Feedback on my budget gaming rig please

[toant1]

Okay here is my build so far. If there is any change or recommendation please let me know. As you will probably be able to see from this build, I'm a noob. Any help will be accepted and appreciated, thank you. I am also not sure where this should go, feel free to move it. =)

Optical Drive:
LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH24NS90 - OEM
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136247

Tower/Case:
NZXT Guardian 921 RB 921RB-001-BL Black SECC steel chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146070

Hard drive :
Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

Motherboard:
MSI 970A-G46 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130637

Video Card:
XFX GT-610N-CNF2 GeForce GT 610 2GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150636

Power Supply:
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M2 RS620-SPM2E3-US 620W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171068

RAM:
Kingston HyperX 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104169

CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

OS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116716

Cooling/Heatsink:
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/FM2/AM3+
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

 

[LordTsar]

Ok,

First thing is, the GPU needs to go.

If you plan on doing any gaming you will want to upgrade.

The PSU could also be better as I don,t trust Coolermaster PSU's.

Whats your budget?

 

[socialfox]

Ok forgive me for being a bit harsh but that video card is atrocious for gaming. I would also urge you to downgrade your ram to a mere 8 gb.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

8 gb is more than enough for gaming, with the extra $50 put it into the video card and I would suggest getting at least an HD 7770. Your power supply is fine, LordTsar's suspicions for Cooler Master power supplies is justifiable since most cooler master power supplies are terrible but the Silent Pro series are actually good and made it on to this tiered list of the best power supplies.

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

Edit: You can also step down to a 450-500 watt power supply (400 is the lowest but I assume you will overclock so it would be convenient for the extra room)

If modular is important to you :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

If not:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194090

Edit 2: My power supply recommendation was if you went for the HD 7770 if with the GT 610 then expect even lower. Anyways here are links to the HD 7770 I was talking about, give it some thought and pick one of these two. Use the money you save from the power supplies to put in to the video card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150598
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102993

 

[toant1]

Ok,

First thing is, the GPU needs to go.

If you plan on doing any gaming you will want to upgrade.

The PSU could also be better as I don,t trust Coolermaster PSU's.

Whats your budget?

My budget is about $900.

Ok forgive me for being a bit harsh but that video card is atrocious for gaming. I would also urge you to downgrade your ram to a mere 8 gb.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820233186

8 gb is more than enough for gaming, with the extra $50 put it into the video card and I would suggest getting at least an HD 7770. Your power supply is fine, LordTsar's suspicions for Cooler Master power supplies is justifiable since most cooler master power supplies are terrible but the Silent Pro series are actually good and made it on to this tiered list of the best power supplies.

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

Haha I understand, I'm only a beginner and if I do end up building a pc I'm gonna need alot of help. Thanks alot!

 

[socialfox]

Well will you consider the 8 gb of ram and the lowering of your power supply wattage? You can put the money into the video card without really losing extra money.

 

[LordTsar]

Learn something new everyday! Coolermaster do make good PSU's.

For $900 I would personally go for a Intel build.

 

[socialfox]

+1^ with the intel build. However don't fall completely to cooler master they still do produce crappy power supplies, I just find the Silent Pro series good :lol:

Edit: Let us know if you can do intel, if so I will go make a build from PC builder and list the link in a while.

 

[LordTsar]

You could use one of Be Quite's new PSUs. They are pretty good judging from the reviews.

I may also put together a build of you want a Intel build.

 

[toant1]

haha, I'll go with anything that would be affordable and still run popular games. I also want to learn about computers so information would be great also. I would go with Intel, the only reason I chose AMD was because it was Quad-Core. I'm completely clueless about building and would love to learn

 

[socialfox]

Okay check this link out:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nkMa

Is the computer case that important or can I switch it out with something else? I had in mind the Haf 912 or the Antec 300, they are not as flashy but have good cooling.

 

[LordTsar]

^Nice build,

If you wanted to try something different then you could try a ITX build.

Small yet powerful!

My next build will be a ITX.... someone fund me?

Anyway go with the build that was posted above, it will serve you well!

 

[toant1]

Okay check this link out:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nkMa

Is the computer case that important or can I switch it out with something else? I had in mind the Haf 912 or the Antec 300, they are not as flashy but have good cooling.

That seems like a great build. If the case you were planning on switching it with would increase performance, by all means go with what you think would be good. Also would a monitor matter or not?

 

[socialfox]

^Hey check your inbox, or if you want just post the link to your thread.

 

[toant1]

I have nothing in my inbox?

 

[mocchan]

Okay check this link out:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nkMa

Is the computer case that important or can I switch it out with something else? I had in mind the Haf 912 or the Antec 300, they are not as flashy but have good cooling.

I would personally swap out the Antec PSU you have in this parts list for a Corsair CX500V2. It'll be around ~$20 cheaper with the rebates at the moment. It'll also allow you to put that money towards a slightly beefier GPU such as a Radeon HD7870

**EDIT**

Seems like the rebate ended :lol: Though, I would still put a bit more money towards an HD7870; with it being only ~$20 more expensive, it's one heck of a deal. With current driver updates, it'll perform very close to a GTX660 Ti without the cost

 

[toant1]

I would personally swap out the Antec PSU you have in this parts list for a Corsair CX500V2. It'll be around ~$20 cheaper with the rebates at the moment. It'll also allow you to put that money towards a slightly beefier GPU such as a Radeon HD7870

**EDIT**

Seems like the rebate ended :lol: Though, I would still put a bit more money towards an HD7870; with it being only ~$20 more expensive, it's one heck of a deal. With current driver updates, it'll perform very close to a GTX660 Ti without the cost

I guess thats what i'll do then, how long do you think it will be until price changes?

 

[mocchan]

You can't be too sure with these kind of things as the PC industry changes so quickly :lol:

I'm sure there will be some sort of Black Friday/Christmas sale going on pretty soon, but I wouldn't take the chance. The HD7870 for around ~$200 after rebates/discounts is a sick deal.

 

[socialfox]

I have nothing in my inbox?

I was talking to LordTsar :lol: anyways if you can put a bit more of money then go for the HD 7870 its quite a good deal but I avoided it since you did say you had a budget of $900. I did re-do the list again. I swapped the hard drive for a Hitachi one, I have a similar one and it is running quite good for me, I have the 750 gb one which is pulled out of an OEM HP computer. Either way the product code is almost the same.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nkWX

 

[mocchan]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($127.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($217.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($43.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $902.42
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-11 16:25 EST-0500)
Something to consider

 

[socialfox]

Well now that's quite the bang for your money, why don't you upgrade the case a bit since you do have $60 dollars remaining. Could consider the Antec 300 or haf 912.

 

[mocchan]

^ I was going to do that once I saw the remaining amount, but I noticed that the CPU was Microcenter only (which means OP needs one very close...). Once I swapped the parts list to Newegg-only, you can see that we're $2 over budget now :lol:

 

[toant1]

That seems like a great build, I will greatly consider seeing as I can't buy the parts until next week, I'm hoping the prices don't change. i will probably use the extra 60 dollars on a monitor because I'm using a laptop right now.

 

[socialfox]

Makes sense, either way that computer case will do just fine for a first gaming build. Heh, my computer case is much uglier that it makes me tear up because i regret my choice :lol:

 

[toant1]

Haha well Thanks alot guys! I really appreciate it! I'm glad I found this site and also glad that there a bunch of nice people willing to help =)