Finally a new system after 5+ years. Your thoughts/advice before I buy

[Simo606]

Hi guys, my old system has served me well and I certainly got my monies worth with 5+ years of reliable use. It's time for me to build a new PC and since I have been not in touch with all the latest hardware I was wondering what you thought about these parts I have chosen. I do not OC or use SLI (but may in the future) and my main use for it is games, movies and web surfing on a 1920x1200 display. All of the parts below are within budget (inc just 1 GPU) so it's just a matter of performance and if I could swap some parts out or not. If you notice any potential bottlenecks or incompatibilities please let me know.

(If there are components missing from the list it is because I already have them)

CPU: i7-3770K (Ivy Bridge)
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws-X 16GB KIT (8GBx2 @1600Mhz) - CHANGED TO Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
PSU: Antec HCG - 750w
GPU: Inno3D GTX680 or Asus GTX580 or Asus GTX570 - CHOSEN GTX670
SSD: Patriot SATA3 PYRO(Sanforce SF-2281) 240G - CHANGED TO Patriot Pyro SE 120GB SSD
CASE: Corsair Graphite CC600T White - CHANGED TO COOLER MASTER CM Storm Series Trooper
OPTICAL: LG Blu-Ray Combo
OS: OEM 64 bit MS Win7 Home Premium
ADDED COOLERMASTER 212 EVO
ADDED Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB WD1002FAEX


Any opinions or advice would be great.

Thanks, Dan.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Guess first question is what kind of budget are you working with? Also is this a gamer system or what is the purpose of this computer?

CPU- I'm personally an AMD guy, so can't give you a lot of insight. The popular budget chip seems to be the i5 2500k because of it's power and overclocking ability, but you said you don't OC.

RAM-ram is dirt cheap, so the more the better, but 16 gb may be overkill. Unless you are a web developer.

PSU-Antec is good, can't argue to much on that.

GPU-I think depending on budget, either of those GPU's will be adequate. The GTX 570 is a great card. However the 680 will be the best card. May want to check specs and see what heat output will be like, but if your current system is 5 years old, any of those cards should seem amazing.

SSD-Don't have experience on that drive, but I know my friend picked up a 60 gb SSD and loves it

Case-Nice case, a bit pricey though, you may want to consider dropping to a different case and putting the money back into a better GPU.

I've personally got the CM Storm scout. Great case. Watch how big your video card is though. But if you look, there are better prices, however that would help free up extra GPU $$.

OPTICAL-Blu Ray drive might be overkill, but if you have the money you might as well get it.

OS-Windows 7, nothing to complain about.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

 

[Simo606]

Thanks for the reply. I will use it for mainly gaming, and multimedia use like movies thus the blu-ray drive. The case you linked looks quite nice and handles is what I need since I lug my PC to LANS weekly, I will consider that case for sure. Budget is $2000.

 

[farrengottu]

definitely get the intel 3000 series. since you dont overclock and nothing you do really benefits from hyperthreading an i5 3550 should be ideal.
make sure the motherboard supports virtu mvp. with it turned on your games deliver frames to your monitor at the right time, eliminating page tears and more. check out reviews of it. you will be impressed.
16GB might be considered excessive. i haven't maxed out 6GB of ram yet so 8 should be sufficient for the next few years. if you need more you still have two more slots to fill up.
for video card i feel the 670 is the best idea past $300. it costs $400 and performs 90-95% as fast as the 680 which costs $500. so the 670 is a great deal.
with the parts i recommend you can probabily get away with a 350w power supply. nvidia recommends a 500w with the 670 but they consider people with 125w processors and lots of fans and HDDs. but id get somewhere between 500 and 650w myself.

i like the rest of your stuff. its not what i would get but it's a matter of taste.

 

[Simo606]

great, meaningful advice farrengottu, I will look into everything you mentioned. I just checked and the mobo supports Virtu MVP . Also the CPU you suggested is a $140+ price drop which is nice if it performs (I will check some benchmarks out). As for the ram, I decided to go with 16GB just based on a suggestion and didn't think twice about it being too much. May get 8GB ram and save $50+ to put into other components. I will also check out the 670 GPU. Cheers again.

 

[pedalbike]

I second the 3550 and the 670 and the 8gb of ram. Power supply I would oversize if anything in case you later decide to sli.

 

[Simo606]

I just checked out the 670 GPU's. Very similar to 680 and will save me $100. I am VERY impressed, you guys are great! Going to now check out the 3550 more, it seems to be quite popular, what makes it better than the 3770K?

 

[danimal_the_animal]

get the sata III patriot pyro and make sure it is the "se" model

you wont be sorry...

sata II will be really slow.....i have one of those

 

[Simo606]

get the sata III patriot pyro and make sure it is the "se" model

you wont be sorry...

sata II will be really slow.....i have one of those

Ah I heard things about the none SE one being slow, I have might to alter that option then but not sure what to go for. Between $200 - $300 is budget for SSD, pref 240GB but 120GB should be fine if the price is good.

 

[mmilner1]

Dont forget about your cpu cooler, also I'd look into a GTX670,

 

[pedalbike]

I just checked out the 670 GPU's. Very similar to 680 and will save me $100. I am VERY impressed, you guys are great! Going to now check out the 3550 more, it seems to be quite popular, what makes it better than the 3770K?

Well you don't need the 'k' if you aren't overclocking and the i7's are are more for multi threaded applications such as video and image editing and provide a very small if any increase over the i5's in gaming.

 

[Simo606]

Dont forget about your cpu cooler, also I'd look into a GTX670,

Cheers, I'm 95% sold on the gtx 670 now. the price and performance are great compared to the 680 + the money I save will get me a CPU cooler if needed, although I've always used the stock cooler and never had any problems.

