Advice on a Gaming PC Build

[Aeronys]

Hi there. I was originally planning on buying a pre-built gaming PC, but after doing a lot of looking around, it seemed that the only way to get the kind of PC I'm looking for at a reasonable price is to build it myself. I've never built a PC before, so I'd really appreciate some advice on the build I've come up with. I really don't want to do something that doesn't make sense due to my own ignorance and lack of experience.


Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as I'm confident in what parts to buy.
Budget Range: $1000-$1500 before rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming is the main priority
Parts Not Required: All peripherals. I only need the system itself.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca Open to other sites as long as they can ship to Canada.
Country: Canada
Overclocking: Maybe. Right now I don't really know how, but am interested in eventually learning.
SLI or Crossfire: Later. I only want one GPU for now, but expect to eventually get a 2nd when I feel it's necessary.
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
Additional Comments: I'd like to strike a good balance between power and cost efficiency.


Here's the build I've come up with. I'm very open to any tweaks or suggestions. For all I know, I may have done some things that don't make any sense at all.

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded USB 3.0

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52500 ($214.99)

GPU: EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ($349.99)

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($149.99)

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL ($46.99)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($119.99)

PSU: Rosewill Xtreme Series RX850-S-B 850W Continuous @40°C ,80 PLUS Certified, ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91, SLI Ready CrossFire Ready, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7, i5" Power Supply ($99.99)

Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM ($20.99)

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM ($114.99)

Cooling: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 ($34.99)

Other: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM ($12.99)

All told, this comes out to $1285.89, $1,407.10 after shipping and taxes. Does this PC make sense, and is the price reasonable for the parts? Am I missing anything I need?

The things I'm most concerned about right now are the motherboard, the case, and the power supply. I know very little about motherboards, and have no idea what I need. I just went with one that I had a good review, but I don't know if it's compatible with everything else. Same deal with the case. I think the PSU makes sense, but am not entirely sure. Is 850w good for eventually adding a second Geforce GTX 570 to run in SLI?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Cloudz00x]

Hi there. I was originally planning on buying a pre-built gaming PC, but after doing a lot of looking around, it seemed that the only way to get the kind of PC I'm looking for at a reasonable price is to build it myself. I've never built a PC before, so I'd really appreciate some advice on the build I've come up with. I really don't want to do something that doesn't make sense due to my own ignorance and lack of experience.


Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as I'm confident in what parts to buy.
Budget Range: $1000-$1500 before rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming is the main priority
Parts Not Required: All peripherals. I only need the system itself.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca Open to other sites as long as they can ship to Canada.
Country: Canada
Overclocking: Maybe. Right now I don't really know how, but am interested in eventually learning.
SLI or Crossfire: Later. I only want one GPU for now, but expect to eventually get a 2nd when I fell it's necessary.
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
Additional Comments: I'd like to strike a good balance between power and cost efficiency.


Here's the build I've come up with. I'm very open to any tweaks or suggestions. For all I know, I may have done some things that don't make any sense at all.

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded USB 3.0

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52500 ($214.99)

GPU: EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ($349.99)

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($149.99)

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL ($46.99)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($119.99)

PSU: Rosewill Xtreme Series RX850-S-B 850W Continuous @40°C ,80 PLUS Certified, ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91, SLI Ready CrossFire Ready, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7, i5" Power Supply ($99.99)

Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM ($20.99)

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM ($114.99)

Cooling: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 ($34.99)

Other: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM ($12.99)

All told, this comes out to $1285.89, $1,407.10 after shipping and taxes. Does this PC make sense, and is the price reasonable for the parts? Am I missing anything I need?

The things I'm most concerned about right now are the motherboard, the case, and the power supply. I know very little about motherboards, and have no idea what I need. I just went with one that I had a good review, but I don't know if it's compatible with everything else. Same deal with the case. I think the PSU makes sense, but am not entirely sure. Is 850w good for eventually adding a second Geforce GTX 570 to run in SLI?

Thanks for your help.

Everything on there makes sense. Remove the Thermal Paste you dont need it. Everything else looks good. What you really need to add to this monster is a SSD. Your already making a beast of a PC. Why not get the performance boost that comes with a SSD?

I recommend:

Crucial M4 SSD 128G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442

Can install your O/S and all essential programs on here. Then leave the 1TB WD harddrive you have for all other non essential programs and Games.

The PSU is fine and you will be more then ready to add in another 570 to get SLi ready.

Your Mobo is also compatible so you good to go there.

 

[hellfire24]

get the 2500k for overclocking.
XFX core pro 850w is far better psu.it's for the similar price.
TIM that comes with 212 is good enough.
other things are good.
i would suggest waiting a few more days for 7870.they are newer tech,faster than 570 in most cases and cheaper($300~).

 

[phenom90]

i would choose another case over that one.... such as this....

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139012
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D

since you're maybe overclocking in the future the only option you can go is i5 2500k

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
Intel Core i5-2500K

scrap that gpu altogether and wait until kepler release before deciding which one to buy....

for more or less the same money you can get the psu....

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=63239&vpn=P1850SNLB9&manufacture=XFX

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=67740&vpn=PPCMK2S950&manufacture=PC%20Power%20%26%20Cooling&promoid=1364

 

[Aeronys]

Thanks for the advice guys. I really appreciate it.

Here's what I've changed so far:

SSD: I will be getting the SSD as recommended, but from NCIX instead of newegg, since someone showed me that they have it on sale for $159.99 right now.

GPU: I will wait for the Radeon 7870 to come out and get that instead of the Geforce 570. Thanks for the advice!

CPU: I will get the i5-2500k instead of the i5-2500. I actually meant to do that originally, but must've clicked the wrong one. Thanks for catching my mistake!

PSU: I will be getting a different PSU, but haven't decided which one yet. My understanding is that the Radeon 7870 requires less power than than the GTX 760. Should I drop down to a 750W or 650W PSU?

Case: I will be getting a different case but am still deciding which one. I will probably be ordering from NCIX instead of newegg, since I've been advised that newegg charges a lot more to ship cases. I'm looking at the Antec 1100 right now. Would this be a good choice?

Motherboard: I've been advised to get the Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 instead of what I originally selected. What do you guys think of this?

I've also dropped the thermal compound as advised.

Thanks again for all the help guys. I really appreciate it!

 

[phenom90]

this mobo i will get instead....

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=63945&vpn=Z68%20Extreme3%20Gen3&manufacture=ASRock