It's That Time Again

[Tom DWC]

So as much as I love my laptop which is pretty much a desktop replacement and still offers very good performance, I miss owning a desktop.

The old rig from a few years back is still going strong but I retired it to a family member with less taxing needs because the AMD 1090T was beginning to struggle.

Anyway looking at this at the moment, which is my "ideal" build and I'll probably spend the next few days trying to talk myself down on quite a few areas. But that probably won't happen.

I will add a second hard drive and a disc drive in due course but I really can't stretch the budget another penny at the moment and I don't want to sacrifice anything else. I know a fair few bits are overkill but I'm going for the look as much as anything else.

No need for a copy of Windows as I can get one for free with a DreamSpark Premium account which my Uni gives me access to (apparently). I hope this is true.

The mouse and keyboard aren't set in stone at all, need to do some homework, so any suggestions there would be greatly appreciated. I like old school keyboards with a definitive click and a lot of feedback, not the modern flat styles ones with a lot of spacing, which is why I like the look of these mechanical ones.

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN ARC MIDI R2 MID-TOWER CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-3770k Quad Core (3.50GHz @ max 4.60GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH Z77: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE METRO: LAST LIGHT GAME with GTX 660 & UPWARDS GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W PRO SERIES™ HX750-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR (£119)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H40 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£39)
Extra Case Fans
2 x 12CM Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof) (£9)
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
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2773HDS-GB1 27" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD1920x1080 (£229)
Keyboard & Mouse
CM Storm Quick Fire Pro Keyboard - Red CHERRY MX Switches (£72)
Mouse
ROCCAT™ Lua – Tri-Button Gaming Mouse (£25)
Gaming Mouse Pad
SteelSeries QcK Mini Gaming Mouse Pad (£7)
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: £1,569.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-1155-overclocked/ctmwoJh_03/

*I know Haswell is nearly out but I really can't be bothered to wait and the performance gains on Intel's new chips are hardly what they used to be, and really not fussed about the boosted HD graphics.

 

[keynes]

Nice rig
I would upgrade the cpu cooler to the h60 or h80 and take out the additional case fans.

 

[Tom DWC]

Nice rig
I would upgrade the cpu cooler to the h60 or h80 and take out the additional case fans.

Cheers.

Sounds good, will bump it up to the H60.

 

[mgsolidus]

No need for a copy of Windows as I can get one for free with a DreamSpark Premium account which my Uni gives me access to (apparently). I hope this is true.

Message me if you can't get one, I'll get you a copy of Windows 8 from MSDN.

The mouse and keyboard aren't set in stone at all, need to do some homework, so any suggestions there would be greatly appreciated. I like old school keyboards with a definitive click and a lot of feedback, not the modern flat styles ones with a lot of spacing, which is why I like the look of these mechanical ones.

I know of a couple which aren't on here,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perixx-PX-2...qid=1367761831&sr=8-1&keywords=perixx+px+2000 - what I have, highly recommend. The MX-2000 mouse is really nice as well.

The Roccat peripherals are awesome too.

 

[olafgarten]

Message me if you can't get one, I'll get you a copy of Windows 8 from MSDN.

this is against the MSDN terms and conditions. MSDN should only be used for development and testing!

See Here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/cc150618.aspx

 

[Tom DWC]

I know of a couple which aren't on here,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perixx-PX-2...qid=1367761831&sr=8-1&keywords=perixx+px+2000 - what I have, highly recommend. The MX-2000 mouse is really nice as well.

The Roccat peripherals are awesome too.

Thanks for this, will definitely check those out!

this is against the MSDN terms and conditions. MSDN should only be used for development and testing!

See Here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/cc150618.aspx

Was only intending to get it from here, AFAIK it's okay to do so - http://e5.onthehub.com/WebStore/Pro...led=1&pc=0dafd5cd-4c09-e011-bed1-0030487d8897

"You must be a member of an academic institution to qualify for ordering academically discounted software. The academic software discounts offered on this WebStore are not for the general public. You will be requested to provide proof of your academic affiliation during the registration process in order to take advantage of the academic pricing available for students and educators."

 

[Tom DWC]

Right ordered this morning!

Decided to treat myself and go for fast track for the first time since it's my B'Day. So hope to have this baby sometime early next week, will of course review and take lots of pics.

The Fractal case was out of stock which is a bit of a shame but I really like this Corsair one too so it doesn't really matter. Might have to try and get hold of the windowed side panel for it at some point though.

