Please check my first build! Between $650-$750

[atolnay00]

After reading a bunch of posts and suggestions, I came up with this build for a multimedia home pc for surfing, streaming, office work, some light gaming. I also am trying to build something that will last and can be upgraded. I have a 300gb external hard drive for music, pics, videos etc, and plan to get a 1tb internal once prices drop. I have a monitor and dvd 24x burner that will be fine.
All prices are from Newegg.

Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 209.99

GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard 119.99

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 59..99

ASUS EAH6770/DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 6770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card 119.99

COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus RS500-PCARD3-US 500W ATX12V v2.3 Power Supply 45.99

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR 59.99

Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) 109.99

Total 725.93

 

[guavasauce]

looks legit. love the mid tower haf.

whats the price of the k varient of your cpu vs the listed one?

 

[thesnappyfingers]

Your PC is not exactly balanced in that the cpu is much more powerful then the gpu. However you said you were only going to be gaming light so this is not so much a big deal.

i would opt for the k series and drop down to 1600 ram. It is nice to be able to OC your cpu simply by changing the multiplier.

Here is a good deal on some good ram it is only available for today as it is a shell shocker deal http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?cm_sp=ShellShocker-_-20-233-186-_-01182012_1

better gpu for the same price with the rebate 139.99 without.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-TechBargains&cm_mmc=AFC-TechBargains-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16814125353

 

[ultimabeam]

Two things I would change:

1) I'd swap your power supply for a comparable one with an 80 PLUS Bronze rating. The model you have selected makes me nervous.
2) You won't see any real-world performance gain with DDR3-1866 RAM over DDR3-1600, so that's a quick place to save 15 bucks.

I like your other component choices, but would consider bumping up to an i5-2500k. Being able to overclock from 3.3GHz to ~4.5GHz goes a long way towards being futureproof.

 

[Outlander_04]

Multimedia?

Unless you are editting videos and/or image files the i5 is largely wasted .
You definitely dont need that much grunt for "surfing, streaming, office work, some light gaming"
Get the i3 2120 instead , and use the money you save on that better psu

 

[captjack5169]

I disagree, the 2500K gives you the scalability and the price is right. I went that way, and I am very happy with be able to push to 4.5 on air. Game on.

 

[atolnay00]

Thankls for the input guys.

thesnappyfingers

I will drop the ram too 1600 that you suggested and go for a better gpu that you suggested.

ultimabeam

I will opt for a 80 plus bronze rated cooler, any suggestions?

 

[atolnay00]

Multimedia?

Unless you are editting videos and/or image files the i5 is largely wasted .
You definitely dont need that much grunt for "surfing, streaming, office work, some light gaming"
Get the i3 2120 instead , and use the money you save on that better psu

I know the cpu may be overpowered for my current needs but I want to make sure it is ready for future use.

 

[atolnay00]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

Two things I would change:

1) I'd swap your power supply for a comparable one with an 80 PLUS Bronze rating. The model you have selected makes me nervous.
2) You won't see any real-world performance gain with DDR3-1866 RAM over DDR3-1600, so that's a quick place to save 15 bucks.

I like your other component choices, but would consider bumping up to an i5-2500k. Being able to overclock from 3.3GHz to ~4.5GHz goes a long way towards being futureproof.

I actually meant too post the 2500k but may look at some local stores for a better price.

How does this power supply look?

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

 

[ultimabeam]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020


I actually meant too post the 2500k but may look at some local stores for a better price.

How does this power supply look?

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

If you have a Microcenter near you, they have i5-2500k's for around $180.

That power supply is good, but more wattage than you need. I'd recommend either this 550W XFX model or this modular 500W Silverstone model. ("Modular" just means you can remove the power cables you don't need, which makes the inside of your case substantially less cluttered.)

 

[captjack5169]

Again, I would leave the PSU as well as the CPU, additions will come, possible a bigger GPU or more storage or whatever, trust me leave the scalability intact. You always want stretching room when you are building your own machine. Its like in car stereo, never settle for the 10 inch when you can afford the 12 inch rewiring is a B8tch.

 

[Onus]

I agree with Outlander. Your CPU is way overpowered for your intended use.
The Crappermaster PSU is junk. Many of their PSUs were found in competent technical reviews at HardwareSecrets to have liar labels on them, or to be missing protection circuits they claimed to have. That's dishonest, pure and simple, and a dishonest company does not deserve anyone's business, for any of its products (even better ones). Fortunately, in every market where Coolermaster is found, they have competitors offering similar (or better) products at similar prices. Check out Rosewill or NZXT cases and Xigmatek coolers, as two good examples.
As to your GPU, the HD6770 is a great bang/buck choice, but it will depend on what you mean by "light gaming." If it means relatively undemanding titles or you don't mind lowering settings, that choice is fine. You might even get away with a GDDR5 version of the HD6670, except that you'd only save $20-$30, which IMHO isn't worth the performance drop. If, however, you mean infrequent play, but of demanding titles at high settings, you'll want something stronger. In that case, a HD6870 or GTX560 would be good choices, and either would run on a decent 500W PSU.

 

[atolnay00]

Best answer selected by atolnay00.

 

[atolnay00]

I agree with Outlander. Your CPU is way overpowered for your intended use.
The Crappermaster PSU is junk. Many of their PSUs were found in competent technical reviews at HardwareSecrets to have liar labels on them, or to be missing protection circuits they claimed to have. That's dishonest, pure and simple, and a dishonest company does not deserve anyone's business, for any of its products (even better ones). Fortunately, in every market where Coolermaster is found, they have competitors offering similar (or better) products at similar prices. Check out Rosewill or NZXT cases and Xigmatek coolers, as two good examples.
As to your GPU, the HD6770 is a great bang/buck choice, but it will depend on what you mean by "light gaming." If it means relatively undemanding titles or you don't mind lowering settings, that choice is fine. You might even get away with a GDDR5 version of the HD6670, except that you'd only save $20-$30, which IMHO isn't worth the performance drop. If, however, you mean infrequent play, but of demanding titles at high settings, you'll want something stronger. In that case, a HD6870 or GTX560 would be good choices, and either would run on a decent 500W PSU.[/quotemsg]

Thanks for the info, I only chose Coolermaster due to seeing it in many builds on the site. I know the 2500k is overkill for my current use but I want to make the build last for a few years and want to be able to expand in the future. I dont plan on using it for much gaming, but may run some RTS games and will drop the settings if I run a more demanding title. What do you think about the case and power supply below?

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Casehttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

and power supply


OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenomhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

Thanks again !