Alternate part recommendations

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Sal123

Honorable
May 20, 2013
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10,530
Hello everyone, my name is Sal. I am building my first computer which will be intended for gaming, I do not necessarily have a budget, but it would be nice to spend less. After some researching I have picked the following parts. I would love to hear feedback from more tech savvy people, and would especially appreciate it if you guys confirmed that all these parts are compatible and told me if I am wasting money on some of these parts and could get cheaper alternates for the same quality and performance. Here is my part list:

Western Digital WD1002FAEX Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop 3.5" Hard Drive

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036Q7MV0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

ASUS GTX 660 Ti Series Graphics Card Overclocked Edition Graphics Cards GTX660 TI-DC2O-2GD5

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008Y65MUA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155 - BX80637I53570K

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SZ0E1K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Asus P8Z77-V LK Intel Z77 DDR3 LGA 1155 Motherboards

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007RIFKTY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Core i3, i5, i7 and Platforms SDRAM CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CRSM4I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_9?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

And will be using this cooler and case:

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O65JXI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Cooler Master HAF 912 - Mid Tower Computer Case with High Airflow Design (RC-912-KKN1)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZM7YTA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_10?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1XBPHGHAXLHDG

Thank you, please leave links to recommended parts :D And I have not bin able to choose a good power supply. I'd love a recommendation.

Edit:
My case description does not say it includes a fan. I am not planning on over clocking, would I still need a fan? Could you guys link me to good fans compatible to my listed case.
 
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DarkSable

DarkSable

Judicious
Sep 27, 2012
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Hmm. Grab a 3350p, and an h77 motherboard, and drop the CPU cooler. Overclocking doesn't make much of a difference for gaming, and is more of a "do it cuz you can and it's fun" than anything else.

Also, unless you want the 5-year warranty, a WD caviar blue will be cheaper and slightly faster.
 
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risaccess1

risaccess1

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Jul 29, 2012
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This list looks great!
You have pretty much picked some of the top quality components on the market. So, I really dont think you can get anything cheaper for the same reliability and performance. You made a wise choice going with an intel platform.
First off, the components you have selected should go together fine without any issues.
However, there are several suggestions I would like to make:
-I see you are going to go with one single hard drive. There are no issues with this at all and WD makes great drives, but I would recommend purchasing a small SSD to use as a boot drive for the OS such as an OCZ vertex . Although this is not necessary, It will boost performance.
-You did not mention a power supply. The PSU is one of the most critical components in any PC because it is responsible for regulating power and delivering smooth voltages to all components in the computer. If it fails, it could damage the most expensive parts such as the CPU. Thus, it must be very high quality. Your video card requires at least a 450 watt PSU, but combined with the core i5, this will make the PC a power hungry beast. So I suggest at least a 650 watt PSU. This will give you watts to spare for expansion or maybe a little overclocking. A Corsair Enthusiast Series TX650 will be fine.
-Will you be overclocking? Small overclocks should be OK on your system, but anything with a major voltage increase will need a much beefier cpu cooler. If not, then the hyper 212 will work great. Just keep an eye on system temps with software such as CoreTemp.
-Lastly, I did not see an optical drive in your list. While these are pretty much becoming outdated, you will still need one to install your O.S. and some older games. Go for an Asus DRW-24B1.

Hope you found this helpful!
-Richard S.
 
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Sal123

Honorable
May 20, 2013
28
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10,530
Thanks Richard for the recommended PSU. I have a question to you guys recommending SSD's. Is it a complicated process installing an OS to an SSD? I feel like if I install one it will be a waste because I will end up installing windows 7 on my HDD. And if I successfully install my OS on an SSD. How do I make my computer start up from my SSD. And if i get to start up on my SSD will things downloaded from then on only download to my SSD, how will I move things to my HDD?
 
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risaccess1

risaccess1

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Jul 29, 2012
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Installing the O.S. to an SSD is not difficult at all.
Here is what you do:
1. After completing the build power up the machine. You will want to enter the BIOS. (Basic Input Output System) Usually, the BIOS can be entered by pressing one of the function keys (F1-F12) or the delete key. If you are unsure, it wont hurt to try pressing any of those buttons. The motherboard should also have its own documentation for how to enter the BIOS.
2. Once in the BIOS, change the boot order so that the optical drive boots first, then the SSD, then the HDD. This basically instructs the machine to look for an OS first in the ODD, then the SSD, then the HDD when it powers up.
Then save changes and exit the BIOS.
3. Once you have exited the BIOS, reboot your comp and insert the OS disk into the disk drive while it powers on. Eventually, the OS setup utility will appear to guide you through the install process. If it complains about not having a bootable medium, it means you did not insert the disk fast enough. Just reboot with the disk inside.
4. The OS install utility will ask you what drive you want to install the system on, and select the SSD. It may want you to format it, which is fine.
5. Once the install completes, it will eject the disk automatically, or it may prompt you to do so. The computer will then restart, AND MAKE SURE THE OS INSTALL DISK HAS BEEN EJECTED. If all has gone well, the computer will start to boot into windows.
6. Once you have configured your personal settings, you will want to configure the HDD. Go to the start menu, right click computer, and go to manage. Then hit disk utility. From there, you can configure your drive any way you want.
Also, you can configure most game software such as steam to install to the HDD no problem.

YES, YOU WILL STILL NEED A CASE FAN. Fans are necessary to remove excess heat from the case. Luckily, I looked it up, and the cooler master haf 912 comes stock with two 120mm fans. Just make sure you wire those up either to the motherboard headers or with adapters to the molex PSU connectors.
 
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