First Time custom PC

[Goregasm]

Hello

I'm buying a Custom PC for the first time and would appreciate any insights suggestions to improve it or get the best for the money. I'm looking to spend $2600 to $2700 looking for best performance for games and then for uni work which is media design photo-shop etc: Also I am Happy to spend that budget just don't want to be wasting it.

Build Details:

1 x 16011324 - Cooler Master HAF 942 X ATX Full Tower Case - Steel & Plastic - 6x 5.25" Drive Bay, 5x 3.5" Drive Bay & 2x 2.5" Drive Bay(Converted From 5.25" Drive Bays) - USB, Audio, Mic, IEEE1394a, e-SATA - M-ATX, ATX, E-ATX, GIGABYTE XL-ATX - Optional Cooling Fan - Black (RC-942-KKN1) [$209.99]

If I go AMD

1 x 19040211 - AMD FX Series FX-8150 Black Edition Processor - Eight-Core - 3.6 GHz (Turbo Core boost up to 4.20 GHz) - 8MB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache - 125W - 32nm - Zambezi - Socket AM3+ (FD8150FRGUBOX) [$279.00]

1 x 28010753 - ASUS Crosshair V Formula ThunderBolt Motherboard - AMD Socket AM3+ - AMD 990FX/SB950 Chipset - 4x DDR3-2133 - 4x PCIe x16, 1x PCIe x1 & 1x PCI - 7x SATA3 - 1x eSATA - SupremeFX X-Fi 2 8 Channel Audio - CrossFireX & SLI - 6x USB3.0 & 12x USB2.0 - Gigabit LAN - ATX [$329.00]

If I go Intel

1 x 19010233 - Intel Core i7 2700K Unlocked Quad Core Processor - Socket LGA1155 - 3.5GHz (Turbo Boost @ 3.9GHz) - 4x 256KB L2 & 8MB L3 Cache - Intel HD Graphics - Hyper-Threading Technology - Sandy Bridge - 32nm - TDP 95W - Fan - Retail Box (BX80623I72700K) [$345.00]

1 x 28023656 - ASUS RAMPAGE IV FORMULA BF3 Motherboard - Intel LGA 2011 - Intel X79 Chipset - 4x DDR3-2400(O.C) - 4x PCIe x16, 2x PCIe x1 - 4x SATA3 & 4x SATA2 - 12x USB2.0 & 6x USB3.0 - 2x eSATA 6Gb/s - CrossfireX & SLI Ready - Gigabit LAN - SupremeFX III 7.1 CH HD Audio - Battlefield 3 Key Included - ATX [$385.00]

I don't know which CPU/Mobo is best performance wise. or if it's just a question of which brand you prefer.

Have no Idea about ram Welcome suggestions for each mother board that suit it best.

1 x 37140968 - G.Skill Ripjaws Z 16GB(4x 4GB) Quad Channel Memory Kit - PC3 - DDR3-2133 / PC3 17000 - 240-pin DIMM - Unbuffered - Non-ECC - CL 9-11-10-28-2N (F3-17000CL9Q-16GBZH) [$189.99]

Not sure which is best worried about cooling etc

1 x 42060843 - ASUS Radeon HD 7950 DirectCU II TOP Overclocked Video Card - 3GB GDDR5 384-bit RAM - 900MHz / 5000Mhz Clocks - PCIe 3.0 - 2x DVI, 2x Mini-DisplayPort & HDMI - AMD Eyefinity - AMD HD3D - CrossFireX Ready - DirectX 11 (HD7950-DC2T-3GD5) [$635.70]

or

1 x 42060825 - ASUS Radeon HD 7970 - 3GB 384-bit DDR5 RAM - 925/5500MHz Core/Memory Clock Speed - PCI Express 3.0 x16 - 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini DisplayPort - DirectX 11 - CrossFireX Ready - AMD Eyefinity - HD3D Ready (HD7970-3GD5) [$660.00]

1 x 22140533 - Corsair Force Series GT 120GB Solid-State Hard Drive - 2.5" - SATA3 6Gb/s - 555MB/s Read & 515MB/s Write - TRIM (CSSD-F120GBGT-BK) [$215.00]

1 x 22040469 - Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive [$199.00]

1 x 17090078 - Pioneer BDR-207DBK 12X Blu-Ray Writer Drive - SATA - OEM - Including Cyberlink BD Suite Software - Black (BDR-207DBKS) [$128.80]


1 x 34040638 - Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1000W Power Supply - 135mm Fan - M/B 20+4 pins x1, CPU 4+4 pins x2, PCI-e 6+2 pins x4, PCI-e 6 pins x4, SATA x 9, Peripheral 4 pins x4, Floppy 4 pins x1 (RSA00-80GAD3) [$228.00]



I’d also wonder if I'd require or if I don't need the cooling??

1 x 18030280 - Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H60 High Performance CPU Cooler - 2011/1366/1156/1155/775 & AM3/AM2 Compatible - 1x 120mm Cooling Fan Included (CWCH60) [$99.99]

1 x 18050130 - Arctic Cooling Accelero XTREME Plus II VGA Cooler for NVIDIA & ATI - Fluid Dynamic Bearing - Aluminum (DCACO-V15G200-BL) [$89.00]

It's a big investment for me and my first custom PC buy so thanks for the insights!

 

[hellfire24]

nice try but here's my build for you-
NZXT Switch-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146088
F4 2TB HDD-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152245
2x HIS Radeon HD 7970-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161399
XFX 850w semi modular silver psu-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207017
Corsair LP 8GB 1600 ram-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233196
2500k-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790
Hyper 212 EVO-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
LG black 12xBD-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136241
Mushkin enhanced 240gb SSD-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226237

don't opt for x79 platform.it's meant for servers.stick with 2500k for now and upgrade to ivy bridge when they are available.
every part is high quality and compatible.this is enough for eyefinity setups.
all the best

 

[xtremegamer2da-max]

case: cooler master haf x
(spot on with this case)
mobo: asus maximus IV extreme-z z68
(the rampage has EIGHT memory spots and like NO ONE needs EIGHT memory slots)
cpu: intel i7 2600k
(if you want value then 2600k > 2700k)
cpu cooler: noctua nh-d14
video card: amd radeon hd 7970
(best card on the planet)
ram: g.skill ripjaws x series 8gb
(no one needs 16gb for gaming cuz games only use 8gb of ram)
hhd: western digital 2tb
(you can also get 500gb, 1tb, or 1.5tb)
ssd: intel 520 series cherryville 180gb
psu: corsair ax850
optical drive: lg black 12x bd-rom
(sony 24x multi if you dont care bout blu-ray)

 

[hellfire24]

hey mr.will be getting,
there's no thing like 'asus maximus IV extreme-z z68 '.
if you want value then 2500k>2600k or 2700k.

 

[Goregasm]

Thanks

I liked the input, it seems no one recommends and AMD build? also with the mother board I don't understand the x79? server thing what part would need to be upgraded for sandy bridge and would I still need that extra cooling added to the build?

Thanks again


Also would love more suggestions from people.

 

[hellfire24]

it's a hard truth but Intel always beats AMD.x79 is a platform that is compatible with intel's sandy bridge-e cpus.they are meant for servers(workstations)not gaming.they can support huge amounts of ram and highly multi-threaded apps.
Sandybridges are not very hot.i mean a good air cooler is enough for overclocks.if you don't overclock,stock cooler is enough.but cpu without overclock is like R1 without on stock! lolllll!!!!but that's just my opinion.get a good cooler if you want to overclock.