New Build $1200-$2000 for Noobzilla

aghenry79

Honorable
Jun 19, 2012
1
0
10,510
Hello all: Long time reader, first time poster. Thanks in advance for your time and consideration in responding to my proposed build.

Approx Purchase Date: June 2012
System Intended for: Gaming and general tomfoolery.
Approximate budget: Budget isn't an option, but I am concerned about price/performance ratio.
If I can upgrade a part and get a noticeable improvement, I am all for it. But
I am not interested in paying more for insignificant gains (obviously).

Disclaimer: I am completely new to this, and have assembled this list by reviewing other's
posts and builds. I am posting to make sure I have not made a drastic
miscalculation. Because of this, I posted my thinking for why I chose each part.


CPU: i5 2550k

The alternative I considered was the i7-3930k. However, I read that the i7 does not offer
any noticeable improvement for gaming, and the main differences between it and the i5
mainly relate to "hyperthreading", which is only useful for those that do video editing. The
i5 will require me to overclock however, but I have been told that there are very
straightforward guides on how to do this. If overclocking is difficult or dangerous, I have
no problem springing for a better processor however.

Mobo: ASUS LGA 1155 Z68-P8Z68-V PRO/GEN 3

Chose this because it was identified as potentially one of the best mobo for i5 and for
overclocking. Also considered Gigabyte Intel Z68 ATX.

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 @ 1050 Mhz.

Debated between GTX 680 (if available) and 580. But it looked like 670 was much better
than the 580, yet considerably cheaper than the 680 and still based on the same Kepler
technology. Seemed like best price/performance balance.

This is where my research gets sloppy...

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8gb (4gb x 2).

Read that you don't really need 16. Not a problem if I do though. Also read Corsair the
best, but have not honestly looked into the reasons why. Following the pack on this one.
Baaaa -- sheep!

PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX650. Or, maybe Season X-760 based on other post. I'd like to
get enough juice to idiot proof my machine so I don't have to fiddle with it if I upgrade in
future.

Cooler/Fan Noctua NH-D14.

Someone referred to it as "Big Ben." That seemed rad. And everyone seemed to accept it
as a given when it was listed in people's builds.

HD Seagate 500 GB 7200 rpm SATA III

SSD Crucial M4 64 GB SATA III

Wireless TP Link TL-WNN722N 2.0 USB

Windows: Win 64 bit professional.

A friend told me to.


I would like to thank anyone that actually posted, as any and all help is useful. If you feel that I can improve this build by spending more, and realizing significant performance gains, please don't hesitate to make suggestions. Thanks!
 

cranked

Distinguished
Apr 28, 2012
520
2
19,065
There is no reason to not go with an IB chip. Get the i5-3570K along with a mobo like the Asrock Extreme4 or a comparable ASUS or Gigabyte mobo.

The 670 is worth it. I wouldn't spend any more for a 680.

Corsair RAM is fine along with brands like G-Skill or mushkin. Anything 1600mhz and 1.5V or less is fine.

For the PSU, the one you chose is very nice. If you want to CF in the future move up to a 750W.

I would be getting a 128GB SSD if you can afford it. 64GB is too small.

Don't waste your money on win7 pro. Home premium is all you will need.