I can see that I am not the only one who returned to building their own pc after a lot of years, my last was built in '92 but i have to try.

My wife is totally noise freaked.... and hates computers and television sets

I tried using a laptop, actually found a nice samsung 17", but watching a movie while playing world of tanks, put it in high gears and I get a nagging wife, so I tried to put together a configuration to match the above profile, a gamer pc (WoT level) a bit of web work photographs and watching a movie:

•618010 Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz 8GB CL9 Kit w/2x 4GB XMS3 modules, CL9-9-9-24, 1.5V, Vengeance Heatspreader, 240
•630676 Crucial m4 SSD 2.5" 256GB SATA 6 Gb/s (SATA3.0), 500MB/260MB/s read/write
•757468 Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White Blæsere: 1x 140mm Front, 1x 140mm Bag, Lyddæmpet,, ATX, mATX, mITX, USB 3.0
•748722 Intel® Core i5-3570 Processor Socket-LGA1155, Quad Core, 3.4Ghz, 6MB, Boxed w/fan
•760429 MSI Z77 MPower, Socket-1155 ATX, Z77, DDR3, 3xG3-PCIe-x16, SLI/CFX, VGA, HDMI, DP, WiFi, BT, UEFI
•745755 Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 1GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0, "Ultimate Edition", DVI, native-HDMI, DisplayPort

Any comments on the above appreciated, any improvements highly appreciated and recommendations for PSU and cooling of CPU equally so

Brgds Bo

Welcome to SPCR. Here's a benchmark for WoT at Notebookcheck.net. There's a bit of variability in the fps table, but two things stand out:
- At low resolution and low quality settings, it can run on any current CPU or APU.
- If you want to play at 1080p and turn up the eye candy, you'll need more than the HD 7750. The i5-2400/HD 7770 graphs (4th to last on the table) tell the tale. You'd probably need something in the HD 7850 or GTX 660 range for decent play.

Case, CPU, SSD are fine. Mobo seems nice.. don't know if I'd pay $200 for a mobo.
RAM: Step away from the tall heatspreaders and nobody will get hurt...seriously, they add no value and just get in the way of many decent CPU coolers. Look for the low profile variants.
GPU: need to decide if you want to play at 768 or 1080p.

PSU: Stressed load power as spec'ed is in the ~200W range and during gaming maybe 150W. If you move up to a 7850 or GTX 660, call it 260W stressed max and 200Wish gaming. Take a look at the Seasonic x400 fanless, the x560 semipassive or the Kingwin LZP550 semipassive in the ~$120 range. Those will be the quietest. Way cheaper is the Seasonic G 550 at ~$85. Fan is always on rather than semi-passive.

CPU cooler: Scythe Mugen 3 Rev B is a popular $40-50 cooler around here.

What about PSU and CPU cooler?

The options mentioned by CA_steve are very nice. You can't go wrong with those.

Thanx for the welcome and comments, Gods this is a jungle, I would really like to have a spreadsheet with the available graphic cards and the necessary values to decide between them. I guess I will go for the 1080p, better have more muscle than needed than to be short of it, guess that was the problem with my laptop

I changed the original to the below

•Corsair XMS3 DDR3 2000MHz 8GB CL9 Kit w/2x 4GB XMS3 modules, CL9-10-9-27, for Core i3/i5/i7, 1.65V
•Crucial m4 SSD 2.5" 256GB SATA 6 Gb/s (SATA3.0), 500MB/260MB/s read/write
•Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White Blæsere: 1x 140mm Front, 1x 140mm Bag, Lyddæmpet,, ATX, mATX, mITX, USB 3.0
•Intel® Core i5-3570 Processor Socket-LGA1155, Quad Core, 3.4Ghz, 6MB, Boxed w/fan
•MSI Z77 MPower, Socket-1155 ATX, Z77, DDR3, 3xG3-PCIe-x16, SLI/CFX, VGA, HDMI, DP, WiFi, BT, UEFI
•Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 1GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0, "OC - Version", DVI-I + DVI-D, native-HDMI, DisplayPort, 920MHz
•Sea Sonic X-400
•Scythe Mugen 3 Rev B

Do the PSU still hold on the 400w

Brgds Bo

Alternative RAM: DDR3 2000 brings little benefit to Ivybridge, especially with a discrete GPU. This Samsung DDR3 1600 RAM will run at 1.35V and can o/c.

GPU: For the HD 7850, I'd lean toward the XFX Black Edition over the Sapphire.

Hi,

I will find some 1,35 v RAM blocks, the samsung ones are not easy to get in continental europe, but can get them from UK, strange.

The XFX black is priced around 300$ in EU, while the Sapphire is only 170, is it worth the difference? I can get the FX-785A-CNJC at the same price around 180$, but I am not clear about the difference.

rgds/Bo

RAM: 1.35V isn't a requirement, it's just nice and uses less power/less hot. You shouldn't need to go beyond 1.5V for the RAM, in any case.

GPU: The XFX card you listed has a different/lesser cooler. No reviews to be found...Between that and the Sapphire, the Sapphire is probably better.

The XFX 7850 versions with the better cooler are the FX-785A-CDBC and FX-785A-CDFC.

Thanx for all the comments and advice, I will start collecting the parts and update on the result when done

rgds/Bo

Just about to hit the 'verkauf' button on hardwareversand.de with this configuration after a bit of rethinking

•8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance Low Profile PC3-12800U CL9
•Crucial m4 SSD 2.5" 256GB SATA 6 Gb/s (SATA3.0), 500MB/260MB/s read/write
•Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White Blæsere: 1x 140mm Front, 1x 140mm Bag, Lyddæmpet,, ATX, mATX, mITX, USB 3.0
•Intel® Core i5-3570 Processor Socket-LGA1155, Quad Core, 3.4Ghz, 6MB,
•ASUS P8Z77-V, Sockel 1155, ATX, DDR3
•XFX BLACK DD RADEON 7850 975M 2GB D5 2x mDP HDMI 2x DVI
•Sea Sonic X-400
•Scythe Mugen 3 Rev B

Only question I have now is really a reconfirmation, the XFX Black have a recommendation of a PSU on 560 watts, will the X-400 be able to stand this?

If you run Prime95 + Furmark, the PSU might see 250W (77W CPU, 130W GPU, etc). So, the x-400 can easily handle the load. However, your card requires two 6-pin PCIe graphics connectors and the PSU only ships with one. So, you'll need to get an additional cable from Seasonic, or get an adapter cable from a retailer, or get a PSU with two PEG connectors.