The PC Build Thread

[sudyP]

What are you going to be using your motherboard for? To put it simply if you are a gamer then the Maximus V Gene would be better for you no doubts about that, but if you're just a casual user the the P8Z77-V Pro would be the best pick for you.

Thanks Duff-Man! A bit of a gamer (not really FPS though). Movies and a bit of number crunching otherwise. What are the key differences between the two - is the Maximus just better for overclocking. My current PC is in need of an upgrade (about 5 years old now) and I am trying to future proof a little too.

[Duff-Man]

Thanks Duff-Man! A bit of a gamer (not really FPS though). Movies and a bit of number crunching otherwise. What are the key differences between the two - is the Maximus just better for overclocking. My current PC is in need of an upgrade (about 5 years old now) and I am trying to future proof a little too.

The key difference between the two boards are the types of features that they offer, with the ASUS Maximus V Gene offering far more overclocking and sound features, and the ASUS P8Z77-V Pro offering features more suited to the average person such as Wi-FI, USB Charging and Anti-Surge protection. Another thing to factor in is that the Maximus V Gene is a micro-atx motherboard and the P8Z77-V Pro is a ATX motherboard. Both motherboards will give you around the same amount of headroom before you need to upgrade again. In the end the choice is up to you, if you are going to game more then the Maximus V Gene is your best option but if you prefer everyday practicality and usability then the P8Z77-V Pro is for you.

[Duff-Man]

Price update will commence soon

[The Bru]

Hi

I am building a gaming rig (on a tight budget ) and wanted an opinion on this build:

Sapphire HD6850 1GB GDDR5 256 Bit PCI-E 2.0 Supports Eyefinity
seagate ST1000DL002 barracuda Green , 1TB/1000gb, Sata3G , Green , 5900rpm , 32mb cache - 2 years warranty
Asus P8Z77-M - all-in-one LGA1155 Intel Z77 DDR3 + CrossfireX
Corsair CX600W 600W Power Supply
2 x Corsair CML4GX3M1A1600C9 Vengeance 4GB DDR3-1600
Coolermaster RC-P100 USP100 - Black with Red Mesh - No PSU
Intel Sandybridge lga1155 i5-2500

--

My budget is R7500, and the above adds up to plus minus R8200.
I was wondering if a 500W PSU will be fine? Anything to bring the price down a bit. Perhaps a cheaper case? Looks are not an issue.

Thanks

[HOLY MAnIAC]

If you are willing to push your budget the better option would be the Gigabyte but for the better price/performance option the ASRock would be the best pick.

Ended up getting the MSI Z77A-GD65 still got to do some tinkering on it but happy with it so far.

[Duff-Man]

Hi

I am building a gaming rig (on a tight budget ) and wanted an opinion on this build:

Sapphire HD6850 1GB GDDR5 256 Bit PCI-E 2.0 Supports Eyefinity
seagate ST1000DL002 barracuda Green , 1TB/1000gb, Sata3G , Green , 5900rpm , 32mb cache - 2 years warranty
Asus P8Z77-M - all-in-one LGA1155 Intel Z77 DDR3 + CrossfireX
Corsair CX600W 600W Power Supply
2 x Corsair CML4GX3M1A1600C9 Vengeance 4GB DDR3-1600
Coolermaster RC-P100 USP100 - Black with Red Mesh - No PSU
Intel Sandybridge lga1155 i5-2500

--

My budget is R7500, and the above adds up to plus minus R8200.
I was wondering if a 500W PSU will be fine? Anything to bring the price down a bit. Perhaps a cheaper case? Looks are not an issue.

Thanks

Hey The Bru

That's a good looking build you've got there, though for the same price you could get an ASUS P8Z77-V LX, which offers far more features and expandability due to the fact that it's an ATX motherboard , also for the same price you could get an Ivy Bridge CPU. You could save some money on RAM by getting Kingston instead of Corsair and yes a good 500W PSU would be good enough for a 6850.

