First Build - Need Input!

[ForeverHeartless]

[strike]Okay so I have finally formed a build that I am ready to buy in two days. Can you guys please check it over and make sure everything is good. I am still torn between going for the 560Ti twin frozr III or the oced 7950, all opinions/suggestions are welcome![/strike]

-start edit

Please look over this build and give any suggestions. Don't hesitate to tell me something is a waste or unnecessary. If anything can be improved or you think that other components would be a better choice I'm all ears.

I am at a loss as to which gpu to get..budget is roughly $1500 not including HDD, CPU Cooler, OS, and Thermal Paste.

All suggestions welcome

-end edit.

I have already purchased the HDD, OS, CPU Cooler, and Thermal Paste

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

Corsair Carbide Series 500R White - $129.03
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB - $46.99
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 - $149.99
Corsair Enthusiast TX V2 Series 750-Watt - $114.49
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 120GB SATA III SSD - $142.99
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz - $224.99
Asus 24xDVD±RW Optical Drive - $20.99
MSI Twin Frozr III GeForce GTX 560 Ti- $309.99
ASUS VS247H-P 23.6-Inch LCD Monitor - $159.99

TOTAL: $1,547 (Including price of HDD, OS, Thermal Paste, and CPU Cooler)
--------------------------

Considering shelling out the extra $170 or $200 (with rebate) card to get the oc'ed 7950, what do you guys think?

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7950 3GB - $479.99

(card is now discontinued)

-Heartless

 

[najirion]

with 7950, i think you won't be upgrading anytime soon...

 

[ForeverHeartless]

with 7950, i think you won't be upgrading anytime soon...

but isn't that 560 oc'ed in the same ball park as the 580 and 7950?

Can the 560 run crysis 2 and bf3 maxed settings on 1080p?

need more opinions!

is everything compatible?

-thanks

 

[Guest]

Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 OC BF3 bench:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/02/21/sapphire_radeon_hd_7950_oc_video_card_review/5
MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 core OC BF3 bench
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-geforce-gtx-560-ti-448-core-oc-power-review/17

from the 7950 BF3 bench:
In these tests the Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 OC was about 16.6% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 and about 30.8% faster than the AMD Radeon HD 6970.

pretty phenomenal . .

 

[beetlejuicegr]

wait for the 7870, it will be at lower price than that 560 and with better performance overall i think . 7870 and 7850 (ati) will be at shops in few weeks

 

[Guest]

wait for the 7870, it will be at lower price than that 560 and with better performance overall i think . 7870 and 7850 (ati) will be at shops in few weeks

quit bogarting the bong and pass it.

 

[Chainzsaw]

For Ram I would go with this low voltage 1.25:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231461&Tpk=F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR2

It's in your ram compatibility list where as the one you listed isn't, plus the heatsinks don't look as tall:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/memory.asp?Model=P67%20Extreme4%20Gen3

As for your gpu, well it only depends on if you want to play games on high / or ultra with good frame rates.

 

[chaotixblade]

I reccomend shelling out for the 7950 and getting that. Other than that your set bro

 

[Alyus]

I just purchased my first build. You should really check compatibility.

 

[azeem40]

For Ram I would go with this low voltage 1.25:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231461&Tpk=F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR2

It's in your ram compatibility list where as the one you listed isn't, plus the heatsinks don't look as tall:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/memory.asp?Model=P67%20Extreme4%20Gen3

As for your gpu, well it only depends on if you want to play games on high / or ultra with good frame rates.

I will have to agree with what g-unit says about low voltage ram. SB and 1.25/1.35v don't mix well. I would just save some $ and buy a 1.5v RAM kit.

@ Alyus: You might want to actually see his build before commenting on compatibility. His build is all compatible.

 

[g-unit1111]

I reccomend shelling out for the 7950 and getting that. Other than that your set bro

I'd second this recommendation, but for some reason Newegg deactivated Sapphire's 7950. Try this instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131457

Also swap your motherboard for this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498

 

[azeem40]

I'd second this recommendation, but for some reason Newegg deactivated Sapphire's 7950. Try this instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131457

Also swap your motherboard for this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498

He can just get the SAPPHIRE from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-11196-00-40G-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics/dp/B0070APVQ6/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1330282393&sr=1-2 .

 

[vatom]

go to pcpartpicker.com to find better deals, just put in all the parts there and it will give you the lowest price out of a group of retailers. Also at the price RAM is i would recommend shelling out 45 more dollars and getting 16 gigs. It is well worth it for the amount of money you are spending. Also if you gong to wait for the new graphics card from AMD, I would just wait until Nvidia releases there new cards because AMD will almost definitely lower prices to compete, or you can just go with one of the newer nvidia ones.

 

[azeem40]

I disgaree. No need for 16gb for gaming, regardless of how cheap RAM is. Not even 8gb is utilized as of yet, so what makes you think 16gb will in the next 5 or so years?

 

[ForeverHeartless]

I'd second this recommendation, but for some reason Newegg deactivated Sapphire's 7950. Try this instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131457

Also swap your motherboard for this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498

okay thank you, and what is the difference between the two motherboards?

 

[g-unit1111]

okay thank you, and what is the difference between the two motherboards?

