1500 approx Gaming Rig - suggestions?

[d_pepper]

Hey all,

I am putting together my first build. I have picked out some parts but would definitely like to get some feedback.
The price is flexible, so if you think it would be worth it to spend a bit more and get a machine that will last longer before it needs to be upgraded than I am open to that.

Thanks for your suggestions, see details below:

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Approximate Purchase Date: this week

Budget Range: Approx 1500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming

Parts Not Required: mouse

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: http://www.bestdirect.ca

Country of Origin: Canada

Parts Preferences: Intel & Nividia

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 or higher if I can afford to

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CASE: Antec DF-85 Dark Fleet Full Tower Advanced Gaming Case
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=6_111&item_id=032061

MOBO: Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 ATX LGA1155 Z68 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI HDMI SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/236198/GA-Z68XP-UD3/Gigabyte/

PSU: Intel Core i5-2500K Processor 3.3GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155
http://www.amazon.ca/Intel-i5-2500K-Processor-3-3GHz-LGA1155/dp/B004EBUXHQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319343212&sr=8-1

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD 2560MB GDDR5 (025-P3-1579-AR) nVidia GeForce GTX 570Chipset(732MHz) 2560MB GDDR5 Memory(3800MHz) Dual-DVI/HDMI/Display Port PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_557_559&item_id=039976

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1866 CL9-10-9-28 Memory
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=16950BD8285&vpn=F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL&manufacture=Others

SSD: Adata S510 120GB 2.5" SATA III Solid Sate Drive (SSD), Read: 550MB/s Write: 510MB/s (AS510S3-120GM-C)
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=15_179&item_id=041739

HD: Western Digital Caviar Green (WD20EARS) 2000GB (2TB) SATA 3 Gb/s 64MB (OEM)
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=15_210_212&item_id=027811

OPTICAL: ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/225965/DRW-24B1ST%20Bulk/ASUS/

POWER: OCZ ZX Series 850W Fully Modular 80 Plus Gold Certified Power Supply (OCZ-ZX850W)
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_441&item_id=036173

HS: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 4 Heat Pipes, Copper Base (RR-B10-212P-GP) for Socket LGA1156/1366/775 & Socket AM3/AM2+/AM2
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=8_129&item_id=025125

DISPLAY: ASUS ML248H 24IN LED Widescreen LCD Monitor 1920X1080 HDMI DVI VGA 10M:1DCR 2MS - Black
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530MN8844&vpn=ML248H&manufacture=ASUS

KEYBOARD: Razer BlackWidow Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (RZ03-00390100-R3U1)
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_273_274&item_id=035381

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT SP1 DVD OEM
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/222137/GFC-02050/MICROSOFT/

 

[Emelth]

That build is pretty much solid, I would change the HDD to a Samsung or Seagate Barracuda

 

[Why_Me]

FREE SHIPPING

These two retailers (Direct Canada & Best Direct) are affiliated, both use the same shipping addy out of Richmond, BC, and both offer free ground shipping.

http://www.directcanada.com/contact/

http://www.bestdirect.ca/contact/

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/237094/Z68%20Extreme3%20Gen3/ASRock/ $148.50
ASRock Z68 EXTREME3 GEN3 ATX LGA1155 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E SATA3 USB3.0 SLI CrossFireX Motherboard

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68%20Extreme3%20Gen3 <----- a better look at that board

http://www.asrock.com/microsite/PCIe3/ <----- PCI-E 3.0 for Ivy Bridge and the new generation vid cards

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/237385/RR-212E-20PK-R1/COOLERMASTER/ $29.15
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366 LGA1155 LGA1156 120MM

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC6196&vpn=CC-9011012-WW&manufacture=CORSAIR $115.50
Corsair Carbide Series 500R Mid-Tower Gaming Case ATX 4X5.25 6X3.5INT USB 1394 No PS Black

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139009 <----- that case on newegg

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC6193&vpn=CC-9011011-WW&manufacture=CORSAIR $89.69
Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid-Tower Case ATX 4X5.25 6X3.5INT USB 1394 No PS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008 <----- that case on newegg

 

[flong]

FREE SHIPPING

These two retailers (Direct Canada & Best Direct) are affiliated, both use the same shipping addy out of Richmond, BC, and both offer free ground shipping.

http://www.directcanada.com/contact/

http://www.bestdirect.ca/contact/

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/237094/Z68%20Extreme3%20Gen3/ASRock/ $148.50
ASRock Z68 EXTREME3 GEN3 ATX LGA1155 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E SATA3 USB3.0 SLI CrossFireX Motherboard

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68%20Extreme3%20Gen3 <----- a better look at that board

http://www.asrock.com/microsite/PCIe3/ <----- PCI-E 3.0 for Ivy Bridge and the new generation vid cards

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/237385/RR-212E-20PK-R1/COOLERMASTER/ $29.15
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366 LGA1155 LGA1156 120MM

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC6196&vpn=CC-9011012-WW&manufacture=CORSAIR $115.50
Corsair Carbide Series 500R Mid-Tower Gaming Case ATX 4X5.25 6X3.5INT USB 1394 No PS Black

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139009 <----- that case on newegg

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC6193&vpn=CC-9011011-WW&manufacture=CORSAIR $89.69
Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid-Tower Case ATX 4X5.25 6X3.5INT USB 1394 No PS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008 <----- that case on newegg

Excellent post Why me!

