Not messing about any more and I'm making room for a proper PC. Any advice on components appreciated. Nothing is set in stone

Processor - 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 3570 3.40GHz

Motherboard - ASUS P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT Intel Z77

Memory - Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

Case - Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Ultimate Gamer Case

Not decided on Graphics card yet but prefer nVidia. Still need to research cooling and what SSD is best. Will need a HD monitor also. Needs to be fairly future proof hence the big case and decent board

Any specific reason for 16GB of RAM? i have 8GB and have loads of programs running including games and i still have about 5GB left.

Also have you looked at Overclockers bundles they do? Could save yourself some monies and get an even better rig.

Also for cooling, i have a H50 which ive had for quite a while now, but this thing is quality for cooling so i personally would suggest a Corsair H60/80/100.

Bizarre as it sounds its worth checking pc worlds website as they sometimes have good deals. I got a 120gb SSD (ocz vertex 3) for £70ish and an nvidia gtx560ti cheaper than overclockers etc. Think they still have cheap SSDs on offer.

Wow really splashing out on mobo and case.

Ram wise, I have the non LP version of your link and it seems to work fine and small overclock is no problem.

But have you looked at: http://cgi.ebay.co.u...id=399098402416

or http://www.scan.co.u...ucts/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-xms3-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-165v

Its 1.65v mind, so may want to read up on that.

Else - http://www.ebuyer.co...3d1609ds1s00ceu

SSD's are dropping like a rock, which is nice, about £120 for a 256GB high speed (good brand but i don't remember where i saw it, im looking for 128gb only).

Im also looking for gfx cards, heard the 7850 model will be dropping price due to low demand? again I dont remember where I read this... lol

Coolers: http://www.amazon.co...g=hotukdeals-21

or http://www.ebuyer.co...-am3-am2-nh-d14

Wouldn't bother with a cooler unless you are overclocking, standard one is fine.

Also "Future proof" and PC don't go together.

I'd grab 16 Gb because it's dirt cheap, you can bet your boots that when you want another 8 it will be double the price and old stock that is hard too match.

That's exactly why I'm going for 16gb. I can afford it now so I may as well. Futureproof is more for the case as it's big enough should I ever want to water cool in the future. I've upgraded plenty of PC's but this is my first proper build from scratch.

SSD's are always coming up as bargains on HotUKDeals so I'll definitely have one of those. Hoping to run SSD for the OS then one secondary drive. I've never done it but presume it wouldn't be too hard in the future to get two secondary drives and have them in a RAID configuration of some sort? I'm not 100% on how this is done as I've never done it.

As for the PSU I presume the bigger the better?

Does the case come with a PSU? Make sure you get one that can handle the draw on power from all those components!

Looks like some good kit though!! As regards cooling... get something hefty but not too loud. There's nothing worse than switching on your PC and it sound like a F14 taking off in your living room

Something like a Zalman would probably do you... they are really effective, good for overclocking and quiet.

I've done some water cooled machines in the past and they are quite novel... but they aren't practical and aren't really needed.

As for graphics cards... I prefer NVIDIA's too but depends what you want to spend!

Good luck with the build mate!

As far as I know it doesn't have a PSU but does have 6 fans in total. Front: 3 x 120mm (Blue LED Fan), Rear: 2 x 120mm (Blue LED Fan) and the top has 1 x 200mm (Blue LED Fan). Keeping cool shouldn't be a problem as standard.

Also seen this that I'm thinking about too. Realistically will I notice the difference in RAM speeds? The board below supports RAM faster than 1600mhz and allows for easier over clocking if I want it

Board - http://www.overclock...d=5&subcat=2261

You wont notice much difference in ram but buy the best/fastest you can afford at the time is generally my motto with PC stuff.

That's the plan. Are most motherboards these days micro ATX? Haven't seen a full size board in ages. Thinking the board is going to look tiny in that Antec case

First board you linked is ATX, my Asus board is ATX too.

What board have you got? Of what I've picked so far it's not going to be slow by any means. Looking at PSU and Graphics cards next. At the moment I edit GoPro videos and play Minecraft but do want to play more

Plenty of ATX boards out there, and if you plan on using pci slots for sound, wifi cards etc, a mATX is useless

I have an Asus p67 sabertooth and an i5 3500k, about 6 months old now.

The only decent ATX board I've found was the first one I posted. Just seen this GC that should do the job. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-109-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=

Once I've settled on spec then scouring the net for best prices starts. Should be about £700ish once I've finished but I'll still need a decent screen too.

Don't over look ATI cards, I've alaways been an Nvidia man, but my last two cards have been ATI due to the price per pound rating. Sometimes brand loyalty can cost.

I'm slightly confused, are you having trouble finding an ATX size board ???

Most of them out there are ATX, Micro are in the minority

http://www.novatech....1155z77chipset/

Loads above, whats the deal with the Z77 chipset, I'm P67 atm, do I need to spend ??? lol

Edit.... I may not be on P67, it moves so damn quick I can't keep up with it !!

Edit 2 .. I'm on http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68V/

When I built PCs or give such advice I start from the Client's Brief

1. What is your budget

2. What are you going to be using your machine for

3. Future proof or not so much os.

4. Silent or no preference (i.e. using headphones always so sound no factor)

5. Any additional kit needed (7.1 speakers, top grade wireless gaming mouse, top grade freehand sketching pad etc.).

What I personally do is buy the latest tech but with slowest clocks and overclock the hell out of it. Lasts around 6 years. Watercooling is good as prevents "burn outs" of the overclocked kit but increases the cost by quite a lot. Do not buy cheap all in one watercooling kits, they are ****e and worse than passive aircooler systems from top players.

I have found the annoying bit is buying Windows! 80 quid for it!! I have been running ubuntu but all my games I want to play are Windows..sucks!!

My mistake. I'd read reviews of one board and all were saying it was micro ATX when looking at it again it couldn't have been.

Your board does handle faster RAM than the Z77. I'm not up to date on the latest chipsets, what makes one significantly better than the other.

Think I'd like it fairly quiet but that Antec case has plenty of fans and space to help with cooling. It's the only part of the spec so far that I know I want. I already have a good keyboard and mouse so that's fine.

Bear in mind bundled case fans are not always great and there may be some cost in buying quality/quieter ones. Good fans are not cheap.

I know. Asking a mate about the ones in that Antec as he's has the 1200 and the 800.