First Time Builder.(Gaming PC)

[Shudson66]

Hi, I will be a first time builder. I would like to stay in the area of $850. I will be gaming with this computer.

World of Warcraft.
Shogun Total War.
Diablo
Dawn Of War II.

Things I have.

Monitor 22 inch.
Keyboard.
Mouse.

Need
Well want. Windows 7, I still have XP. Will be leaving it on the old System.

I was looking to using this build as the starting point. I know there are a couple updates available. Planning on purchasing in the next week or so. Any help would be great. And thank you.



$750 - Budget - $779.92 w/o Rebates $759.92 with Rebates

CPU : Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor $230
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072

Motherboard : ASUS P8P67 (REV 3.1) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131770

RAM : G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231277

CPU Cooler : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103099

HDD : Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148767

PSU : Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371044

GPU : SAPPHIRE 100328L Radeon HD 6770 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102940

Case : Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811147153

 

[Shudson66]

Forgot

No Overclocking

No SLI or Crossfire.

 

[ddan49]

Wait.. no overclocking? In that case, let's switch some stuff around.

CPU: i5-2400
Mobo: An H61 or a Z68 Pro3 Gen3 from ASRock (although this allows overclocking)
RAM: 2x4GB sticks of it... about $45
CPU cooler: Without overclocking, you don't need one. Stock Intel is fine.
PSU: Overkill. Get an 80+ Corsair Builder series at 500W maximum
GPU: Upgrade to an MSI Hawk 6870. Or, if you have more money, an MSI Twin Frozr II OC GTX 560 Ti or a 7850 (7850 is better, but more pricey). However, I'd stick with the Hawk 6870.
Case: Either HAF 912 or Antec Three Hundred (Illusion if you want that look. Same price). Antec Three Hundred has fan controllers and a lot of fans, HAF is popular as well.

 

[Shudson66]

May I ask why would you go with the I5-2400 instead of the I5-2500.

Thank you.

 

[ddan49]

i5-2400 isn't overclockable. i5-2500k is. The i5-2500 just isn't worth it... it's the same as going with an i5-2500k vs an i7-2700k for gaming... the price difference isn't worth it. Just look at April's "Best gaming CPUs for the Money" on tomshardware.

 

[Shudson66]

Hi all I am getting closer to buying.

Here my picks so far.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7pds

I need some help on a Motherboard and a Optical Drive.

Thank you.

 

[SteelLAD]

I would swap out the antec psu for another one, bad reviews for the earthwatts.

 

[Shudson66]

Would this be better.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7phn

 

[ddan49]

OCZ is bad, too

I'd go with a PC power and cooling 650W for about the same amount of money.

You don't seem to have a mobo... I'd suggest an ASRock Extreme3 Gen3

For the optical, this will do:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24b1stblkbas

I'd suggest upgrading from the 560 Ti to the 7850... it's only like $30, and it's really worth it.

I'd also suggest the HAF 912 case.

 

[azeem40]

I have said this many times and I will say it again. Series quality within a certain brand is more important than the brand. A good PSU doesn't always HAVE to be one from Seasonic. If the series of a certain PSU is manufactured by Seasonic or Super Flower, it will most likely be a good PSU. Reviews from jonnyguru.com are arguably the best PSU reviews on the internet. If he recommends it, you are guaranteed a quality unit. OCZ may be mostly bad, but the ZS series is one of the best series of PSUs.

 

[ddan49]

The one he has isn't ZS series, though.

 

[azeem40]

I should have said, "For example, the ZS series is one of the best series of PSUs."

 

[Shudson66]

How does this look. It about $100 over budget.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7q1q

 

[ddan49]

Ah, I forgot about the Windows OS price factoring in. Do you need the price cut down? I think you can go with a Pro3 Gen3 motherboard (still ASRock) and save like $20 that way. Also, do you live by a microcenter? If so, then we can cut about $50 off.

Hold on... are you overclocking? I thought you weren't. Are you?

 

[Shudson66]

The nearest Microcenter is 3.5 hour drive one way. So not so easy to get to. As far as overclocking. After spending some time reading the forums it does not seem as difficult as I thought it would be. And I seem to get a bigger bang for my money.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7qt6

My goal was $850.00. So this is better. Besides the only saving I am seeing is coming from removing the cooling fan by going with a I5-2400.

 

[ddan49]

I had to double check that it was the right build... that's seriously one of the builds I recommend to people (almost). If you have another $50 to spare, I'd go with a 7850, but apart from that, everything looks great! I don't factor in Win7 into the prices I suggest, so that's why I was surprised you went with a 560 Ti. Great choice, though!