One last review before I buy today

missingno

Distinguished
Mar 10, 2011
35
0
18,530
Firstly, this community has been amazing in helping with my first build. I want to have one more check over before I finalize it and start ordering.

My last question is if I intend to xfire/sli in the future (whichever this card is lol) should i go with a higher Watt PSU now? Ideally I wouldn't need to get a second GPU for a few years but I'm just trying to think long term with this guy.

Also is there anywhere where I've gone overboard and can cut down a few bucks? Thanks guys.

Build is for gaming and schooling.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KIYD
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KIYD/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KIYD/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.10 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($389.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (Gunmetal) ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($93.49 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1310.48
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-19 06:57 EDT-0400)
 
Solution
The rig looks fine to me.

In regards to Crossfire capability (since its a Radeon card), your already covered. The board can handle two GPU's and so can that PSU.

imomun

Honorable
Feb 17, 2013
914
0
11,660


Well if you allow me to say something than... as everybody says the Rig is very good no problem, But since your buying a z77 board you could used its ISRT feature, why not buy a 64GB SSD instead 256GB saves you lot. Performance is good from my experience when using maximize performance mode. ISRT seems to show great promise. The benchies for my rig showed very significant performance increases over certain RAID configurations of my own experience. HDDs have always been the significant bottleneck in PC systems, prompting some of us to spend money on RAID controllers and additional drives http://download.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/intel_smart_response_technology_user_guide.pdf
 
ISRT = Intel Smart Response Technology
Its a feature on Z68 or later motherboards that uses a small SSD (32GB is max supported size) as an SSD cache for a HDD. This video will explain in greater detail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U83ED4FOWiw.
Basically allows faster performance on your HDD by using the SSD as a dump for more commonly accessed files.

IMO, its not worth it. Just go with a dedicated SSD, performs much better. Caching should only be used when upgrading older rigs on the cheap or boosting the performance of HDD RAID arrays.