Need advice on build - Please advise

[Phoesune]

I am looking for a system to play Skyrim, Diablo 3, and provide upgradable options. I want something I won't mess with for a year and be happy, then next tax return, upgrade to better non core components. I haven't built a system in 5 years and I am exhausted trying to figure out the new stuff. Please help me know if this looks ok? It's based on the CyperPower Black Pearl with upgrades.

Some concerns:
Should I overclock from CyberPower or do my own? I haven't overclocked in ages.
Does the CPU have legs, or will I regret not upgrading now? Seems good. I have never been a super gamer, but I don't want to be a burden to the team, if you know what I mean.
The cooling is a must, I don't control the temperature of the room where the system will reside. Is there a cooler case or setup?
It seems everyone runs WIN7 Pro. Is Home ok? Should I consider Ultimate?


CAS: * Azza Hurrican 2000 Full Tower Gaming Case with 4 Hot Swappable HDD Cage & (4) 230MM Fans

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-3820 Quad-Core 3.60 GHz 10MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011
MOTHERBOARD: * (3-Way SLI Support) Gigabyte X79-UD3 Intel X79 Chipset Quad Channel DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ UEFI DualBIOS, Dolby Home Theater 7.1 Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 4 Gen3 PCIe X16, 2 PCIe X1 & 1 PCI
MEMORY: 16GB (4GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Quad Channel Memory (Corsair Vengeance)
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1.2GB 16X PCIe Video Card (EVGA GeForce 448 Cores Classified Powered by NVIDIA)

FAN: CyberPower Xtreme Hydro Liquid Cooling Kit 360MM w/ Triple Fan(CPU & GPU Liquid Cool Capable, Extreme Overclocking Performance + Extreme Silent at 18dBA)

HDD: 120GB Corsair Force GT Series SATA-III 6.0Gb/s SSD - 555MB/s Read & 515MB/s Write (Single Drive)
CD: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)

NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
OS: Microsoft® Windows 7 Professional (64-bit Edition)
OVERCLOCK: Extreme OC (Extreme Overclock 20% or more)
POWERSUPPLY: 1,200 Watts - CoolerMaster Silent Pro 80 Plus Gold Power Supply ( 80 Plus Gold)
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

Many thanks for your considered opinions!

 

[serialkiller]

hello op

are you only game on this pc no rendering or video editing then it is a waste of money


i7 is used only if a program or software uses hyperthreading which games dont


overclocking is easy with an unlocked cpu i.e. a cpu with a k or x

the lga 2011 socket is for enthusiastics and not for gamers

it is a server grade socket

it is better to build a pc of ur own

gust tell me what is ur budget

 

[Phoesune]

hello op

are you only game on this pc no rendering or video editing then it is a waste of money


i7 is used only if a program or software uses hyperthreading which games dont


overclocking is easy with an unlocked cpu i.e. a cpu with a k or x

the lga 2011 socket is for enthusiastics and not for gamers

it is a server grade socket

it is better to build a pc of ur own

gust tell me what is ur budget

Thx SK,

I wanted to leave the door open for recording some games, but that is not necessary. As far as building my own, I am just getting older, and want minions to do it for me. I just want to pick the right components. As far as budget, I am looking in the 2k-2.5k as my top end. I would like to be under 2k if possible.

 

[serialkiller]

i am on my mobile so i wont be posting links

2k build

intel i5 2500k
asrock z68 extreme4 gen3
corsair vengence 2x4 gb low profile 1600mhz ddr3
saphhire hd 7970
seasonic x 1050w 80+ gold
samsung 830 128 gb sata 3 ssd
wd carvier blue 1 tb 7.2k
asus x24 dvd burner
corsair carbide 600t white edition
noctua nh d-14 cpu cooler
windows 7 pro oem

roughly total 1700 -2200 usd

i would post these parts links and detail explation tomorrow

 

[Phoesune]

Thanks SK, I appreciate the help. I was afraid I was going on a tanget.

 

[mojorisin23]

Thats a solid build. Use that as a basis and build it on cyberpower and see what price they come up with.

 

[serialkiller]

THE BUILD


Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K

$219.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler

$85.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

$184.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9

$54.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

SAPPHIRE 11197-01-40G Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card OC Version

$579.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102982

Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

$129.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236

Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

$114.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

$20.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

SeaSonic X Series X-850 (SS-850KM Active PFC F3) 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

$209.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151102

Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

$169.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139005

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM

$139.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

TOTAL = $1,911.89


GIFTS

1. Newegg Promotional Gift Card (value:$10.00)

2. McAfee Antivirus Plus 2012 - 1 User (value:$39.99)


I choose that cpu as it is the best processor for buck and any further and the performance gain is negligible

I choose that cpu cooler as it is the best air cpu cooler on the market and even the h100 gets tight fight

i choose the motherboard over the asrock z68 extreme3 gen3 as it has the usb 3.0 header and some better features like more lanes

I choose that ram as the rams heatspreaders will interfier with the cpu cooler

I choose the psu over a 1000w because even if you overclock your cpu and 2 hd 7970 it would need a psu of 850w at max load and max capacitor decaying :lol:

I choose that pc case because it is of the perfect size not big nor small,it looks sexy, it has a build in fan controller and has plenty of space to fit 3 6990s

I choose the mushkin ssd over the samsung one because it was on offer

I choose the windows 7 professional because u can add more ram later and you get a antivirus free which i notice it later

hope this would help and post some pics

 

[jjanoch]

Phoesune,
I think we are both are of the same thought process regarding our PC's...except that I am about 6 weeks ahead of you (my new PC just arrived last week). Like you I had the desire to upgrade and the means to allow someone else to do much of the work for me. Let me try and answer your questions based on my final thoughts and my own choices.