Good call on the cooling keynes, it got me looking at benchmarks and I can't say I'd ever noticed how much hotter Ivy runs over Sandy. I don't do much folding anymore cause of the 'leccy bill but still wouldn't have been happy with lesser cooling having seen the temps.

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 300R COMPACT GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-3770k Quad Core (3.50GHz @ max 4.60GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH Z77: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W PRO SERIES™ HX750-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR (£119)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£59)
Extra Case Fans
2 x 12CM Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof) (£9)
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
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
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) (£5)
Delivery
PCS EXTRA-CARE DIAMOND DELIVERY - MON-FRI, PRE-NOON (£9)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 3 WORKING DAY DISPATCH (£69)
Miscellaneous
FREE METRO: LAST LIGHT GAME with GTX 660 & UPWARDS GPUs!
Quantity
1

Price: £1,315.00 including VAT and delivery.

Gonna go for a 23" Samsung monitor and the Microsoft X3 and X4 Sidewinder to go with and get the additional drives in at a later date. Now gonna be like a little kid at Christmas for the next few days, very excited!

 

[Dr_Jameo]

Mmm, tasty. I'm assuming this is for light use of Word, as you're a student with no time for gaming?

 

[Tom DWC]

Mmm, tasty. I'm assuming this is for light use of Word, as you're a student with no time for gaming?

Absolutely! Just for Office, Paint, checking my Emails and the like... :innocent:

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

Haha very nice Tom.

Mine only recently turned 2 but the back of my mind is already whirring with "How to justify a new PC soon" and "3 year cycle...3 year cycle"

 

[vanthus]

Very nice present you got yourself Tom, happy 21st.
By the way your inbox is full.

 

[Tom DWC]

Mine only recently turned 2 but the back of my mind is already whirring with "How to justify a new PC soon" and "3 year cycle...3 year cycle"

Aha I'm sure you'll come up with a reason. I always some how manage to justify the unjustifiable... to myself at least, not anyone else!

Very nice present you got yourself Tom, happy 21st.
By the way your inbox is full.

Cheers vanthus.

Oops, will free up some space.

 

[Rakk]

Mine only recently turned 2 but the back of my mind is already whirring with "How to justify a new PC soon" and "3 year cycle...3 year cycle"

Hehe, I'm doing that currently, mine turns 3 at the end of July, so I've promised myself I'm waiting til at least June before getting a new one - cos that's close enough to count

And yeah Tom, it looks nice.

 

[keynes]

Hehe, I'm doing that currently, mine turns 3 at the end of July, so I've promised myself I'm waiting til at least June before getting a new one - cos that's close enough to count

And yeah Tom, it looks nice.

So I have to wait 3 years to get a new system ?
Have you decided what you are ordering Rakk?
Nice spec Tom

 

[Tom DWC]

Hehe, I'm doing that currently, mine turns 3 at the end of July, so I've promised myself I'm waiting til at least June before getting a new one - cos that's close enough to count

And yeah Tom, it looks nice.

Should be just in time for Haswell then if things go to plan.

 

[Rakk]

So I have to wait 3 years to get a new system ?
Have you decided what you are ordering Rakk?

Yeah, I'm one of those people that doesn't spend money unless it's necessary and until my PC is about 3 years old I can't justify it to myself that I should get a new one. And yes I have decided - i7-3770, gtx670 (770 if its out maybe), 8GB RAM - I'll post a thread closer to the time

Should be just in time for Haswell then if things go to plan.

I was more hoping for the NVidia 700 series (if its not too hideously priced)

Anyways, I wasn't meaning to derail - oops!

 

[Tom DWC]

It's arrived!

Unfortunately it was pretty clear from the minute I opened the box it's had a very rough ride courtesy of DPD, there's a bit of damage (I think only cosmetic). Just finished unboxing it so gonna take a look inside now and if it looks okay see how it runs.

I've taken some pics as I went along so hopefully if everything is okay I can get a full review up later after I've had a good play today.

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

Fingers crossed Tom!

 

[Tom DWC]

It's all good, there's a few scratches towards the back on the bottom and the rear stand has snapped off (much of the protective poloystyrene is cracked and/or in peices so it might have been dropped or taken a knock) but spoken to PCS on the phone and Emailed to arrange for a replacement stand to be sent out so that's a quick fix.

Luckily the internals seem unaffected, been testing it for a few hours on the demo copy of Windows and all was fine.

Off to install Windows and benchmark!

 

[ChrisByatt]

We got pretty similar builds man! This kind of spec is so ridiculously fast compared to what I'm used to - my last pc was an Enigma III with a 520m!

I hope you really really enjoy it like I am!