 

[Simo606]

Well you don't need the 'k' if you aren't overclocking and the i7's are are more for multi threaded applications such as video and image editing and provide a very small if any increase over the i5's in gaming.

I rarely image edit and never video edit so I can see the 3770K may be of less use + the 3550 will save me $140+. $290 saved in ram, gpu and cpu if I go that route which is sounding good in terms of price/performance.

 

[mmilner1]

Cheers, I'm 95% sold on the gtx 670 now. the price and performance are great compared to the 680 + the money I save will get me a CPU cooler if needed, although I've always used the stock cooler and never had any problems.

Just keep in mind that I've seen on temperature test on a 775 socket a quality cooler can lower the temps on the CPU by 20 degrees Celsius when compared to a stock fan. Besides most stock fans are very noisy compared to a good after market fan. There is going to be a lot of heat produced from that CPU card inside that case, personally I dont over clock either but prefer to see my temps in the 30's.

 

[cbsevenfifty]

In your first post you mention that you "may OC/SLI in the future." If you are on the fence about that now just get a K model CPU. You don't have to overclock it but in the future you can if your system is starting to lag behind. That way you are spending the extra $20 or so bucks now instead of $200+ down the road or building a new computer again.

Just one mans opinion.

 

[Simo606]

Just keep in mind that I've seen on temperature test on a 775 socket a quality cooler can lower the temps on the CPU by 20 degrees Celsius when compared to a stock fan. Besides most stock fans are very noisy compared to a good after market fan. There is going to be a lot of heat produced from that CPU card inside that case, personally I dont over clock either but prefer to see my temps in the 30's.

Good point. I totally agree, cooler is better and I will have more room to move in my budget now so this is almost a certainty I'll get an after market cooler .

In your first post you mention that you "may OC/SLI in the future." If you are on the fence about that now just get a K model CPU. You don't have to overclock it but in the future you can if your system is starting to lag behind. That way you are spending the extra $20 or so bucks now instead of $200+ down the road or building a new computer again.

Just one mans opinion.

That is an excellent point. Although I have never OC it would be nice to have to option to if I ever chose to. And since I am likely to have this PC for 5 years also it makes sense to have OCing to extend the performance of the CPU. Great point there.

 

[Why_Me]

Hi guys, my old system has served me well and I certainly got my monies worth with 5+ years of reliable use. It's time for me to build a new PC and since I have been not in touch with all the latest hardware I was wondering what you thought about these parts I have chosen. I do not OC or use SLI (but may in the future) and my main use for it is games, movies and web surfing on a 1920x1200 display. All of the parts below are within budget (inc just 1 GPU) so it's just a matter of performance and if I could swap some parts out or not. If you notice any potential bottlenecks or incompatibilities please let me know.

(If there are components missing from the list it is because I already have them)

CPU: i7-3770K (Ivy Bridge)
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws-X 16GB KIT (8GBx2 @1600Mhz) - MOST LIKELY DROP TO 8GB
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
PSU: Antec HCG - 750w
GPU: Inno3D GTX680 or Asus GTX580 or Asus GTX570 - CHOSEN GTX670
SSD: Patriot SATA3 PYRO(Sanforce SF-2281) 240G
CASE: Corsair Graphite CC600T White
OPTICAL: LG Blu-Ray Combo
OS: OEM 64 bit MS Win7 Home Premium


Any opinions or advice would be great.

Thanks, Dan.

That's a solid build all the way around. Look for an after market cpu cooler and your good to go.

 

[Simo606]

That's a solid build all the way around. Look for an after market cpu cooler and your good to go.

Cheers man. Did you have any CPU coolers to suggest? It's just that I've never bought one before and wouldn't know what is good. Would something like a Coolermaster Hyper 612 PWM do the trick?

 

[cbsevenfifty]

CM Hyper 212+/EVO are generally the go to CPU coolers since they are good and cheap compared to others. You can get the 212+ for 19.99 after MIR and the EVO is around $30. The EVO is slightly better but, for me, it's not worth the extra $10.

 

[Simo606]

CM Hyper 212+/EVO are generally the go to CPU coolers since they are good and cheap compared to others. You can get the 212+ for 19.99 after MIR and the EVO is around $30. The EVO is slightly better but, for me, it's not worth the extra $10.

I might go for the EVO. It's $20 cheaper than the one I suggested earlier. I can't tell much difference them so the better price will do, although I'm sure there's a few differences but none I would notice

 

[loops]

Nice build. Just add a 212+ .

 

[Simo606]

Nice build. Just add a 212+ .

Thanks. The 212+ seems to have great cooling value, so I think it's either that or the EVO. I'll have to do some research on the two

 

[cbsevenfifty]

Thanks. The 212+ seems to have great cooling value, so I think it's either that or the EVO. I'll have to do some research on the two

There really isn't much difference. The EVO has a different direct pipe contact, the pipes are squished together instead of separated on the 212+. The EVO moves slightly more air, 3-6 CFM. And the EVO is less noisy at minimum speed but louder at max.

You should get slightly better cooling with the EVO. It's up to you whether that slight difference is worth $10.

 

[Why_Me]

Cheers man. Did you have any CPU coolers to suggest? It's just that I've never bought one before and wouldn't know what is good. Would something like a Coolermaster Hyper 612 PWM do the trick?

That's a good one along with the CM EVO 212. You can't go wrong with either one imo. Both those coolers come with great thermal compound and they allow you to add another fan to them if you ever feel the need.

 

[SinisterSalad]

i5-3570K CPU with that 212+ should be perfect. I'm running the 2500k with a 212+, not OC'ing it right now, but nice to know that I'll be able to if I get a hankerin'.