First Build - Need Help

[rsbrock20]

Yo. I am building my first computer and could use some help. Here is what I have so far.

Case NZXT Phantom Red Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Motherboard AsRock Z77 Extreme4 Socket 1155

CPU Core i3 i3-2130 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz

RAM DDR3 1600 4x4GB Kingston

Graphic Card MSI Video GeForce GTX430 1024MB DDR3 PCI-e/Express

Power Supply Ultra 750-Watt Power Supply

Cooling Thermaltake BigWater 760 Plus Liquid Cooling Kit

I am wondering if I left anything out and if I could reduce cost at no loss in performance? I am going with the i3-2130, because this MOBO can accept i7. So, I figured I could manage fine with the i3 for now and eventually upgrade to the i7. As you could imagine I am some what nervous about the installation. Any pointers, or even what could be possibly considered trivial, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[nekulturny]

Hiya, I have a couple thoughts.

I think that video card is ridiculously weak for gaming for starters (I assume thats what you're looking for it to do) Buy something like a Radeon 6870. For gaming your video card is where it counts, not your CPU. You could even drop down to a cheaper Phenom II 965 quad core (same price as and a better choice than the i3) and go heavier than the 6870 for a video card and get better results, up to you, let me know if you want to talk about those options.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

-16GB of RAM is overkill. 8GB is more than enough, save some money there.


-Forget the liquid cooling kit, you cant overclock the 2130, so theres no point in it., use the money you save not buying that to get an i5 2500k. You can overclock the i5-2500k, but even so, you don't need a 100+ dollar liquid cooling kit to get a respectable overclock. Theres no reason to buy an i7, and btw, buying an i3 now with the intention of putting a better CPU in it later is folly. You can get a CPU that will do everything you want it to do, TODAY with proper changes to your configuration.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

And optionally-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

-Buy a better quality power supply. Ultra makes very low quality power supplies, you don't need 750 watts for a single video card this is sufficient.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

I have an NZXT Phantom Case, black with green trim, its an awesome case, good choice.

 

[computernewb]

hi.

you can get a i3-2120 for $25 cheaper and you wont notice the 100mhz difference.

your case is $130 and your graphics card is bad. You can get a $50 dollar case and spend the extra on a graphics card. ( radeon hd 6870 for around $150-160, or gtx 560ti for around $200)

Ultra power supplies are bad. You probably want to stick with corsair, seasonic, antec, ocz.

You cant overclock the i3, so there is no need to get a liquid cooling kit. If you get the i7 later you can overclock it with a good aftermarket heatsink and save a lot of money.

 

[nekulturny]

Hey hey.. Have you seen the NZXT Phantoms? They're beautiful, worth every penny!

Even so,, here is a cheaper case thats just as good feature-wise
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

 

[computernewb]

Hey hey.. Have you seen the NZXT Phantoms? They're beautiful, worth every penny!

Even so,, here is a cheaper case thats just as good feature-wise
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

haha they do looks sleek and nice, but i like to say performance before looks

 

[nekulturny]

Yea, I can agree with that. Its purely a luxury item, but the great advantage of investing is a super great case is that you can use if for many builds. They really made these cases to last. Unlike Sentey.. Cheap plastic ***.

 

[bigcyco1]

Yea, I can agree with that. Its purely a luxury item, but the great advantage of investing is a super great case is that you can use if for many builds. They really made these cases to last. Unlike Sentey.. Cheap plastic ***.

Well there is no arguing that i have that case it's dam sexy :lol: