Critique my build please

[Jeleh]

Hey guys, this is only my second build, first one was several years ago so I don't follow the in and outs of the tech market. This is a build i Put together within my budget would like any advice on alternative parts for similar prices if any are particularly weak.

Please offer alternatives that are same/very similar price as this is already at my budget, also novatech is preferred as I have bought from them many times, have good cs experience and it all comes together without the need for accounts on several different sites.

case:http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...es/z9plus.html zalman z9 plus £44.99
HDD:http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...d1002faex.html WD Caviar black 1TB £92.39
SSD:http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...sat3-120g.html OCZ agil 3 £71.99
RAM:http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...11d-8gbxl.html Gskill ripjaws 8gb 2133mhz £51.98
PSU:http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...020038-uk.html corsair tx 650w £73.98
CPU:http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...37i53570k.html i5 3570k £179.99
cooler:http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...nh-u9bse2.html NH-U £45.59
GPUhttp://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...777a-zdsc.html 7770 1gb 99.98
mobo:http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...777a-zdsc.html MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 £77.99
OS http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/s...gfc-02050.html win 7 £79.98

total:£818.86


Keep in mind im not an enthusiast and i understand some of these parts may have better options for just like 30-40 more an item, however I am on a tight budget and this is at the top end of said budget. Just want this system to be able to play most things now on good quality settings and overclock/upgrade the gpu/cpu once it needs more juice.

I am basically looking for advice on if any of the parts are duds, or a bad gen ect with an alternative in similar price range.

Many thanks

[Jerom]

What are you intending to use the machine for? Hard to recommend anything without knowing the the wants/demands.

Assuming you want to use it maingly for gaming on high settings. It's Ok in general with a few things that stand out. OCZ agility 3 is OK but I'd say that putting 12£ more to get Samsung 830 is a worthwhile investment. Gskill ripjaws 8gb 2133mhz is an overkill, fast RAM does very little for intel based machine dropping down to 1600 mhz would be perfectly fine, you won't feel any difference, gaming benchmark suggest the difference would be of about 1 fps.

Do you plan to overclock? If no you are just throwing money away and you should get i5 -3570 (without the K, it's same CPU you just can't overclock it) or maybe even slightly cheaper 3450. (Again hard to give an accurate call without knowing wants/demands)

Again, going on assumption that gaming is a main focus, GPU is kinda weak 7770 is nice but your system is out of balance with really powerful CPU and weak GPU, for gaming only purposes I'd even suggest to step down to i3- 2120 for under £100 to upgrade GPU to 6950/70 or 7850/70.

Again if you plan on overclocking based on the fact that you picked unlocked (K at the end) CPU you might want to upgrade to GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-D3H it's the cheapest z77 motherboard I could find on the site that is good suit for overclocking. Otherwise you are good.

[Deleted]

CPUHS: Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO - £30 (£15 less)
PSU: OCZ ZT Series 550 Fully Modular - £57 (£17 less)
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB - £65 (£28 less)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2x4GB) - £41 (£11 less)

SSD: Samsung 830 Series 128GB - £85 (£13 more)

£58 saved so far. Go with either of these GPU's:

GPU(1): MSI AMD Radeon HD 7850 Twin Frozr III - £183 (£25 more than your total budget in the OP)
GPU(2): MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti OC - £167 (£9 more than your total in the OP)
GPU(3): EVGA GeForce GTX 560 SC - £145 (£13 less than your total in the OP)

I recommend the 7850 but if you can't afford it then one of the other two will do (560ti > 560)

If you pick the cheapest GPU you can also upgrade the motherboard to the MSI Z77A-G45 - £87 and still stay within your original budget.

Even if you pick one of the more expensive GPU's I still recommend you switch the motherboard to the MSI Z77A-G45, the power design/delivery on the G43 is a little weak but you can still do some light overclocking.

[Jeleh]

Thanks very much guys, exactly what i was after with notargets reply.

Yes the build is for gaming, fps, gw2/swtor with plans to overclock at a later date. The builds a long term one as i wont have cash to upgrade again for a long while so getting the biggest bang for my buck with overhead to overclock/upgrade at a later date is priority. Will the 550 psu give me overhead to upgrade in the future?

[Deleted]

Thanks very much guys, exactly what i was after with notargets reply.

Yes the build is for gaming, fps, gw2/swtor with plans to overclock at a later date. The builds a long term one as i wont have cash to upgrade again for a long while so getting the biggest bang for my buck with overhead to overclock/upgrade at a later date is priority. Will the 550 psu give me overhead to upgrade in the future?

Yes there is enough power for overclocking. Any card in the future probably won't be much more power hungry. If you want to add a second GPU and it's the 7850 then you'll still be fine. 560/560ti (x2) would probably be cutting it really close but also remember you'd need the MSI Z77A-G45 for SLI.

[Jeleh]

Yes there is enough power for overclocking. Any card in the future probably won't be much more power hungry. If you want to add a second GPU and it's the 7850 then you'll still be fine. 560/560ti (x2) would probably be cutting it really close but also remember you'd need the MSI Z77A-G45 for SLI.

Thanks very much for your feedback, been really helpful. I have gone with the suggestions and the g45/7850 (just one for now) for the extra £30 seems much better overall which was the kind of solution i was after. WTB positive feedback option!

[marv333]

go for the MSI Z77-G45 if you want to upgrade in the future
Not sure if we're allowed to talk about it here, but you can save the money and get windows 7 for free
the hyper 212+ EVO is one of the best cpu fans in the market
with the money you save, buy yourself a GTX670 or a 660ti

[n0cturnal]

the hyper 212+ EVO is one of the best cpu fans in the market

That is an overstatement, it may be able to keep up with the better coolers but it does so at a much higher noise level.
It is a fine choice for a budget cooler, but for a higher quality build it just doesn't cut it.