Rakks planned new machine!

[Rakk]

So, the time has come, da-da-dah!!!

Time for my new PC, my current PCS machine is about 3 years old and has served me well but is now struggling

So, here is the spec I'm thinking of

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache -the game I spend far too much time benefits massively from a higher clock speed - it only uses one core though
Motherboard
ASUS® Z87-K: ATX, USB2.0, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, XFIRE -not planning on SLI'ing, I've planned on SLI'ing before but never get round to it
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT) -my game is incredibly RAM hungry - I've seen it use upto about 3.5gigs worth, 8GB should be fine (fingers crossed)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 770 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready -new NVidia goodness!!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW) -I really wanted a bigger drive, but well its too expensive, my main game which will benefit from being on the SSD is now 60GB in size (20GB is the beta server copy, 20GB is log files), so I hope 120GB is enough
2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5003AZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm) -already have a 1TB caviar black so 500GB here will be fine
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 (£79) -not going to SLI so this will be fine
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19) -I know something will blow up if I overclock so no overclocking is planned
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
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79) -I don't think I'd like Win8, though admittedly I haven't tried it
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

Price: £1,235.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-haswell-pc/JmTRrUpre6/

If anyone has any comments or suggestions, I'm listening

 

[keynes]

If anyone has any comments or suggestions, I'm listening

Yes, request a discount you work very hard moderating the forum

 

[tom_gr7]

looks sweet rakk

only ways to make it better, K version in case you want to OC mildly in the future.

 

[kruppsy]

The i5 4670 has the same clock (less cache though), and is cheaper..not sure of the turbo boost situation? or is heart set on the i7? Seems like you could knock it down a bit if your gaming is based around a single core.

Im nitpicking...its fruit de la fruit...

 

[Rakk]

The i5 4670 has the same clock (less cache though), and is cheaper..not sure of the turbo boost situation? or is heart set on the i7? Seems like you could knock it down a bit if your gaming is based around a single core.

Yeah, though multiple cores will still be useful for other stuff going on at the same time, including parsing that stupidly verbose log file the game creates with an app I wrote myself that is far from efficient
And I do also play other games

I think I'm set on the i7 to be honest, I've had an i7-930 for the last three years, dropping down to an i5 would feel wrong

 

[kruppsy]

Yeah, owning an i7 already...I couldnt go down a peg...

Pics on arrival please

 

[LFFPicard]

Depending on how long you want this to last I would go for 16GB Ram, I keep saying it and people always disagree but I say 16GB, I under estimated ram last time and regretted it, plus the price of ram is creeping up and will do so for a few years yet.

I would see if you can fit a larger SSD in, half being used by a single game does not leave much for windows and a few applications, as you said you have a 1tb Black anyway maybe drop the 500gb altogether to increase the SSD and drop another HDD in later on.

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

I really want to help as its your Rakky, but I think the best help I can give is to keep quiet about builds and parts and go find some useless pictures/information to post instead

 

[Rakk]

only ways to make it better, K version in case you want to OC mildly in the future.

I did actually think about that, mainly cos the k variant seems to be clocked slightly faster anyway, but that'd push the price up by another 30 quid and its already gone 50 quid over budget during the last week what with the 770 and Haswell

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

And then those 2 words will ring around your noggin...

Fast.Track.Fast.Track.Fast...

 

[Rakk]

And then those 2 words will ring around your noggin...

Fast.Track.Fast.Track.Fast...

Shush you!

 

[vanthus]

Nice build,I have the same case and it's very easy to get access to all the fans etc when doing a spring clean,it also has a very handy HDD docking bay on the top,good choice of graphics card,I'd love to have one of those,enjoy.

 

[tom_gr7]

I did actually think about that, mainly cos the k variant seems to be clocked slightly faster anyway, but that'd push the price up by another 30 quid and its already gone 50 quid over budget during the last week what with the 770 and Haswell

I wish I went for a K version. I think it's worth it, then you have that option to go a bit faster if you require more power in the future or for the sake of having an OC'd I7.

Edit - I also recently added another 8gig of ram. For the sake of it really But its alot better to get 16gb now, than later. Turns out even though i bought the exact same Kingston ram, the later models are slightly different, luckily the 4x 4gb sticks work fine together. So might be worth going for 16gb now, rather than adding another 8gig in the future...

oh yeah, just so you go over your budget a bit more Why not go for the Corsair H60? if you go for the K series that is,

 

[Boozad]

The only things I'd suggest is upping the SSD if you could stretch to it and going for the 'k' version of the CPU. Great spec otherwise.

 

[Wolvo7]

What's that game you keep mentioning? I don't think you've actually named it or did I read too fast?

 

[Rakk]

What's that game you keep mentioning? I don't think you've actually named it or did I read too fast?

Everquest 2 - its an MMORPG - I've been getting 6-12fps in raids recently , its quite old now, but new expansions keep getting released and the newest one causes my current machine issues.
My current machine has an i7-930, 6GB RAM, GTX460 and a lot of sticky dust clogging things up.

I also play a bunch of other games that will benefit from the nice new GTX770 such as Skyrim and things of that ilk.

 

[Wozza63]

Have you tried forcing multi-threading CPU via nvidia control panel under 3D settings, that has helped me improve game performance

 

[Tom DWC]

Looks great Rakk.

The SSD should just about be big enough, though of course it depends how many/if any programs you plan to put on it too. If you do nearly run out of room run command line as admin and disable hibernation (powercfg -h off) which really is pretty useless on a desktop, frees up quite a few extra GB.

 

[Rakk]

Have you tried forcing multi-threading CPU via nvidia control panel under 3D settings, that has helped me improve game performance

No I haven't, I may play with it this weekend, though I'll have to set it for everything since it doesn't recognise EQ2 as an application it can do specific stuff for.

Looks great Rakk.

The SSD should just about be big enough, though of course it depends how many/if any programs you plan to put on it too. If you do nearly run out of room run command line as admin and disable hibernation (powercfg -h off) which really is pretty useless on a desktop, frees up quite a few extra GB.

I can also probably delete the beta server stuff and if I do ever use the beta server, just make sure the beta stuff is on my second drive but keep the main game on the SSD.
I will have all my Steam games on my second drive, I'll try and be good an not install too much on the SSD

Though indecision has now hit me of course, should I try and get a bigger SSD, so, whats the difference between the Intel 520's and the Kingston 3k SSDs, the Kingston ones are cheaper at the bigger sizes, anyone know why the price difference and would I even notice the difference?

 

[kruppsy]

...whats the difference between the Intel 520's and the Kingston 3k SSDs, the Kingston ones are cheaper at the bigger sizes, anyone know why the price difference and would I even notice the difference?

They have very similar R/W speeds, you basically pay a premium for Intel (as is always the case). I doubt you would notice any difference between the two, only benchmarking may show something up.