Spec Check Please

[Mark O]

Hello all, my name is Mark and I'm looking to buy a gaming PC.
I was looking for something that could handle World of Warcraft on "max graphics" setting, with an opportunity to be upgraded in the future.
I've heard some very good things about this site, so what better place to start than at the forums

I've had "my orders" I can spend around £900.

I may be overkilling (or not, I'm not sure ) but this one has got to last me well into the future.

I have a somewhat limited knowledge of computers as you guys will probably tell from the spec list below :-

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-870 Quad Core (2.93GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost

Motherboard
ASUS® P7P55D-E: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™ SUPPORT

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 2GB KIT)

Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS450 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD6400AARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NONE

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply & Case Cooling
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)

Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)

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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Mouse
Logitech® MX™518 Optical Gaming Mouse (£25)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Price (excluding VAT)

£764.26

Price

£898.00

Thank you for your time.

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Meds]

Hey, Welcome to the forums

I have looked through the specification for you and have a couple of suggestions.

- Drop CPU from i7-870 to the i5-760.
- Drop RAM from 8GB Kingston to 4GB Samsung.
- Upgrade Motherboard to P7P55D-E PRO (as this supports Sli).
- Upgrade Graphics Card from 1GB GTS450 to the 1GB GTX460.
- Upgrade the PSU from 450W to Corsair TX650.

In my opinion, this will give you better performance in games and more upgrade potential. With this spec, you can upgrade RAM, Graphics Cards, HDDs without having to worry about Motherboard Support or PSU requirements. Right now, you really don't need 8GB RAM so best to spend the cash elsewhere, Something like this;

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost
Motherboard
ASUS® P7P55D-E PRO: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™ / SLI SUPPORT
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX460 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD6400AARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
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 & Case Cooling
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£76)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Mouse
Logitech® MX™518 Optical Gaming Mouse (£25)
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 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £897.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Mark O]

Thats brilliant, so much PC for less than £900. I can't believe it
I shall be placing my order very soon. Thank you very much for the quick response.

 

[Mark O]

One more question about the setup and not at all technical really lol. I chose the WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16), but would it still come with the ethernet socket to plug in directly? Given the option, I'd rather have ethernet connection over wireless but both would be great.

Thanks

Mark

 

[Nemesis]

Enjoy your new PC my setup is pretty similar. about your ethernet question the ethernet socket is on the motherboard so you shouldnt have to worry.
Ill need someone to back me up on this but im fairly sure itll work even with the wireless card installed. Physically it will be there though : )

 

[Phoenix]

As Nemesis said, you'll have both. The wireless card will slot into an empty PCI slot on the motherboard and the ethernet port will still be available on the back of the case.

 

[Mark O]

Excellent, thank you both very much

Hey Nemesis, I just read your sig, it's pretty much the same as mine apart from the hard drive do you play WoW? If so, how well does it cope with it?

Thanks

 

[Nemesis]

Im afraid i dont play wow. personally im into older games.... and Call of duty and it handles everything great. This is me talking when i own a gts450 GPU and you own a gtx460 which is considerably better so.... the only limit i can imagine you facing would be your internets speed : P

 

[Mark O]

Thanks, I am one of the lucky ones. I live a stones throw (litterally) from the telephone exchange. I get around 19meg download and 1meg upload. So, hopefully I'll have a PC with fast internet to match. Just waiting for pay day to put my order in.

 

[Len]

what ISP you with mark?

 

[Mark O]

I'm with sky at the moment. I wanted to go with BE unlimited but they're not available in my area

Also, while I'm impatiently waiting for pay day, I've been fidling around on the build page and noticed something. For an extra £8, instead of the 640gb caviar green hdd I could have the 640gb caviar black, but whats the difference? I read in another thread that the black loads windows 7 quicker, is that the only difference?

Thanks