 19, 2009)

I'll second masterchief. The XFX is indeed a better choice. Another alternative is the Seasonic 620. It may be cheaper elsewhere as overclock.co.uk only has the modular version apparently.

That list doesn't include an optical drive, I assume you're reusing one from a previous build?

EDIT: As far as monitors go, the size is a matter of preference. Most monitors in the 20-24" range should run at the standard HD resolution of 1920 by 1080 so there shouldn't be a difference in frame rate if that's what you're asking.


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Yea I'll go for an XFX or your recommended PSU... So is Overclock.co.uk a trusted distributor then? and what do you mean by the 'modular' version? sorry my tech knowledge is somewhat limited. 

Regarding the optical drive that was just me being an idiot and forgetting about it, although once I've installed the operating system (if i even need a drive for that), then i cant imagine I'll have much use for one, so may just get a blue ray drive at a later date.

And yes that was pretty much what i was asking about the monitors, i just wanted to make sure my system wasn't going to struggle to put a HD image on the screen due to weird ratios or to big a screen etc..

Thanks


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Either PSU will do.

A 24" Monitor is nice, I currenty own one. And once you get a big monitor you'll never go back to a small one :grin:


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The XFX PSU is the better bang for buck and is made by SeaSonic.
Modular refers to more individual cabling to make a neater install.
You can never go wrong with Samsung monitors for quality/support. Acer & Asus are also good.


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## Vadigor (Apr 19, 2009)

easyaddy said:


> Yea I'll go for an XFX or your recommended PSU... So is Overclock.co.uk a trusted distributor then?


I couldn't say as I haven't used the site before, I just used it because you linked to it. I personally use Amazon UK for most everything I order online. Delivery is safe, fast and free and their support is also very decent as you would expect. Unfortunately they don't stock a lot of XFX or Seasonic PSUs.



easyaddy said:


> and what do you mean by the 'modular' version? sorry my tech knowledge is somewhat limited.


Normal PSUs have all power cables hardwired into them. Modular versions allow you to to connect only the cables you need to the PSU, reducing clutter inside the case and this can make cable and airflow management easier. However, you'll also pay a premium as these versions can cost between 20 and 40 pounds more than the regular edition. For you, the normal version is the way to go, unless you find a modular unit for about the same price, as is the case with that overclockers link.



> Regarding the optical drive that was just me being an idiot and forgetting about it, although once I've installed the operating system (if i even need a drive for that), then i cant imagine I'll have much use for one, so may just get a blue ray drive at a later date.


There are ways of converting an OEM disk into a bootable USB drive (link untested) or you can temporarily connect a ODD from another build.


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Are there any threads in this section regarding reputable distributors? If not I'll start one, may be beneficial, (especially for beginners like me). 

Yea ill probably just use an ODD knocking around at work, as you advise. 

Thanks guys, anything else you'd like to add about my build that you think would be good for me to know please go ahead. The one thing I am a bit unsure of is my choice in graphics card, any comments or thoughts regarding the one I've chosen? 

Thanks again.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

easyaddy said:


> Are there any threads in this section regarding reputable distributors?


Scroll to the bottom of the link:
http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...ams-recommended-new-builds-2012-a-668661.html


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## Vadigor (Apr 19, 2009)

easyaddy said:


> Thanks guys, anything else you'd like to add about my build that you think would be good for me to know please go ahead. The one thing I am a bit unsure of is my choice in graphics card, any comments or thoughts regarding the one I've chosen?


I'd suggest the Sapphire HD 7850 as an AMD alternative. It's reported to be slightly weaker than the GTX 660 but I've found it on ebuyer for nearly 30 pound less. With that large of a difference I'd personally go for the 7850, but it's what I have installed in the PC I'm writing this on so I may be biased. 

The AMD comes with free downloads of Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider, the Nvidia you selected offers Assassin's Creed 3 and some F2P cash. It's up to you whether that is something to consider.


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

> I'd suggest the Sapphire HD 7850 as an AMD alternative. It's reported to be slightly weaker than the GTX 660 but I've found it on ebuyer for nearly 30 pound less. With that large of a difference I'd personally go for the 7850


After reading your recommendation I did some research on the two GPU's. The general consensus seems to be that the 660 is better when both are stock clocked, but as soon as you start overclocking then the 7850 surpasses it due to nvidia's strict voltage regulation etc. 

I'm at a loss deciding which one to go for, can anyone offer any advice? 

Cheers

P.s. I wasn't planning on overclocking to be honest but I'm not set against it. But then surely I'd have to fork out money on extra cooling if I was going to start overclocking anyway?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

OC'ing (CPU-RAM-GPU) offers no real world advantages so your decision should be based on the GPU as shipped.


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## Vadigor (Apr 19, 2009)

Overclocking is a waste of time and, if it goes wrong, money. Overclocking a GPU may have more merit than overclocking the CPU, which is generally meaningless, but I wouldn't risk it. But you're right in your analysis. The question that we can't decide for you is whether the 660 better performance is worth 30 pounds to you.

My rationale is that the GTX is 18% more expensive and I can't imagine that the benchmarks put them that far apart when it comes to performance. Considering you're going for a low-budget gamer card, it makes sense to me to save the money. If you pay the extra 30 pounds to get the GTX, it's only another 10 pounds to get the 7870 which will beat it. You can repeat that exercise all the way to the 400 pound level.

