First Build Gaming PC

hootwing · Apr 1, 2013

Hello people. This is my first PC build and I really need help figuring out if I'm doing this right, I've been trying very hard to check and double check everything. My parts are at the bottom (part of the given format), and I'd really appreciate someone confirming that this is a good gaming PC (didn't want one too expensive) and mainly that I have a good power source (600 watts). Thanks in advance (this was the format I found under builds and upgrades, sorry if it's sloppy

)

Approximate Purchase Date: No components purchased as of now

Budget Range: $1200 USD is really high as I'm going (not including monitor, other external components) though if something is necessary it's possible

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Games, Surfign Web, School (word processing, presentations), video editting, general family use

Are you buying a monitor: No, using currently owned one, unless I can find one cheep

Do you need to buy OS: Kind of
I'm totally cool with using Ubuntu for a while, but if I could find cheap Windows 7 that would be great (eventually want duel boot)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I've mainly been using newegg.com, but since this is my first build I don't have much preference

Location: Georgia, United States

Parts Preferences: No real preference

Overclocking: Maybe, first build though so I'd rather not

SLI or Crossfire: Yes / No / Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: I use a laptop as of now, and I have the monitor not currently in use (so idk) if this info is really needed I can find out though

Additional Comments: want to have latest game support for now and hopefully at least 2 years with minimal upgrades

Upgrading because: I'm getting a new PC because the one I have is a netbook just for browsing the web and word processing. I really want a PC for gaming.

Compontents:

Intel® Core™ i5-3570K Processor

MSI N660Ti PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Crucial m4 128GB 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS (CX600)

Corsair Carbide Series 300R Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) SDRAM DDR3 1600

Sony AD-7280S-0B 24x SATA Internal DVD+/-RW Drive

WD - Caviar GP 1TB Internal Hard Drive

Thanks.

bigcyco1 · Apr 1, 2013

That is a nice build.

geofelt · Apr 1, 2013

A very good list.

Even though you will not initially overclock(and it is easy for a conservative oc like 4.2), I would add a $30 cm hyper212 cooler.
The large fan will be quieter and allow you a better eventual oc.

Look for the low profile versions of ram.

envy14tpe · Apr 1, 2013

I'd rather have the WD Blue instead of the WD Green. Faster and not much more $$.
Also, you need a CPU cooler. The intel one is crap for overclocking.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106150R
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/phanteks-cpu-cooler-phtc12dxbl

realchaos · Apr 1, 2013

May I ask how intense the video editing you are doing? You might want 16gb of ram or an i7 if you're doing some intense video editing. For now, I'll make a gaming rig.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek GAIA SD1283 56.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($47.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($95.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Tempest 410 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($61.24 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor ($151.10 @ Amazon)
Total: $1267.23
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-01 01:30 EDT-0400)
I kept all the parts to newegg and amazon only, so it'll be easy ordering.
I added in a monitor just in case.
Your i5-3570k + ASRock Z77 Extreme4 was a good choice, as it will allow overclocking.
Put in a cpu cooler. Great performance for its price.
Cheap, low profile ram.
Standard 1tb HDD with a cheap 120gb SSD.
Radeon HD 7970. Top of it's line with triple fan cooling.
A good case with great cooling. The 300r works too if you like that better.
550w psu will easily run this machine.
Standard optical drive.
23" 1080p monitor with LED backlight.

lunyone · Apr 1, 2013

AMD build that is just about all that you would need for quite a while, while still having a better GPU:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($168.55 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($61.24 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $974.71
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-01 01:28 EDT-0400)

Intel build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($168.55 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($61.24 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $989.71
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-01 01:31 EDT-0400)

* If your not going to OC, the Intel build will do just fine (although I did include an OC'ing mobo, just in case you want that option later, but you'd need an OC'ing CPU like the 3570k for ~$40 more).
* Both builds will have comparable performance, except the AMD one listed above will allow easy OC'ing of the CPU, if you want to do that (the 3570k CPU would also allow that same option, but is ~$40 more).
* The GPU is better than the 660Ti, IMHO and is a better value for the $ too!
* RAM in both builds have LOW PROFILE heat spreaders, so if you want to add a aftermarket CPU HSF, you should have to no restrictions there.
* Case is just as good as the 300R, but a little cheaper. If you want the 300R, just order it, it's a good one to get (it's just currently not on sale).
* PSU is better than the Corsair one, IMHO, but the Corsair option is good too.
* I upgraded the SSD to a 250 gb size. This will allow more room for games/apps than the 128 gb one would (about 15-20 gb's for OS). Most SSD's work most efficiently under 80% of capacity, so if you have a 128 gb SSD your only good up to ~100 gb (before formatting). That would only leave you about 60-70 gb's for games and apps, which isn't much if you ask me (most games are now around 10-20 gb's each in size).
* I slightly upgraded the HD from Green to Blue. Blue is a 7200 rpm drive that is just a bit faster than the Green model.

g-unit1111 · Apr 1, 2013

AMD build that is just about all that you would need for quite a while, while still having a better GPU

There's no reason to even consider AMD or a CPU that's locked.

