Hi Tom's Hardware Community,
This summer I'll be replacing my 6 year old gaming desktop which has been a long and faithful servant, any suggestions and advice for my new build would be much appreciated, thanks.
Planned Purchase Date: End of June(ish)
Budget: Up to $2,000 excluding peripherals
Usage: Gaming, image and video editing, watching movies and tv
Technological Expertise: Moderate; I'm not an expert, but I've done this before
Parts Not Required: All peripherals and the OS
Country: USA
Overclocking: Most likely
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200
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Tentative Parts List
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Case: Corsair Vengeance Series c70 - $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139013
I like just about everything about this case except the half-clear, half-mesh window...but I'm open to alternative suggestions. I'm not sure I want a full tower, because even mid towers these days are pretty huge.
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz - $360
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501
Seems like you can't really go wrong with this choice, but I'm open to alternatives. I think I like the sound of the new Ivy Bridge chips over the older Sandy Bridge architecture though.
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth Z77 - $230
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821
I like the "no frills" attitude of this board. Has all the features I need, is durable, and looks awesome.
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 4x4GB 1600 - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233197
Corsair has always worked for me, but I've been away from the memory market for quite some time. This kit is low profile though, so it should fit under the heatsink. I would have preferred to go with 2x8GB, but it sounds like the Sabertooth board has some compatibility issues with 8GB modules.
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 - $420
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787
It's Kepler, its affordable, its a no brainer?
Solid State Drive: Mushkin Chronos Deluxe MX 120GB SSD - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226318
Sounds like a solid recommendation, great price, good SSD controller, Mushkin has a pretty good reputation for reliability.
Disk Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200rpm - $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
Seems to be a pretty safe choice. Should be fast enough for the types of things I won't have on the SSD, and it has a 64MB cache.
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Series HX750 750W PSU - $145
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010
May be more power than I need? It seems reliable though. I'm not particularly attached to this choice if there is a clearly superior option for my build.
Optical Drive: ASUS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Combo Drive - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135247
Nothing fancy, should work.
CPU Cooling: Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler - $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018
I've heard it's the best, its quiet, and I do want to OC a bit.
Running Total: $1765
I'm under budget a little, but I wouldn't cry if I spent less than $2,000. If there are some ways to "trim the fat" I'm more than happy to go for it and maybe substitute for some better performance in key areas where there's a clear upgrade. I appreciate anyone taking the time to look this over and provide me with useful feedback.
Cheers,
Andrew
This summer I'll be replacing my 6 year old gaming desktop which has been a long and faithful servant, any suggestions and advice for my new build would be much appreciated, thanks.
Planned Purchase Date: End of June(ish)
Budget: Up to $2,000 excluding peripherals
Usage: Gaming, image and video editing, watching movies and tv
Technological Expertise: Moderate; I'm not an expert, but I've done this before
Parts Not Required: All peripherals and the OS
Country: USA
Overclocking: Most likely
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200
----------------------------------------------
Tentative Parts List
----------------------------------------------
Case: Corsair Vengeance Series c70 - $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139013
I like just about everything about this case except the half-clear, half-mesh window...but I'm open to alternative suggestions. I'm not sure I want a full tower, because even mid towers these days are pretty huge.
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz - $360
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501
Seems like you can't really go wrong with this choice, but I'm open to alternatives. I think I like the sound of the new Ivy Bridge chips over the older Sandy Bridge architecture though.
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth Z77 - $230
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821
I like the "no frills" attitude of this board. Has all the features I need, is durable, and looks awesome.
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 4x4GB 1600 - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233197
Corsair has always worked for me, but I've been away from the memory market for quite some time. This kit is low profile though, so it should fit under the heatsink. I would have preferred to go with 2x8GB, but it sounds like the Sabertooth board has some compatibility issues with 8GB modules.
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 - $420
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787
It's Kepler, its affordable, its a no brainer?
Solid State Drive: Mushkin Chronos Deluxe MX 120GB SSD - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226318
Sounds like a solid recommendation, great price, good SSD controller, Mushkin has a pretty good reputation for reliability.
Disk Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200rpm - $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
Seems to be a pretty safe choice. Should be fast enough for the types of things I won't have on the SSD, and it has a 64MB cache.
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Series HX750 750W PSU - $145
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010
May be more power than I need? It seems reliable though. I'm not particularly attached to this choice if there is a clearly superior option for my build.
Optical Drive: ASUS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Combo Drive - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135247
Nothing fancy, should work.
CPU Cooling: Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler - $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018
I've heard it's the best, its quiet, and I do want to OC a bit.
Running Total: $1765
I'm under budget a little, but I wouldn't cry if I spent less than $2,000. If there are some ways to "trim the fat" I'm more than happy to go for it and maybe substitute for some better performance in key areas where there's a clear upgrade. I appreciate anyone taking the time to look this over and provide me with useful feedback.
Cheers,
Andrew