 

[flong]

Hello. I have a few thoughts:

1. For your budget a midrange motherboard like the AsRock Extreme 4 Gen 3 is a good choice. This board is Ivy Bridge compatible and PCI-E 3.0 compliant so it will be "future-proofed" if there is such a thing. MSI makes Gen 3 boards as does Gigabyte

2. If you are going to overclock, two of the best coolers available are the Corsair H100 and the Noctua NH-D14 - the D14 is more within your budget. The Hyper 212 that Why Me recommended is also very good but not as good as the first to listed.

3. I second Why Me's recommendation of the Corsair Carbide 400 and 500 - both are excellent cases, probably the best bang for the buck. For a higher end case you could look at the Corsair 650D. The Cooler Master 690 II is a good budget case also.

Note that the Antec Darkfleet 85 is a very good cooling case but it is listed as being noisy in professional reviews. If you want a full size case, the Cooler Master HAF X 942 is probably superior to the Antec 85 in cooling and quietness.


3. I would suggest the Samsung F3 Spinpoint 1 TB HDD, it is a very fast HDD and it is fairly cheap

4. Adata makes a solid SSD. You may also want to look at the Kingston Hyper X Extreme, the Mushin Chronos Deluxe, the Corsair Force 3 GT (emphasize the GT) and the Patriot Wildfire (all in the 120 GB size). The Mushkin is the fastest, the Kingston or the Corsair GT are not far behind and are about $50 USD cheaper

5. Get any brand optical drive, the Asus you listed is usually a good buy.

6. The best monitors for all around are HIPS. The top three would be the HP 2475W, the Dell Ultra Sharp 2410 and the Asus ASUS ProArt Series PA246Q. These monitors are all about $500 each and so they may not fit in your budget. I own the HP 2475 and it is a great monitor. These are all 1200 X 1600 resolution monitors and as I said they have the best most accurate pictures

I see that you have listed an Asus monitor in your choices. For a cheaper gaming monitor look at the Asus 24" monitors (note that there are several models) like the Asus VW246H which have TN panels (not HIPS). The TN monitors do not have as good a picture as the HIPS monitors but they are faster and cheaper. Many gamers use Asus monitors.

7. For a PSU, I would recommend the Corsair HX 850. It frequently goes on sale and it is easily the best 850W PSU for the money for multiple reasons. I own it and it is a superb PSU. It performs at nearly platinum levels in efficiency up to about 60% capacity. It should be close to the price of the OCZ PSU you list and it will produce superior results.

8. 2 x 4GB 1866 RAM is the perfect choice

9. For a CPU, the 2500K is the gamer's choice if you are on a budget so you made the best choice


Good luck with your build

 

[d_pepper]

Thanks everyone, you have been very helpful!

 

[flong]

Oh, I forgot to mention that you should also look at the Crucial M4 128GB SSD also. It is one of the fastest SSDs on the market.

 

[d_pepper]

The crucial and other ssds recommended are $60-$70 more than the adata which seems a steal at $130. Should I still spend the extra money?

 

[flong]

The crucial and other ssds recommended are $60-$70 more than the adata which seems a steal at $130. Should I still spend the extra money?

No. I don't think that you will see that much difference between the Adata and the other cards in the real-world use / experience. Adata makes a solid card and this is a great deal. Tom's Hardware has used Adata in several builds and they have reviewed well.

Because your budget is limited, I think the Adata is a great choice. If you had extra money you could upgrade to Kingston Hyper X Extreme or the Corsair Force GT (emphasize the GT). But $139 for a 120 GB SSD is a very good price. I don't know how that translates into Canadian money though and so be sure to make the cost comparisons as USD to USD or CD (Canadian dollar) to CD.

 

[flong]

Hey I just did a quick search on the Canada computer site and the Corsair 650D is on sale right now and it is a steal at $145 after rebate. The link is here: http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=6_112&item_id=036011

I own this case and it is an amazing case. It cools well, has a SATA III hot swap bay, it is toolless (you don't have to use tools to put your build together), it has brilliant cable management, it has a built in fan controller, it has wonderful quick release side panels, it has USB 3.0 and it is beautiful. It also cools well - thought the Dark Fleet and the Cooler Master HAF X cool a little better. Note that the difference is about 3C-5C at most and that goes away if you remove the top HDD cage (the hard drive cages are removable by just loosening thumb screws). This allows a clear path for air flow to circulate and makes it about equal with the HAF X and Dark Fleet.

I don't know if you are looking for a more conservative looking case, but the Corsair Obsidian series is one of the top rated series anywhere. The 650D is a superb case and it is on sale for less than I paid for mine.

I should also note that you can hear the fans when they are set to high-fan, but that is because the case is moving a lot of air. If you set the case to low-fan, it is almost silent and it still cools very well.