First new build in 15 years: Would you kindly tell me what you think?

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Hey Gang.

I've been out the system building business for about 15 years now. I think the last custom system I built had a Pentium 90 in it -- that's how long it's been. After many months of begging and cajoling, the wife's finally allowing me to build my dream PC. Happy days!

I'm ready to get back into PC gaming, and I've been looking to build a system in the $1,500 range. I've been playing around with difference configurations over at Newegg, and this is what I've come up with so far. My gaming tastes range from first-person shooters (CoD and L4D series) to games like Skyrim and the much anticipated Diablo III. (I'm not a Starcraft player -- I've seen that asked in other threads.) What I'm really looking for in this build is the ability to overclock in the future (although I'm not planning on doing it at the outset, which is why you don't see an aftermarket CPU heat sink in my build) and run some of the newer games coming down the pike. I also want the system to look nice (yes, I'm one of those OCD types!).

One more thing -- I recently picked up a Dell U2412M monitor, so gaming will ideally take place in its native 1920 x 1200 resolution. I'm not sure if that will change the GPU recommendation, but I wanted to throw that out there.

Without further ado, here it is:

Case: Antec P280 Black ATX Mid Tower (Love the look of this case)
PSU: CORSAIR AX750 Gold
MB: ASUS Sabertooth Z77 (5 year warranty and looks of this board are attractive to me)
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K (Not opposed to going to i5 2500K if you think it's comparable)
GPU: ASUS GTX 570 DCU II (Not married to this, but it seemed like a decent card)
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) Low Profile (DDR3 1600 / PC3 12800)
HDD: WD Caviar Black (6.0Gb/s / 64MB Cache)
SSD: [None at this point, but I'm open to suggestions.]
ODD: ASUS DRW-24B1ST

Let me know what you think. I'm not really brand loyal, just looking to get the most bang out of the buck. I also want to make sure I pick up quality components as I'll have this system for the next couple of years at least.

Thanks in advance for the critiques/recommendations!
 
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eloric

eloric

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Welcome back to the fold, EmuBite.

First off, since you are OCD, get an 8 pin extension so you can route the auxillary power line behind the motherboard. How is that for paying an inordinate amount of attention to details?

Next, I agree with recon-uk - the i5 2500k maxes you out for gaming, and is still unlocked for overclocking. Also agree on the GPU - Tom's is recommending the Radeon 7870 over the GTX 570 to save you $50.

A 750W Power supply is too much, even for overclocking. Components consume less these days - 500 to 600 watts is ample. Sorry my Newegg connection is down, or would recommend something here. In addition to Corsair, look at Seasonic, Antec, Cougar, XFX even some Cooler Master's these days or anything recommended by JonnyGuru.

Live near a MicroCenter? In-store combo price for an i5-2500 and the Sabertooth is $380, which is worth some gas money to get there.

Now for storage - HDD sellers are gouging the market because a flood wiped out significant manufacturing capacity late last year. Prices are slowly coming down, but are still inflated. Think about an SSD to get you by for 6 months or whenever a TB comes back to $50. Check out this 128 GB model out for $90 plus tax.

Finally, you probably already know most of this, but I always like to share Tecmo's and shortstuff_MT's advice:

Step by step guide to build a pc

Solutions to common build problems

Enjoy!



 
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I agree that the i5-2500K is a better fit for me, and it saves me nearly $100. I'm definitely going to make this change. I'm also hoping that the prices drop even further with Ivy Bridge rumored to hit the streets this week.

As I said before, I'm not brand loyal, but I've never had an AMD GPU. I've heard (although I have no firsthand knowledge) that there can be issues with drivers around these cards. Any truth to that? If I decide to go the HD 7870 route, what manufacturer do you recommend? (Something tells me EVGA!)

It looks like you also have a Crucial M4 64GB SSD in your rig. Do you recommend an SSD? I've never used one before, but I know they can greatly improve system performance. Do you recommend a 64GB over a 128GB drive?

Thanks again for the recommendations.
 