Here's my quote:

CPU : i5 3540 @R1825
Motherboard : ASUS P8Z77-V LX @R1785
GPU : MSI Radeon 6850 @R1700
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 1TB (7200rpm) @R875
Power Supply : Corsair CX500 @R580
RAM : Kingston Hyper X 8GB - 1600MHz @R455
Case : Aerocool X Warrior @R480


Total = R7700

*Price is excluding Optical Drive

That's the best I could do, if you have any questions just ask, hope this helps

[Duff-Man]

Ended up getting the MSI Z77A-GD65 still got to do some tinkering on it but happy with it so far.

That's great to hear, have fun with your new mobo

[PostmanPot]

I was wondering if a 500W PSU will be fine?

Plenty, even for higher end cards.

[Ampha]

This might be a silly question, but I'm not too familiar with graphic cards and coudlnt find what I was looking for in the GPU thread (I'm probably a nub) but nevertheless here goes

A work colleague has asked me to find him a graphics card that can play Diablo 3 - doesnt have to be the highest settings, he is fine with low/normal settings

His budget is R500-R1000

Any information will be appreciated

[The Bru]

Hey The Bru

That's a good looking build you've got there, though for the same price you could get an ASUS P8Z77-V LX, which offers far more features and expandability due to the fact that it's an ATX motherboard , also for the same price you could get an Ivy Bridge CPU. You could save some money on RAM by getting Kingston instead of Corsair and yes a good 500W PSU would be good enough for a 6850.

Here's my quote:

CPU : i5 3540 @R1825
Motherboard : ASUS P8Z77-V LX @R1785
GPU : MSI Radeon 6850 @R1700
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 1TB (7200rpm) @R875
Power Supply : Corsair CX500 @R580
RAM : Kingston Hyper X 8GB - 1600MHz @R455
Case : Aerocool X Warrior @R480


Total = R7700

*Price is excluding Optical Drive

That's the best I could do, if you have any questions just ask, hope this helps

Hey

Thanks so much!
I was a bit hesitant on the Ivy Bridge as I heard Intel used cheap paste..

I would be using this rig to play games like BF3, MW3, etc. Hope it will do fine

[Duff-Man]

This might be a silly question, but I'm not too familiar with graphic cards and coudlnt find what I was looking for in the GPU thread (I'm probably a nub) but nevertheless here goes

A work colleague has asked me to find him a graphics card that can play Diablo 3 - doesnt have to be the highest settings, he is fine with low/normal settings

His budget is R500-R1000

Any information will be appreciated

His best option for his budget would be a Radeon 6750 @R880, can run Diablo 3 at 1920x1080 with playable FPS.

[Duff-Man]

Hey

Thanks so much!
I was a bit hesitant on the Ivy Bridge as I heard Intel used cheap paste..

I would be using this rig to play games like BF3, MW3, etc. Hope it will do fine

No problem, Intel had used cheaper thermal grease however that would only affect temperatures if you're overclocking your CPU.

[Duff-Man]

*Rumour Update - Leaked Kepler GK110 Benchmarks : http://www.ocaholic.ch/xoops/html/mo...mid=747&page=0

[Duff-Man]

*Rumour Update : AMD's answer to the GTX 690 - http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/27...-on-hd-7970-x2

[Goliath]

Hi Duff-Man, I would like to buy pc(just the box):
Purpose:Internet, emails, office and and moderate gaming(SC2 and Diablo 3 on high spec or better)
Budget: Around +-R5000 range
Already Owned Hardware: Screen, mouse etc.. just need fully new box + windows 7 software
Amt. of years intended to last:5 years
Wanted Date:In the next 30 - 60 days
LAN Parties:N/A
Preferred Manufacturers:N/A

I really liked the Bulldozer one you made:
FX-4xxx : CPU : FX - 4100 @R1280
Motherboard : ASUS M5A97 @R1060
GPU : AMD Radeon 6850 @R1770
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 1TB @R660
RAM : Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (x2) DDR3-1333 @R120 each
Power Supply : Antec Earthwatts 380W @R460
Case : Aerocool X Warrior @R480
Optical Drive : Asus DVD-RW 24X @R150

Maybe update with most recent prices and other equipment? Bit of a noob at pc building as I usually buy complete systems

Thanks in advance..