Building New Gaming PC

djalec · Sep 25, 2013

Approximate Purchase Date: Planning on having the money in a couple of months

Budget Range: $400-$600

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Browsing the Internet, Watching Media Files

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Monitors

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: NewEgg, Amazon

Country: United States

Parts Preferences: I have recently bought the NZXT Full Tower Case,

Overclocking: No real preference

SLI or Crossfire: No real preference

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 1680x1050

Here are the parts I already have:

Motherboard: Dell Inspiron 530 Motherboard

CPU: Q6600 (2.4Ghz)

Memory: 3.071Gb DDR2 SDRAM

GPU: Readeon HD 7750 Core Edition 2GB DDR3

HDD: Whatever the 250GB hard drive is that came with the Inspiron 530

What I want to upgrade to:

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

GPU: Need Help Deciding

HDD: Whatever the 250GB hard drive is that came with the Inspiron 530

SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-128G 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Is this all compatible and how much of a performance boost will I see from doing this?

ps3hacker12 · Sep 25, 2013

If its in a couple of months, I reccommend posting again nearer the time, AMD are announcing their new Radeon line of graphics card later today too.

at that price point, I reccommend looking at an AMD based system:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.97 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $569.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-25 11:16 EDT-0400)

also AMD are announcing their new Radeon lineup later today, so i'd wait for that if I were you

Kamen_BG · Sep 25, 2013

It is all compatable, but after you buy all the parts you mentioned, you will barely have any cash left for a graphics card.
Your only option would be to crossfire your HD 7750 or get a HD 7770.
And that's not going to be a huge step up.

This will be much, much better.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1Htue

g-unit1111 · Sep 25, 2013

You're probably better off building a new rig from scratch. Those Dell systems won't accommodate any full size ATX motherboards or power supplies or coolers. You can definitely reuse any parts from your existing rig you want to save to cut down costs.

djalec · Sep 25, 2013

ps3hacker12 :

If its in a couple of months, I reccommend posting again nearer the time, AMD are announcing their new Radeon line of graphics card later today too.

at that price point, I reccommend looking at an AMD based system:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.97 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $569.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-25 11:16 EDT-0400)

also AMD are announcing their new Radeon lineup later today, so i'd wait for that if I were you

Oh okay awesome. I like this build.

I've got a 750w power supply and an optical drive. Would mine be sufficient or would I need to get those?

djalec · Sep 25, 2013

Also with that build would you be able to crossfire/sli? And would that provide that big of a jump in gaming performance? And as far as the heat goes, would I need to do anything to compensate? I have the Full Tower NZXT Case.

And what about an SSD

g-unit1111 · Sep 25, 2013

djalec :

Depends on who the manufacturer is. You can definitely use it, but I would make sure that it's a quality unit.

Also with that build would you be able to crossfire/sli? And would that provide that big of a jump in gaming performance? And as far as the heat goes, would I need to do anything to compensate? I have the Full Tower NZXT Case.

And what about an SSD

Any AMD rig using 970 or 990FX will support both two and three way SLI / Crossfire with no issue. And yes having two of the same GPU will give you a huge boost in terms of performance.

As far as an SSD goes it's difficult to squeeze one into such a tight budget. You can always add one later.

djalec · Sep 25, 2013

g-unit1111 :

djalec :

Depends on who the manufacturer is. You can definitely use it, but I would make sure that it's a quality unit.

Also with that build would you be able to crossfire/sli? And would that provide that big of a jump in gaming performance? And as far as the heat goes, would I need to do anything to compensate? I have the Full Tower NZXT Case.

And what about an SSD

Any AMD rig using 970 or 990FX will support both two and three way SLI / Crossfire with no issue. And yes having two of the same GPU will give you a huge boost in terms of performance.

As far as an SSD goes it's difficult to squeeze one into such a tight budget. You can always add one later.

Okay thank you very much for your help.

ps3hacker12 · Sep 25, 2013

djalec :

1. Yes that mobo will support up to 3 way crossfire.
2. Your current case is fine.
3. Your PSU and optical drive will be fine (as long as your optical drive is sata not IDE, basically fairly new)
4. As for gaming performance difference, this is the difference between the 7770 and the 7950:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/856?vs=777

except the difference will be even bigger because you have a 7750 not a 7770.

Here is a revised build to better fit your needs:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.97 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $579.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-25 16:43 EDT-0400)

djalec · Sep 26, 2013

I've never done AMD before, always used Intel systems. Is there a reason why you recommend AMD vs. Intel?

ps3hacker12 · Sep 27, 2013

At certain pricepoints, you can get alot more gaming performance for your money by going for an AMD build.

If your not comfortable with an AMD build still, I could offer a non-overclockable Intel build too?

This would be the closest Intel build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.97 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $664.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-27 08:54 EDT-0400)

some things to note is that the motherboard has less features than the 970 chipset mobo, it costs more and the processor cannot be overclocked.

Also the Intel build doesn't include an aftermarket cooler because the stock cooler is nice.

djalec · Sep 27, 2013

Oh okay. So I guess my last question would be is that is there a big difference in the ASRock z77 extreme4 w/ i5 3570k compared to the AMD build you gave me? I do like that build a lot I just wanted to make sure that I don't spend my money on something then come to realize I could have payed a little more for something significantly better.

As a side note I don't really have a preference for Intel or AMD.

I've never messed around with overclocking just because i've heard you can fry the cpu, but i'd definitely do it if I knew how to do it safely.

ps3hacker12 · Sep 27, 2013

For your needs the FX6300 + 7950 build would have MUCH better gaming potential than the i5-3570k rig, more than doubling your FPS across the board.

also I by mistakenly put Geil Enhanced CORSA ram in the AMD build, I mean this:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/team-memory-tld38g1600hc9dc01

the 212 Plus cooler needs good clearance which the CORSA can't provide.

Where you would notice the advantages of the i5 would be:
1. Dual GTX770/7970 SLI/Crossfire setups.
2. Heavily single threaded tasks

but for gaming, web browsing etc. the FX6300 is a powerful processor.

djalec · Sep 27, 2013

Thank you very much, you have been very helpful!

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