Building My own PC...Newbie

[silverssaint]

Hello,
First and foremost thank you for your time to respond! I am trying to build a gaming computer, and The list that I am aware of that I must cover iscase/mobo/processor/ram/hard drive/power box/ video card/ audio card/ cd dvd rw drive/ OS windows 7)
First I was looking to mimic HP's choices for mobo and processor but when i looked at getting the i7-3820 processor it says it maxes out at 64 gb ram. I do not believe there are any ram dims in the 16gb size. which means it would need to be installed on an 8-slot mobo(correct me if I am wrong). I have no idea what mobo to choose, I looked at Newegg as many people suggest on this website and it has great prices. I guess I will try to keep my rambling short. I am 20 and have been saving up for this but now feel as though I am up a creek without a paddle. This is my starting design...

Case: Corsair Graphite Series 600T from
New egg $160 or COOLER MASTER HAF 922
New egg $100 (is one significatly better than the other?)

Mobo:? Intel BOXDH67BLB3 LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
New egg $100

Processor: i7-3820 tiger direct or new egg $320

Ram: 16GB (kingston (4x4GB) Would having 32GB benefit me more? or 64 if possible? Amazon $88

HDD:?? Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
New Egg $140

Power Box:SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V new egg $150 (750W enough for what im building? extreme.outervision.com came back with some high numbers... & also there is another power source on new egg SeaSonic M12II 850W for the same price...

Video Card: 2X Geforce Gtx 560 ti
New egg $500

Audio Card:?? Creative 70SB073A00000
New egg $55

cd dvd rw Drive:??

OS Windows 7: home premium 64-Bit
new egg $99

Those are the parts I have looked at, Video cards was a very hazy subject for me as everyone chooses their loved brand, I have only had Nvidia so I am partial to it.. If I am missing any specific parts that are needed in a comp, or if you know of better deals/ better approaches I am open to all ideas/criticism. thank you!

the links to all products are below:

Cases-
Corsair Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139007

Cooler Master Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

Mother Board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121506

Processor: Where Can I pick up a fan for this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115229

Ram: http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-ValueRAM-1333MHz-Non-ECC-Desktop/dp/B002K23V1Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1331871166&sr=8-4

HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

Power Box: 750 W- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087
850 W- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151108

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604

Audio Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006

OS Windows 7: 64-bit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

 

[g-unit1111]

First off the i7-3820 won't work in an LGA-1155 board, you'll need a designated LGA 2011 board. And that will run quite a bit more with a dedicated quad channel RAM kit.

The sound card isn't needed - you can ditch that as the onboard audio built into your motherboard will work fine.

I'd suggest going with this motherboard and CPU combo - that will be far more balanced:

- Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498 - Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3H
- CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 - Intel Core i5-2500K

Use the difference you'd be saving on the 3820 and upgrade your GPU to a Radeon 7870 (out next week):
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1160&pid=1473&psn=&lid=1&leg=0

For the cooler get a Hyper 212 Evo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

I'd get different RAM - something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104255

For the PSU get the Seasonic definitely - and for the case I'd definitely recommend the Corsair but check out these:

- Corsair Carbide 500R: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139010
- Azza Hurricane 2000: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811517010
- Fractal Design Arc MIDI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352007

For CD/DVD burner - I like Lite On and Plextor the best but any $15 - $20 drive will do.

 

[pjl21]

You are certainly building a quality machine for your first build.

1.) The $160 HAF comes WITH a power supply... you have chosen another ps. I'd suggest getting the HAF w/o the PS.

2.) No audio card is needed unless you are an audiophile(it's intregrated on the motherboard)

3.) The mobo you have chosen is sub-par for your build, and will not be able to run two of your GTX 560 Ti's in SLI.

4.) Your RAM is completely SUB-PAR for your build, invest in 6 or 12 gigabytes to take advantage of Triple-Channel Memory.

5.) The Power-supplies you linked will suffice for this build.

What exactly is your budget? Do you have a moniter already? Is it 1920x1080? A gaming PC of this caliber isnt necessary for gaming unless at that resolution, and even then it will max out games for a good 2-3 years.

