Hey guys, so I have all of the parts (I think) picked out, but as it's my first time buying all the parts and building my own PC, I thought I'd get some input from people who know what they're talking about.
Form:
-------------------------------------
Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next week
Budget Range: Up to $950, but I'd rather stay closer to my current $840 (after MIR)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, internet/videos/school work (no graphical editing or anything like that)
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, SSD (I'll get one when I have more $)
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg is where I look, but if you have a better suggestion, I'm open.
Country of Origin: US
Parts Preferences: Definitely going with the 2500k
Overclocking: I'll OC the 2500k, video card if that's reasonable (like the 6950 to 6970 business)
SLI or Crossfire: Not necessarily right now (unless somehow that's cheaper for better performance), but eventually maybe
Additional Comments: I don't mind a lot of noise, but quiet would be preferable (but not for a large premium...)
-------------------
So here's what I have so far.
I'm fairly confident in these:
ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
Intel Core i5-2500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
And these I'm more open to:
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
Seems to be a good case for a good price, lots of good things said about it, and it should be big enough for the 6950. If that's incorrect, please let me know.
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395
I don't need a whole huge amount of space right now, as I said I'll get an SSD later for the boot drive, and if needed I could buy a slow TB thing for a cheap data drive if I find I want more space.
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6950 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102914
See below.
SIGMA FOCUS SP700B 700W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817226006
Cheap 700w and well reviewed. I'm still looking at other PS, because this wouldn't be enough for CF 6950's. Or would it? I'm just not sure.
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231427
Seems to be recommended a lot on these forums, cheaper than some of those Kingston Hyper X and Corsair, but if those are really worth it, I'm open.
BIOSTAR TP67B+ LGA 1155 Intel P67
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138298
Uh, cheap and has 2xPCI slots. I don't need a whole lot of fanciness, but I'm fairly certain I want a P67 so I can OC the 2500k (so not an H67)
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
Everybody loves this thing, and if it's enough to OC the 2500k, it's enough for me. And only 30 bucks!
Video card
I play all of the latest FPS, so I want to be able to run Crysis 2, Homefront, etc on high settings. I've spent a lot of time looking at GPU comparisons and benchmarks on Anandtech, here, and Guru3D, and this was the best card I came up with. I would attempt to flash the bios or whatever the most effective method is to up it 6970 levels, and maybe eventually get another one (when prices drop) to CF it.
Another card I'm strongly considering is the 6870, which is about 50-60 bucks cheaper (after rebate 'n' stuff) than the 6950, but is obviously slower and has only 1gb of vram (which isn't that helpful now since I won't be using eyefinity, but in the future 2gb should be good). It's not that much terribly slower though, and often has benchies which put it right near (1fps off) the GTX 560. Would that be a better choice since I'd be able to get another one sooner (cheaper) and my current setup for motherboard and PS would be able to handle it (thus saving even more?)
If there's another one you'd recommend, please let me know.
Tl; dr:
Look at those parts please, tell me your thoughts and what could be improved
(PS and case are the ones I'm least confident about)
Video card ideas, within reasonable price (under 300)
Form:
-------------------------------------
Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next week
Budget Range: Up to $950, but I'd rather stay closer to my current $840 (after MIR)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, internet/videos/school work (no graphical editing or anything like that)
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, SSD (I'll get one when I have more $)
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg is where I look, but if you have a better suggestion, I'm open.
Country of Origin: US
Parts Preferences: Definitely going with the 2500k
Overclocking: I'll OC the 2500k, video card if that's reasonable (like the 6950 to 6970 business)
SLI or Crossfire: Not necessarily right now (unless somehow that's cheaper for better performance), but eventually maybe
Additional Comments: I don't mind a lot of noise, but quiet would be preferable (but not for a large premium...)
-------------------
So here's what I have so far.
I'm fairly confident in these:
ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
Intel Core i5-2500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
And these I'm more open to:
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
Seems to be a good case for a good price, lots of good things said about it, and it should be big enough for the 6950. If that's incorrect, please let me know.
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395
I don't need a whole huge amount of space right now, as I said I'll get an SSD later for the boot drive, and if needed I could buy a slow TB thing for a cheap data drive if I find I want more space.
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6950 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102914
See below.
SIGMA FOCUS SP700B 700W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817226006
Cheap 700w and well reviewed. I'm still looking at other PS, because this wouldn't be enough for CF 6950's. Or would it? I'm just not sure.
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231427
Seems to be recommended a lot on these forums, cheaper than some of those Kingston Hyper X and Corsair, but if those are really worth it, I'm open.
BIOSTAR TP67B+ LGA 1155 Intel P67
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138298
Uh, cheap and has 2xPCI slots. I don't need a whole lot of fanciness, but I'm fairly certain I want a P67 so I can OC the 2500k (so not an H67)
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
Everybody loves this thing, and if it's enough to OC the 2500k, it's enough for me. And only 30 bucks!
Video card
I play all of the latest FPS, so I want to be able to run Crysis 2, Homefront, etc on high settings. I've spent a lot of time looking at GPU comparisons and benchmarks on Anandtech, here, and Guru3D, and this was the best card I came up with. I would attempt to flash the bios or whatever the most effective method is to up it 6970 levels, and maybe eventually get another one (when prices drop) to CF it.
Another card I'm strongly considering is the 6870, which is about 50-60 bucks cheaper (after rebate 'n' stuff) than the 6950, but is obviously slower and has only 1gb of vram (which isn't that helpful now since I won't be using eyefinity, but in the future 2gb should be good). It's not that much terribly slower though, and often has benchies which put it right near (1fps off) the GTX 560. Would that be a better choice since I'd be able to get another one sooner (cheaper) and my current setup for motherboard and PS would be able to handle it (thus saving even more?)
If there's another one you'd recommend, please let me know.
Tl; dr:
Look at those parts please, tell me your thoughts and what could be improved
(PS and case are the ones I'm least confident about)
Video card ideas, within reasonable price (under 300)