First Time Gaming Build

[Swoveland]

Gonna try to build my first PC ever for gaming and for fun.

This is what I have so far, could anyone give me some opinions? Or tell me if I can buy something different but will run the same as what I have listed and/cheaper.

Case: NZXT Guardian Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Case 921RB-BL

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD Platforms SDRAM CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500 3.3 GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155 Processor

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive - WD5000AAKX

Power Supply: 800 Watt 800W 120mm Fan ATX Power Supply 12V 2.3 EPS12V 2.92 SLI-ready PCI-Express SATA 20/24 PIN Intel AMD by KenTek

Graphics: SAPPHIRE AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE Graphics Card

Motherboard: MSI Intel H61 (B3) Chipset ATX DDR3 1333 Intel ? LGA 1155 SATA3 and USB 3.0 A&GbE ATX Motherboard - PH61A-P35 (B3)



Current Total: $683.04

 

[kajabla]

2500K, absolutely always and forever amen. That "K" means overclocking, which means that in a couple of years, when you start feeling like you need a new CPU, you can just push it to 4.3ghz or something and have a whole new build without spending another $200 on 2015's latest high-end processor.
This means a P67 or Z68 motherboard. $130, Asus P8Z68-V LE

Might as well get RAM that isn't so tall. Those fins are just decoration, and they might get in the way if someday you put in 16gb and a big heatsink. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

Time for a lesson in power supplies. Case #1: your choice. You've picked a perfect example of an awful, dishonest, dangerous power supply from a brand nobody's heard of. Nobody sells an 800W box for $40. That thing'd probably give out before you got to 500W. Not your fault: how are you supposed to know that?
Case #2: The Antec Earthwatts 430W. Very reliable, quite efficient and $60. This is about as good as it gets for a graphics card on the level of the 6870. It won't fail you.
If you're thinking of going Crossfire in the future, get a 650W PSU.
The golden PSU list: Antec, Corsair, Silverstone, XFX, OCZ and usually Seasonic. Thortech, NZXT, LEPA and Ultra can be thrown in at high wattages, but you don't have to worry about that.

You probably could do with a cheaper case, but just choose by stylistic preference. If you like the Guardian's look, go for it.

$220 2500K (or $180 if you can get to a Microcenter!)
$130 P8Z68-V LE
$85 Caviar Blue
$50 Corsair Vengeance 8gb 1600mhz (low profile, above)
$75 NZXT Guardian
$60 Antec Earthwatts 430W (or $70 Corsair TX650W for Xfire?)
$30 Xigmatek SD963 heatsink

That's $650 without a graphics card, so as you see, we have a bit of a problem. The real issue here is that it's not really feasible to go 2500K (ignore the 2500, please) on this budget.
You have two options:
1-Spend more and get a GPU to go with the build above. Go 2500K now and have a good build for a long time.
2-Get a GPU and stay under budget. Get an i3-2100 and an H67 board. This would be a decent gaming build in the short term, but you'd have to do a full platform upgrade (motherboard and CPU) sooner.

Choose carefully. Do you want a build now, or do you want to spend more and have a build for years?

 

[4eyed]

You can save a couple of dollars by getting the i5 2400. The difference between 2500 and 2400 is minimal. Get a PSU with less W. You will never use those 800w ( which on a no-name PSU for 40$ is more like 400w ). I recommend antec earthwatts 430 or corsair Cx500. Also get another RAM, that one is too tall. G.Skill Ripjaws is a good choice, and so is Kingston Genesis Grey.

EDIT: Oh, didn't see your post there kajabla...

 

[1tym]

Never skimp on the power supply. That PSU probably can not output it's rated wattage and if you managed to draw that much wattage it would probably explode.

Unfortunately you will need to spend some money and pick a powersupply from good reliable brands such as CORSAIR, ANTEC, SEASONIC, XFX

 

[paradoxeternal]

that graphics card is decent. i have it, and it plays witcher 2 (graphically demanding game) at medium graphics @ 40-50 FPS.

 

[paradoxeternal]

also, mind what they say about the power supply. coolermaster, antec and corsair are your best options; for what you have, 650 watts should be enough. an antec earthwatts is good; my corsair TX 650 has proven great for me.

 

[paradoxeternal]

2500K, absolutely always and forever amen. That "K" means overclocking, which means that in a couple of years, when you start feeling like you need a new CPU, you can just push it to 4.3ghz or something and have a whole new build without spending another $200 on 2015's latest high-end processor.
This means a P67 or Z68 motherboard. $130, Asus P8Z68-V LE

not necessarily. OCing past 4 ghz starts to yield less and less performance boost; overclocking itself doesn't exactly boost performance of your CPU by 30%. in the case of the 2500k, the extra 700mhz would probably result in 10-15% improvement, which of course is significant and worth the effort. but i wouldn't say it will put it on the level of a 2015 rig.

also, to Swoveland, overclocking your CPU won't guarantee FPS boost in games; it depends on whether the game is CPU-dependent or GPU-dependent. physics and stuff like that are very cpu-oriented aspects; so a game like Formula F1 will perform different with different GPUs. however, a game like Metro 2033 won't really change if you overclock or put in a new CPU, as it uses more of the GPU's power. if i were you, i would invest in a radeon 6970, as it's amd's most powerful single-gpu graphics card. worth the money because it's more futureproof than the 6870.