EDIT: I got beat to the punch haha

 

[g-unit1111]

1.) The $160 HAF comes WITH a power supply... you have chosen another ps. I'd suggest getting the HAF w/o the PS.

Yeah - cases with built in PSUs are bad news - I've heard Antec includes good ones but I generally tend to stay away from them altogether.

4.) Your RAM is completely SUB-PAR for your build, invest in 6 or 12 gigabytes to take advantage of Triple-Channel Memory.

Triple channel is X58 only and that's way on it's way out - only dual channel will work in an LGA-1155 build, and quad channel will work only with X79.

3.) The mobo you have chosen is sub-par for your build, and will not be able to run two of your GTX 560 Ti's in SLI.

Yeah that's why I recommended a different setup - I only recommend that board in sub-$600 builds, not one this high end. And I wouldn't get the 560TI when it's handily beaten by the Radeon 7870 and upcoming (if ever :lol: ) 660.

 

[Guest]

Instead of mimicking HP's choices mimic g-unit's instead.

 

[pjl21]

Yeah, sorry for the tri-channel thing.. and i forgot about the 7870.... its gonna demolish games x2847119

 

[g-unit1111]

Yeah, sorry for the tri-channel thing.. and i forgot about the 7870.... its gonna demolish games x2847119

It happens. :lol:

I can't wait for the 7870 - it's going to kick major amounts of ass. I'm buying one with my tax refund.

 

[Guest]

It happens. :lol:

I can't wait for the 7870 - it's going to kick major amounts of ass. I'm buying one with my tax refund.

I'm waiting for the gtx 660 and I'm running on integrated graphics after selling my 6850's.

 

[silverssaint]

Okay, sorry if i seem overwhelmed, this is the first time ive ever asked a question and I was thinking that it would be a few days if ever that someone would respond, So thank you all very much again for taking the time to help me! Idk how on earth you pulled all that info together so fast but thank you... now a few questions.. I hope that I don't seem to dense to follow, but I was lost in some of the computer lingo used.
Now Ram.. I was always under the impression that Ram was "Ram" i had read alot of positive reviews on kingston. So i just looked up their basic ram. If you dont mind educating me further what is different about that ram you posted a link to and the sub-par ram I listed? was it just the GB difference? and would I order 2 of what you posted so that I would have 32 GB of ram?
And How Many Slots does this mobo have (4)?
And why would you choose the i5-2500k processor? because its cheaper? or because the performance difference between that and the i7-3820 become irrelevant as the i5 more than gets the job done?
and no audio card, I can dig that!
Now which PS the 750W or 850W??
and My intent with this system is to look at the forecast and hopefully have a system that will be able to play games and keep up 8 years down the road... the current one I have i went cheaper on and it has lasted 5 years and now become obsolete, cant even upgrade it anymore to keep up.

 

[silverssaint]

and i just looked at this processor it has the heat sink and fan included, should i still replace?? and why?

 

[silverssaint]

I cant find a price for that new graphics card, do you happen to know what it will be listed for? $500? and

 

[silverssaint]

Best answer selected by Silverssaint.

 

[g-unit1111]

Okay, sorry if i seem overwhelmed, this is the first time ive ever asked a question and I was thinking that it would be a few days if ever that someone would respond, So thank you all very much again for taking the time to help me! Idk how on earth you pulled all that info together so fast but thank you... now a few questions.. I hope that I don't seem to dense to follow, but I was lost in some of the computer lingo used.

Trust me - I spend a lot of free time on this board. :lol:

Now Ram.. I was always under the impression that Ram was "Ram" i had read alot of positive reviews on kingston. So i just looked up their basic ram. If you dont mind educating me further what is different about that ram you posted a link to and the sub-par ram I listed? was it just the GB difference? and would I order 2 of what you posted so that I would have 32 GB of ram?

Kingston is definitely one of the best RAM manufacturers on the market - they've been around forever and have some of the lowest fail rates on the market (Crucial is another good choice, so are G.Skill and Corsair). The reason why the RAM would be considered sub par is the module you picked out is a lower speed and the timing settings and voltage don't match what Sandy Bridge requires. Sandy Bridge requires 2 sticks of RAM to function - the timing is usually 9-9-9-24, and the voltage required is 1.5V, the RAM you linked to is 1.65V. What I linked to is also made by Kingston - it's just a different set of RAM that's made specifically for Sandy Bridge than the one you linked to.