Everyone is still saying the I7 2500k is the best bang for your gaming dollar, but if I am buying a $2500+ PC right now, I just can't live with a CPU which is moving towards the "old tech" realm of options. For that money I want to buy a PC that shouldn't require a CPU upgrade in the next 2 years. So like your original post...I went with the newer Sandybridge E line....but I choose the 3930k CPU. Things change so quickly...I only had 2 choices just 7 weeks ago and this was an obvious $500 savings over the top end offering..but still "k" unlocked CPU.
I am not knocking Serialkillers (and many others) suggestions...but for our budgets I couldn't go with the 2500-2700k route.

** also check with cyberpower, I don't think the 3820 qualifies for overclocking by them

Overclocking...like you I didn't want to get involved...I wanted cyberpower to build the PC and then setup the optimum configuration to push the extra performance. YES the overclocking DYI software has made this much easier for the user...but again I didn't want to take the chance of missing one item in setup which would cause me problems...I wanted to get my PC and turn it on already running at peak performance. So I did pay for them to do it. If you feel the same, then I think it is worth it also.

Windows 7...this was an easy call for me...as I had the Pro version running on my old system, so I just moved it over as I was turning my old PC into parts after moving all my files. Like the CPU conversation I believe that the Pro version is considered by many to the sweet spot between cost and options returned from Windows. I didn't see the need for Ultimate..and Home wasn't enough.

I can't suggest differently on your liquid cooling system, other than to say I went with their 240mm Extreme option and it seems to be doing a fine job. Could the 120mm do as well....maybe. Will the 360mm do better...I can't see how. But I have no facts to back up either statement. your choice here.

Video: Personally I was looking to try a dual graphics card setup for the first time and was leaning towards AMD. That said the 7000 series was just coming out and some of the older choices (like 6950) were becoming "not available" through cyberpower...so I ended up with 2x 560 TI's like the one you have listed. But more information is coming out on AMDs 7000 series and if I were making a purchase today and ONLY getting one graphics card I would go that route. I think that would make it much easier to add a 2nd one within the next year if that might be a desire you have.

Motherboard: your UD3 Gigabyte choice was on my list but to be honest I wanted a bit more punch and with the cost of my PC rising upwards of $2700 by the time I finished I took the plunge with the Asus Rampage IV. I understand that the March Madness sale right now makes the UD3 much cheaper than any of the Asus options..but I didn't have that decision and I have like Asus products. If you stick with gigabyte..consider the UD5 as it is also on sale and only slightly more money.

HDD: you only list the 120gb SSD...I assume you are also going to add a data drive? I went with the exact SSD and added a 2tb data drive. I thought I was setup but after owning the machine for 6 days I can say that the 120gb SSD will fill up quickly. With Windows 7 and 1-2 games you are pushing it. If I went back in time 6 weeks I would consider a larger SSD. As a first time user of a SSD I am very impressed with the speed...I have never seen Windows come up as quickly as this new system. Now give me 6 months to bog it down with various add-on stuff and even I might be able to slow it down...but for today all I can say is WOW.

My last comment is your power supply. I went with the exact same unit but in the 1000 watt version and I can say you have picked more than enough power with your 1x video card selection...maybe even overkill. But if you plan on upgrading to 2x card in the future you will want 1000 watts or more.

Oh I see one more question you asked...cooling & case. I addressed the liquid cooler, but as for the case I think you just pick one you like. But I personally added the "max" fans for my case option. For $9.00 I have fans on 5 of the 6 sides of my case and there is no problem with heat with this PC. And compared to my old PC the noise level is the same or less. Now I will admit that my room is warmer due to the fans throwing all that PC heat out of the box....but my CPU is happy so I don't mind.

Hope this helps you.

 

[jjanoch]

PS I see that many of your choices are based on the current March Madness sale...from my experience keep this in mind. It takes them a good 2-3 weeks to gather your parts before they "charge" you for your PC. So your invoice will be dated then...not when you actually ordered the PC. I don't know how this might mess up any rebates but it could be a problem. In my case only my PSU had a rebate and it still does under the March Madness Sale which is when my invoice is dated. But if you are getting a PC with a few rebates in mind it is something I would look into before making my purchase. I wouldn't want to be counting on $100+ in rebates only to see them lost due to my receipt being dated after the promo ends.

 

[mojorisin23]

I've seen a lot of issues regarding backorders like JJanoch said. but of course you only hear when something goes wrong. i ordered on Feb 14 and it shipped on Feb 26. i did have different parts for the most part... i would just not be in a hurry is all. understand that it will be at best a month with shipping...