The Gigabyte board is a Z68 which will enable you to use the onboard video (helpful for diagnosing GPU problems) and will enable 3TB hard drive support and support for Intel's smart SSD caching system. I also tend to prefer the Gigabyte brand on builds around the $1K mark or better just because I use that same board in my system and it's been excellent so far. I'm certainly open to trying Asrock but if I can get the best board for my money, I will do that every single time.

go to pcpartpicker.com to find better deals, just put in all the parts there and it will give you the lowest price out of a group of retailers. Also at the price RAM is i would recommend shelling out 45 more dollars and getting 16 gigs. It is well worth it for the amount of money you are spending. Also if you gong to wait for the new graphics card from AMD, I would just wait until Nvidia releases there new cards because AMD will almost definitely lower prices to compete, or you can just go with one of the newer nvidia ones.

I generally don't like buying from multiple resellers if I can possibly help it. For one thing (and this is just me), I try to keep my name on as few mailing lists as possible, and the other thing is I really research the history of resellers' return and RMA policies before I buy. I've been doing this since the mid-90's and I've had many a bad or broken part and have been unable to get a replacement for it. If something breaks, I want a replacement for it ASAP, not six weeks from now or whenever they feel like it. The reason I always recommend Newegg for US and Canada-based builds is that I've never had any problems with their support department and trying to get things returned and exchanged, for me the extra few bucks in price difference is more than worth it.

 

[vatom]

Some good corsair or g.skill RAM will last you a while, and if you decide to do video editing and rendering then the more ram will help quite a bit. But you are right you don't need 16 gigs, but you don't need 8 gigs even, most games will run well on 4 or six gigs.

 

[g-unit1111]

Some good corsair or g.skill RAM will last you a while, and if you decide to do video editing and rendering then the more ram will help quite a bit. But you are right you don't need 16 gigs, but you don't need 8 gigs even, most games will run well on 4 or six gigs.

That is certainly true but watch the heat sinks if you get either brand. Installing aftermarket coolers with those heat sinks like on the Vengeance aren't good. Also watch the voltage - SB will not mix well with 1.65V or 1.35V, you need 1.5V for sure.

Try something like the Kingston Hyper X, PNY Optima, or Mushkin Enhanced Silverline - those heat sinks will be fine for coolers.

 

[ForeverHeartless]

The Gigabyte board is a Z68 which will enable you to use the onboard video (helpful for diagnosing GPU problems) and will enable 3TB hard drive support and support for Intel's smart SSD caching system. I also tend to prefer the Gigabyte brand on builds around the $1K mark or better just because I use that same board in my system and it's been excellent so far. I'm certainly open to trying Asrock but if I can get the best board for my money, I will do that every single time.

go to pcpartpicker.com to find better deals, just put in all the parts there and it will give you the lowest price out of a group of retailers. Also at the price RAM is i would recommend shelling out 45 more dollars and getting 16 gigs. It is well worth it for the amount of money you are spending. Also if you gong to wait for the new graphics card from AMD, I would just wait until Nvidia releases there new cards because AMD will almost definitely lower prices to compete, or you can just go with one of the newer nvidia ones.

I generally don't like buying from multiple resellers if I can possibly help it. For one thing (and this is just me), I try to keep my name on as few mailing lists as possible, and the other thing is I really research the history of resellers' return and RMA policies before I buy. I've been doing this since the mid-90's and I've had many a bad or broken part and have been unable to get a replacement for it. If something breaks, I want a replacement for it ASAP, not six weeks from now or whenever they feel like it. The reason I always recommend Newegg for US and Canada-based builds is that I've never had any problems with their support department and trying to get things returned and exchanged, for me the extra few bucks in price difference is more than worth it.

Vatom brought up the question of ram, do you think the ram I have selected is good, or should it be changed, I remember someone posted that it wasn't compatible. Also, with that new motherboard I'm not sure if the red skill ram will match with it.

-thanks!

 

[vatom]

I generally don't like buying from multiple resellers if I can possibly help it. For one thing (and this is just me), I try to keep my name on as few mailing lists as possible, and the other thing is I really research the history of resellers' return and RMA policies before I buy. I've been doing this since the mid-90's and I've had many a bad or broken part and have been unable to get a replacement for it. If something breaks, I want a replacement for it ASAP, not six weeks from now or whenever they feel like it.[/quotemsg]
I agree with you, pc part picker uses pretty reliable stores like new egg and NCIX.com. You can even choose which merchant you want to buy from, it will alert you when prices drop, and provides basic compatibility checks making sure you won't buy something that will not work.

 

[ForeverHeartless]

I'm still contemplating sticking with the 560ti because I'm pretty sure it will be able to max out guild wars 2 which will be the primary game I play with this computer. Money really isn't the issue between these two cards, but I feel that the 560ti will do the same job as the 7950. Idk still unsure.

 

[azeem40]

I don't think it will be the same as a 7950, but since it isn't a really intensive game anyway, I think the 560ti will be just fine.

 

[ForeverHeartless]

ASUS Radeon HD 7950 3GB - $469.99

interested in this 7950, although its huge, thoughts?

 

[Why_Me]

I'm still contemplating sticking with the 560ti because I'm pretty sure it will be able to max out guild wars 2 which will be the primary game I play with this computer. Money really isn't the issue between these two cards, but I feel that the 560ti will do the same job as the 7950. Idk still unsure.

If you go with the 560 ti then get the Gigabyte on newegg for $210. If you go with the 560 ti 448 core then look at amazon for the MSI one with free shipping.

 

[azeem40]

ASUS Radeon HD 7950 3GB - $469.99

interested in this 7950, although its huge, thoughts?

As I have said before, Guild Wars 2 isn't a very demanding game. A 560ti will do just great.