First PC Build: $1500 Gaming Rig

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whitechapel34

Honorable
May 14, 2013
2
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10,510
Hi All,
I am very new to the whole PC building thing and am seeking advice for my first build. My budget is around $1500, but am willing to spend more to ensure high performance on future games. From the research I've done, it seems like the i5 3570K is the best gaming CPU for my price range. When it comes to all the different coolers, power supplies, motherboards, exc, I feel pretty overwhelmed trying to pick the best parts.

I am open to all suggestions and any advice is very much appreciated, thanks in advance!!

($1500 price range does not include monitor, mouse, exc.)

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: June 2013

Budget Range: 1,200-1,600

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, word processing

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No Preference

Country: US

Parts Preferences: none

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: maybe

 
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boulbox

Honorable
Apr 5, 2012
1,880
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11,960
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Plextor M5S Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($86.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($403.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1199.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-14 23:48 EDT-0400)

pretty much the essentials without skipping out on quality.

If you want to/know you are going to add a second GPU onto the System, you can get a 750-850W PSU. 750W if you don't want to BIOS unlock the card and i highly recommend to do some simple overclocks with the system like 4.2GHz on the CPU and a few tweaks to the GPU.

If you have a microcenter near you, you can go there and get a deal on an i5 3570k for a good price along with a motherboard $40 off.(recommend ASrock extreme4 if going there, if it is sold out, then Gigabye UD3H)

I also recommend to wait for a few months as the new GPUs and CPUs are coming out soon, namely the 4th gen intel Haswell and the 700 series from Nvidia.
 
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Jack Revenant

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Apr 16, 2013
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He's in Australia, folks. Newegg and NCIX US are a bit outside his range.

Here's my selected build (less the PSU, because PC Part Picker Australia is kind of broken):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.00 @ Scorptec)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($35.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($469.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.00 @ Scorptec)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($22.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($139.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Total: $1303.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-15 15:31 EST+1000)

You might consider swapping the graphics card for a Sapphire Vapor-X 7970 Ghz. Edition 3GB if you can find it, but if not the Gigabyte Ghz. Edition is a darn good card. I would recommend a 550-700w PSU from SeaSonic, sorry that I couldn't find a specific link. Edit: You could also throw in an SSD without going over budget, should you choose to. If so, the Samsung 840 Pro series is an excellent choice.
 
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ksham

ksham

Splendid
Mar 29, 2013
8,398
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29,960
Missing the most important component @Jack Revenant. Added it for you.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.00 @ Scorptec)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($35.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($469.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.00 @ Scorptec)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($22.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($139.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Total: $1402.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
 
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Jack Revenant

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Apr 16, 2013
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Thank you kindly, ksham. Is it only for me that PC Part Picker doesn't work properly for Australia, or did you just do the actual work and find and enter that manually?
 
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whitechapel34

Honorable
May 14, 2013
2
0
10,510
Thanks for the responses. I'm actually from the US, I must have forgot to change the country when I copied the template from another post (sorry!!) I looked at my local Microcenter and they have the i7 3770K on sale for only 239$ so I may go with that. If I were to go with this CPU would that cause much change in the motherboard? Also is there a big difference between the Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz and the GTX 680?
 
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ksham

ksham

Splendid
Mar 29, 2013
8,398
1
29,960
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($125.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($459.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Other: Microcenter Bundle Special (-$25.00 @ Microcenter)
Total: $1169.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
 
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boulbox

Honorable
Apr 5, 2012
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11,960
The i7 does not give any more performance than the i5 in terms of gaming. Unless you know you are going to go do some hardcore photoshop/more workstation kind of build, then i would consider the i7.

I would go for the 7970 GHz, it is an overall stronger GPU and costs quite a bit less than the 680
 
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