First gaming pc... 2nd attempt!

[Grimezy]

So I posted a few days ago with a proposed build but wasn't entirely happy with it. I've rethought my approach now and come up with the below. What I would like to know is:

1) Is the case sufficient enough for my build?
2) Is getting the standard Samsung RAM better than going for the Corsair Vengeance ones?
3) In my original build, I opted towards the AMD 7870 2gb GPU. I'm a little bit put off by it now and wondered whether the GTX 660 Ti 2GB is a better investment or whether I'm purely paying more money for the brand name?
4) Should I get the 500gb Cavier drive or would I be better off with a 1TB standard drive? I have a 2TB external hard drive at home that my girlfriend's dad gave to me so I assume I'd be okay storage wise.
5) I opted for Dual Band Wireless as I will not be able to plug my pc in with an ethernet cable. Would I be better with a homeplug or will the dual band wireless work fine? I've heard homeplugs have problems...
6) Are my cooling and power supply suitable?
7) Is it good value for money and will it last be a few years playing fairly top end games?
8) Finally! I'm planning to use my computer through a 32 inch 1080p Hitachi LCD. I will mainly be using it for various FPS's and Strategy/MMORPG's, will this tv be suitable or will I really suffer by not using a monitor? Obviously I want to browse the web and watch videos still, etc but my main use will be gaming.

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
DUAL-BAND WIRELESS 802.11N 450Mbps PCI-E CARD (£35)
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 w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NORTON ANTI-VIRUS 2013 - 1 Year Licence for 1 PC (£9) *SPECIAL*
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 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £940.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/Wa2frxSFt_/

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you! Who knew choosing a pc could be so stressful!

Please feel free to tell me if I'm going overboard with anything or whether I can make any cutbacks/improvements.

 

[keynes]

1) Yes
2) For gaming no noticeable difference between 1333mhz and 1600mhz.
3) The GTX 660 ti should perform better than the HD 7870
4) A caviar black will be faster than a standard hdd
5) I have experienced problems with a wireless card, I have a pair of homeplugs and I find them more reliable.
6) Yes
7) I think it is, what is your budget? you could consider upgrading to a motherboard that supports SLI.
8) I use my tv for gaming occassionally and I find it ok, I do prefer to use my monitor for more intensive sessions but I think it depends on the resolution of the tv as well as the response time.

 

[Grimezy]

1) Yes
2) For gaming no noticeable difference between 1333mhz and 1600mhz.
3) The GTX 660 ti should perform better than the HD 7870
4) A caviar black will be faster than a standard hdd
5) I have experienced problems with a wireless card, I have a pair of homeplugs and I find them more reliable.
6) Yes
7) I think it is, what is your budget? you could consider upgrading to a motherboard that supports SLI.
8) I use my tv for gaming occassionally and I find it ok, I do prefer to use my monitor for more intensive sessions but I think it depends on the resolution of the tv as well as the response time.

Thanks mate! I was hoping you'd reply!

I don't really have a budget, I have about £1000 to spend at the moment but I was trying not to spend that much if possible. I have quite a healthy income at the moment so if there was a component that took me over budget that was crucial it wouldn't take me long to save for it. Obviously I don't want to be spending silly money on a first gaming pc though!

Am I right in thinking SLI is using multiple screens? I also noticed some motherboards state they are 'WiFi'. Does this mean built in or just a slot to add wifi... Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions!

I'm upgrading from a 5 year old acer aspire laptop so I really shouldn't be worrying so much over it seeing as any pc would beat that laptop but I just don't want to spend £900 on something that isn't right if you know what I mean!

 

[keynes]

SLI is using 2 graphics cards so in your case a 2nd gtx 660 ti, it doesn't have to be with more than 1 screen but it is sometimes a cheaper alternative to add a 2nd GPU later on than purchasing a more recent one. The P8Z77-V has wifi built in so you wouldn't need a wireless card.

 

[Grimezy]

SLI is using 2 graphics cards so in your case a 2nd gtx 660 ti, it doesn't have to be with more than 1 screen but it is sometimes a cheaper alternative to add a 2nd GPU later on than purchasing a more recent one. The P8Z77-V has wifi built in so you wouldn't need a wireless card.

Hmmm that's quite interesting then... I may have to consider going for the next motherboard up even though I imagine it will get me very close to the £1000 limit, if not over!

Do you enjoy having a high spec pc or has it just turned into a money pit that you can't get out of? :L I assume you use yours for gaming?

 

[keynes]

I'm upgrading from a 5 year old acer aspire laptop so I really shouldn't be worrying so much over it seeing as any pc would beat that laptop but I just don't want to spend £900 on something that isn't right if you know what I mean!

I understand, it took me a while to get the right configuration for my budget as well. It depends on what sort of games you are planning to play and the frames per second you are expecting. For around £1000 I'd go with the GTX 670 with the choice to SLI, the gtx 670 is going to max most games at high/ultra settings but if you wish to keep it under £1000 you could just go with the GTX 660 ti.


Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£86)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
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 w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
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 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,014.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/y2b9Lov65U/

or

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
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 w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
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 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £942.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/KqPCxzeBjH/

Do you enjoy having a high spec pc or has it just turned into a money pit that you can't get out of? :L I assume you use yours for gaming?

I do it is awesome and I am really glad I found PCS, very happy with the service. I use it for gaming most of the time and after purchasing the tower I have not spent much on it, just enjoying it so far.

 

[Grimezy]

I understand, it took me a while to get the right configuration for my budget as well. It depends on what sort of games you are planning to play and the frames per second you are expecting. For around £1000 I'd go with the GTX 670 with the choice to SLI, the gtx 670 is going to max most games at high/ultra settings but if you wish to keep it under £1000 you could just go with the GTX 660 ti.
View attachment 2198

See this is my problem, my budget is quite flexible and a part of me thinks I might as well spend the extra £100 or so on the GTX 670 but then a part of me thinks that the pc is already a ridiculous price considering it doesn't have 4 wheels and that I personally won't see much of a different between the 660 Ti and the 670. But then I hate buying things if I know that they're already outperformed by something similar :L I just know that the games I'll probably end up putting the most time into will be the ones that require any dual core processor on the market, 500mb of ram and an integrated graphics card! And then I'll be using a machine that isn't being fully utilised.

I assume in the future SLI will become a pretty standard option to most gamers so I wouldn't want to miss out on it so I may go for your first build with a couple of extras i.e. a homeplug, norton security. The price comes out at £1,042 inc. vat but I'm sure I can find a discount code somewhere. That should give me a pretty beasty machine if I go for it won't it?

 

[keynes]

I assume in the future SLI will become a pretty standard option to most gamers so I wouldn't want to miss out on it so I may go for your first build with a couple of extras i.e. a homeplug, norton security. The price comes out at £1,042 inc. vat but I'm sure I can find a discount code somewhere. That should give me a pretty beasty machine if I go for it won't it?

A beast indeed

 

[Grimezy]

A beast indeed

Not compared to yours xD