Hardware Good time to buy a PC?

[Thanatos Telos]

Not sure how you would optimize a processor for gaming...

Also, what was this thread about again? Semantics?

Yep. The only way to optimize it for gaming is to increase single-core performance.

 

[Wizerzak]

Thank you very much to everyone so far. I've done some weighing up and shopped around a bit for best prices and think I'm close. Just a few queries:

-How much better performance would I get from haswell 4670 + 2400 RAM?
-Really confused as to which mobo to get, there's so many.
-Do I need an additional HSF instead of the stock one, even though I don't plan on overclocking?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£162.93)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£68.19) -I think the DS3H has better audio than the D3H, and is cheaper.
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£57.85)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£74.99) -Not sure what type of NAND this uses, but will it last for OS / few games / applications?
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£44.99)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£208.70)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case (£63.18)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£37.18) -I asumme this will suffice.
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer (£15.00)
Total: £733.01
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-31 18:50 BST+0100)

 

[trumpet-205]

Don't stress about NAND type. It'll last long enough. You are encouraged to get a third-party HSF, since they are much quiet than stock one.

4670 + 2400 RAM will yield about 10% of performance advantage. Without the fast RAM, around 5%.

Onboard audio pretty much sound the same (with exception of "actual good" onboard implementation, such as Creative found in G1 Sniper or SupremeFX found in ASUS). If sound quality is what you are concerned about go external, such as USB DAC (assuming of course you have excellent audio setup).

PSU is enough.

 

[Originality]

-As I said, Haswell + 2400Mhz RAM is 7-15% boost. What I didn't say is that it's a boost in multi-tasking and gaming specifically.
-Budget range motherboards don't have "better audio". They have "working audio". As in it works. Higher end motherboards isolate and shield their audio chips to give a better quality, but can't quite match the quality of a discreet sound card (Asus Xonar DX and Creative Sound Blaster Z are the best value ones to get at £60-70).
-A HSF runs cooler and quieter than the stock fan. Cooler means it will last longer. Quieter means you will hate your computer less. A HSF is the single most common upgrade I perform on other people's computers (they complain about the noise, I point out exactly what's causing it, they love me for it afterwards).

A Samsung SSD will definitely last you. I have one myself (the 256GB version).
Whilst 430W will suffice, I personally recommend 500W minimum. The 500W Corsair Builder is just £11 more, but will give you much more room for upgrades in future (e.g. extra drives, or a newer graphics card).
For the Optical drive, I would personally get an external drive (like this Samsung one). Costs slightly more (£22) but it'll probably be the last DVD drive you ever buy. Then again, since this is entirely optional (most never use one after installing Windows), it doesn't really matter either way.

 

[Rydian]

A lot of the time there's multiple motherboard models because they include different port numbers or expansion slots. I'm running a cheap ASUS Micro-ATX motherboard in my personal tower simply because I only need one PCI slot and I'm not an audio quality fanatic at the PC.

 

[Wizerzak]

Okay thanks. I think I'll stick to the current CPU and RAM, it's about another £70 otherwise I think, not worth it for that small boost. Instead I'll go for the 3570k giving me the option to overclock if needs be (and IB oc's better than haswell from what I've read). Having the HSF also fits with this decision.

Is this motherboard ok then? It seems rather cheap...

Thanks Originality, to be honest I don't really need a DVD drive (win 7 on a USB), I'll just buy an external drive when I need one.

 

[trumpet-205]

Okay thanks. I think I'll stick to the current CPU and RAM, it's about another £70 otherwise I think, not worth it for that small boost. Instead I'll go for the 3570k giving me the option to overclock if needs be (and IB oc's better than haswell from what I've read). Having the HSF also fits with this decision.

Is this motherboard ok then? It seems rather cheap...

Thanks Originality, to be honest I don't really need a DVD drive (win 7 on a USB), I'll just buy an external drive when I need one.

If overclocking is an option don't get that motherboard. Get Z77-D3H minimum or Z77X-D3H.

DS3H has all of its VRM exposed. Never overclock on VRM exposed motherboard.

 

[Originality]

If you're even entertaining the idea of overclocking, you don't want a budget board. Period.
In your case, I'd strongly recommend an Asus Maximus V Gene (or Gigabyte Z77X-UD4H). Costs more, but much better overclocking support (and higher quality components that'll last longer in general, which is what you're paying for).
EDIT: And not that it makes much difference, but the Maximus has a good SupremeFX audio chip built in. Well shielded, with good controls if you know how to use them. Perfecting the acoustics of my room was interesting (with a good set of speakers).

 

[Wizerzak]

Hmm ok, in which case I'd be paying an extra £78 in order to overclock. :/ I've no experience in overclocking CPUs but I don't think that's really worth it.

If I scrap the overclocking and the 'k' processor, will that motherboard (£68) be alright?

 

[trumpet-205]

Hmm ok, in which case I'd be paying an extra £78 in order to overclock. :/ I've no experience in overclocking CPUs but I don't think that's really worth it.

If I scrap the overclocking and the 'k' processor, will that motherboard (£68) be alright?

That motherboard is perfectly fine for stock speed. With the exception of AM3+ platform, it is perfectly fine to run stock speed on VRM exposed/budget motherboard.

 

[Wizerzak]

So I think I've got everything sorted. Also Aria have reduced the i5-3570 by ~£25 meaning it's even cheaper if I buy it all today (2 left in stock :/ ). Does this all look good?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£135.60 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (Purchased For £24.99)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (Purchased For £68.19)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased For £57.85)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£73.18 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For £44.99)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (Purchased For £208.70)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For £63.18)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£49.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £726.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-01 13:16 BST+0100)

 

[trumpet-205]

Go for it.

 

[Fishaman P]

1) There is very rarely a right time to buy a computer. Hint hint.
2) If virtual surround is what you're looking for, the internet is raging over Razer's new free software.
3) For gaming on a (relatively) high budget, I would recommend going for a recent i5 (Core i5 4670K), a boot SSD (64GB will do in a pinch, but 128GB is strongly recommended), and a swanky graphics card. That would probably be either an AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition or an NVidia Geforce GTX 770.

EDIT: That RAM seems way too expensive. Good RAM doesn't require heat spreaders, which only get in the way of the CPU cooler. Also, pretty much any 1600MHz RAM will have the same performance on an Intel system, and even going as high as 2400MHz will get you less than a 10% gain.