Help me finalize my build.

[AndyTheDrifter]

EDIT: Have pretty much decided on this build. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7hjk

Can anyone tell me if there any "little things" I might need to build the PC that don't come packaged with any of the parts? I'd hate to sit down to build only to discover midway through the process I'm missing a cable or something.

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This build is for gaming and not much else. I've decided not to wait for IB and just pull the trigger on the tried and true SB. I have a giant lossless music collection, so I need a 1.5TB drive (already have two 2TB externals as backups). An SSD is probably not in my budget.

The only thing I'm really unsure about is my mobo. Deciding between the AsRock Extreme 3 Gen 3 or a newer Z77 motherboard. Is there any advantage to getting the latter with SB? Open to other brands and models as well. Also wondering how good my choices of RAM, PSU, and case are.

Approximate Purchase Date: Today hopefully
Budget Range: $1,250 max, the lower the better obviously
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing the internet. No movies or video editing.
Parts Not Required: Need OS, have all other peripherals
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Amazon, and NCIX
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: Intel CPU
Overclocking: Probably
SLI or Crossfire: Probably not
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

 

[James McKeane]

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

This build is for gaming and not much else. I've decided not to wait for IB and just pull the trigger on the tried and true SB. I have a giant lossless music collection, so I need a 1.5TB drive (already have two 2TB externals as backups). An SSD is probably not in my budget.

The only thing I'm really unsure about is my mobo. Deciding between the AsRock Extreme 3 Gen 3 or a newer Z77 motherboard. Is there any advantage to getting the latter with SB? Open to other brands and models as well. Also wondering how good my choices of RAM, PSU, and case are.

Approximate Purchase Date: Today hopefully
Budget Range: $1,250 max, the lower the better obviously
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing the internet. No movies or video editing.
Parts Not Required: Need OS, have all other peripherals
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Amazon, and NCIX
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: Intel CPU
Overclocking: Probably
SLI or Crossfire: Probably not
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

If the HDD you've chosen is suppose to be a primary OS drive, then I would personally find a more reputable drive than the Barracuda. Also, I limit primary drives preferrably at 1TB max.

Reco: WDC Black 750GB SATA III 64MB 7200 http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd7502aaex

You should definately go with a Z77 motherboard. Why pay money for older technology?

Reco: GIGABYTE GA-Z77MX-D3H http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128542

 

[g-unit1111]

If the HDD you've chosen is suppose to be a primary OS drive, then I would personally find a more reputable drive than the Barracuda. Also, I limit primary drives preferrably at 1TB max.

Reco: WDC Black 750GB SATA III 64MB 7200 http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd7502aaex

You should definately go with a Z77 motherboard. Why pay money for older technology?

Reco: GIGABYTE GA-Z77MX-D3H http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128542

$170 for a 750GB is a bit of a ripoff even with the HD shortages.

This build is for gaming and not much else. I've decided not to wait for IB and just pull the trigger on the tried and true SB. I have a giant lossless music collection, so I need a 1.5TB drive (already have two 2TB externals as backups). An SSD is probably not in my budget.

Yeah I'm going to go with SB instead of IB - I'm just waiting to save up money to buy the motherboard and CPU.

Try this:

Case: Fractal Design Arc MIDI - $109.99
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750 - $104.99
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-UD5H - $189.99
CPU: 3.30GHz Intel Core i5-2500K - $219.99
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo - $34.99
RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 8GB 1333MHz - $42.99
HD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda ST - $99.99
Optical: Lite On Bulk DVD Burner - $17.99
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 - $399.99
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium - $99.99

Total: $1,277.91

A little bit over budget but with the 7950 you won't need a new GPU for a while.

 

[AndyTheDrifter]

Gear switch. I just picked up a Sapphire 7970 OC on sale at newegg. Couldn't pass it up. I've decided to pick up a Crucial M4 for the primary OS drive. I have an ever-growing 600GB+ of lossless music, and when I consider games, I think I'll need a 1.5TB drive. I know Seagate isn't Western Digital, but they seem to the only reasonably priced high-capacity 7200 RPM drives.

Updated build, my budget is pretty much maxed out. How's this look?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7h9w

 

[g-unit1111]

Gear switch. I just picked up a Sapphire 7970 OC on sale at newegg. Couldn't pass it up. I've decided to pick up a Crucial M4 for the primary OS drive. I have an ever-growing 600GB+ of lossless music, and when I consider games, I think I'll need a 1.5TB drive. I know Seagate isn't Western Digital, but they seem to the only reasonably priced high-capacity 7200 RPM drives.

Updated build, my budget is pretty much maxed out. How's this look?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7h9w

Seagate makes good drives - so does Samsung - the 2TB Ecogreen is a steal for the price but I'd only recommend that if you're getting an SSD - you don't want to use a 5900RPM HD as that will be your biggest bottleneck in your system.

That build looks good - I'd squeeze a bit more on the motherboard as if you go with the lower end Gigabyte board you forfeit an X16 lane so if you want to add a second 7970 later on for Crossfire you're SOL.

Good score on the 7970 - had they not cut the price when I got my 7870 I would have paid the extra $50 for the 7950.

 

[AndyTheDrifter]

THANK YOU on the catch for the mobo's lack of Crossfire support. I definitely want to keep that option open in the future. Someone on another forum is recommending Biostar, and it looks very nice.

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

Any more opinions?

 

[AndyTheDrifter]

Before I pull the trigger on the build in the above post, can anyone tell me if there any "little things" I might need to build that PC that don't come packaged with any of the parts? I'd hate to sit down to build only to discover midway through the process I'm missing a cable or something.

 

[azeem40]

Seagate makes good drives - so does Samsung - the 2TB Ecogreen is a steal for the price but I'd only recommend that if you're getting an SSD - you don't want to use a 5900RPM HD as that will be your biggest bottleneck in your system.

That build looks good - I'd squeeze a bit more on the motherboard as if you go with the lower end Gigabyte board you forfeit an X16 lane so if you want to add a second 7970 later on for Crossfire you're SOL.

Good score on the 7970 - had they not cut the price when I got my 7870 I would have paid the extra $50 for the 7950.

If I had waited a week, I could have gotten the Radeon 7970 instead of the 7950 due to the price drop.