* I upgraded the SSD to a 250 gb size. This will allow more room for games/apps than the 128 gb one would (about 15-20 gb's for OS). Most SSD's work most efficiently under 80% of capacity, so if you have a 128 gb SSD your only good up to ~100 gb (before formatting). That would only leave you about 60-70 gb's for games and apps, which isn't much if you ask me (most games are now around 10-20 gb's each in size)

128GB is all you need, there's no reason to get a bigger one unless you've got the budget for it, and you certainly shouldn't get a bigger SSD at the expense of getting a cheaper CPU. You don't come out ahead in that area. Also you have to remember that SSDs have far more limited lifespans and slow down after you load them over 80% capacity. That's what the mass storage drives are for - they can take a lot more punishment.

That's a pretty solid build already. There's only a couple of minor changes I would make:

1. Get the OCZ Vector instead of the Crucial M4. The M4 is a solid drive but the Vector is the fastest drive on the market in terms of read - write speeds.

2. The Radeon 7950 is a better and less expensive GPU.

3. Get the Seasonic S12 II 520W instead of the Builder Series: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

lunyone · Apr 1, 2013

g-unit1111 :

AMD build that is just about all that you would need for quite a while, while still having a better GPU

There's no reason to even consider AMD or a CPU that's locked.

* I upgraded the SSD to a 250 gb size. This will allow more room for games/apps than the 128 gb one would (about 15-20 gb's for OS). Most SSD's work most efficiently under 80% of capacity, so if you have a 128 gb SSD your only good up to ~100 gb (before formatting). That would only leave you about 60-70 gb's for games and apps, which isn't much if you ask me (most games are now around 10-20 gb's each in size)

128GB is all you need, there's no reason to get a bigger one unless you've got the budget for it, and you certainly shouldn't get a bigger SSD at the expense of getting a cheaper CPU. You don't come out ahead in that area. Also you have to remember that SSDs have far more limited lifespans and slow down after you load them over 80% capacity. That's what the mass storage drives are for - they can take a lot more punishment.

That's a pretty solid build already. There's only a couple of minor changes I would make:

1. Get the OCZ Vector instead of the Crucial M4. The M4 is a solid drive but the Vector is the fastest drive on the market in terms of read - write speeds.

2. The Radeon 7950 is a better and less expensive GPU.

3. Get the Seasonic S12 II 520W instead of the Builder Series: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

I would look at This YouTube video. This will show some info on the AMD 8350, i5 3570k, i7 3770k, & i7 3820. Now there are plenty of SYNTHETIC benchmarks that shows differences, so keep that in mind. Just some more information for the OP to investigate.

geofelt · Apr 1, 2013

lunyone :

Interesting youtube video.
I find several potential issues with it.
1. The benchmarks were done using a 7870 graphics card with full eye candy.
A good card, supposedly comparable to a GTX660ti.
As such, I would expect all the tests to be more graphics limited than cpu limited.
2. There was no mention if any of the involved cpu's were overclocked, and by how much. In general, the amd chips do not overclock as well as ivy bridge.
3. The measurement was average frames per second. There is new thinking on measurement which considers consistency or lagging. Here is one article on that: http://techreport.com/review/23981/radeon-hd-7950-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti-revisited
4. AMD has optimized it's drivers in the past to favor FPS measurements over consistency. Is it possible that their graphics drivers also favor amd cpu's over Intel? I would like to see a similar test using a GTX660ti.

lunyone · Apr 1, 2013

geofelt :

lunyone :

Interesting youtube video.
I find several potential issues with it.
1. The benchmarks were done using a 7870 graphics card with full eye candy.
A good card, supposedly comparable to a GTX660ti.
As such, I would expect all the tests to be more graphics limited than cpu limited.
2. There was no mention if any of the involved cpu's were overclocked, and by how much. In general, the amd chips do not overclock as well as ivy bridge.
3. The measurement was average frames per second. There is new thinking on measurement which considers consistency or lagging. Here is one article on that: http://techreport.com/review/23981/radeon-hd-7950-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti-revisited
4. AMD has optimized it's drivers in the past to favor FPS measurements over consistency. Is it possible that their graphics drivers also favor amd cpu's over Intel? I would like to see a similar test using a GTX660ti.

Oh I agree that it could be a bit iffy, but it does throw a wrench in the mix though. I also found another comparison with the 8350 and the i5 3570k w/7970 single and Xfire too HERE. It looks a little more realistic to me, but you can decide for yourself. Not a lot of benchmarks ran, but interesting none the less.

geofelt · Apr 1, 2013

Interesting.
I like what they tried to do.

When I see that the results are about equal, using the same amd graphics card, it suggests to me one of two things:
1. The cpu chips are equally capable.
2. The benchmarks were limited by graphics card.

g-unit1111 · Apr 1, 2013

lunyone :

I kind of take things said on Youtube with massive grains of salt. The video does make a couple of good points but most of the time they are made by fan boys without a lot of credibility to their name.

CarolKarine · Apr 1, 2013

or look at linus's comparisons? anyways, the extra cores will get him better results in video editing, which he did say he was doing. he needs an i7 to compete with a 8350 in well-threaded tasks. Plus, with the money saved, he can get better FPS by getting a better video card.

lunyone · Apr 1, 2013

CarolKarine :

That is why I listed the AMD build with the FX 8350. I'm not saying it is the best, but it is easily OC'able and also is cheaper than the i5 3570k. This allows more budget for a better GPU for gaming, if wanted/needed.

hootwing · Apr 1, 2013

Thanks everybody for the help and advice; I've seen some great points for varying graphics cards and a possibly bigger SSD. Thanks again, and if their is any other piece of info you would like to share, feel free to continue posting

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