My First Build

[jthomas666]

Man, I've been trying to get a new computer for 4 years; every year, i get the money together, and then I have to spend the money on something else.

Things are looking better this year, so here's hoping. In any event, here's what I'm looking at. I've never built a computer from scratch, but I have all the different steps--installed memory, swapped hard drive, replaced mobo, etc. The only thing that would be new would be installing the CPU cooler.

So here's what I've come up with:

Approximate Purchase Date: May/June

Budget Range: Under $1400, after rebates and shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, general use/internet/watching movies

Parts Not Required: display, mouse, keyboard

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newwegg or TigerDirect

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: none, really

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Additional Comments: would prefer a quiet machine. Based on past history, this will have to last me 5-6 years, so I'm deliberately going for more than i really need.

Proposed build:
CASE: Thermaltake Dokker – good reviews, good features. My family often uses me to troubleshoot their PCs, so that docking station will come in handy.

MOBO: ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 – again, good reviews, good features.

CPU: Intel i5 3570K

PSU: CoolerMaster SilentPro 700

CPU fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - If I do overclock, it will not be excessive.

Memory: Still undecided. Leaning towards Corsair Vengeance or G.Skill Ripjaws X 1600, 2x4GB -- how important is the voltage?

Optical drive: Samsung BR reader/DVD burner

Hard drive: Corsair Force Series GT 2.5” 180GB – once standard hard drive prices come down, I’ll add an internal data drive; until then I’ve got a 2GB external.

Video Card: HIS IceQ Radeon HS 7870

OS: Win 7 Pro (64 bit)

Currently, w/ shipping and including mail-in rebates, that’s just a little over $1300 from newegg.

Note: I’m considering not getting the graphics card right away, and just use the Intel 4000 graphics on the CPU until the price on the 7870 comes down a bit. My current computer is a late-generation P4 w. a business graphics card, so I doubt that I will feel deprived.


Any help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[alvine]

for memory voltage look for 1.5volts
why are you going with a 2.5"? get a 3.5"

other than that looks good. 700watts will be good for a beefy graphics card / dual video cards

have fun with building your beast

 

[smorizio]

with you holding off on the video card the new 670 video cards should be out forcing a price war with ati and nvida. with th mb ram intel voltage spec is 1.5 volts. for there memory controler inside the cpu. before you buy your memory take a look on the vendor web page for memory that been tested. some memory will post in new mb but sometime it can hang or bsod randomly.
a lot of first time and second time builders buy on price first then find out there ram wont work in there new mb then have to rma it back. for a power supply i would spend the 80-100 for a good brand that a little larger then i needed. there a few good how large does my power supply have to be. web pages.
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
the larger fan your case has the slower it has to run..so a case with large 220-300cm fans are going to run a lot slower.

 

[g-unit1111]

with you holding off on the video card the new 670 video cards should be out forcing a price war with ati and nvida. with th mb ram intel voltage spec is 1.5 volts. for there memory controler inside the cpu. before you buy your memory take a look on the vendor web page for memory that been tested. some memory will post in new mb but sometime it can hang or bsod randomly.
a lot of first time and second time builders buy on price first then find out there ram wont work in there new mb then have to rma it back. for a power supply i would spend the 80-100 for a good brand that a little larger then i needed. there a few good how large does my power supply have to be. web pages.
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
the larger fan your case has the slower it has to run..so a case with large 220-300cm fans are going to run a lot slower.

I'll be interested to see what the price wars between ATI and NVIDIA bring - if they drop the 7870 down you can bet I'll buy a second.

I'd definitely switch out the case and the PSU of the original build - Cooler Master has a reputation of being dishonest in their PSU department which is funny considering they make great cases and heat sinks. I'm not the biggest fan of Thermaltake - for that price it'd be better to get something like a Corsair Carbide or Fractal Design Arc MIDI or Antec 1100.

 

[azeem40]

IMO, Thermaltake makes good CPU Coolers.

 

[jthomas666]

I'm gonna go with the Corsair 300R for the case. Still going around in circles on the PSU, though. Anyone have any experience with the Corsair AX-650?