First time PC Builder

[moon261]

Hi Guys,

After years going with pre-built systems, I finally decided that I had enough of being ripped off and decided to try and build my own system for the first time.

I've spent the last week and a half doing my initial research because I'm completely disconnected from the hardware worlds and I've put in some spreadsheet based on this research. There are 4 builds that I'm considering based on my research.

The purpose of this PC will be gaming and some video/graphic editing. I'm an extreme gamer and would love to run my games in the highest setting possible.

I've included the spreadsheet link and I would love for all advices, comments, tips and even a negative feedback on my builds. Again, this is my very first time assembling my own unit and none of these parts are ordered yet. Feel free to mix and match the specifications on the build if you don't mind providing a better specs based on these parts.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlZQbZO6gtt2dGo2cS02OW9vMWRyWU91UGFmeWM3QXc#gid=1

Thanks guys, I really do appreciate it.

Moon

 

[g-unit1111]

Pretty good choices for the most part - the 2600K is overkill on a gaming system, you can drop that to a 2500K and invest the difference in getting the Sapphire Radeon 7970: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102961

And the Obsidian might be a bit overkill for this build - try the Carbide 500R instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139010

Use that difference and upgrade your cooling solution to the Noctua NH-D14: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

Alternately you could try the Phanteks TC14: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709002

I'd also stay away from the OCZ Vertex 3 - they do not have the best reputation in the SSD market and it shows. Get a Crucial M4 instead - I have one and it's been a really excellent drive so far: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148448

 

[CaedenV]

a few things;
1) wait on the GPU. The 580 is a glorious monster, but the 600 series will be out within the next 2-3 months and should blow the 580 out of the water. If you do not need CUDA for your editing software then go with the AMD 7970.

2) While I am no fan of AMD cpus you should consider the high end FX chips. They will have a similar price to the 2600k, but perform slightly better for video editing tasks while still being compitent for gaming. That said, the 2600k is one sweet chip and should suit your needs well.

3) If editing HD movies that will have an end product of over 15minutes, or raw footage over 2 hours then upgrade to 16GB of ram... in fact, consider it anyways if you are doing video editing at all.

4) get the 212+ instead of the Evo. I purchased the Evo thinking it would be super quiet, and while quiet, it is nothing to write home about. I got so fed up with the fan that I replaced it, which is very easy to do on these coolers.

5) 850W is extreme overkill unless doing 2x 580... and even then you can get by with 750 or 800W. I would also go with a different brand; perhaps corsair or OCZ

6) Check for a local Microcenter. The 2600k is $280 there, plus they have great sales on SSDs (just 2 weeks ago they had your SSD for $110 after rebate). Fry's has some killer deals sometimes too.

7) I got 16GB of DDR1333 for $65 after rebates. Perhaps look at a different series/brand or wait for another sale.

8) don't forget Win7 in your budget.

all in all not a bad build, and all the parts should work fine together, just a little expensive and I think you could easily shave $3-400 without sacrificing any performance or quality if you shop around a little.

 

[CaedenV]

@gunit
The Vertex 3 suffered from some firmware issues at launch, the new ones should not have the same problems. Still, there are faster drives out there in the same price range.
lol, moving from a $35 cooler to a $85 cooler? what is that about? Yes, it is better, but to notice the difference he would have to OC to the moon!

 

[dummos]

hyper 212 evo is a fantastic cooler, imo at least equal to the noctua and at half the price. it's insanely good value.
comletely agree with the 2500k tho for gaming 2600k has no real benefit over it
also agree with getting the 7970 if you can manage it or even 7950
i dont think the sandforce based ssd's are as much of a problem now with firmware updates but i can confirm crucial m4's are great
my only other question is do you intend to sli/xfire in future? if not the PSU is probably overkill for what you need i'd go for a better quality lower wattage

 

[g-unit1111]

@gunit
The Vertex 3 suffered from some firmware issues at launch, the new ones should not have the same problems. Still, there are faster drives out there in the same price range.
lol, moving from a $35 cooler to a $85 cooler? what is that about? Yes, it is better, but to notice the difference he would have to OC to the moon!

Yeah I generally try to advise against the Vertex 3 for that reason.

I don't think it will make that much of a difference between the D14 and the Hyper 212 but either one will be good for the most part. :lol:

 

[moon261]

Hi guys, thanks for the quick replies... definitely gives me a lot to think about.

Just a couple more follow up questions then:

1. I'm still torn between using Asus P8P67 Deluxe or Asus P8Z68-V Pro for my final build. Any advise on this area would be great; even an alternative to these two?

2. @caedenv: To be honest, I didn't do much research on AMD CPU when I put together these parts. I'd love some suggestions on these area.

3. I'd eventually foray into the realm of SLI/XFire. My current PSU might be a bit overkill so I will definitely re-think this. Any suggestions for PSU? I might not start this build with SLI/Xfire right away, but I eventually would like to play along with it.

4. For CPU, I spent a good chunk of time moving back and forth between 2700k and 2600k; I heard that 2500k was the 'best' CPU for gaming right now since games don't really use hyperthreading; but my concern is how it'll perform for my graphic and video editing tasks?

