Thoughts on my ~1000 gaming build? Limited knowledge

agui · Apr 22, 2013

Hey guys/gals,

I just wanted to see what you guys thought about my gaming build. My target price is $1000 but I am willing to go over by $100 (no more). I have some limited knowledge of computer parts. I know my way around but I am no expert like some of you guys are. I built this looking to play games like BF3,BF4, other high end games for the conceivable future. I am replacing my old laptop so I need everything: mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers.

So, what do you guys think?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/SlE9
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/SlE9/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/SlE9/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Cooler ($36.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($112.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.64 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Athena Power CA-601B60 ATX Full Tower Case w/600W Power Supply ($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: BenQ GW2450 24.0" Monitor ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Rosewill RK-200 Wired Standard Keyboard ($14.65 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Creative Labs A220 9W 2.1ch Speakers ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1153.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-22 14:51 EDT-0400)

g-unit1111 · Apr 22, 2013

Get the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo over that cooler instead.

Also for $20 more the Radeon 7870 XT is a better choice than the standard GHz edition and will greatly improve graphics performance.

Kingston Hyper X RAM is rated at 1.65V and it won't work with Ivy Bridge very well. You will need 1.5V.

I'd ditch the tin can speakers (the speakers built into your monitor are better than those) and the expensive mouse and invest more money into your case and power supply - both are garbage. Your case will probably fall apart in six months and that power supply will cause lots of problems. Get a Corsair 200R or Antec 302 and an XFX Pro 550W power supply.

agui · Apr 22, 2013

Thanks for the input. Would you be able to change up my build to fix those problems? Also, my monitor does not have speakers unfortunately :-/ Any suggestions on a new monitor?

perishedinflames · Apr 22, 2013

your build looks fine but there's a part i'm unsure about.
a full tower + 600W PSU @ $50 ? it's either the best deal ever or it's trash.

wihtout being too familiar with PSUs and not knowing what kind of case you're looking for i'd go for something like that instead:

psu + case1 or case2

you'd still be on your budget.

p.s. plus what g-unit1111 said

g-unit1111 · Apr 22, 2013

agui :

This will be a better use of funds:

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: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1062.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-22 15:00 EDT-0400)

- Better case
- Way better power supply
- Upgraded GPU to Radeon 7870 XT
- Better CPU cooler
- Compatible RAM
- Included monitor with built in speakers

Add a cheap keyboard and mouse for now, and then invest in better ones later on.

agui · Apr 22, 2013

I appreciate the feedback! It looks like this will be my final build. If anyone has any other suggestions it would be greatly appreciated!

boulbox · Apr 22, 2013

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($173.97 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($118.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.20 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.64 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($92.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ TigerDirect)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor ($161.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1047.71
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-22 16:00 EDT-0400)

AMD route.

CarolKarine · Apr 22, 2013

boulbox's build will actually perform better (due to the better GPU) and then later it will retain it's value more as hyper-threaded applications and games become more common (the two new consoles will have 8 cores, so new games will use more cores, especially if console ports)

Cyanide Reverse · Apr 22, 2013

CarolKarine :

Except that the cpu can be a bottleneck for the GPU. I'd personally go for g-unit's suggestion because I5-3570K doesn't bottleneck any games whereas AMD processors have been known to bottleneck games, games still won't be utilising more than 4 cores for a long time as the the console ports will be ports so they wouldn't effectively use the >4 cores whereas if it was built dedicated for the PC it wouldn't need more than 4 cores since it'll be lot more efficient and higher quality.

CarolKarine · Apr 22, 2013

did you miss that the PS4 and "720" will be using 8-core AMD processors? this means that the games that are ported from them will play best with 8 cores.

boulbox · Apr 22, 2013

The bottleneck for most games are not going to be that far apart especially i5 3570k+7870XT vs 8320+7950.

i5 will show the better performance yes and it will show even more performance at games that use CPU more intensively/can only use single core.

the 8320(my build vs G-units) allows for a 2nd GPU but being slower and losing a few FPS(i think its worth it comparing the price of the 2 CPUs) and has a stronger card to make up for the slower CPU.

Cyanide Reverse · Apr 22, 2013

CarolKarine :

No I didn't miss it, like I stated before console ports wont work as well as games built specifically for the computer and would probably not utilise 8 cores since most console ports are bad for example the crysis series; crytek decided to make crysis 2 on the console and port it over to the pc and consequently it had far less customisation options on things like graphics options unlike it's siblings: Crysis and Crysis 3 which both were built for the pc specifically and have fully fledged options in the settings and look a lot better.

g-unit1111 · Apr 22, 2013

CarolKarine :

I'm not believing console fanboy hype. Most games use 2 - 3 cores at best and the software will take YEARS, if not DECADES to catch up to 6 and 8 CPUs. There's very few games that require the horsepower that Crysis 3 and Far Cry do. Console hardware is a step above laptop hardware at best, and let's not turn this into a console - PC debate please.

The bottleneck for most games are not going to be that far apart especially i5 3570k+7870XT vs 8320+7950.

The term "bottlenecking" gets thrown around a lot and taken out of context. Most people think it's the GPU or the CPU that's slowing things down. When actually they fail to overlook that the slowest part of any given PC is almost always the primary hard drive.

agui · Apr 22, 2013

So gunit, do you recommed boulbox's setup or are you still leaning with the i5 and the 7870 xt?

g-unit1111 · Apr 22, 2013

agui :

No the i5 is a far better CPU than the AMD FX series. I'd go with the 3570K and the 7870 XT if this were my build.

smeezekitty · Apr 22, 2013

Keep in mind that he may want to keep the SSD.

g-unit1111 · Apr 22, 2013

smeezekitty :

Yeah at the expense of your CPU and GPU? Why would you do that? You can always add one later, I've added quite a few SSDs to existing builds with no trouble.

smeezekitty · Apr 22, 2013

g-unit1111 :

Obviously not. It was just a consideration if the budget could be stretched.

The original build totaled out for more then yours so you might be able to still add in a SSD.

agui · Apr 23, 2013

From what i hear, I would need at least a 128 SSD for a bootup. I wouldn't want to just get an 80 SSD since apparently the more full they are the slower they get. And yeah, I could always add a SSD down the road. Right now, i'm just looking for key components. I'll see if Newegg has a sell shocker on an SSD and I could get one for cheaper. I wish I could spring for more, but with a newborn I need to keep my priorities straight (at least somewhat ;-))

Thoughts on my ~1000 gaming build? Limited knowledge

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