Advice on PC components.

HookX87

HookX87

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Good evening all,

I've been out of the PC world for a couple of years and my return was quite overwhelming at first but after some research I've put together a PC that should put me back in the 'game'. Excuse the pun.

The reason I'm posting is so you helpful folks on these forums can maybe criticize and advise me where I went wrong/right. I already ordered through the awesome guys over at RebelTech.

Well, here are the specs:

Intel i7 3770K, 3.4GHz, LGA1155, Quad Core - Ivy Bridge
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer i30
GIGABYTE Z77X-UD5H WiFi, all-in-one LGA1155, Intel Z77
GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD, GTX670
Corsair CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9
Corsair GS800, 800W
Corsair Graphite 600T
LG GH22NS50, 22x SATA Optical drive
Intel 330 MLC Series, 120GB

On the flipside, I'm also looking at monitors...

The problem I'm having is considering whether the huge price leap between 23" to 27" screens is worth it or are 32" tv screens PC gaming friendly. I've read some article on the forum but I haven't really found conclusive proof.
Opinions will be appreciated!

Thank you, and sorry for the noobish post! I've been console locked for a while! haha
 
You really picked your components well.
The only change that I would've made to that build would've been the SSD: http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14&products_id=4976
Your motherboard is on the expensive side though.

Please just take note that you might experience a very hot CPU when you overclock it past 4GHz! This is an issue specific to the Ivy Bridge CPU's.

The GS800 is way overkill for a single graphics card setup, but with that and your current motherboard, you should be able to easily add another GTX670 in a few years' time.

I'll tell you that gaming on a 30" with a resolution of 2560x1600 is really awesome - and I can say this because I have such a screen :D
One problem with a big screen is that you cannot really play on a competitive level. For that you'll need a 23" or smaller screen.
 
Dude you gotta get a 32" led or bigger as a monitor, make sure it has pc mode i would recommend samsung led's. Don't really know other makes but samsung is amazing for pc mode.
 
killadoob:
The Samsung 40" LCD at my office has PC mode, but I was unable to get it running perfectly at 1920x1080 from my PC. For some reason the image was always bigger than the screen.
 
Thanks for the replies!

@Pada: The reason I chose the higher specked power supply was due to the fact that I will probably add a GPU sometime in the future.

As for the SSD, I read on TomsHardware that the Intel drives have lower failure rates. I'm not sure how big a difference this would make as this will be the first SSD that I'm going to buy.

Could you maybe elaborate on the screen you are using?

@killadoob: I'm just worried about the low pixel density of TV's when compared to PC monitors... And the response times as well....

@MickeyD: Ive never really seen a dual screen implementation. Isnt the frame of the screens irritating when playing?

Overall it seems that I didn't make to bad a mess of it. The thread has a couple of views but not a lot of comments.. The screen situation is causing a headache though..
 
Pada said:
killadoob:
The Samsung 40" LCD at my office has PC mode, but I was unable to get it running perfectly at 1920x1080 from my PC. For some reason the image was always bigger than the screen.
Click to expand...

There is a setting you must use, i think it's called pan or something, not sure about nvidia but with ati there is something called underscan and overscan and it must be 0%. Nvidia will have something similar but i don't know what it is. If that doesn't work go to hdtv support and add some resolutions or change the driver but it should work once on 0%.

Hook trust me if you get a decent model like a samsung there is no issue, i use a 46" led and it looks amazing, i don't notice any pixels, if i put my nose against it yes but i sit 1m and it looks perfect.

Check for a thread here or speak to jola he also worried about that but he is amazed how good it looks. These days tv's are as good as any monitor and there is no ghosting as long as you have pc mode but it's your call. Rather post here before purchasing anything
 
Last edited:
For gaming, I'd rather go for a 3 screen setup (eg. http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1064 for R15k) than a dual screen one due to the border/bezel being right in the middle otherwise!

I'm using an Dell 3008WFP (30 IPS panel), which is a pretty old model by now, although I only got it last year.
There are quite a few drawbacks from using such a high resolution:
1) you need to play with vertical sync enabled, otherwise you see tearing
2) refresh-rate isn't as fast as what you can get with smaller TN panels
3) it is much more demanding on the GPU + CPU in games compared to when gaming on 1920x1080

As for the Intel SSD: It could be that they're lasting longer than the other brand SSD's.
I would still recommend that you tweak Windows to prolong its life even more - like moving the page file to your HDD. There are quite a lot of SSD tweaks that you should do to both increase performance and the SSD's lifespan.
Btw: do you have a HDD that you're going to use in that PC of yours?
 
