New $1800 build help?

[fire r a g e]

Hey Tom's Hardware. This is my first post on this forums. I have joined your community because I heard this forums the best place to ask questions about building a PC. I am new to PC Gaming and gaming in general; however, whenever my cousins came to town with their Game System games, I always want to play the latest games they would have (usually). Although I am new to building a PC, I am very familiar with how parts interact with each other and what each component does, and also what SLI/Crossfire/OCing is). I have played some with them, but in general, the last game system I ever had was a PS1 (2003) and the last handheld was GBA SP (at around 2005). Now that I have some $ and am older, I want to build my very first computer, and I hope you guys are able to help. Now, if you want more background information, just ask.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Approximate Purchase Date: sometime in March. As explained in the thread, please don't try to convince me to ask for advice later.

Budget Range: $1500-1800

System Usage from Most to Least Important:Runescape MMORPG, other Gaming (MW3, BF3, CoD, Dragon Ball Z, Spyro, Sonic, Pokemon are some examples but I'm open to all genres), surfing the web, youtube, school work.

Parts Not Required: OS, Keyboard (for now), Mouse (for now); One thing though: My dad does have some laptop HDDs, but the max he has is a 250 GB and Idk if he uses it or not. If his HDDs work, I might not need one.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, ncix.com, microcenter.com (for CPU and MOBO)

Country: Frisco, Texas, USA

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, 20+ Inch Monitor with HDMI; LED Backlit and HD preferred; and I will need an SSD too, if it can fit.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: A case with a Side/Front Window and Air Vents are preferred, but not required. Same with LED Fans. I would like a reasonable quiet PC. Should I get the new AMD series GPUs?

So far, I only have the i5-2500k and the Hyper 212 EVO decided on.

All help is appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Delirious788]

So real quick...ivy bridge is due in early april supposedly so if you can i would wait for that if possible. Second with your budget get an ssd for sure. AMD GPUs are coming out soon and a good few months later NVidia is coming out with new ones. Since your build isnt until march I would post again about a week before you are going to buy because a lot will change in 2 months. In the mean time I would check out newegg and find some mid tower cases that you like for $100-$150(maybe up to $200) and share the designs you like and we can figure out which case is best for you.

 

[azeem40]

I might also consider getting Ivy Bridge later. I heard that there are MOBOs out right now that will be able to support Ivy Bridge CPUs later.
@OP: IF you can wait till May you could get the 600 series gpus.

 

[fire r a g e]

Anyone have parts suggestions?
EDIT: I really like the look of the LIAN LI cases. What you think?

 

[fire r a g e]

7 hrs and no suggestions. Please help.

 

[hiimnickwhoareu]

If you're going to purchase this PC in March, I suggest you add a month on to that, if prior to then, there's actually a point in constructing a draft build. At the end of Jan, I believe the entire 7000 GPU series comes out (new generation hardware, top of the range), in April, new CPU hardware comes out, it's called Ivybridge and is essentially an updated version of the popular Sandybridge. So essentially, what i'm saying to you is, you either wait until April and get the best of the best or buy now (March) and get hardware that is still very good, but it won't be on par with Ivybridge, keep in mind that there are rumours that the Ivybridge CPU's beat the Sandybridge CPU's by a good 15-20%, furthermore, the pricings will be equal to sandybridge.

So really, it's your choice.

 

[fire r a g e]

I am not too keen on getting the new North Bridge Chipset. I don't think my budget can increase anymore, so I'd just like suggestions for buying in March.

 

[hiimnickwhoareu]

If you were to wait there wouldn't be an increase in your budget, the pricing would literally be exactly the same.

 

[fire r a g e]

I hate my computers. I want to build in March because that is when my Birthday is, and they said they would let me build then. I live in a pretty strict family. I can't spend my $ until they allow me. They are also very unpredictable. They might change their minds. I should have explained myself in the first post, so I apologize. That is why I want to build in March 15th, my bday.

 

[hiimnickwhoareu]

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3Km2
Part price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3Km2/by_merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($22.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($137.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1.5TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($144.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Hard Drive: OCZ Vertex Plus 60GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($68.77 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($559.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Cooler Master 800W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($144.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG GH24LS70 DVD/CD Writer ($20.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Samsung S23A300B 23.0" Monitor ($189.98 @ Mac Connection)
Total: $1657.65
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-01-14 13:52 EST-0500)

 

[hiimnickwhoareu]

That's a pretty solid build with an overkill PSU, the reason being, I thought I might 'future-proof' your build. Also, you might find it hard to get that GPU, it was released a few days ago and is top of the market, if you can't, which is likely, you're best off going with a GTX 580 (debatable), or SLI 570s (I recommend.)

 

[fire r a g e]

Will I really need 2 HDDs? I dont really store pictures or music on the computer. Would a 500 GB HDD suffice?

 

[hiimnickwhoareu]

One of those isn't a HDD, it's an SSD, I chucked it in because you can put windows on it and get a faster boot up time, it is in no means a necessity.

 

[fire r a g e]

No, I know the last one is an SSD. I am talking about the superbizz one.. Do I really need it? Thanks.

 

[hiimnickwhoareu]

You need a HDD of some sort, I chose that one. 500GB, I don't believe that's enough (myself), you said this will be used for gaming, you need to keep in mind that you're probably going to install Steam. I have a 1TB HDD in my build, in the 4 months that i've had my PC, i've used 600gbs just from games. It's likely that you won't buy as many games as I do, even installing say 5-6 games can use a lot of space with the average game now-a-days being around 5-10 gigs.

However, it is your choice, if you believe 500gbs is enough, feel free to purchase a harddrive of that size, the savings won't by any means be major, though.

 

[fire r a g e]

Is 1 TB good then?
Sorry if I am making it too hard to suggest anything, but I am quite indecisive. ZI really want to get a great system.
I heard on another topic that after 60 FPS the human eye cant notice change. If so, please suggest no max than that.

 

[hiimnickwhoareu]

1TB will do fine, i'm not too sure what you mean with the 60 FPS thing, though. I didn't exactly mention anything with FPS.

 

[fire r a g e]

Isn't it true that anything higher than 60 FPS isn't noticeable? If so, I want my system to run everything at 60 FPS. Also, I want to multitask alot.

 

[hiimnickwhoareu]

The proposed build won't have any frame rate issues, you'll easy run at 60 FPS on just about everything.

 

[fire r a g e]

Will look at it shortly. On phone atm so cant.
More build suggestions welcome.

 

[fire r a g e]

Just had a look at the build. It is very solid. If I were to switch the PSU with the Antec Earthwatts 750W PSU ($93) from newegg, would that be alright? Also, could I find the Monitor, GPU, and HDD at newegg?

 

[fire r a g e]

Anyone?

 

[fire r a g e]

EDIT:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15920091 <---- Parts I'm buying on Newegg.
https://www.microcenter.com/InsiderAcct/members/account.aspx?wlID=16066 <---- CPU and MOBO.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-fx797atnfc <---- GPU
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=HD-W15FAEX&c=CJ <---- HDD

What do you think guys?

 

[farsuka]

If you are spending this much just wait until april, you will probably get buyer's remorse if you do this and it's anything like gen1 i series & SB.

 

[fire r a g e]

I am pretty impatient about building in March as is. Also, like I said, I can't trust time in my case.
Also, not to be rude, but I haven't really gotten many build suggestions, so I am pretty disappointed every one keeps telling me to wait until later. If I could wait until later, I would, but I cannot.. So if you could please suggest a build based on what I said, that would be appreciated greatly..