My pc build with thoughts included, will my components fit and critique of system (Possibly usefull for beginners)

YOUR_HAMSTER

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Mar 10, 2013
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10,510
Hello

Primary question: I am having a hard time finding out whether or not my components will fit together - especially the ram and the cpu cooler..

Secondary questions:
- What do you think of my setup? Do you have any suggestions? (p.s. I prefer intel cpu's)
- If money should be added to this build where should I start?

The websites I provide will be in Danish - sorry - for prizes that are relative to me. If you want to convert just google X DKK to USD :)

Motherboard - Any z77 will do, but went with the MSI Z77A-G41 (it supports crossfireX which I might consider someday with an extra 7870 XT):
http://www.edbpriser.dk/bundkort/msi-z77a-g41-id-6876585.aspx

CPU - I have chosen the i5 3570-K so I have oc'ing as an option:
http://www.edbpriser.dk/processor/core-i5-i5-3570k-6-mb-intel-boxed-id-6705209.aspx

CPU Cooler - Decided to go for the Cooler Master Hyper 212-EVO but I am not sure it will fit :/ I am pretty sure that the smaller (and slightly worse) TX3-EVO will fit, but would love to have the 212:
http://www.edbpriser.dk/processorkoeling/cooler-master-hyper-212-evo-id-6316805.aspx

GPU - Wow, this has taken me a lot of time to find. The Sapphire Radeon HD-7870 XT seems to be a wonderful GPU, providing fantastical performance regarding the cost with the tahiti chip. The only thing I fear here is that this will end up becoming the bottleneck of my system - and I would love to have something that could run EVERYTHING! >:D
http://www.edbpriser.dk/grafikkort/sapphire-radeon-hd-7870-xt-with-boost-begraenset-version-2-gb-id-7128070.aspx

RAM - This is tricky - I have found lots of good RAM and believe that voltage, CAS-Latency and MHZ should be were the focus should be. Taking these parameters into consideration I managed to find Crucial Ballistix Elite 2x4 GB (they are not low ram though and I fear they take up too much space to fit with the cooler):
http://www.edbpriser.dk/ram/crucial-2-x-4-gb-id-6672757.aspx

Case - To be honest, I went with what I thought looked nice, and ended up with the Zalman Z11 Plus. This case have a few extra fans and should have a decent airflow, plus it got 2 built in USB-3 ports to match my motherboard.
http://www.edbpriser.dk/kabinet/zalman-z11-plus-id-6725584.aspx

SSD/HDD - Here I went with a SSD for a faster booting time. The 840 series have gotten nice reviews across the board, and it was the most sold SSD around 120 gigs so I ended up with the Samsung 840 Series MZ-7TD120 120 GB..
http://www.edbpriser.dk/ssd-solid-state-drive/samsung-840-series-mz-7td120-120-gb-id-7036676.aspx

Power Supply - I have considered going for a XFX core edition pro650w modular, 80+, power supply. This is cheap and uses seasonic topology:
http://www.edbpriser.dk/stroemforsyning/xfx-core-edition-pro650w-id-4321094.aspx

I know that there are no mentions of any DVD-readers/burners or HDD's. This is on purpose since I have a few lying around.

I hope that my thoughts could shine some light on what I believe to be right, which might make it easier for tech-wizards to guide me, and maybe even give inspiration to a few people wanting to build their own! :D

P.S.
If you want to see the questions from the sticky by FinneousPJ answered click here:
Approximate Purchase Date: this week


Budget Range: ~900-1000 (Since it will become more expensive in Denmark)


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, scripting & unity, rendering, animating, youtube, movies, reading


Are you buying a monitor: No - got a ASUS VE248H


Do you need to buy OS: Don't think so


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: http://www.edbpriser.dk/hardware.aspx


Location: Denmark


Parts Preferences: Intel, Likes nVidia but loves the cost/perfomance of the RADEON HD 7870 XT


Overclocking: Maybe


SLI or Crossfire: Maybe another 7870


Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080


Additional Comments: I play a lot of FPS and would love a decent framerate, I would like my case to be "cool" hence the Z11. Furthermore I would appreciate if my setup would be relatively power efficient, cool and silent.


