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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Systems > New Build > [Solved] Need Advice First Time Build Gaming PC (~1500$)

[Solved] Need Advice First Time Build Gaming PC (~1500$)

Forum Systems : New Build [Solved] Need Advice First Time Build Gaming PC (~1500$)

Best answer from striker410.

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Approximate Purchase Date: Within the Next 2 weeks

Budget Range: ~1500 before rebates (will gladly take advice on savings)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Surfing the Net/Watching Movies, Minor Photo Editing (Photoshop)

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, OS (already have copy to Windows 7 64bit), Monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Amazon

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: None

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Eventually

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (with possibility of 1920x1200)

Additional Comments: I will gladly take recommendations on anything and everything. Thanks in advance!

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

These are the parts I had in mind already:

Case (and I'd really like to keep this one): NZXT Crafted Series ATX Full Tower Steel Chassis - Phantom White
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] ZZL30AH7DI

PSU: NZXT HALE90 80 Plus Gold 750 Watt Power Supply
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

GPU: SAPPHIRE 11196-00-40G Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102962

Mobo: ASRock Z68 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157250

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103099

HDD: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148840

SSD: Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148442

Mem: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231314

Optical: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827106289

Questions:
1) Is everything compatible?

2) I have seen mixed opinions on upgrading the stock fans in the NZXT case. I was curious as to if anyone on here either owned or knew about this and what their recommendation would be? I was thinking of buying 2 200mm fans to put in the top slots (and swapping the 2 top fans into the side panel which I have read a few people did).

3) Does anyone have any specific SATA and Power Cable for the HDD that they recommend? Or, just go with whatever?

I appreciate the help guys!

Reply to xgamb1t1
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Best answer

Hi! Welcome to the forums.
Well, damn good job! Everything looks quite pretty. Few recommendations though.
-Asthetic thing. You've got such a sexy build together, why ruin it with white lettering on the DVD drive? It looks ugly in my opinion. Throw down a few bucks to make it all nice and pretty. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827118067 If it doesn't bother you, by all means keep the money in your pocket.
-While the Crucial M4 is an excellent SSD choice, I personally like a little bit more speed. For that, this OCZ Vertex 3 fits the bill: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227706 While OCZ did get a bad rap (rightly so) a few years back, they have put the quality issues behind them.

Now, questions.
1. Yup!

2. Eh, not sure as I don't own the case. Wish i could help there :/

3. Sata cables come bundled with the mobo. Same with power cables, they come with the PSU.

Hope it helps!

Reply to striker410

striker410 wrote :

Hi! Welcome to the forums.
Well, damn good job! Everything looks quite pretty. Few recommendations though.
-Asthetic thing. You've got such a sexy build together, why ruin it with white lettering on the DVD drive? It looks ugly in my opinion. Throw down a few bucks to make it all nice and pretty. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827118067 If it doesn't bother you, by all means keep the money in your pocket.
-While the Crucial M4 is an excellent SSD choice, I personally like a little bit more speed. For that, this OCZ Vertex 3 fits the bill: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227706 While OCZ did get a bad rap (rightly so) a few years back, they have put the quality issues behind them.

Now, questions.
1. Yup!

2. Eh, not sure as I don't own the case. Wish i could help there :/

3. Sata cables come bundled with the mobo. Same with power cables, they come with the PSU.

Hope it helps!




Thanks for the recommendations! I will definitely spend the extra 3$ or so for that optical, and it does seem OCZ has worked out their issues (judging by some quick research), so I will opt for that SSD as well.

Reply to xgamb1t1

Does anyone have any recommendations on another MOBO within about the same price range? It seems like a lot of people have problems regarding the BSOD/drives disappearing (or is this something that has been addressed?).

Possibly: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131806 ?


Message edited by xgamb1t1 on 02-04-2012 at 10:10:56 PM
Reply to xgamb1t1

Oh, that board would be excellent. Simply spiffy. It's MicroATX so it'll look small in your case. However, it's a kick ass board.

Reply to striker410

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey

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