Pada said:
You really picked your components well.
The only change that I would've made to that build would've been the SSD: http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14&products_id=4976
Your motherboard is on the expensive side though.

Please just take note that you might experience a very hot CPU when you overclock it past 4GHz! This is an issue specific to the Ivy Bridge CPU's.

The GS800 is way overkill for a single graphics card setup, but with that and your current motherboard, you should be able to easily add another GTX670 in a few years' time.

I'll tell you that gaming on a 30" with a resolution of 2560x1600 is really awesome - and I can say this because I have such a screen :D
One problem with a big screen is that you cannot really play on a competitive level. For that you'll need a 23" or smaller screen.
Click to expand...

You wont be sorry with that gtx 670 it overclocks really well and nice idle and load temps, I have the agility 3 60gb - cant really comment on it as its only 3weeks old but overall performance with the v2.22 firmware is not too bad for the price, if im not mistaken I think all the high ssd's makes use of more expensive synchronous nand flash, hence the price and performance increase.
 
@killadoob: thanks for the advice, I'll post before I buy.

@Pada: That 3 screen setup looks sweeet. But it's also on the expensive side! I didn't even pay that much for my 55" console gaming tv..Lol

As for the hard drive issue. I have a 2TB external that I was thinking about using in the mean time before buying an internal one.. Still waiting for the prices to go down. Although I saw on the Esquire post last night that they have 2TB internal going at R1000, which seems good.. Why do is a normal HDD so important though if I may ask?

@abs1: You already have your 670 OC, awesome! I can't believe how quick after launch they got here! Did you also get the Gigabyte version?
 
@killadoob: It's a JVC 3D LED model.. I've been blown away by it's quality, especially when using it for console gaming.. It even plays high quality .mkv files through its USB inputs which is awesome! Even the quality through the HD PVR is superb. I previously had a Hisense 42" and a Sansui 47" and the Sansui was when their TV's were still breathtaking (and horridly expensive) and neither come close. Plus I got it at a great price. (Well the Sansui isn't that far off, but the JVC still wins out)
 
Flippen awesome dude, i saw one of them in a cresta shop that is now closed but it looked amazing. I bought the 43" plasma which was no good for pc as it was low res with big pixels.

Hook it up to your pc using the blue port unless you use it for the tv or something but you could use it to test how the pc would look :D. You could try hdmi as well.
 
HookX87 said:
@abs1: You already have your 670 OC, awesome! I can't believe how quick after launch they got here! Did you also get the Gigabyte version?
Click to expand...

Yes i got mine from LANDMARK PC ( GiGabyte gtx 670 OC) the day after the NDA was lifted, Andy is a great guy really follows through with his orders.:)
 
@killadoob: I'm going to check it out for sure, but I don't want to use it as my main screen, it would feel to much like a console. Haha

@abs: When was that and what price point did you get it at (Andy?), if you don't mind me asking?
 
HookX87 said:
@killadoob: I'm going to check it out for sure, but I don't want to use it as my main screen, it would feel to much like a console. Haha

@abs: When was that and what price point did you get it at (Andy?), if you don't mind me asking?
Click to expand...

launch price was R4800.00 its R4925 now@ Landmark Pc
 
I suggest you aim for a better PSU.

The GS800 is decent enough, but looking at all the other components you're buying, what's spending a bit more and getting an AX650, AX750 or better?
 
@abs1: I got it for R4699 from the guys over at Rebel Tech, so I guess that's a bit of a score!

@Polygon: Why would the AX650 be better than the Gaming Series 800W?
 
@HookX87

  • Gold rated / high efficiency
  • Better voltage regulation
  • Better ripple/noise supression
  • Quiet/fanless at low draw
  • 7 Year Warranty
  • Better quality components inside
  • Fully modular (not sure if GS800 is though)

Read more here at TechPowerUP

Visit jonnyguru.com to learn more about PSU's. A PSU is also one of those components you can spend time researching on (instead of slapping the first thing that looks good in to your PC).

The GS800 is good, but it's designed for gamers who can't (or don't want to) shell out on a better PSU. I suppose the blue fan is also appealing, but you also have to look at the guts of a PSU. That's what makes it stand out.

If you're not interested in Corsair, I think Antec has the equivalents.

What I'm really saying is you can put some more thought in to your PSU choice.

Hope this helped you. Good luck!
 
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