First Time Builder Help

[trevenjohn]

Okay, so I've been watching videos and learning about hardware as much as I can and I think I've got something decent. My goal is to be able to spend the least amount of money possible while being able to run games and high-max settings. The only game that I really play right now is SWTOR. I want a computer that has little to no lag with some good setting running. I'm completely new to computer hardware and don't really understand that much; so I came here. I have quite a bit of questions to ask. Are the parts I picked compatible with each other. Are there any other parts that will lower the price, but not affect performance? Are there components out there that would make SWTOR run better with out adding too much more money. Are there any other "trusted" websites that sell the same hardware for cheaper? Is this build good enough to run SWTOR on moderate-high settings. Also, I'm not quite sure about the power supply, HDD, or SSD. Are there any other that you could recommend that are perhaps cheaper? Feel free to recommend an entirely different build that could save me money, but still have a good performance rating. Thank you!

Processor: (Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Motherboard: (BIOSTAR TP67XE)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138317

Power Supply: (OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

Computer Case: (Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

Memory: (G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231492

HDD: (Western Digital RE4 WD5003ABYX 500GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5")
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136697

SSD: (Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-148-441

Video Card: (ASUS ENGTX550 TI DC TOP/DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121434&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullIn

"Wishlist" Video Card: (ASUS HD7850-DC2-2GD5 Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121623

Once again thank you for helping me on my process to build a gaming computer!

 

[g-unit1111]

What's the budget here? I'm not seeing a lot of good choices - that OCZ PSU is decent, but I wouldn't trust that Biostar motherboard. Don't go P67 when it's already very outdated and replaced by Z77. A 6870 will give you better performance for the price than the 550TI will, and I'd actually drop the SSD and invest the money elsewhere.

 

[trevenjohn]

My budget:
Under $1000 Priority. Anything under $800 or $700 would be great.
Keep the recommendations coming!

 

[g-unit1111]

Try this - it's a little over $850 but includes the right video card:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($246.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $875.89
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

 

[trevenjohn]

Wow... (from what I know) That looks pretty awesome and solid. I'll keep that as my primary build for now unless something else pops up. I could never find the price to even out close to 875 like that. I would find a better something and would find myself in the 1000's or I'd lower something and be in the 700's, but without the performance needed. I guess you just got ta' know what to look for. Once again, thanks man.

 

[trevenjohn]

Best answer selected by trevenjohn.

 

[g-unit1111]

Wow... (from what I know) That looks pretty awesome and solid. I'll keep that as my primary build for now unless something else pops up. I could never find the price to even out close to 875 like that. I would find a better something and would find myself in the 1000's or I'd lower something and be in the 700's, but without the performance needed. I guess you just got ta' know what to look for. Once again, thanks man.

Yeah I always try to get the best bang for buck possible no matter what the budget, I've had bad hardware before and I generally try to stay away from it.

 

[smorizio]

one thing too is keep looking at new egg/amazon/micro center.. they all run combo deals and sales. you may find in a few weeks when the nvidia 660 comes out that the ati video cards may drop in price.

 

[trevenjohn]

I've been doing some research and I'm sure that the video card and CPU are more than enough for my needs. I think I'll at least be able to run at High on SWTOR settings. I've gotten to the memory and I've been hearing a lot say that some of the sticks die off after some point. Is this true? If so, do you think there's another inexpensive 8gb memory I can shoot for? Like Corsair or G.Skill?
EDIT: Just researched the motherboard a little bit and I'm happy with what I read. They said that it can even fit your "hardcore" gamming! YAY! I'll be going through the rest of the components and editing this... apologies! xD
P.S. G-Unit you're pretty dang good at picking out components with good prices. Everything is a hit so far! Thanks!
EDIT: Does this RAM look pretty good to you? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231492
The reviews say it's pretty good and I can pull out of my piggy bank for it. Isn't 1333 speed better for the Intel warranty or something too? So I went on and looked up the hard drive; and they said it's blazing fast and one of the best! Another thumbs up for you G-Unit! I also looked up the video card for reviews and people were saying that they have BF3 and all other games maxed out on this thing running 60 FPS!!! You really know your stuff...... All these parts you've recommended to me, except the ram, have all had excellent review and I'm definitely going to use them in my build. There's just one things, I'm only a teenager and I'm not quite 16 yet and I'm afraid that by the time I raise enough $$$ for the parts some of them will be outdated? Would that be a problem. Once again thank you for all the help you offered me and I'm very happy with the selection of parts you've shown me. Saying I'm excited for my first gaming computer is an understatement! THANKS!

 

[g-unit1111]

EDIT: Just researched the motherboard a little bit and I'm happy with what I read. They said that it can even fit your "hardcore" gamming! YAY! I'll be going through the rest of the components and editing this... apologies! xD
P.S. G-Unit you're pretty dang good at picking out components with good prices. Everything is a hit so far! Thanks!

Yeah I always try to get the best bang for buck possible even if it means going a little over budget.

EDIT: Does this RAM look pretty good to you? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231492

That RAM is fine, it's better to use 2 x 4GB instead of 4 x 2GB. Try this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231546

 

[trevenjohn]

EDIT: Just researched the motherboard a little bit and I'm happy with what I read. They said that it can even fit your "hardcore" gamming! YAY! I'll be going through the rest of the components and editing this... apologies! xD
P.S. G-Unit you're pretty dang good at picking out components with good prices. Everything is a hit so far! Thanks!

Yeah I always try to get the best bang for buck possible even if it means going a little over budget.

EDIT: Does this RAM look pretty good to you? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231492

That RAM is fine, it's better to use 2 x 4GB instead of 4 x 2GB. Try this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231546

You just put the RAM in slots 1 and 3 right?

 

[g-unit1111]

You just put the RAM in slots 1 and 3 right?

Yes - RAM is installed in slots 1 and 3, then the next pair uses slots 2 and 4, and so on.

 

[trevenjohn]

I've seen people running both this CPU and GPU on BF3 with Ultra settings with very good FPS too. I'm pretty sure it will have no problem with SWTOR. I just have one more question, for now. I can still use this build in, say, January? Because I've seen PC parts flutter in and out of performance and such. These parts will still be good contenders at that time being?

 

[g-unit1111]

I've seen people running both this CPU and GPU on BF3 with Ultra settings with very good FPS too. I'm pretty sure it will have no problem with SWTOR. I just have one more question, for now. I can still use this build in, say, January? Because I've seen PC parts flutter in and out of performance and such. These parts will still be good contenders at that time being?

Of course if you build in January prices will start dropping because new stuff will be out then - the 22nm CPUs should be out by then but I'm not expecting them to be cheap.

 

[trevenjohn]

Of course if you build in January prices will start dropping because new stuff will be out then - the 22nm CPUs should be out by then but I'm not expecting them to be cheap.

There wouldn't be a problem using this build though? It'll be cheaper, but it'll still have that bang on today's games?
Aren't the 22nm chips already out?