Presumptive Rig Specs

[Bison]

I'm in the market to get a new gaming rig.  Here's what I'm looking at right now.

Chassis Fan Kit
Performance Fan Pack
Chassis
Z77 Talon Standard
Black
Sound Dampening
AcoustiPack Sound Dampening Foam
Power Supply
750 Watt Modular
Motherboard
P8Z77V
(Standard)
Processor
Intel® Core™ i5 3570K 3.4GHz
Processor Cooler
Liquid Cooling Talon
Processor Overclock
Processor Overclock Talon
Memory
Tactical 1866MHz 8GB (2x4GB)
Video Card
GeForce GTX 670 (2GB)
Sound Card
OnBoard
Audio
Networking
OnBoard
Ethernet
Hard Drive
Caviar® Black™ 1TB
Optical Drive
24x DVD Writer
64Bit
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium (w/ upgrade)
Warranty
1 Year Warranty Talon

[undercovergeek]

Heh.... Same as my new set up except I'm not too confident with the over clocking so my i5 is one step down.... The write up I read said if there was to be no oc-ing then the 3450 was the one to get.

Coupled with a 670 the articles I looked at said there wasn't anything out there you couldn't play at best settings on 2480

[Bison]

I do wonder whether I not I should have it overclocked, as I have never OCed anything.  However I've been reading that OCing is pretty safe at levels of about 10%.  I'm still hemming and hawing.  If I pull the OC off I can change some other stuff and repick some parts, maybe add a dedicated sound card.

[undercovergeek]

ive thought about it many a time, ive witnessed huge systems with water whooshing thru the system, i just know if i try im going to be looking at £1000 worth of melted kit gently going hiss to itself as the water leaks out!

[bob48]

^Same here Huw - I have this uncomfortable feeling about liquids inside my rig and the very immediate effects of a catastophic leak.

I'm not a great fan of overclocking personally, but maybe that's just me being over cautious. My Quad i5 3.0mhz seems to run fine for what I play.

Bison, how much cache memory you got in there?

[Bison]

The hard drive has a 64 mb buffer.  If that is what you asking for Bob.

[bob48]

Looks nice then Bison, apart from the aquatic aspect. Just wondered if you get a leak, do you call a plumber or a PC Techie?  ;D

[undercovergeek]

Looks nice then Bison, apart from the aquatic aspect. Just wondered if you get a leak, do you call a plumber or a PC Techie?  ;D

the fire brigade!

[bob48]

^lol

[undercovergeek]

meant to ask you Bison - the i5 comes with a heatsink and fan, but every review of a set up including it i have read also comes with some kind of extra fan - i30 arctic freezer been the most popular - does it need the extra fan support?

[Bison]

meant to ask you Bison - the i5 comes with a heatsink and fan, but every review of a set up including it i have read also comes with some kind of extra fan - i30 arctic freezer been the most popular - does it need the extra fan support?

Are you building your own? 

An aftermarket cooler will help keep the cpu cooler, but is it necessary?  No.  Unless you are overclocking then it is necessary to keep down the temps.  Someone else might have more to add to the conversation.

[undercovergeek]

its a self build and im not over clocking - CMBN or poss an acquisition of Shogun 2 will be as busy as it gets until Rome 2 comes out but by all accounts ive covered the tech specs there anyway

[Bison]

Cool.  I like aftermarket cooler though.  I have one installed right now even though my cpu isn't overclocked.  Just a little extra insurance that I've done everything to take care of my cpu that I can.

[undercovergeek]

yeah for the 25 pounds im tempted to just do it - does it replace the heatsink or sit at the side blowing lovely fresh air on the CPU

[Bison]

Replaces the factory fan and sits on top of the cpu.  They are much bigger so no sure what you case is like, but might be a consideration and some fans aren't compatible with all mobo/cpu so I'd look on the manfacture sites just to validate before purchase.