And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My Acer 3820tg is getting kind of old for playing games - awesome notebook though
P.P.S.
I made a, now outdated, thread earlier regarding the same topic, but I thought it was missing so much that it would be wiser to make a new one. Hope you guys can forgive me for this.
Link to old, dead thread:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/388955-31-components-critique-system#t2940420

Thank you for your time - if you have managed to read all this - you're awesome! Feel free to point out anything that will make this thread more accessible for everyone and I will do my best to do it :)
 

YOUR_HAMSTER

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Mar 10, 2013
18
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10,510
Thank you for the reply - how can you be sure that everything will fit? Just so I can figure it out myself next time I want to build a pc. Regarding your concerns about the ssd I have a few hdd's lying around :)
 
heres what i would have changed instead

-the z77 g41 has the lowest grade caps you can find on a z77 board (or the same caps found on a asrock extreme4 and below). a similarly priced gigabyte or asus would smack the hell out of it in terms of quality of the components (if there are no boards that cheap, there is a reason why this one is so cheap
-the samsung 840 non pro uses the lowest grade nand found on SSDs (TLC). has a relatively small amount of write cycles (1000 vs 3000-5000 found on regular SSDs). even the sandforce sf2281 SSDs tend to perform better than the 840
-go buy yourself a WD caviar blue 1tb drive. 120gb is never enough
 

YOUR_HAMSTER

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Mar 10, 2013
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10,510
- I have also considered the ASUS P8Z77-V LX2 - would that be an upgrade?
- I have never heard of TLC only SLC and MLC.. I believe though that a MLC would be sufficient for my system (please correct me if I am wrong) and the OCZ Vertex 4 Series Solid State Disk 128 GB could be an option but is 1/3 more expensive than the 840
- I have a few HDD's and will probably buy one in half a year or so :)

Otherwise what do you think of the system? Will everything fit? :eek:
 
Your initial build is good with good quality parts.

There is one adjustment I would make.
The ram has tall heat spreaders which may interfere with your cpu cooler.
1.5v ram needs no heat spreaders at all.
You might look at what are called low profile ram like the ares series from g.skil

Past that, it is largely a matter of brand preference and not anything important.

For reference, you indicated an interest in providing for dual cards.
Here is my canned rant on that:
-----------------------------Start of rant----------------------------------------------------
Dual graphics cards vs. a good single card.

a) How good do you really need to be?
A single GTX650/ti or 7770 can give you good performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.

A single GTX660 or 7850 will give you excellent performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.
Even 2560 x 1600 will be good with lowered detail.
A single gtx690 or Titan is about as good as it gets.

Only if you are looking at triple monitor gaming, then sli/cf will be needed.
Even that is now changing with triple monitor support on top end cards.

b) The costs for a single card are lower.
You require a less expensive motherboard; no need for sli/cf or multiple pci-e slots.
Even a ITX motherboard will do.

Your psu costs are less.
A GTX660 needs a 430w psu, even a GTX680 only needs a 550w psu.
When you add another card to the mix, plan on adding 150-200w to your psu requirements.

Even the strongest GTX690 only needs 620w.

Case cooling becomes more of an issue with dual cards.
That means a more expensive case with more and stronger fans.
You will also look at more noise.

c) Dual cards do not always render their half of the display in sync, causing microstuttering. It is an annoying effect.
The benefit of higher benchmark fps can be offset, particularly with lower tier cards.
Read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

d) dual card support is dependent on the driver. Not all games can benefit from dual cards.

e) cf/sli up front reduces your option to get another card for an upgrade. Not that I suggest you plan for that.
It will often be the case that replacing your current card with a newer gen card will offer a better upgrade path.
The GTX780 and amd 8000 series are not that far off.
-------------------------------End of rant-----------------------------------------------------------

My rule of thumb for a balanced gaming pc is to budget twice the cost of the cpu for the graphics card. You are a bit short there, but not seriously so.
 

