First PC Build

ragingcorey

Honorable
Feb 17, 2012
9
0
10,510
Hello everyone first time here so let's hope this is all good.

So I am planning on building my very first PC. I've wanted to for the past 5 years but just never had the funds and now with a job and tax returns coming in about a month I figured it was a great time to build.

Approximate Purchase Date: Not to sure yet I kind of want to see the new nvidia GTX6-- cards and the Radeon hd 7990. Plus waiting on my tax return.

Budget Range: Trying to stay around $1500 but I'll go up to, but not over $2000.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, art/design work with photoshop, illustrator, sketchbook pro etc... maybe get into some 3D rending and animation in the future.

Parts Not Required: I need everything except monitor and speakers/headset.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Wherever the best deals are to be had, but I like newegg.

Country: United States.

Parts I've chosen:

CPU: Intel Core i7-2500k
GFX: Radeon HD 7970 (my choice for now)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 2133
PSU: Corsair HX750
Mobo: Asus P8P67 Pro
Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB
Optical Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276
Case: Cooler Master HAF RC-942
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

Overclocking: I probably will.

SLI or Crossfire: No current plans to, but I might do it in the future.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: As this is my very first build there is a lot of things I'm not sure of. I think some of the big things are: is will the mobo work with everything I've chosen. Is the PSU overkill or not enough. Should I go with the 2133 RAM or drop down to 1600 and save about $40 I'm not sure if there will be a noticeable difference. Is a sound card worth the money? And I guess any tips or alternatives to lower price or increase performance.
 

QuietPC

Distinguished
Feb 10, 2012
400
0
18,860

 
3D Rendering, video editing mean CUDA....not available from AMD GFX

- RAM - Do the low profile Vengeance or Mushkins... the tall toothy heat sinks only necessary cooling function is to "look cool". For gaming, DDR3-1600 is fine ..... but fast 16 GB come sin real handy for PhotoShop , 3D and that kinda stuff

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 Model 994007
$130 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226276

- Case / PSU - Corsair HX850 w/ Corsair 500R is a fine pairing ...as is Antec CP-850 w/ DF-85 or 1200V3 which runs extremely quiet and nothing in its price range can match the CP-850.

$140 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129100
$120 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024

$125 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139010
$165 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

Ya buying an SLI / CF capable board and said ya might wanna go there later....no sense getting a PSU that can only support one card that will have to be replaced later when ya make that move

- MoBo - Unless ya sleep better at night knowing ya have the latest and greatest, there is no compelling reason to go for Z68

http://www.ukgamingcomputers.co.uk/difference-between-h67-p67-z68-and-h61-chipsets-a-22.html

Z68
Launched 5 months after the P67 and H67 chipset the Z68 chipset combines the advantages of the H67 and P67 Chipset so that overclocking, dual dedicated graphics cards and use of the integrated CPU graphics is available. Whilst on the surface it would seem that this would be the chipset to go for, how many users that have 2 dedicated graphics cards will actually want to use the onboard graphics when they already have 2 more powerful graphics cards in their system anyway?

The only real advantage is for users that wish to access the HD graphics features such as quick sync, but considering it’s only supported by very few transcoding programs and there are not many people out there that need or will want to transcode, it makes it almost pointless to choose Z68 over a P67 chipset.

Same applies to users that want to overclock the CPU but use the onboard graphics card; it’s a very limited market.

Finally, another feature of a Z68 chipset is known as SSD caching which is where it allows the use of a small (say 10 or 20 GB) Solid state hard drive to act as a cache for a larger ‘traditional’ hard disk. If you are already planning the use of a Solid State drive this feature is redundant.

If you can’t afford a decent size SSD (40GB+) then there are more cost effective ways around using a small SSD and SSD cashing like spending less on a motherboard, (H67 chipset or even a P67 chipset) and putting the saved money into a decent size SSD.

Six of one half dozen of the other but the P67 will save ya $50.

Here's a $95 savings + $20 MIR for the P8P67 Pro w/ Samsung Spinpoint 1TB Hard Drive ...that $115 off total

$225 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.832264

- CPU - As for the CPU, the 2500k is fine for gaming....the other apps ya listed tho benefit greatly from HT which means 2600k However, with a $100 price premium for the 2600k over the 2500k, the extra $40 bump to the 2700k is hard to argue against.

Intel 2700k w/ Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BL
$447 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.829540

The Hyper 212 is a great cooler for a $1k build but it doesn't belong in a $2k build.

-TIM - Shin Etsu
$5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080

-Optical - A $2k build deserves a Blue Ray Player
$10 off w/ promo code EMCNHJD34, ends 2/22 + $20 MIR
$60 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135252

GFX is a hard choice at this time of year with the new toys on the horizon. But if ya mist buy today, does the 7970 make the most sense ?

1. No CUDA

2. The 81 cents per frame cost seems a bit too steep considering other options.

Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

$ 160.00 6870 (434/701) $ 0.37 - $ 0.46
$ 240.00 6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $ 0.50 - $ 0.63
$ 205.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $ 0.41 - $ 0.48
$ 500.00 580 (616/953) $ 0.81 - $ 1.05
$ 450.00 7950 (603/NG) $ 0.75 - ERR
$ 550.00 7970 (675/NG) $ 0.81 - ERR

The 7970 gets you 675 fps in the test suite for $550 or 81 cents per frame, the same price per frame as the 580.

Two 6870's gets you 759 fps in the test suite for $480 or 46 cents per frame.... 4 % more performance for 58% of the price.

Two factory OC'd 6950's gets you 701 fps in the test suite for $320 or 63 cents per frame.... 12 % more performance for 87% of the price.

Two factory OC'd 560's gets you 862 fps in the test suite for $410 or 48 cents per frame.... 28 % more performance for 74% of the price.

Total is $1532 if I did the math right.

 

ragingcorey

Honorable
Feb 17, 2012
9
0
10,510
O wow I love the idea of that build JackNaylorPE.

About the same price as what my original idea was but with more RAM, better CPU, and duel video cards. How well will the build perform maxing out games in 1920x1080 using the two GTX 560ti's?

I don't think I'll be getting into any video editing, and I'm not really sure if I'll be doing any work in Maya or 3DS Max yet (depends if I like doing it in school). So would the extra cost of the i7-2600k or i7-2700k be worth it over the i5-2500k? Also the 16GB of RAM compared to the 8GB. I could always install 2x4GB sticks and install more if needed.