$1500 Gaming Build Advice...

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Woodi101

Honorable
Feb 5, 2013
24
0
10,510
I'm currently thinking about building a new gaming rig. Yes....I've heard of Haswell and I don't think I will be waiting as I don't think the small change in performance will affect my gaming. I have around $1500 to spend and I'd like to purchase the parts through Newegg or Amazon.

I put together this build and it comes out to $1500 after taxes and shipping. Anyone have better suggestions on parts?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($105.99 @ 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: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($309.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($195.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Raidmax 730W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($48.75 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1293.65
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-25 16:54 EDT-0400)
 
Solution
TheBigTroll
id get this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/T3G3

-no point of paying so much for a cheapo liquid cooler when its not going to perform a ton better.
-better board. the extreme4 uses extremely cheap d-pak mosfets, making it run hotter.
-cheaper ram sticks
-way better SSD
-id get a 670 if you want to do a dual card config in the future. crossfire creates a ton of runt frames causing no visual benefit. but its your call
-case is overkill for a board that isnt full size atx
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ksham

ksham

Splendid
Mar 29, 2013
8,398
1
29,960
Hello Woodi101 and welcome to Tom's Hardware.

Your build was solid (other than your PSU). I upgraded your GPU to 7970. Also updated your PSU to a Corsair one. Raidmax is not a reputed PSU manufacturer. Always best to get a good PSU -- one of the most important part of your computer, if not the most important. Top reputable PSU manufacturers are Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, and XFX. Price wise, it's a tad more than the one you posted but it'll perform better.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($80.51 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($70.96 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($161.50 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($93.61 @ Amazon)
Other: Newegg Special Bundle (-$40.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $1326.51
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
 
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TheBigTroll

TheBigTroll

Illustrious
Apr 15, 2012
14,099
1
42,965
id get this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/T3G3

-no point of paying so much for a cheapo liquid cooler when its not going to perform a ton better.
-better board. the extreme4 uses extremely cheap d-pak mosfets, making it run hotter.
-cheaper ram sticks
-way better SSD
-id get a 670 if you want to do a dual card config in the future. crossfire creates a ton of runt frames causing no visual benefit. but its your call
-case is overkill for a board that isnt full size atx
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
g-unit1111

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
Jul 27, 2011
42,535
812
104,940
On that budget you can definitely do better than that. Raidmax is probably the worst power supply vendor you could pick from. I'd suggest going with a cheaper case and a better GPU.

Try something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($220.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($184.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vector Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.99 @ 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: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1308.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-26 17:31 EDT-0400)
 
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