Building a PC for the first time ($900) need some advice

firecotton · Nov 27, 2013

Hi guys,

so I saved up some money so i can build myself a completely new rig. This is it:
Pcpartpicker

I want to be able to play games for several years on max settings, maybe stream a little bit on the side, without hindering my performance. I don't know much about PC's so all I've got are the parts from my research over the internet.

Do I need to change something to get the maximum out of my rig? Are the parts even working well together?

I also want to overclock my CPU, is the motherboard fine?

Another question I have is, is a 2GB GPU fine, if I want to use 2 monitors? (1 for gaming and the other one to browse on the web or watch movies while playing) I don't want to play games on both at the same time.

Thanks in advance.

rcsavi98 · Nov 27, 2013

From a quick glance at the parts, I don't see a problem - although if you want to play games on max settings, and for several years, your graphics card may need to be updated at some point (As example, COD Ghosts requires a minimum of the GTX 650, I believe). And for hard drives, this is my personal opinion, I find that Seagate hard drives are more reliable then the WD.

Thrillogy · Nov 27, 2013

firecotton :

Looks pretty solid, look at this slightly modified version-
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($197.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($365.91 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro M 700W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Total: $896.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-27 20:45 EST-0500)
I swapped out your Western Digital Black HDD for a Caviar Blue one, its 25 dollars less, which leaves enough room in your budget for a Sapphire R9 280x Toxic

Rammy · Nov 27, 2013

CPU is fine, but you should consider whether or not you want to swap to a 4670K from the latest generation of i5s. It's no faster, and slightly more expensive, but by swapping to the new socket you do gain access to future upgrades. If you just want to maximise your bang/buck, then stick with the 3570K.

Motherboard is ok, but if you want to overclock then it's probably best to spend a bit more than that. If you stick with the 3570K, then pair it with a ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H or Asus P8Z77-V. The Extreme4 is the same price as the Pro4 at the moment.

You'll notice in PCpartpicker it gives you a warning about the memory. If you want to make your life easy, keeping your search amongst 1.5V kits is probably a good idea. Up to 1600Mhz is officially supported, and again, it can make things simpler just to stick with that as the gains are fairly small. Nothing to stop you going for faster ram though, the memory support list for the Extreme4 for example, is pretty exhaustive.

A Caviar Black drive is high quality but not great value for money. It doesn't run any faster than the equivalent Caviar Blue or Barracuda, but costs a lot more. At the 1TB level, the Caviar Blue makes a lot more sense.

2Gb video card card should be fine, but I wouldn't chose a GTX670, they just don't represent good value for money in most circumstances. For the same price as the card you chose, you can pick up an R9 280X or GTX770, both of which offer better performance.

Also, the PSU is discontinued, and wasn't all that great to begin with.
There's a lot of decent PSUs around, so check out the Antec HCG/True Power Gold/True Power Classic, Rosewill Capstone, XFX Core/XXX ranges and basically anything Seasonic make, to name a few.

firecotton · Nov 27, 2013

PcPartpicker

Thanks for the help guys.

So I've upgraded my CPU to a 4670k, got a 770 GTX and went with a z87 Motherboard, because the parts were conflicting.

I didn't bother with the PSU right now, but i will look into it.

Are these parts fine or do you guys still have some suggestions?

Thanks.

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Building a PC for the first time ($900) need some advice

firecotton

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rcsavi98

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Thrillogy

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Rammy

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firecotton

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