Memorial Day weekend gaming PC for me!!

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Snohball

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May 24, 2013
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Hi TH!

I have been lurking the website for weeks now pouring over all of the older threads and gaming build advice. I plan on purchasing my first DIY PC this weekend and would love your expertise before committing so much money.

Purchase date: 2-3 days
Main Use: Gaming, Microsoft Office applications
Budget: ~$900 without OS

A lot of the parts I picked are based off of NewEgg's Memorial Day sale. Also, I'm sad that I missed the Sapphire Radeon deal 5 days ago, so I might wait until that goes back on sale to purchase the GPU. Do you think it will be ok if I use my Nvidia GeForce GT 630 in this new set-up until I buy the Radeon 7870? Or is this a big no-no.

Microcenter has the i5 3570k/mobo bundle at a great price where I live so I plan on buying those this weekend too.

Thanks in advance TH!

Please let me know what you think of the build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZI6R
 
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mastrom101
Looks like a solid build!

My personal suggestions:
Drop to 8GB of RAM (2 X 4GB, 1600/1866MHz, CAS 9)
$250 is a lot for a 7870 XT, you can find a 7950 for under $300 quite easily
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-1003523

Look for the NZXT Phantom 410, it's a great case that was on sale recently.

I would recommend an SSD, at the very least a cache SSD

This is the Hybrid Drive you were talking about
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st750lx003

Good Luck on your build!


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Spaniard United

Spaniard United

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Nov 17, 2012
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That is a fine looking build.

I see no HDD on that list. Don't know if you have one/some to cover that aspect, but need an HDD or even better an SSD.

You can trim the 16 gigs of RAM down to 8 and save a bit of money or put it towards either a better GPU or the HHD/SSD.

The rest looks solid
 
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Snohball

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May 24, 2013
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Thanks for the quick responses! I have this odd sense of accomplishment having studied all of the old threads knowing that I'm getting TH's nod of approval :)

Any thoughts on me using my older Video Card for 1 month or two?

@Spaniard United:
I'm leaning towards the Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" on sale for $85. I forgot to put it back on b/c I was toying with the idea of getting an SSHD for my desktop but I couldn't find one for some reason.

@ksham
the 7950 is like $200+ of the 7870 xt...
 
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mastrom101

mastrom101

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Jun 12, 2010
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Looks like a solid build!

My personal suggestions:
Drop to 8GB of RAM (2 X 4GB, 1600/1866MHz, CAS 9)
$250 is a lot for a 7870 XT, you can find a 7950 for under $300 quite easily
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-1003523

Look for the NZXT Phantom 410, it's a great case that was on sale recently.

I would recommend an SSD, at the very least a cache SSD

This is the Hybrid Drive you were talking about
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st750lx003

Good Luck on your build!


 
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Snohball

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May 24, 2013
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10,510


@Mastrom101
Thanks for the tips! Here's my updated build http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZIqx
the 7870 Xt is there just as a place holder until I can get one on sale/ebay/whatever!

I would definitely prefer the SSHD over an HDD, but does it matter that I can only find 2.5" and not 3.5"? The reason I want an SSHD is because my girlfriend does a lot of multi-tasking/'forgetting to close apps when she's done with them' on my computer.
 
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Snohball

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May 24, 2013
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oh that GPU looks...sexy? lol I will seriously have to consider the 7950 now (although I'm not in a rush to get a GPU so I have time over this one part).

Is there a bigger upkeep on having two drives? or can I just buy the parts, put the pc together and let the parts do their work?
 
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ksham

ksham

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Mar 29, 2013
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The AMD Radeon HD 7950 comes with the free AMD Never Settle bundle -- Far Cry 3, Crysis 3, and Bioshock Infinite. A good deal if you like those games. Saves you money from having to pay for them yourself.

The SSD is for the OS + installed apps. It's not meant for storing your media files, pictures, etc. SSD improves load times so it would allow your computer to boot up faster and launch applications at a faster rate than that of your HDD.
 
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mastrom101

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Most SSD's are 2.5 inches. It's fine, it'll fit into your PC.
Of course an HDD and SSD are better than a Hybrid Drive, but you're going to be paying more money. In real world use, both are very fast.
 
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Snohball

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May 24, 2013
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10,510
My Final Build!!!

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZJj5

Thanks @ksham @mastrom101 @spaniard United for the info.

I decided to go with a 256gb SSD for now since and get an HDD in the future if I feel like I'm running out of space. As far as the GPU I will wait 1-2 months for a nice deal to crop up and jump on that! In the meantime I'm going to use my Nvidia GeForce GT 630 that I have now. Thanks again guys and have a happy Memorial Day. I'm off to Microcenter:)
 
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ksham

ksham

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1. Get low-profile RAM. The RAM you have currently is going to block about 1-2 inches in front of your CPU cooler fan. It may not be a big problem however.

2. You don't need 256GB of space for a SSD. 120GB is sufficient. You should not put anything other than the OS and installed apps on a SSD. And maybe a few games. The money saved from that can afford you a HDD.

3. Everything else looks good.
 
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mastrom101

mastrom101

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Looks Great!

A word of caution, check your current HD usage to ensure it's not more than ~200GB. If it is, you may need to stick with a 120GB SSD and a separate Hard Drive.

I hope you enjoy your build! Good Luck!
 
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