Looking for advice on a $1,200 build

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bluelobster

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Mar 30, 2013
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I'm looking for advice on a build I've been putting together. This'll be my first time building a pc.

My budget, for the pc only, not including peripherals, is around $1,200. I'll be using it for high-end gaming and CAD (autodesk inventor). I originally planned on getting the amd 8350, but I found the i7-3770k for a ridiculously low price so I decided to go with that instead. Anyway, here's the build, any advice would be greatly appreciated:

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

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.69 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($93.59 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($92.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.96 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1243.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-01 22:31 EDT-0400)
 
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lunyone
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SHORYUKEN

SHORYUKEN

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Jan 3, 2013
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($93.59 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($96.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.81 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.96 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1254.25
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-01 22:38 EDT-0400)

- Better cooler.
- Cheaper and better HDD.
- Better SSD.
- Modular PSU.
- Better MoBo (imo).
 
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lunyone

lunyone

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Feb 22, 2006
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You do realize that the "Micro Center" price is for "In Store Only", so you would need to pick it up to get that price? If you don't live near a Micro Center store, I've listed a couple of builds for your perusal below:

AMD Build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ 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: $1004.70
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-01 22:47 EDT-0400)

Intel Build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ 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: $1059.70
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-01 22:49 EDT-0400)
 
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bluelobster

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Mar 30, 2013
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Yes, I have a microcenter pretty close to my house, and it's currently stocked with i7-3770k's. Thanks for those builds, I'll be sure to take a good look at them.

You'd go with a 1tb over 2tb?
 
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lunyone

lunyone

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Feb 22, 2006
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Most people miss the note about "Pickup In Store Only", so I mention it when needed. The 2 TB is fine, I missed that and just posted my usual 1 TB instead :)
 
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masterman467

masterman467

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Oct 17, 2012
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Why do you all have a hard on for the 7950?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 ATX Mid Tower Case ($95.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1157.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-01 23:28 EDT-0400)

Benches, dood, benches.
 
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lunyone

lunyone

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Feb 22, 2006
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Uh hmmm..... Under $110 cheaper than your option (7950 vs GTX 670)?? Obviously the SSD won't make any more FPS on a game, but there are more benefits for an SSD. Mainly system snappiness and Boot and load times, if that matters to you. File transfers will be better too.
 
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masterman467

masterman467

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Oct 17, 2012
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Yeah, SSD's are faster. Do you have one in your PC? If you do you would know that the advantages are few and far between for a large price raise. How often do you start your PC? once a day? And is that 7 seconds really worth 200 (No reason at all to get one under 250GB, or you will fill it up in a few days and wont be able to do the one good thing it has going for it) bucks to you? The one place it does somthing noticeable is in gaming load times, and that is even minimal.

All in all its much better to put the money to a better GPU. But he is free to do what ever he wants, im simply giving him more info so he can choose what works best for him.
 
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lunyone

lunyone

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Feb 22, 2006
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No argument there, I just included a better value SSD, since he had one in his build. I know that SSD's fill up quite quick, especially with a 128 GB one. I know this, because I have one and I boot up several times a day (laptop). I do know that having an SSD isn't about FPS, but I have some situations where it has paid off for me.

The scenario that I give you is when I was playing World of Tanks (WoT). I started a match and just as the match was beginning the game crashed and locked up the OS. I was able to reboot the system and get back into the match (without losing anything but some time). No obviously this might be an extreme situation, but I've had this happen a few times, until the game was patched.

I just would find it better to have at least a 240-256 gb SSD (assuming you can afford it) over a 128 gb SSD for the OS, games, and apps. Obviously if you want to have 10 or more games that are about 20 gb's big, you would need to figure out which games you were going to put on the Data drive and which ones you would keep on the SSD. It's up to the OP to decide which option would be best for them. Personally if I wasn't installing an SSD I would opt for the better GPU (7970 or GTX 670).
 
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bluelobster

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Mar 30, 2013
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I'd agree entirely, but I'm not using the rig solely for gaming, I'll also be using it for autocad (engineering student), and so I'd like to install inventor on the ssd. I'll of course also have my os installed on the ssd and perhaps a game or two (probably my current mmo and switch out whatever single-player game I'm working on) as well as inventor. I figure the $100 is worth it for my cad software alone, as currently inventor takes forever to boot up and load programs on my current rig.
 
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masterman467

masterman467

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This is the best price/capacity SSD on the market. http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7pc256bww
 
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lunyone

lunyone

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Feb 22, 2006
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I would have linked it, but it's been OOS for at least a month or two, so the 840 is the next best deal out there.
 
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