YOUR_HAMSTER

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Mar 10, 2013
18
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10,510
Damn my first comment got deleted - here we go again...
TheBigTroll: Why would the lk be a better bet? (the motherboard does not have to be Asus), also I could find a crucial m4 but it was half the speed of the OCZ
geofelt: Any way to know if the RAM will interfere? If I needed to change I would consider the Ballistix Tactical Series which oddly enough is more expensive in Denmark. Worth noting though is that it runs at 1.35 V and CL8.
Thank you for the rant btw :) It added a bit to my scepticism regarding dual card setups. Finally I would like to point out that currently the CPU and the GPU are almost equally priced. I will not step down on the CPU (I like to render stuff) but I could consider stepping the GPU up. I have heard though that the 7870 XT should be incredible bang for the buck and that is why I ended up discarding (might change it back though ;) ) my first idea of going with the ASUS GTX670-DC2-2GD5.

Finally I would like to ask whether it would be a good idea to downgrade the power supply. I have heard though that PSU's are most effective when only using a part of their potential, so I hope that this would save me some power, and make the system a bit "greener" (not a green fanatic but I like to keep the electricity bills down) :)

As a closing remark I like the look of the Cooler Master CM-Storm Scout 2 but I have heard it is sort of plastic-ish and not that sturdy? Would it be a better choice compared to the Z11?
 

If you orient the cpu cooler so that the fins are parallel to the ram, it would probably not interfere.
But, why not just buy the low profile version, it hardly costs more.
http://www.edbpriser.dk/ram/crucial-2-x-4-gb-id-6672760.aspx
You will get what you pay for in graphics cards. I tend to think that the amd cards win fps benchmarks, but the NVidia cards may play smoother.
Read this: http://techreport.com/review/23981/radeon-hd-7950-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti-revisited
I like the direct exhaust coolers on the EVGA units like this one: http://www.edbpriser.dk/grafikkort/evga-geforce-gtx-660-ti-superclocked-2-gb-id-6936733.aspx
XFX makes good quality power supplies, as does Seasonic, Antec, and Corsair.
A 650w psu will run a card as strong as a GTX690 I think you picked well there.
Here is a handy table for your reference: http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm
A psu will only consume the wattage demanded of it, regardless of it's maximum rating.
In the US, one will not recoup the price premium paid for silver/gold/platinum rating through electricity savings. Perhaps where you live that would be different.
On the case, really any case with two 120mm intake fans or equivalent output will be sufficiently ventilated.
Pick the one that is visually appealing to you.
I happen to like smaller cases and use the Silverstone TJ-08E. You can put a less expensive M-ATX motherboard in it:
Read some reviews :http://www.edbpriser.dk/kabinet/silverstone-temjin-tj08-e-id-6528936.aspx
 

YOUR_HAMSTER

Honorable
Mar 10, 2013
18
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10,510
Its just painful to pay more for CL9 ;) (and the other RAM looks cool :v )
I have always heard that AMD is like an unstable racingcar and nVidia could be a sturdy Mercedes or something.. I prefer nVidia but the arguments for the 7870 were pretty strong. Though considering it more I think I will step up my game regarding the GPU. Thank you for the links they provided some good reads.
I am afraid that if I go for a small tower that I will be unable to control the temp. Also it is standing under the desk so it does not matter too much. Regarding the GPU I would like to spend enough to get something nice, but still keeping it balanced so I don't pay a whole lot for a small performance boost. I am currently considering the http://www.edbpriser.dk/grafikkort/gigabyte-gv-n670oc-2gd-2-gb-id-6792959.aspx