Need Advice on New Gaming PC ~$1000

[mattjw]

Approximate Purchase Date: within a week

Budget Range: I am trying to stay closer to $1000 but willing to go toward $1250

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, case

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: any

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: none

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: Any

Additional Comments:
I havent built a computer in many years so was hoping for some advice and to make sure all these parts are compatible. I chose this processor after reading the article here at Toms Hardware: Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: May 2012. Likewise after reading the Best Graphics Cards For The Money: May 2012 I went with the one below. I am not really attached to any component though.

Is this an appropriate motherboard for this CPU and video card? Or should I consider upgrading the CPU?

Is this power supply large enough to run this machine with potentially another hard drive added later?

Newegg Wishlist:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=17083851

Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821

GIGABYTE GV-N560OC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363

XFX Core Edition PRO550W (P1-550S-XXB9) 550W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145347

Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148449

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

 

[azeem40]

No need for a Z77 board without an Ivy Bridge CPU. Drop that down to an H77 or H67 mobo.

Drop RAM to 8gb. No games use more than 4-6GB. Use the $ saved on a radeon 7850.

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.964661 $144.98 save: $15.00 - $20.00 Mail In Rebates
OCZ ZT Series 550W Fully-Modular 80PLUS Bronze High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
ASRock B75 PRO3 LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=B75%20Pro3 <----- another look at that board along with a link to the latest bios

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-3450-Processor-BX80637I53450/dp/B007SZ0ECE/ref=sr_1_15?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1338691713&sr=1-15 $189.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Intel Core i5 3450 Processor 3.1 4 BX80637I53450

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231544 $46.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-8GAO

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600315498%20600311820&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20670 $400 - $430
GTX 670 2GB

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5818/nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-review-feat-evga <----- gtx 670 review w/benchmarks

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-CT256M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JL2A/ref=pd_cp_pc_3 $199.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Crucial 256 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT256M4SSD2

Total: $981.85 *not including shipping & rebates

 

[bangpc]

Intel i5 3570k
asrock z77 extreme 4
8 gb of 1600mhz ram
gtx670. i think that will fit in your budget.

 

[Why_Me]

Intel i5 3570k
asrock z77 extreme 4
8 gb of 1600mhz ram
gtx670. i think that will fit in your budget.

Approximate Purchase Date: within a week

Budget Range: I am trying to stay closer to $1000 but willing to go toward $1250

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, case

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: any

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: none

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

 

[bigcyco1]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.964661 $144.98 save: $15.00 - $20.00 Mail In Rebates
OCZ ZT Series 550W Fully-Modular 80PLUS Bronze High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
ASRock B75 PRO3 LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=B75%20Pro3 <----- another look at that board along with a link to the latest bios

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-3450-Processor-BX80637I53450/dp/B007SZ0ECE/ref=sr_1_15?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1338691713&sr=1-15 $189.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Intel Core i5 3450 Processor 3.1 4 BX80637I53450

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231544 $46.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-8GAO

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600315498%20600311820&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20670 $400 - $430
GTX 670 2GB

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5818/nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-review-feat-evga <----- gtx 670 review w/benchmarks

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-CT256M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JL2A/ref=pd_cp_pc_3 $199.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Crucial 256 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT256M4SSD2

Total: $981.85 *not including shipping & rebates

+1

 

[mattjw]

Thank you for your input!

I can understand going for the i5 over the i3 CPU.
I havent heard of ASRock before. Are they well known and reputably stable?
System memory is fairly cheap to upgrade from 8GB to 16GB, Is there any harm in just going for the extra?

 

[Why_Me]

Thank you for your input!

I can understand going for the i5 over the i3 CPU.
I havent heard of ASRock before. Are they well known and reputably stable?
System memory is fairly cheap to upgrade from 8GB to 16GB, Is there any harm in just going for the extra?

Asrock is the 3rd largest motherboard manufacture behind Asus and Gigabyte. Their solid. Like any board, make sure you update to the latest bios. Asrock boards have a built in progy that makes it impossible to brick your board on a bios flash. All you need is an el cheapo USB memory stick.

As far as the RAM goes, unless you plan on doing a lot of video editing, professional auto CAD, etc... there really is no need for another 8GB. 4GB of RAM is plenty for gaming but everyone is getting 8GB these days for the fact RAM is dirt cheap atm and it's a bit of future proofing.

 

[mattjw]

Awesome! thanks for your help!

 

[bigcyco1]

Thank you for your input!

I can understand going for the i5 over the i3 CPU.
I havent heard of ASRock before. Are they well known and reputably stable?
System memory is fairly cheap to upgrade from 8GB to 16GB, Is there any harm in just going for the extra?

ASRock was formerly known as Pegatron an independent company. Pegatron was bought by Asus. ASRock still operates independently under Asus. So even though everyone thinks of them as Asus budget boards or lower end, they really are not. I love ASRock they make solid motherboards and are well known.As for your other question there no need for 16GB 8GB is more than enough but no there no harm in getting 16GB if you insist

 

[Why_Me]

ASRock was formerly known as Pegatron an independent company. Pegatron was bought by Asus. ASRock still operates independently under Asus. So even though everyone thinks of them as Asus budget boards or lower end, they really are not. I love ASRock they make solid motherboards and are well known.As for your other question there no need for 16GB 8GB is more than enough but no there no harm in getting 16GB if you insist

They purchased all their stock from Asus two years ago and have had nothing to do with Asus since then.

 

[bigcyco1]

They purchased all their stock from Asus two years ago and have had nothing to do with Asus since then.

i did not know that thanks for info

 

[mattjw]

Hi All, I am having some trouble with my build and was hoping someone could offer some advice. The computer runs beautifully for a couple hours sometimes and then will spontaneously blue screen. Once this happens it usually keeps happening sometimes every 5 minutes or so. When I first boot up in the morning the idle cpu temp says 32C but once I start gaming this hovers around 45C, with spikes up to 50C. Is this too hot?

I am running windows 7 on it.

I ended up going with:

GIGABYTE GV-R785OC-2GD Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125419

OCZ ZT Series 550W Fully-Modular 80PLUS Bronze High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341050

ASRock B75 PRO3 LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157314

Crucial 256 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT256M4SSD2
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004W2JL2A/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3 SDRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RFBIUU/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

Intel Core i5 3450 Processor 3.1 4 BX80637I53450
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SZ0ECE/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01

 

[Why_Me]

Hi All, I am having some trouble with my build and was hoping someone could offer some advice. The computer runs beautifully for a couple hours sometimes and then will spontaneously blue screen. Once this happens it usually keeps happening sometimes every 5 minutes or so. When I first boot up in the morning the idle cpu temp says 32C but once I start gaming this hovers around 45C, with spikes up to 50C. Is this too hot?

I am running windows 7 on it.

ASRock B75 PRO3 LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157314

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/B75%20Pro3/?cat=Download&o=BIOS <------ Update to the latest bios (Version 1.40 / Modify for Windows shut down behavior) and see if that helps. I know it says Windows 8 on there but give it a shot anyways. btw your temps are fine.

 

[mattjw]

I think that did the trick, after updating the bio it hasnt blue screened yet. Thanks!!

 

[mattjw]

updating the bios helped for a while but now its happening again. could it be a problem with win7? I do notice that temps have gone up to 55C now too.