Final review i5 build (ordering this week)

[Jona90]

I am going to be purchasing my first desktop PC from Newegg this week. I would like to get some input on my build to see if I need to make any necessary changes or improvements. My budget is around 800-1000 (little over is fine). Keep in mind that I still have to purchase a monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.


Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL

MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video ...

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power ...

GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm ...

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAKX 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

TP-LINK TL-WN722N USB 2.0 High Gain Wireless Adapter

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM


Total: $975.00


Would this deliver me quality performance?

Should I go for i5 or i7?

I still need to pick out a sound card? Any recommendations?

Do I need another fan?

Am I missing anything?


Thank you!!!

 

[sosofm]

Its ok. You don't need now a sound card.Stay for the beginning with the onboard sound.If you make 3D rendering and you work with graphic programs ,yes you need i7 2600k. If is just for gaming ...then everything is ok.

 

[g-unit1111]

Would this deliver me quality performance?

For the most part yes - but switch up the case, go for something like a Cooler Master HAF 912 or Antec 300 Illusion. From my experience a lot of Rosewill products can be very cheaply made and fall apart easily in the long term.

And why only a 250GB hard drive? I know HD prices are ridiculous right now (and the jackasses that run Seagate today proved the market isn't going to be affected for a long time to come - or they just don't care :lol: ). Go with at least a 500 if you're going mechanical (750 if you can find one), or at least a 64 - 128GB SSD if you've got the budget for it.

I'd also recommend staying away from Asus DVD burners - they are terrible. There's other, better ones on the market for the same price.

Should I go for i5 or i7?

i5 - you don't need the i7 unless you're running a lot of intense multimedia editing programs like Adobe CS4.

I still need to pick out a sound card? Any recommendations?

No - you don't need a sound card. They are worthless anymore when the built in audio on your motherboard will handle that function perfectly fine. On my PC I have a 42" Vizio and Klipsch speakers hooked up, and even using the built in audio on my motherboard - it gets LOUD. The only reason you'd need a sound card would be if you're hooking your PC up to some really high end audio components (like more than a 5 or 7 channel audio system).

Do I need another fan?

Yes and no - it's never a good idea to include small items like that in your initial budget. It'd be like spending $25K on a car and having a $5 air freshener and $20 wiper blades affect whether or not you can get the big ticket items like a GPS and stereo system. There's a number of factors that can determine the way air flows in your case and there's a number of things that can disrupt or limit your air flow. There's a couple of really good articles that were written on this site a couple of weeks ago about setting up a good air cooling system. I'd highly suggest reading them.

Part 1
Part 2

Am I missing anything?

Not really but my main recommendations would be to switch up the case with the ones I suggested. For the video card - if you're going with NVIDIA, I highly recommend EVGA - they have a really good tech support department in case something goes wrong. If you're going for a Radeon / Eyefinity setup I'd recommend going with Sapphire - their products are on par with EVGA, IMO.

 

[BlackHawk91]

My suggestion is this Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 it's 1600 for just 2 more bucks and it has been tested with P67/Z68 platforms.

 

[Rosebud]

If your rending you need something better than a stock cooler and never spend 200.00 for a chip then buy a 100.00 mobo chip and mobo should be about same price if you want to get everything out of it. If you got cheap thats what you have CHEAP! AND remember if you render its CPU best you can buy ( less you like waiting a lot)

 

[g-unit1111]

If your rending you need something better than a stock cooler and never spend 200.00 for a chip then buy a 100.00 mobo chip and mobo should be about same price if you want to get everything out of it. If you got cheap thats what you have CHEAP! AND remember if you render its CPU best you can buy ( less you like waiting a lot)

Huh?

Are you saying rendering? I'm guessing if his budget is $1K that's not going to be the primary use for it. I also definitely agree with getting a cooler - even a Hyper 212 is worth the money over the stock Intel/AMD coolers, IMO.

 

[Jona90]

So switch out my Rosewill case for Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case would be better? ( looking for mid-sized tower)

Get an additional fan? Which one?

Should I get the: EVGA 01G-P3-1560-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card instead of my Twin frozr?

Also what 500gb hard drive should I get? Any brand?

 

[g-unit1111]

So switch out my Rosewill case for Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case would be better? ( looking for mid-sized tower)

Yes - much better choice.

Get an additional fan? Which one?

If you need any additional fans I'd highly suggest getting a CPU cooler if that's not on your list. The Hyper 212 is a good place to start - it's only $25. You don't need additional case fans - the Antec 300 has plenty included (2 x 120mm and 1 x 200mm) to start with.

Should I get the: EVGA 01G-P3-1560-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card instead of my Twin frozr?

I'd highly recommend EVGA - their tech support and RMA department are among the best in the industry, their warranties are not matched anywhere else, save for maybe XFX, plus you get a free copy of Arkham City. :lol:

Also what 500gb hard drive should I get? Any brand?

Western Digital would be my first choice - but make sure you get the Caviar Blue 7200 RPM model. Samsung and Seagate are good choices as well. Avoid Hitachi and IBM hard drives.

 

[Jona90]

Should I aim for the EVGA 2GB video card instead of the 1GB? Is it worth the extra dollars?

Also I still cannot decide on which case I want. There are so many mixed reviews. I'm leaning towards the COOLERMASTER HAF 922 is this a good one?

I'm still a bit confused regarding extra cooling. Should I buy the hyper 212 regardless of what case I buy?

Also I have a gigabyte motherboard do these have a good reputation? Should I buy something better.

 

[g-unit1111]

Should I aim for the EVGA 2GB video card instead of the 1GB? Is it worth the extra dollars?

On the lower end cards it really doesn't make that much of a difference - the higher end cards utilize the VRAM better than the lower end ones do. I'm running dual EVGA 550TIs 2GB model in my system and I've seen a huge difference in frame rates in some of the more current games I play - in others not so much.

Also I still cannot decide on which case I want. There are so many mixed reviews. I'm leaning towards the COOLERMASTER HAF 922 is this a good one?

There's a lot of really good CM cases and a lot of not really good ones. If you want a full tower I'd highly suggest the NZXT Phantom. If you want a mid tower the Corsair Carbide, Cooler Master HAF 912, and Antec 300 Illusion are all good choices.

I'm still a bit confused regarding extra cooling. Should I buy the hyper 212 regardless of what case I buy?

You definitely want a good CPU cooler, the Hyper 212 is a great low cost choice and far better than the stock fans Intel includes.

Also I have a gigabyte motherboard do these have a good reputation? Should I buy something better.

I have the Z68XP-UD3P and it's been an amazing board so far. You definitely want to do your research in this area - the Gigabyte boards are good, but you certainly don't want to skimp on features.