general advice on my spec.

stemar965

Member
Hi all, first post here so greetings to one and all.

I've configured the below spec for a pc which will ultimately be mostly used for gaming with some basic 3D rendering in photoshop which i know won't be at all taxing at the level i'm competent at. I'm mostly happy with the spec though have some questions regards overkill on certain components:

  • Case
    COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
  • Overclocked CPU
    Overclocked Intel® Core™i5-4670k Quad Core (3.40GHz @ max 4.20GHz)
  • Motherboard
    ASUS® Z87-A: ATX, USB2.0, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE
  • Memory
    8GB KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
  • Graphics Card
    2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 770 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready Memory
  • 1st Hard Disk
    240GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
  • 2nd Hard Disk
    1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB 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 (£89)
  • Processor Cooling
    Corsair H80i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
  • Thermal Paste
    ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
  • 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
    MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
  • Power Cable
    1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
  • Operating System
    Genuine Windows 8 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
  • 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
    STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
  • Build Time
    Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

I've chosen the upgraded mobo as if i ever decide to change the gfx card i then have the option of either brand should i decide to go duel, is this a worthwhile investment?

The memory i've selected is the 2400mhz version, what would be the advantage in doing so;is there going to be any noticeable gains over the hyperX genesis 1600mhz? I'm not going to try my hand at over clocking (hence buying ready overclocked) so wonder if that would be the only reason for going 2400?

I'm happy with my HDD choices, i only need the 1Tb drive as i have a readynas duo 2tb setup at home with all my media etc on there. The 240gb SSD will host the OS as well as the few games i play.

The power supply. I've chosen to go with a slightly more powerful PSU as should i ever intend to go SLi i don't need to worry that the power demand is too great for the 650W. Again i ask is that a sensible option?

I've chosen the slightly more expensive corsair H80i, not really sure why to be honest, i just assumed that perhaps PCS may get a little more overclocking out of the CPU and it would also help keep other components a little cooler by removing a tad more ambient heat from the case. worth it or not?

I'll be playing BF4 when it's released and more than likely rising storm asap. My monitor at the mo is a 19" sync master 930BF running at 1280x1024 so would assume (bl**dy hope) that i could run those games at highest settings on that though would be interested to hear what you guys think i will be able to run them on a full HD 23" monitor in the future?

Thanks again for any feedback, it's a big investment for me so want to get it as right as possible at the outset.

be lucky.
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
I've chosen the upgraded mobo as if i ever decide to change the gfx card i then have the option of either brand should i decide to go duel, is this a worthwhile investment?
Any motherboard in the configurator allows you to add either an AMD/Nvidia gpu, the one you selected supports SLI (adding a 2nd GTX 770)
The memory i've selected is the 2400mhz version, what would be the advantage in doing so;is there going to be any noticeable gains over the hyperX genesis 1600mhz? I'm not going to try my hand at over clocking (hence buying ready overclocked) so wonder if that would be the only reason for going 2400?
I have read of some instability issues when running at 2400mhz, the gain in performance is also minimal.
I've chosen the slightly more expensive corsair H80i, not really sure why to be honest, i just assumed that perhaps PCS may get a little more overclocking out of the CPU and it would also help keep other components a little cooler by removing a tad more ambient heat from the case. worth it or not?
I got the h80i and is a great cooler.

I'll be playing BF4 when it's released and more than likely rising storm asap. My monitor at the mo is a 19" sync master 930BF running at 1280x1024 so would assume (bl**dy hope) that i could run those games at highest settings on that though would be interested to hear what you guys think i will be able to run them on a full HD 23" monitor in the future?
If you are planning to game in your current monitor the gpu is overkill. BF4 has not yet been released so it is difficult to tell how your spec will handle it but I'd expect it to run it at max settings.
The power supply. I've chosen to go with a slightly more powerful PSU as should i ever intend to go SLi i don't need to worry that the power demand is too great for the 650W. Again i ask is that a sensible option?
If you are planning to SLI the PSU is fine, probably 850w PSU to have more room for upgrades.
 
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