Need Advice for New Build Approx. $1100 CAD

kaytaro

June 23, 2012 3:28:14 PM

Approximate Purchase Date: June 25-30th
Budget Range: ~$1100 CAD
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Video Editing, Graphic Design, School Work, Web Browsing
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: canadacomputers.com (preference is to pick up items from their Ottawa stores than have it shipped) - if there's a better deal through NCIX (or newegg.ca if the shipping tax isn't insane) then I'll be open to that as well
Country: Canada
Parts Preferences:Intel CPU, nVidia GPU (no ATI or ASRock
Overclocking: Maybe down the road
SLI or Crossfire: SLI in the future
Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024
Additional Comments: I'm looking for the best value for my dollar without sacrificing performance. Suggestions & critique of my current selection are welcome!

What I've put together so far:

CPU (Central Processing Unit): Intel Core i7-3770S Ivy Bridge Socket 1155, 3.1Ghz (3.9GHz Turbo), 8MB L3 Cache, 22nm (Retail Boxed) Gen3 $319.99
http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=4_65&...

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V Lk ATX LGA1155 Z77 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA3 SLI DVI HDMI DP USB3.0 Motherboard $134.99
http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_72...

RAM (Memory): Corsair Vengeance Low Profile Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1866MHz CL9 DIMMs $55.99
http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=24_31...

Case: NZXT Guardian 921 RB Crafted Series Gaming Case with Red LED $64.99
http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=6_112...

Power Supply: Antec HCG-620M High Current Gamer 620W 80PLUS Certified Modular Power Supply $69.99
http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_44...

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 1024MB GDDR5 Graphics Card $169.99
http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_55...

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue (WD10EALX) 1TB SATA3 6GB/s 7200RPM 32M Cache (OEM) $89.99
http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=15_10...

DVD-Player/Burner: LG GH24NS90 Black SATA DVD-Writer 24xDVD+R/-R 8xDVD+RW/6xDVD-RW 16xDVD+R DL 12xDVD-R DL 48x CD-R 32xCD-RW $19.99
http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=3_61&...

Heatsink: Cooler Master V6GT $38.88
http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=8_129...

Again, suggestions and critiques against the current list are welcome - I'd like to be fully prepared before I head off to the store this week to obtain my parts, knowing that I'll be happy with my build at the end of the day, and 9 months down the road.

Thanks!

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private bob4

June 23, 2012 5:05:20 PM

Alright, I can tell (or I at least hope you will) you will be overclocking because you have a stock cooler. First off, I'd downgrade to an i5 (you can hardly call it a downgrade) and upgrade your cooler to a h60. H60 is much better in my opinion, you can reach around 4.5 ghz. The i7 is just plain overkill on this machine. I'd also recommend going up to a GTX 570/670 even, 560 is kinda wimpy. Personally, I'd also get a ssd just for a bit more performance but that's just me. I'm no professional, this is just my opinion, love for someone else to reply aswell.

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Thegriffin

June 23, 2012 5:05:51 PM

Hey,
I looked through the list of parts you have here, and there is 2 things that come to mind in particular about this build.
It seems pretty decent with an i7 in there, but it could potentially be overkill in a way. An i5 would do just as fine in my opinion, but being able to fit an i7 into that budget is pretty neat.

The seconds thing being the case. The case you chose is not one I am too familiar with so I'm going to hold from commenting any further on it. I always see the case is more of personalized decision, and whatever works is fine.

The GPU you chose is just fine, a Gtx560 is a great mid-range card, as I have one running in the computer I recently built for my dad.
which is as followed if you would like to see.

Intel Core i5-2500K
Intel I5 stock cooler
GIGABYTER GA-P67X-UD3-B3
Kingston 8GB DDR3-1600 Memory 2x4GB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM
GigaByte GTX560 Ti 1GB GDDR5
Antec 300 Mid-Tower
Corsair TX750
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

which ran for about 1150$ with some price deals in there from ncix.

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Thegriffin

June 23, 2012 5:09:41 PM

private bob4 said:

Alright, I can tell (or I at least hope you will) you will be overclocking because you have a stock cooler. First off, I'd downgrade to an i5 (you can hardly call it a downgrade) and upgrade your cooler to a h60. H60 is much better in my opinion, you can reach around 4.5 ghz. The i7 is just plain overkill on this machine. I'd also recommend going up to a GTX 570/670 even, 560 is kinda wimpy. Personally, I'd also get a ssd just for a bit more performance but that's just me. I'm no professional, this is just my opinion, love for someone else to reply aswell.

Looks like you beat me to the submit button by about 31 seconds. Totally agree with the change of CPU. I have never really seen the 560 to be a bit wimpy, but it is on the lower end, and 570 is probably not that close to the 560, is what I think personally. the 570 is so much better in a way.

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azeem40

June 23, 2012 5:57:43 PM

Save the $100 and get the i5. Use the $ saved to get a Radeon 7850.

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kaytaro

June 24, 2012 2:17:18 AM

so i'll be dropping the other drive off my list. am currently trying to decide between an i7 and the i5 suggested above

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