Gaming computer design (1100euro)

Lemenks

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Location
Ireland
Here is a link to the site I am building it on Intel i5-3450S, EVGA GeForce GTX 460, Cooler Master HAF 922 - System Build - PCPartPicker United Kingdom.

CPU: Intel Core i5-3450S 2.8GHz Quad-Core Processor £145.49
CPU Cooler: Corsair CAFA50 61.0 CFM CPU Cooler £26.99
Motherboard: MSI P67A-GD53 (B3) ATX LGA1155 Motherboard £83.99
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory £59.98
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive £80.63
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) £115.03
EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) £115.03
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 ATX Mid Tower Case £78.14
Power Supply: Corsair 600W ATX12V Power Supply £52.32
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer £12.53
Monitor: AOC 2236Vwa 60Hz 22.0" Monitor £91.18

Basically my budget is about 1200euro. I spent a good bit of time making sure all the bits are compatible and work together for max performance. Its a lot of money to spend and I'm sort of new to building computers myself so just wanted a second opinion on it, also there is a few aspects I was unsure about.

Things I am unsure about:

~I was unsure about the cpu cooler and harddrive. Basically I don't know how important coolers are and how much I should spend. Also will the harddrive slow down the performance of the desktop? I could go for a smaller but faster performance harddrive.

~Will the cpu I have chosen allow the graphics cards run in sli to there max?

~For a gaming pc would you think I have prioritized its performance to allow for maximum gaming speed for my budget?

~I don't have an os included, should I buy one, get a beta or pirate one? what is your opinion on it?


Any feedback (positive or negative) is really appreciated thanks.
 
Last edited:
The hard drive could be a bottleneck. Unfortunately, going faster with a hard drive costs more. RAID 0 is an option, however you need to buy 2 identical hard drives. Another option is an SSD but the cost per GB could be prohibitively expensive.
 
Yea I was worried it might be, I still have a bit of cash spare so I could spend more on the harddrive but also I don't really need a 2TB hardrive. So I could get 2 smaller harddrives and run with RAID 0 (is compatible with motherboard) or get a SSD.

What could you take and do you know what the difference in speeds would be?
 
It looks like that board does support RAID.

I am running a RAID 0 right now and it is pretty fast.

To give you an idea for speeds.

Single 7200 RPM HDD: ~125 MB/s
2x 7200 RPM HDDs in RAID 0: ~225 MB/s
SATA III SSD: ~550 MB/s

Random reads is where the SSD would really shine.
 
Things I am unsure about:

I was unsure about the cpu cooler and harddrive.

If you have PC for gaming with high specification, I think you must consider more factor, especially hardware used. To keep stable performance, especially inside your casing, you can add more cooler to manage air circulation. Btw, how many cooling fan did you install? And for video card, I think you must be select the VGA card that integrated with cooling system and equipped with high RAM capacity for the best performance.
 
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