5. Thanks for the advise on video editing, I think I'll definitely go for 16GB now (dual channel setting). Any advise on RAM? Right now I'm going back and forth between Corsair Vengeance and Corsair Dominator. One if Corsair's latest memory and the other is their flagship. Is there any better alternative?

Thanks for the help!

 

[g-unit1111]

1. I'm still torn between using Asus P8P67 Deluxe or Asus P8Z68-V Pro for my final build. Any advise on this area would be great; even an alternative to these two?

I think the main differences are the number of SATA ports, USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, and the number of PCI-E 2.0 x 16 slots. You really can't go wrong with either board though.

2. @caedenv: To be honest, I didn't do much research on AMD CPU when I put together these parts. I'd love some suggestions on these area.

I would not recommend AMD even slightly right now - no CPU will come close to matching the performance of the 2500K or 2600K. You'd be very wise to stay away from the FX-8150 due to all the problems it's been having from installation to BIOS to Windows 7, you might want to read up:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-hotfix-bulldozer-performance,3119.html

The FX-8150 is even outperformed by the $70 Pentium G620: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120.html

3. I'd eventually foray into the realm of SLI/XFire. My current PSU might be a bit overkill so I will definitely re-think this. Any suggestions for PSU? I might not start this build with SLI/Xfire right away, but I eventually would like to play along with it.

If you already have SLI or Crossfire in mind, you definitely need to get the PSU to match for it. Trust me, I know from experience that nothing's worse than having to buy the same part twice.

4. For CPU, I spent a good chunk of time moving back and forth between 2700k and 2600k; I heard that 2500k was the 'best' CPU for gaming right now since games don't really use hyperthreading; but my concern is how it'll perform for my graphic and video editing tasks?

The 2700K is expensive and overkill - the 2500K and 2600K can be overclocked to match the 2700K's performance easily - as far as the hyperthreading issue is concerned that all depends on what applications you run. If you run CS5 and Aftereffects then yes you will need that performance boost.

5. Thanks for the advise on video editing, I think I'll definitely go for 16GB now (dual channel setting). Any advise on RAM? Right now I'm going back and forth between Corsair Vengeance and Corsair Dominator. One if Corsair's latest memory and the other is their flagship. Is there any better alternative?

I wouldn't recommend either because of the tall heat sinks. The Dominator is triple channel RAM meant for 1366 systems and those are fast becoming old technology - it won't work on dual channel 1155 systems. But the tall heat sinks on the Vengeance will make installing any aftermarket cooler you plan to buy incredibly difficult. For alternate suggestions try some of these:

- Crucial Ballistix Sport: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148544
- Kingston Hyper X 8GB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104255
- Mushkin Enhanced Blackline: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226295

 

[moon261]

Alright, thanks for the suggestions. I've sort of finalized my build (except the prices, I do still need to shop around for the best deals and I have my current Windows 7 from the office for $5 =) ).

Case wise, I'm staying with the obsidian for now just because I fell in love with its simplicity design. Thank you for the suggestions though.

Here's the link for what sort of my final build:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlZQbZO6gtt2dFhyNDN4bFhMLXJqX05USlFSamFTbUE

Please let me know what you guys think, thanks.

Moon

 

[g-unit1111]

Alright, thanks for the suggestions. I've sort of finalized my build (except the prices, I do still need to shop around for the best deals and I have my current Windows 7 from the office for $5 =) ).

Case wise, I'm staying with the obsidian for now just because I fell in love with its simplicity design. Thank you for the suggestions though.

Here's the link for what sort of my final build:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlZQbZO6gtt2dFhyNDN4bFhMLXJqX05USlFSamFTbUE

Please let me know what you guys think, thanks.

Moon

That's an excellent build - I don't think I would change anything. If you like the simplistic design of the Obsidian but want to save some money I'd suggest taking a look at the Fractal Design Arc MIDI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352007

 

[dummos]

much better this build will give you great performance for your money. if you are worried about video editing speed and other hyperthreading apps then the 2600k is a bit faster on those but i have no trouble with sony vegas on a 2500k oc'd to 4.5 with a hyper 212 at 30 degrees idle 65 on load

 

[moon261]

Hey guys,

My PC built should be finalized here, I just have a couple additional questions.

1. Is liquid cooling really necessary for overclocking? A friend of mine suggested considering Antec KUHLER H2O 920 if I'm planning to overclock my CPU.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209054

2. Any information on when the ASUS CUII version will be out for the Radeon 7970? and will it be making much more sense to wait for that product? the difference will be roughly around $30 from my current set up.

Thanks!

 

[dummos]

liquid isnt needed until about 4.6-4.8 gHz a hyper 212 should get you to about 4.4-4.6
unless you live in the desert
imo cuII (im assuming they will be 3 slot like the 6970CUII) limit your options for x-fire later on.

 

[moon261]

Good point! I did not think of that at all.

Thanks again guys, I'll make sure to post some pictures when PC is assembled =)

 

[AlderonnX]

That is almost Exactly the build I'm shooting for on newegg myself. Well done