Pre-Built Gaming PC for Humbled Brit

[Philip Dude]

So you still recommend that PC? And what exactly is the benefit of this extra SSD?

 

[patonb]

Everything loads extremely quick, which is quite useful in gaming that involves map loads.

 

[Philip Dude]

What I meant is, -how- does it do that? And does the game have to be installed onto that specific hard-drive? If so, I understand why 60gb is not enough. Sadly I doubt I shall be getting one due to the price increase, even with the SSD and GTX 570 it was cheaper than the price for just the 570 now. But thank you for the confirmation. I shall probably wait to see if it goes back into the week deals for a short while and then go ahead with the purchase. Cheers guy(s)!

EDIT: This is what tends to happen when I make up my mind. I've had two changes of heart. The first is this week's deal includes this PC. From what I've managed to make clear, it has .1ghz more overclocked and an extra 8gb of RAM and 500gb on the hard-drive. Normally I wouldn't much care but it only comes to an extra £20. Similarly, I also noticed that the HD 7950 was available for the same price on the original system. So it could be a toss-up at £900 on either:

- Case: Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
- Power Supply: OCZ ZS 650w PSU
- CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K 3.40GHz @ 4.40GHz Ivybridge CPU
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
- Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalem CPU Cooler
- RAM: Samsung Green 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: 500GB HDD
- Graphics Card: OcUK HD 7950 3072mb GDDR5
- Sound: Realtek 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)
- Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA Drive
- Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OEM

OR

- Case: Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
- Power Supply: OCZ ZS 650w PSU
- CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K 3.40GHz @ 4.50GHz Ivybridge CPU
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
- Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalem CPU Cooler
- RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: 1TB HDD
- Graphics Card: KFA2 GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- Sound: Realtek 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)
- Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA Drive

Not sure where to go from here, but the offer ends soon.

 

[patonb]

Honestly, 16Gig is a waste, and 500Gig drive can easily be added IF needed.

Go for the 7950... its better than the 570, and its more inconvient to switch.

 

[Philip Dude]

One more question, "Sapphire HD 7950 OC" or KFA2 GeForce GTX 660TI EX OC" which should I choose? =P

 

[patonb]

Since youre playng/mentiomned BF3,
AnandTech - The GeForce GTX 660 Ti Review, Feat. EVGA, Zotac, and Gigabyte

The 660ti spanks it.

 

[Philip Dude]

As an all-rounder, would you say the 7950 is better? I probably won't be spending much time on BF3 so I'm not sure.

 

[patonb]

The link i prfovided has like 8 different benchmarks done, so you should look through them, and decide if the amount of gain is worth the money.

Both are good cards, but its your money.

 

[Philip Dude]

By being patient, I've managed to catch a £40 reduction in the price of the build I would like (I don't know about you guys but I like to save pennies, especially when it comes to something this expensive.) I now have only one more query which I hope to be answered before I make the purchase tonight. The 660TI and HD 7950 are close competitors, coming up stronger in various games. The 660TI comes out at £10 cheaper through this site and begs the question of "Do they believe the 7950 is better?" After an intense amount of searching I've managed to find some clashing information and I'm unsure where to go from here.

The 7950 is said to be a stronger card when overclocked. I have no idea how to overclock and don't know if it puts your computer at risk (also could it require a better PSU?) The cards at stock settings tend to favour the 660TI but there are still some situations where the 7950 comes up as the victor.

I'm truly stumped as to which is the better card, with the information and benchmarks I have found conflicting a good deal. Any opinions would be extremely helpful before I take the plunge! Thank you to everyone who has helped out and I hope to join the ranks of the "PC Gamers" soon!

 

[patonb]

The 660ti just came out, so it's likely on sale. Its 20-30 bucks cheaper n the US too.

I really don't think you'll notice the difference, plus right now there are no "mature" drivers for it. Nvidia usually matures well.