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Thanks for all the replies -- you guys are fast! When I refreshed last, I saw only recon-uk's, which is why I didn't quote him. All of this is great advice.

I think you have me convinced me to go i5-2500K, AMD HD 7870 (I'd love to hear which manufacturers you recommend), and an SSD (probably the Crucial M4 128GB since I have a little wiggle room on my budget).

The GTX 680 is tempting, but I can't find it anywhere! I don't think I'll need that much power anyway with the games I play. I think the AMD HD 7870 is my sweet spot.

I'll also probably change power PSUs since the Corsair is overkill for me. What PSUs do you recommend in the power range I'll need? I'm willing to pay a premium on PSUs as I've had buddies tell me not to skimp here. I definitely want something modular. The Corsairs and Seasonics look best to me, but I'd love to hear your recommendations.

BTW, I'll likely be ordering all of this at one time from Newegg. I'm going to wait a couple of days for Ivy Bridge to hit the streets. I'll probably skip Ivy Bridge, and my next build will be for Haswell.

Thanks again for all the great recommendations. This site is awesome.
 
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hellfire24

hellfire24

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good decision for 2500k.and 7870(or any graphics card)i prefer msi twinfrozer iii,they have great cooling and more overclocking potential.SSD is a great 'utility'.it speeds up loading times but won't boost up your fps.a crucial m4 64gb for OS and 'main game' is a wise choice IMO.
BTW,that psu(AX750w)seems overpriced to me,you can get great performance and save some money by getting this xfx unit-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207017
it has enough juice to run 680 SLi and overclocks!
 
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hellfire24

hellfire24

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PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK III 600W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703036
Click to expand...

silencer mk ii 950w silver certified unit for $130-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028
handsdown!

SAPPHIRE 11199-03-20G Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102983
Click to expand...
msi twinfrozer iii 7870 for $350-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127662

IB is not an upgrade from SB.
Click to expand...
+1,it's just an 'update'
 
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serialkiller

serialkiller

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Hello

if you are going to game then i5 is what you needed. also wait for ive bridge.

Every this is compatible but you might get better bang for buck if you change few parts.

Intel i5 3570k
asrock z77 extreme4
corsair vengence low profile 2x4 gb ddr3 1600mhz ram
evga gtx 680 or if not then sapphire hd 7870
Pc power and cooling silencer mkii 950/750w 80+ silver.
Asus 24x dvd burner
crucial m4 128gb ssd
seagate baracuda 500gb 7200rpm hdd


Case of your choice but checkout cm haf and storm series as well as corsair carbide series
 
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serialkiller

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Let me generalize the good point of ive bridge.

22 nm architecture which means cooler less power consuming and a bit faster. also as it runs cooler you can oc greater making it more faster.

3d trans gate or whatever its called make rendering faster.

Due to ive bridge pci 3.0 will be enabled so nf 300 chip will be usable.

The rise of hd 4000 integrated graphics which will be as fast ar faster than an hd 5450...
 
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eloric

eloric

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Um, OK if I interrupt for a sec?

I think I am going to buy this for myself: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W. It's $50 if you purchase by Wednesday. CM PSU's might not have the best reputation, but JonnyGuru gave this unit a 9, even with a low score related to its high price three years ago. At this price it is hard to ignore.

....OK folks....back to the battle of Ivy Bridge -vs- Sandy Bridge, or was it PCI 3.0 -vs- 2.0 at resolution 11520 by 2160 running quad GTX 680s in SLI, hacked because nVidia has some conspiricy or other....

btw, IMHO i5 2500k, Z68 is discounted at the moment, and three years from now nobody is going to care if you paid a premium for the absolute latest and greatest technology....I say go for the value in a generation behind.


 
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eloric

eloric

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Thanks for the upvote, recon.

In all honesty, I have not built a machine in awhile, and came here this weekend to catch up on the latest technology.

Tom's never disappoints, and I have thouroughly enjoyed this thread and all its tangents. I had the same reaction as hellfire :eek:
 
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