 

[kajabla]

The issue in most games is whether the CPU can handle the tasks delegated to it. That's why OCing stops giving ever-increasing benefits; the GPU becomes the bottleneck. In future games, though, you'll need the speed.

 

[bliq]

My understanding is that the locked multipliers can be overclocked a little, but not to the extent that the K series CPUs can. This doesn't mean the locked processors aren't worth buying- they are still very good and if that $30-40 difference means i5-2500 and a compromise, go for the i5-2500.

Personally I don't overclock as the extra power consumption and resulting heat and noise (higher fan speeds required) aren't worth for me. It might be for you. My strategy is just buy the best $200-250 CPU I can afford every 2 years.

There's a nice chart somewhere here on THG that groups CPUs into tiers. there's a good note on there that says something like don't upgrade your CPU unless you're jumping at least 3 tiers because it's not worth it. the 3 tier jump is roughly every 2 years at a given price (I've been running a i7-860 for about 1.5 years, i7-2500K is about 2 tiers above so I'm nearly ready for an upgrade).

 

[elbert]

I highly suggested these changes.

Two things to never go cheap on is the power supply and motherboard.
PSU: Antec EarthWatts EA-500D for $64.99

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 for $132.99

Processor: i5 2500K

Your cases looks good but you need the cash on other things.
Case: NZXT GAMMA Classic for $39.99

Hands down the best heatsink & Fan for the money.
Heat sink & Fan: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus for $29.99

If your willing to drop the HD I would suggest Crucial M4 64GB SATA III for $104.99. Its a bit more than your HD but its way faster. Wait till the HD prices come down from the flooding. Your HD was on sale for $39 in September.

 

[Swoveland]

Thanks everyone, everyones helped out tremendously! If you have any other suggestions please post em!

 

[Swoveland]

Okay so i bundled everything up on Newegg and it gave me like a bundle discount but I have to use this harddrive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697

 

[Swoveland]

Btw what do I need for this tower to support an HDMI input so I can use my tv as a monitor?

 

[paradoxeternal]

the tower doesn't matter. your graphics card has the HDMI slot you need to plug your monitor/tv into.

 

[Swoveland]

Okay thank you, could you also take a look at that HDD included in that discounted bundle on Newegg? Because its saving me like 60 bucks with it included.

 

[paradoxeternal]

that's a good hard drive, i'm using one right now.

 

[Swoveland]

ight cool, and is there any like specific order you build this tower?

 

[paradoxeternal]

you mean how to put together the computer? well i mean if you've never done that before it can be long and complicated. read a guide and watch a couple videos on youtube is all i can recommend. it's probably best to install everything onto the motherboard and then put the motherboard into the case, although even then you might run into problems.

 

[azeem40]

Yeah, do an external build before putting all the parts in to the case. Meaning, use CPU, Video Card, CPU Cooler, and Keyboard.

 

[Swoveland]

Alrighty thank you

 

[elbert]

Btw what do I need for this tower to support an HDMI input so I can use my tv as a monitor?

Could you link the bundle or bundles you picked. I have no ideal which if any video card you picked to connect to your tv.

With the 1TB at 124.99 and 60 off its ends up being a reasonable priced HD.

 

[kajabla]

Here's just about everything you could want, minus any quirks your case may have. Read the case's manual, PLEASE, and probably the motherboard's as well. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274745-31-step-step-guide-building

If it turns out your video card doesn't have an HDMI output (it probably does), you can just get an HDMI-to-DVI adapter. Those two formats carry exactly the same video signal (HDMI carries sound as well, but you can just use a normal sound wire), so the adapters can be passive and cheap.

 

[Swoveland]

Here is the bundle I'm gonna purchase that you asked for, the only difference is that it has the Ripjaw HDD, the only thing I would have to buy would be the graphics card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.755265

And thanks Kajabla for the guide and info!

 

[paradoxeternal]

i don't know about the case or the motherboard, but that bundle has a good processor, hard drive and RAM.

 

[elbert]

Here is the bundle I'm gonna purchase that you asked for, the only difference is that it has the Ripjaw HDD, the only thing I would have to buy would be the graphics card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.755265

And thanks Kajabla for the guide and info!

Those are some great parts and with a 6870 you will have a killer gaming system.