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New Gaming PC Build - Please advise

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Hi all,

I am interested in building my first PC. I am planning to build a system for moderate gaming (MMO)/surfing/movies (general multi tasking). I am hoping to stay under $1200 for the PC alone (monitor/keyboard/mouse not needed). I did my researched and I'm kinda overwhelmed with all the reviews. I narrowed down to what I would like to have (hopefully I'll complete the PC by September). Please give me advice.

So far, the components I/(friend recommend) have chosen are:

Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case ($270 @ Amazon) - I love the full steel interior and alum exterior with separate chambers for optimum cooling.

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K ($190 @ MicroCenter)

OR

Intel Core i7-2700K Sandy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623i72700K ($280 @MicroCenter) - I don't know which CPU to choose..i5 or i7

XFX Double D Black Edition FX-777A-ZDB4 Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card ($135 @ Amazon after rebate)

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($110 @ MicroCenter)

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B ($98 @ Newegg)

CORSAIR Gaming Series 800 Watt High Performance ATX Power Supply ($140 @ MicroCenter after rebate)

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($120 @ Newegg)


I am still missing some fans/heatsink. I will probably recycle my old DVD/CD Drive on one of my old PC. I have extra monitors/keyboard/mouse. One of my friend has the Window 7 OS that I can use.

I'm not sure what other components I need to complete this PC. Please provide some suggestions/comments on this build.
Thank you in advance!


PS. My current PC is a Dell XPS 9100 (it's being taken over by someone else). It has the Intel i7-930 CPU with Radeon 5770. I love the i7...no lag for multi applications.



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You will see almost no gains in performance from the 5770 to the 7770 only like 20%.

Thats a Nice Case, But i would Rather go with a 75-100 usd case and get a better Gpu.

16 gigs of ram is overkill, i dont max my memory even when i have youtube open with a playlist, playing Bf3 multiplayer, skype open, etc, and i have 8 gigs (2x4) I would go with a 8 gigs ram and invest more in the Graphics.

Psu Wise, If you Are getting a Crossfire 7770 and Overclocking, 600w is Enough, 800w is for Heavy Overclocking, and going with higher end Dual Cards, and even then you will have like 100w to spare, remember that the new nvidia and amd video cards Dont use so much power as before. Amd specially, you could have this setup running with a 500w psu, always go Corsair, Antec or Seasonic In the Psu.


Remember, What makes a good computer is, The Cpu,Gpu ,HDD and Psu. The other stuff you can go cheap.

60% Of your budget goes to Cpu + video Card Period

Best solution

Are you going to overclock your CPU? What is your monitor resolution? You said September, but when are you planning on buying parts?

Like chulex said, the case is nice but too expensive for your budget. Again find something you like around $100.

CPU wise, the i5-3570K is a good choice especially with the Microcenter deal for i5s and for i7s I would say the 3770K or 2600K. Most say that it is not really worth the extra money for the extra .1 GHz in the i7-2700K vs the i7-2600K. Just like if you are not going to overclock then get the i5-2400 instead of the i5-2500 back in the days of Sandy Bridge. With all that being said, the most bang for your buck is the i5-3570K, but if you do want hyper threading and better multitasking than get the i7-2600K or i7-3770K.

Again you only need 8GB of RAM, which should be like $45.

Your motherboard is good but you can get ASRock Extreme 4 for like $30 less and it is a good decent motherboard. Something to think about.

Also you only need like 650 watts at the MAX. I would look at something around 550-620w. Corsair, Antec, XFX, and Seasonic are best brands. Make sure it is 80 PLUS Bronze at a min for the efficiency rating.

SSDs are getting really cheap and for your budget you should be able to easily fit in a 120gb. Agility 3, Mushkin Chronos Deluxe, Crucial m4, Samsung 830, or Vertex 3/4 to name a few good ones.

HDD the black is good and so is the Blue. Either work well.

If you are going to overclock you should get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO for $30.

Spend the rest on a GPU. I would stick with the newer ones. Low to High... HD 7770, HD 7850, HD 7870, HD 7950, HD 7970/GTX 670, GTX 680. If not a new one check out HD 6870, GTX 560 Ti, HD 6950(these fit between the 7770 and 7850 I do believe). You can also check this out... http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-car...

You are doing great, hence why I didnt really give you really any specifics. Keep it up. Be sure to post your final build for review.

Thank you so much for the reply and suggestions.

I am not planning on OC (I don't know that much about OCing and I don't really know if I need it) and I am recycling my old Dell monitor (1920 x 1080 res). I am searching for the parts right now and hopefully I get everything for a good price by September (the latest). Microcenter has a good deal for the Intel CPU and motherboard so I will get that first.

I picked the Corsair case mainly because of the alum exterior (I don't like the cheap plastic exteriors of the other case). As long as the case is well designed and is made of quality materials, I don't mind the extra cost. So far only the Corsair is the only case worth getting.

I will downgrade the Ram to 8 GB and upgrade the GPU (I'm thing of the Radeon HD 7850 since I am not going to upgrade my monitor anytime soon but I am considering of buying an additional to dual monitor). I am not sure which manufacture to consider for the GPU. I saw very good review for Sapphire but the XFX has lifetime warranty. What do you guys recommend? Honestly between Radeon and GeForce, I don't know which I like better. According to the review http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,3107.html the Radeon 7850 is the best under $300.

I posted the 800w PSU because of the combo @ Newegg. I was looking at some of the 650-750w PSU for Corsair and the reviews on Newegg weren't that appealing. I was hoping to get a good recommendation for the PSU.

Here is the modified build based on the feedback:

Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case ($250 @ Newegg after rebate) - I am still going with this case since I haven't been able to find another one without the plastic exterior.

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K ($190 @MicroCenter)

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($118 @ Amazon w/ free shipping)

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Universal CPU Cooler ($20 @Microcenter after rebate)

Kingston HyperX 3K SH103S3/120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (Stand-Alone Drive) ($90 @ Newegg after rebate)

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard ($90 @ Microcenter)

Newegg PSU + RAM combo ($110 after rebate with free shipping):
- CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power
- CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

XFX FX-785A-CDFC AMD Radeon HD 7850 Double Dissipation Edition Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, 860MHz, Dual MiniDP, HDMI, Dual DVI, PCI-E, Double Dissipation Edition, CrossFire ready ($270 @ TigerDirect w/free shipping) - lifetime warranty is very appealing

OR

Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 OC 2 GB DDR5 HDMI/DVI-I/Dual Mini DP PCI-Express Graphics Card 11200-01-20G ($260 @ Amazon w/free shipping) - very good review but only 2 yrs warranty



Approximately $1128 - $1138 total. I am not sure if I need anything else.

Please post additional comments/recommendations. Thank you.
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