Advice for first time PC builder with $1300 budget

[sepcat]

Hi guys,

This is my first time building a PC and I have a $1300 budget.

I will primarily use the pc for gaming (BF3, Civ, Shogun2), photography (Adobe CS5) and some HD video editing. This is what I'm thinking of getting so far:

Can you please advise me if the the GTX 560 Ti is good enough or should I invest in something better?

I was also thinking of the i7 2600k as well for my video work, but I don't know if the price difference really justifies the change.

CPU: Core i5-2500k
Cooler: Corsair CWCH60 Hydro Series H60
GPU: GTX 560 Ti 1GB
Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V LX
Ram: Patriot G2 Series 8GB DDR3
SDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 7.1
Drive: Lite-On Internal DVD Writer
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid-Tower
PSU: Ultra LSP650 650-Watt Power Supply
OS: Windows 7 home

Monitor: Viewsonic VX2453MH-LED 24-Inch
Keyboard: Logitech G110
Mouse: Razer Deathadder 3500

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[inzone]

You can get rid of the sound card because all the motherboards come with intergrated sound and it's usually HD sound so it's good enough. I have a super high end system and no sound card , the sound comes from the motherboard and is very good.
So take that money from the sound card and put it towards a video card I know it's not much of an increase but maybe you can get a GTX 570? Also you can get a less expensive cpu cooler since you don't really need the H60 and with the additional savings the 570 may be in the budget.

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+
$34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$279.99 and a $25 rebate makes the final price $254.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613

Everything else is good.

 

[inzone]

The only difference between the 2600k and the 2500k is the hyperthreading so you would have to determine if your work apps would be taking advantage of the additional cores.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I'll list you choices followed by comments / suggestions:

CPU: Core i5-2500k - HT will give a significant boost in video editing...if you can justify the 2600k, you can certainly justify the 2700k as it's the exact same price ($320 - $20 off w/ promo code EMCNDNB33, ends 6/14 )....the 3770k would be the "current generation" choice tho.

Cooler: Corsair CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 - Not a good choice. Most decent air coolers embarrass the H series coolers and do it w/ less noise

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=797&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=4

Corsair H50 73.1
Corsair H70 (high)* 65.3
Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM
Thermalright Silver Arrow* 61.8

GPU: GTX 560 Ti 1GB - Get the non reference model with beefed up PCB, beefy 7 phase VRM, more efficient cooler and OC the crap outta it

http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=1201&page=17
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

Two of those cards get 862 fps in SLI "outta the box"....two 570's get 873 fps

If ya go 570, watch out for the ones w/o beefed up VRM's

http://www.overclock.net/t/929152/have-you-killed-a-570-no-recent-deaths-buy-some-570s/550

Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V LX - No SLI capability....this is an easy way to keep ya system current boosting performance by 75% for just the addition of a 2nd vid card.

The Z68 Pro version of that card is $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

The Z77 Pro version is $210
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131819

Ram: Patriot G2 Series 8GB DDR3 - Corsair low profile would be my choice
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=-1&IsNodeId=1&Description=asus%20560%20TOP&bop=And&CompareItemList=147|20-233-186^20-233-186-TS%2C20-233-196^20-233-196-TS%2C20-233-199^20-233-199-TS

SDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB - as goo as any.

Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 7.1 - Drop it, redundant, already on MoBo

Drive: Lite-On Internal DVD Writer - Given the price of BR media, might wanna reconsider whether you need to write BR and just write DVD's ...tho goven the current price difference of 412, doesn't matter a whole lot.

BR Player / DVD Writer $58 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131819
BR / DVD Writer $70 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135252

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid-Tower - No USB 3 ports !!!!

$60 Antec Series one Illusion http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129182
$100 Antec 900 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
$130 Corsair 500R http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139010

PSU: Ultra LSP650 650-Watt Power Supply - ahhhh, run away....and for the later upgrade to SLI, you'll want 750 watts

$90 Corsair TX750V2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021
$90 XFX Core Edition 750 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207015

Both get 9.5 performance ratings from jonnyguru

 

[sepcat]

Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it.

Will def leave out the sound card, get a mobo with SLI capabilities and a case with USB 3 ports. Will probably ditch the cooler too.

 

[inzone]

I would put some extra effort into what video card to get since that will be the main focus of your system.

 

[sepcat]

What would be the next step up from a 560?

 

[inzone]

A 560Ti , then a 560Ti 448 cores and then a 570.

 

[sepcat]

Thanks

 

[rsheets1991]

This is a build I just bought and am about to put together.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9Ksf

It's $96 over your budget(and missing a keyboard/mouse) but you could use it as a starting point, maybe cut the 670 down or down-grade the case.

 

[sepcat]

Thanks for sharing rsheets1991, you have a nice build there.