Need advice on a build

medotcom

Honorable
Mar 3, 2013
3
0
10,510
Gents,

I came up with the build below using cyberpowerpc.com. I'm not a hardware expert by any stretch, particularly when it comes to gaming components, and need some advice. What do you think of the build? Am I overweight one set of components at the expense of another? I am OK with the price but probably can't go any higher, so extras will likely require a tradeoff. Also, I'm not thrilled about building instead of buying pre-built but could be swayed if the cost advantage was sizeable. What would you expect...$100? $200?

Thanks for the help.



Product Name: Gamer Infinity 8800 Pro

Price: $1,801.00

______________________________________________________________________

*BASE_PRICE:[+1309]

BLUETOOTH:None

CARE1:Ultra Enhanced Packaging Solution - Protect Your Dream System During Transit [+19]

CAS:Cooler Master HAF XB Gaming Case w/ Removable Motherboard Tray, Front USB 3.0 x2, HDD Hot Swap & X-Dock

CASUPGRADE:None

CD:24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)

CD2:None

COOLANT:Standard Coolant

CPU:Intel® Core™ i7-3770K 3.50 GHz 8MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 (All Venom OC Certified)

CS_FAN:Maximum 120MM Case Cooling Fans for your selected case [+9]

ENGRAVING:None

ENGRAVING_MSG:

FA_HDD:None

FAN:Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) (Dual Standard 120MM Fans (Push-Pull) [+9])

FLASHMEDIA:None

FREEBIE_MB:None

FREEBIE_VC:None

FREEBIE_VC2:None

GLASSES:None

HDD:128 GB OCZ Vertex 4 SATA-III 6.0Gb/s - 535 MB/s Read & 200 MB/s Write [+31] (Single Drive)

HDD2:1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 7200 RPM HDD [+94] (Single Drive)

IEEE_CARD:None

IUSB:Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

KEYBOARD:AZZA Multimedia USB Gaming Keyboard

MB_SRT:None

MEMORY:16GB (4GBx4) DDR3/1866MHz Dual Channel Memory [+108] (Patriot Viper III [+19])

MONITOR:* 24" Widescreen 1920x1080 ASUS VS247H-P LCD [+157]

MONITOR2:None

MONITOR3:None

MOTHERBOARD:[CrossFireX] GIGABYTE GA-Z77-HD3 Intel Z77 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ IRST, Ultra Durable 4 Classic, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, 2x Gen3 PCIe x16, 2x PCIe x1 & 2 PCI (Extreme OC Certified)

MOUSE:AZZA Optical 1600dpi Gaming Mouse with Weight Adjustable Cartridge

NETWORK:Onboard Gigabit LAN Network

OS:Microsoft® Windows 8 Pro (64-bit Edition) [+31]

OVERCLOCK:No Overclocking

POWERSUPPLY:800 Watts - Standard 80 Plus Certified Power Supply - SLI/CrossFireX Ready

RUSH:No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Date 10 Business Days

SERVICE:STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

SOUND:HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

SPEAKERS:600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers [+15]

TABLET:None

TEMP:None

TUNING:None

TVRC:None

USB:None

USBFLASH:None

USBHD:None

USBX:None

VIDEO:NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

VIDEO2:None

VIDEO3:None

WNC:None

_PRICE:(+1801)
 
Solution
Wrong section really. I'll try to fire through some of the questions.

Firstly, you will save a fairly hefty sum by self building. If you aren't up for it, that's fine, but it will cost you a lot more. If you were talking about an entry level system, then buying isn't so bad because the margins are much smaller, but at the high end you can be talking hundreds of dollars.

The build is fine enough, but there's a few quirks.

For a solely gaming machine, and i7 has little benefit over an i5.
16Gb of ram is overkill unless you have a specific purpose for it.
A GTX660 is a solid graphics card and fine for 1080P gaming, but if you are spending that much on a gaming machine, you probably want a higher % of your budget to go into graphics...

Rammy

Honorable
Wrong section really. I'll try to fire through some of the questions.

Firstly, you will save a fairly hefty sum by self building. If you aren't up for it, that's fine, but it will cost you a lot more. If you were talking about an entry level system, then buying isn't so bad because the margins are much smaller, but at the high end you can be talking hundreds of dollars.

The build is fine enough, but there's a few quirks.

For a solely gaming machine, and i7 has little benefit over an i5.
16Gb of ram is overkill unless you have a specific purpose for it.
A GTX660 is a solid graphics card and fine for 1080P gaming, but if you are spending that much on a gaming machine, you probably want a higher % of your budget to go into graphics, it's where you get the bang-for-buck really.
That PSU is ludicrous. A GTX660 and i7 can run absolutely fine on a good 450W PSU.

This is a similar build but slightly refocused. I7 to i5, 16Gb of 1866Mhz ram to 8Gb of 1600Mhz ram, monster CPU cooler, sensible high quality modular PSU and a better graphics card.
There's obviously a few things missing, but it gives you a rough idea of the price difference.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.48 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($73.49 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF XB (Black) ATX Desktop Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor ($166.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1367.84
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-03 13:08 EST-0500)
 
Solution

Avaruz

Honorable
Jun 21, 2012
56
0
10,630
It's got everything wrong that every store always gets wrong because customers have no clue. Maybe if they haven't put gamer in the title, it would make sense, because this is not a gaming rig.

A single GTX 660(non TI) is far too weak to keep up with this rig.

These parts are making it too expensive, and are not meant for your budget:
16GB RAM @ 1866, i7-3770K, Liquid cooling, 800W PSU.

Conclusion: Don't buy.
 

jupitor45424

Honorable
Feb 14, 2013
76
0
10,630
lol @ this company trying to rip people off.

1,500 gets you sli 660, 3570k, 27" led lcd, 8gigs of ram.

Why not google a few "how to build a pc tutorials" and have a badass gaming pc? Even my white trash brother in law that can barely read built his own pc.