And How Many Slots does this mobo have (4)?

4 is typical for an LGA-1155 board. Some X79 (LGA 2011) can have up to 8.

And why would you choose the i5-2500k processor? because its cheaper? or because the performance difference between that and the i7-3820 become irrelevant as the i5 more than gets the job done?

The i5-2500K and i7-3820 are two completely different CPUs - the i7 is more for higher end gaming and workstation applications like Adobe CS5 and Autodesk Revit (which is why the X79 chipset has higher RAM allotments), where the 2500K is a true dedicated gaming CPU - and it's geared and marketed specifically for gamers.

Now which PS the 750W or 850W??

Go with the Seasonic 750 - it's one of the best PSUs on the market right now.

and My intent with this system is to look at the forecast and hopefully have a system that will be able to play games and keep up 8 years down the road... the current one I have i went cheaper on and it has lasted 5 years and now become obsolete, cant even upgrade it anymore to keep up.

The motherboard / CPU set I recommended will be far more well-rounded, and where the biggest differences lie in any build is with the GPU, not the CPU. With the AMD FX - it pretty much taught us that CPUs have bottomed out for the most part and having +-.2GHz and a couple of extra cores really isn't going to make that much of a difference. The difference between the 560TI and a Radeon 7870 - that's where you'll really notice things in a gaming build.

 

[silverssaint]

Thank you so much g-unit1111! I appreciate this greatly. Would you still recomend getting the COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO even though the Processor comes with a cooler? the hard drive I put, is that acceptable? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136533

And should I max out the processor with 32 gb Memory? 4X8GB dimms?

 

[silverssaint]

btw the Azza Hurricane is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!

 

[Guest]

8 gb is more than enough for gaming, and 8gb ram modules aren't cost efficient. The cooler that comes with the i5-2500k is good enough for stock speeds but if you want to overclock you will need a custom cooler. The 7870 is reportedly going to cost $350 and will come out on monday hopefully.

 

[silverssaint]

The MOBO supports PCI so that means using 2 AMD GPU's right? Not that I want to buy 2 7870's, just trying to further educate myself. Thank you Ivan! And I Am not sure I would want to overclock my system because it runs it pretty hard, I am hoping that the system I am running can Handle todays game without "overclocking". And as far as the ram should i dtic to one order (2X8gb) so i am running 16GB in total, and then if i need more down the road make another order?

 

[Guest]

The MOBO supports PCI so that means using 2 AMD GPU's right? Not that I want to buy 2 7870's, just trying to further educate myself. Thank you Ivan! And I Am not sure I would want to overclock my system because it runs it pretty hard, I am hoping that the system I am running can Handle todays game without "overclocking". And as far as the ram should i dtic to one order (2X8gb) so i am running 16GB in total, and then if i need more down the road make another order?

Yeah your motherboard supports crossfire(multiple gpu's). Having the option to crossfire is always a good thing to have, and you never know, in the future you might want to add another 7870 for increased performance. A stock i5-2500k is more than enough for now but overclocking it will give it some extra life if you choose to do so in the future. Honestly even 4gb is enough for gaming and by the time you might need 16gb let alone 32 gb, ddr3 will be outdated. Getting 2x4 gb now gives you more than enough flexibility for the future.

 

[silverssaint]

Thank you very Much! I guess all My questions have been answered!

 

[silverssaint]

One last link to Add, Is the following website Bs? http://www.hwcompare.com/12209/geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-radeon-hd-7870/

 

[Guest]

One last link to Add, Is the following website Bs? http://www.hwcompare.com/12209/geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-radeon-hd-7870/

It's a reputable site. As they stated on the comparison between the two "Please note that the above 'benchmarks' are all just theoretical - the results were calculated based on the card's specifications, and real-world performance may (and probably will) vary at least a bit." The 7850 and the 560 ti is a more valid comparison http://www.hwcompare.com/12054/geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-radeon-hd-7850/ .

 

[silverssaint]

Thank you