If you're happy running next-gen games at high rather than ultra the 7850 will be more than adequate. At least that's what I'm counting on.


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Hmm I see, seems I have a decision to make. 

As we're on the subject of budget, I'm having some problems deciding between these two motherboards. 

gigabyte-ga-z77-d3h

Vs 

gigabyte-ga-z77x-d3h

The first one (z77), as you can see is about £15 cheaper, so I'm wondering if the extra sockets I would get in the z77x are worth the extra cash.

What do you guys think? 

Thanks


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

If you're referring to the extra GPU sockets, absolutely not.


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Well just the extra sockets in general, or any other benefits of the z77x


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Do you need extra sockets?
LAN is onboard, Audio is onboard, one GPU socket is enough.


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

I'm not sure to be honest, maybe not for the components listed in this build, but for future upgrades would i want some of the sockets which aren't available in the z77 but are in the z77x?

Also as i'm not very tech savvy, i'm worried there may be some ability on the z77x which i would wish i had if i got the z77 (if that makes any sense at all)? 



> LAN is onboard, Audio is onboard


here are you saying the z77 has the same LAN and Audio ability as the z77x?

Thanks for help.


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

> If you're happy running next-gen games at high rather than ultra the 7850 will be more than adequate. At least that's what I'm counting on.


Vadigor, are you saying here that with the GTX660 I'd be able to run games in ultra, where as with the 7850 I'd have to drop down to high?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The GTX 660 is barely higher than a 7850 on the GPU ranking charts.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

The only real differences in the two boards are the USB chipsets and the number of PCI-E x16 slots. Other features and the software bundle are identical.

GA-Z77-D3H uses the Etron EJ168 USB chip and supports up to 6 USB 3.0/2.0 ports and up to 10 USB 2.0/1.1 ports. It has 2 x PCI-E x16 slots.
GA-Z77X-D3H uses the VIA VL800 and supports up to 8 USB 3.0/2.0 ports and 6 USB 2.0/1.1 ports. Has 3 PCI-E x16 slots.

It boils down to your £17 buys you two fewer USB ports and nets you two-way SLI/Crossfire at x8/x8. So your decision should really be based on whether or not you think you will ever add a second graphics card.


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Thanks gcavan that's made my decision on the mobo's 

Now just have to decide upon the GPU :s


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Just a quicky... Will an XFX 550w be enough power for this build?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

A good quality 550W PSU is good for the GTX 660. 620W for the 7850.


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## Vadigor (Apr 19, 2009)

easyaddy said:


> Vadigor, are you saying here that with the GTX660 I'd be able to run games in ultra, where as with the 7850 I'd have to drop down to high?


I should have been clearer. In my conclusion I wasn't comparing the 7850 to the GTX660 but rather to the more expensive cards such as the GTX680 or the 7970. As Tyree confirmed, the difference between the 7850 and the 660 is very small and you'd be unlikely to even notice it. The 7850 will run all current games in ultra quality on standard HD resolution. I believe it should also run future games on ultra to high for at least one to two years.

In the end I suggest you go with the 7850. It's powerful, should keep you playing for years and offers the best value-for-money in the gaming range.


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Ahh i see fair enough thanks.

Would someone be able to tell me the difference between these two Hdd's if there are any?
The recommended builds use seagate but everyone seems to be raving about the Wd's... is it the cache size? and if so, is it worth the extra £17? I know it seems trivial but i'm buying the components pretty much now and just want to make sure im saving where i can be. Although still baring in mind that i want speed and quality. Im just too inexperienced and haven't got the knowledge in this department to see when the extra speed or quality is worth the money.

Anyway the two Hdd's are below. 

Wd 500gb Caviar Black 64mb 7200pm 3.5 Inch Desktop.. | Ebuyer.com

vs

Seagate 500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6Gb/s Barracuda Hard.. | Ebuyer.com

cheers


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Either HDD will do just fine.

CPU cache - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Thanks for the quick reply.

So no noticeable performance difference between the two during casual 'computing' and gaming??


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Another thing I'm also confused about at the moment is whether my build will run windows 8 or if i need to get 7, and also whether i need the 32 or 64 bit version? 

if someone could shed some light on this it would be much appreciated, thanks


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

You'll want to buy and run Windows 7 64bit. We don't recommend Windows 8 for desktops.


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## easyaddy (Dec 30, 2012)

Brilliant that's the one i was planning on, Cheers


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

7 is my preference. Get the OEM version to save money.


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## Vadigor (Apr 19, 2009)

You should always get 64 bit these days as 32 will only support a maximum of 4GB of RAM. I suppose W7 versus 8 could be seen as a personal choice, but I think most people would agree that 7 is objectively better than 8 for desktop use. With 8 you get a touch screen interface that you're only likely to find annoying with no other features worth considering. 7 is also likely to be cheaper.

As for the HDDs, as Tyree said the difference will be minimal. You'd be unlikely to notice the difference. Transactions that fill a 16 MB buffer will fill a 64 MB in short order as well.

One thing to note however is that the WD comes with a 5 year warranty, where no warranty info is listed on the Barracuda's product description, which likely means it's only two years. It's probably still not worth the difference in price though unless you have brand preference like me.


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