CyberPowerPC - Unleash The Power

Hi all, I'm pretty new to this mixing and matching of different components, usually I just buy a complete PC straight off the shelf, so a little help would be much appreciated.

I've already spec'd up a rig that comes in at under £1000, but I haven't a clue whether or not it'd be any good, or if I could make any concessions on components to lower the final price. Areas such as the motherboard and CPU are probably where I need the most help.

What I have so far:
*BASE_PRICE: [+483]
BLUETOOTH: None
CAS: Corsair Carbide Series 500R White Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ front USB 3.0 [+57]
CASUPGRADE: NONE
CD: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE. (BLACK Colour)
CD2: NONE
COOL: NONE
CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-3550 Quad Core 3.30 GHz 6MB Cache LGA1155 + HD Graphics [-20]
CS_FAN: Default Case Fan
DONGLES: NONE
EXPAN: NONE
FA_HDD: None
FAN: ARCTIC FREEZER 13 CPU FAN with 4 direct heatpipes, High performance and Ultra quiet ***Overclockable XXX*** [-10]
FLASHMEDIA: None
FREEBIE_CS: None
FREEBIE_OS1: Free Microsoft® Office® 2010 STARTER EDITION (Reduced-Functionality versions of Word and Excel that include advertising)
GLASS3D: NONE
HDD: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 7200RPM Hard Drive (Single Hard Drive) (Single Hard Drive)
HDD2: NONE
HOMEINSTALL: NONE
IEEE_CARD: NONE
INSURANCE: NONE
KEYBOARD: (Keyboard & Mouse Combo) Logitech MK120 USB Keyboard & Mouse Combo [+12]
MB_SRT: None
MEMORY: 8GB (2x4GB) PC10666 DDR3/1333mhz Dual Channel Memory (Kingston Value Brand)
MONITOR: NONE
MONITOR2: NONE
MONITOR3: NONE
MOTHERBOARD: Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ 4 RAM slots, IRST, Lucid Virtu MVP, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, 2x PCIe x16 (1 Gen3, 1 Gen2), 2x PCIe x1 & 3 PCI ***Overclockable XXX** [+8]
MOUSE: NONE
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT -- As standard on all PCs
OS: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium [+74] (64-bit Edition)
OVERCLOCK: No Overclocking
POWERSUPPLY: 750 Watts Power Supplies [+62] (Coolermaster 750Watt GX Bronze Gaming Power Supply, SLI / Crossfire ready)
RUSH: NONE
SERVERUNIT: NONE
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: NONE
TEMP: NONE
UPS: None
USB1: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 1GB 16X PCIe Video Card [+97] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
VIDEO2: None, or On-Board Integrated Graphics
VIDEO3: None, or On-Board Integrated Graphics
WARRANTY: SILVER WARRANTY: 3 Year Labour, 1 Year Parts, 1 Year Collect and Return plus Life-Time Technical Support [+39]
WNC: NONE
XWNA: NONE
_PRICE: (+802)

In terms of extras, I'm all set; the only things I need are a keyboard and mouse and the selected keyboard and mouse combo should be fine (not a fan of the more expensive, multiple-buttoned mouses and keyboards with a ton of extra keys I'll never use).

Wow thanks. However, would you consider the XXX Overclocking something that I could drop from the configuration? Do you think it'd be fine without it?

Also the CPU - I've heard there isn't much difference between the 3570K and the 3550. I suppose If I switch for the 3550 and drop the overclock, I could potentially get a better PSU if needed and remain under budget.

Once again, thanks, you've certainly been a big help thus far! I'd never even considered going for a smaller case, which would certainly be favourable considering the limited space I have.

There you go even better from the man himself!!

Yes it would be OK without an overclock but you get one heck of a performance boost with it, id say its kind of a standard for gaming PCs now. Yep your tight but theres ONE difference between the K series and the 3550, and thats the K series has an unlocked multiplier which means it can be overclocked. If i were you i would stick with the overclock it brings an OK PC up to a very good PC by impoving loading times, FPS and general day to day operations.

As for going for a defferent case its more preferance than anything, as long as its got decent fans any case will do! (Why i chose the max fans too)

In essance go for the achillies just dont forget to put your keyboard on and stuff!

Edited by azza1991 - 21/Jun/2012 at 19:38

Thats ok we were all at this stage once! i have the Asetek 570LX (its bigger brother). Its a Sealed system so you'll never have to change the coolant and its probably that bit easier to clean than a big air cooler. No additional upkeep is needed.



Edited by azza1991 - 21/Jun/2012 at 19:59