Build Suggestion

[masterant18]

Approximate Purchase Date: Next Week

Budget Range: $1000-1300 before rebates/taxes/shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Internet

Parts Not Required: Monitor,mouse,speakers, keyboard.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg or Amazon

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Intel or AMD doesn't matter

Overclocking:Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: Not sure

Additional Comments: Smooth running PC for battlefield3 and Diablo 3


Hi, I'm looking for advice on this build, should I change out any parts. I'm looking to spend around $1300 +/- 200

Parts list.

Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116506

ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264

Galaxy 67NPH6DV5ZJX GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162108

OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W Modular High Performance Power Supply-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

CORSAIR H80 (CWCH80) High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181016

NZXT Source 210 S210-001 Black “Aluminum Brush / Plastic” ATX Mid Tower Computer Case-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146075

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Total Price- $1247.00

 

[upsguy1974]

Nice build. Only one thing I would change. Get a larger PSU. 750w minimum, PLUS rated. I would recommend Seasonic or Corsair. The OCZ's are OK but with PSU's you get what you pay for. One thing I tell everyone is don't try to save money on your power supply. It could come back and bite you in the ass. Good luck and have fun!!!!!

 

[Silvune]

The Corsair H80 is a strange choice if you are not even sure that you are going to overclock. This is because if you're not overclocking then you don't need an aftermarket CPU cooler.
The other reason to install an aftermarket CPU cooler (whether it be an air cooler or a "water" cooler) is to help reduce noise levels. But the fans on the H80 are not quiet.

Choosing the i5-3450 basically rules out the possibility of overclocking as it doesn't have an unlocked multiplier and it is not advisable to do BLCK overclocking as it can affect the stability of SATA/USB connections, etc.

The Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 is a poor choice because it is quite expensive for what it offers.
For instance the Asrock Z77 Extreme6 is a cheaper, more feature rich, better and newer motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157295
If you're not going to overclock or SLI then you could save more money here.

You don't need to get a larger wattage PSU if you are not going to overclock or SLI in the future, but if you do want the option to do either of those things then yes you should get a higher wattage unit.

 

[masterant18]

Nice build. Only one thing I would change. Get a larger PSU. 750w minimum, PLUS rated. I would recommend Seasonic or Corsair. The OCZ's are OK but with PSU's you get what you pay for. One thing I tell everyone is don't try to save money on your power supply. It could come back and bite you in the ass. Good luck and have fun!!!!!

Okay Thanks a lot I appreciate the advice.

 

[masterant18]

The Corsair H80 is a strange choice if you are not even sure that you are going to overclock. This is because if you're not overclocking then you don't need an aftermarket CPU cooler.
The other reason to install an aftermarket CPU cooler (whether it be an air cooler or a "water" cooler) is to help reduce noise levels. But the fans on the H80 are not quiet.

Choosing the i5-3450 basically rules out the possibility of overclocking as it doesn't have an unlocked multiplier and it is not advisable to do BLCK overclocking as it can affect the stability of SATA/USB connections, etc.

The Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 is a poor choice because it is quite expensive for what it offers.
For instance the Asrock Z77 Extreme6 is a cheaper, more feature rich, better and newer motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157295
If you're not going to overclock or SLI then you could save more money here.

You don't need to get a larger wattage PSU if you are not going to overclock or SLI in the future, but if you do want the option to do either of those things then yes you should get a higher wattage unit.

Okay I don't think i'll be overclocking anything using SLI, Thanks for the advice.

 

[J_E_D_70]

I'd actually get the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 over the 6 unless you need the handful of extra connections (check the differences on newegg if you need to see - basically, no 1394 firewire or front eSATA port).

Your GPU will max BF3 at 1080p ultra but you'll be hitting 100% utilization on all your cores a great deal of the time (might cause some frame loss). It takes about 3.7 or 3.8GHz (all four cores) on IB to completely eliminate the CPU bottleneck.

Still, think it'll be a great build and no need to get an aftermarket cooler at all.

 

[masterant18]

thanks for the advice, this is really a great forum.

 

[J_E_D_70]

Sorry - one more thing - your case doesn't have an intake fan but has mounts for two. I'd recommend getting one (at least) since you're going to want to feed that 670 some cool air.

Hopefully someone will chime in with a good fan recommendation!