Building My First Gaming Rig (FPS)

First of all I would like to thank this forum for being awesome! I've been lurking for quite a while now.


Anyways, I'm currently selling my gaming laptop (MSI GE60 0NC-262US) and looking into building a gaming rig. I would use the computer for PC gaming as well as some school stuff.


Approximate Purchase Date: Before the end of the month

Budget Range: $1000 to $1400 After shipping. My overall goal is to have a gaming laptop and something portable (ultrabook) to use for school with a total cost between $1500 to $1900

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming > basically everything else

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg or any other seller that does not seem sketchy. Most of my links are to Newegg, but if anyone knows of a cheaper price somewhere else please let me know

Location: Madison, WI USA

Parts Preferences: I have no preference for AMD, Intel, or Nvida. 

Overclocking: Likely in the future

SLI or Crossfire: Possibly in the future

Your Monitor Resolution: 1080p

Additional Comments: As far as gaming goes, I'm a FPS fan and would like to switch from console FPS to PC. I was a huge fan of BF3 and played it competitively on the Xbox and would like to play BF4. I would like to play on Ultra or Maxed settings on BF4 but seeing as the requirements are not out yet I understand it is difficult to guess a setup that will fit the bill.


And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: To join the glorious master race


Here's what I have in mind as of right now


CPU: i5 3570K
Cooler: CM Hyper 212 Evo
Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 2.5 inch SSD + Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 3.5 inch HDD
Video Card: Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD 7970 GHz 3GB
Case: NZXT Phantom ATX Full Tower
PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX600 600W
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST
OS: Windows 8 64 bit
Monitor: ASUS VS248H-P 24 inch 1080p
Keyboard: MS SideWinder X4


I welcome any suggestions about this potential build, and I have some specific questions regarding the parts of the build.

First of all, I have considered an AMD CPU, esepcially the FX-8350. I understand it does not perform as well as the 3570k but at a lower price as well. However, is it possible that we will see an increase in the performance of the FX-8350 in the future, seeing as how next gen consoles both have 8 core APUs, therefor possibly forcing developers to utilize more cores for better performance.

Secondly, I have heard both good things and bad things about the ASRock Extreme 4 (mostly good). I have read about CrossFire issues with the ASRock Extreme 4 and the Vapor-X 7970 Ghz since it is such a huge card. If I do decide to go with the 7970 Ghz, it is possible that I will attempt a CrossFire configuration in the future. I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with Vapor-X cards and the ASRock Extreme 4 Mobo

Thirdly, I wonder if the CM Hyper 212 Evo will be enough. From what I've read it is more than sufficient, but how will it perform if I decide to OC or go CrossFire?

Finally, the GPU. I've done a ton of research, eventually narrowing my choices to the GTX 760, GTX 770, GTX 670, HD 7970, and HD 7970 Ghz. I chose the 7970 Ghz because of its attractive pricing at the moment and its game bundle, combined with solid reviews on the Vapor-X version, as well as AMD's partnership with Battlefield 4. I was hesitant at first due to the issues I've read about regarding CrossFire, but the recent release of the Catalyst 13.8 Beta drivers seems to significantly improve the performance of CrossFire configurations with frame pacing. Regardless, I am still very interested in the other options. From what I understand the 7970 is exactly the same as the 7970 Ghz, only that it does not OC as well and runs hotter (not as good of a cooler), the GTX 670 being similar and slightly better in performance than the GTX 760, and the GTX 770 being better than all the cards on my list (is that true?). I am not seriously considering the GTX 760 because I have doubts that it will be able to run BF4 on Ultra or Maxed settings at 1080p, and I have small reservations about the GTX 670 and 770 due to the fear that 2GB of VRAM will not be sufficient (the 4GB versions are slightly beyond my budget). I have read on some threads that some current games are already reaching 2GBs, and it may be possible (although unlikely) that I will upgrade to a higher res display or a multi-monitor setup. I would really appreciate some input regarding the different cards.

Other than that, I don't think I have any problems with the rest of my build. I chose the case because it looks amazing (I am a Wisconsin Badger) but it's kind of expensive, let me know if you have a cool case in mind. I think the PSU should be sufficient, I don't know a lot about the SideWinder X4 and how it compares to mechanical keyboards (Razer Blackwidow or CM Storm) and was hoping someone can offer some reviews. I plan to only throw the OS on the SSD so if anyone has a smaller and cheaper SSD please let me know. I've read good reviews about the ASUS monitor, but if anyone has a suggestion for a solid monitor for FPS please comment. I already have a mouse (Logitech G500). Also, if anybody has a notebook/ultrabook in mind that you think would be a great fit for college and fit within the budget I described, please let me know!


That was probably a lot to read but I'm really hoping to get some advice. Thanks for taking the time!


-Mike