First Time Computer Build

[Akilles]

Hey all!

Im hoping to build my first computer in the next month or two. Since its my first time im hoping to get some opinions about what I came up with. I will primarily be using it to play games. I will also be using it to do some 3d modeling. My budget for this build was about $1000 which after pricing things im a little under. Im mainly just trying to make sure that things are compatible and I didnt overlook something in my first attempt.

Graphics Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2 GB DDR5 HDMI/DVI-I/Dual Mini DP PCI-Express Graphics Card 11200-00-20G

Processor: Intel Core i5 3550 Processor 3.3 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155 - BX80637I53550

Motherboard: Gigabyte LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6 Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard GA-Z77M-D3H-MVP


Storage:
(storage) Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive - WD5000AAKX

(core Programs) SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC064B/WW


Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast TX V2 Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified High Performance Modular Power Supply CP-9020002-NA

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower ATX Case (RC-912-KKN1)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Blue 8 GB (2X4 GB) PC3-12800 1600mHz DDR3 240-Pin SDRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

Optical Drive: Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)

 

[DeusAres]

Let's try this build...

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cJ5V

I tried to not go over budget, but this build is worth the few extra dollars. With the MSI twin frozr GPU, you can overclock the hell outta it and get gtx 670 performance.

I would have put an ivy bridge in there, but I decided to save you $15 instead. Besides, the sandy bridge is a solid CPU. It overclocks well, and doesn't run as hot as it's ivy bridge sibling. I'm still deciding on whether I want ivy bridge or sandy bridge in my future build. I may go with sandy bridge considering temps and what not.

I decided to go with the Adata SSD. Unlike other drives, it doesn't rip you off by telling you "64gb" when in reality you end up with only 50gb or 60gb after being formatted. With this drive you actually get most, if not all, 64gb of storage. (or maybe this feature is with the 128gb version or larger. not sure, but this drive is still solid, fast and cheap. I highly recommend it. If you can get the 128gb version, go for it.)

I included an aftermarket heatsink for overclocking. You'll definitely want to overclock this CPU to around 4.5GHz. It kicks ass. I also changed your RAM to gskill sniper. I did this for good reason. When you put that bulky heatsink on your CPU, the heatspreaders on the corsair RAM will interfere with it. You'll want low profile RAM like the RAM I recommended to avoid this issue altogether.

I kept a z77 board but decided to change it to the ASRock z77 extreme4. This board is packed with features. If you ever want to upgrade to an ivy bridge you'll still have that option.

All the other subtle changes are self explanatory. However, if you do have any more questions feel free to ask. Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[g-unit1111]

Let's try this build...

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cJ5V

I tried to not go over budget, but this build is worth the few extra dollars. With the MSI twin frozr GPU, you can overclock the hell outta it and get gtx 670 performance.

I would have put an ivy bridge in there, but I decided to save you $15 instead. Besides, the sandy bridge is a solid CPU. It overclocks well, and doesn't run as hot as it's ivy bridge sibling. I'm still deciding on whether I want ivy bridge or sandy bridge in my future build. I may go with sandy bridge considering temps and what not.

I decided to go with the Adata SSD. Unlike other drives, it doesn't rip you off by telling you "64gb" when in reality you end up with only 50gb or 60gb after being formatted. With this drive you actually get most, if not all, 64gb of storage. (or maybe this feature is with the 128gb version or larger. not sure, but this drive is still solid, fast and cheap. I highly recommend it. If you can get the 128gb version, go for it.)

I included an aftermarket heatsink for overclocking. You'll definitely want to overclock this CPU to around 4.5GHz. It kicks ass. I also changed your RAM to gskill sniper. I did this for good reason. When you put that bulky heatsink on your CPU, the heatspreaders on the corsair RAM will interfere with it. You'll want low profile RAM like the RAM I recommended to avoid this issue altogether.

I kept a z77 board but decided to change it to the ASRock z77 extreme4. This board is packed with features. If you ever want to upgrade to an ivy bridge you'll still have that option.

All the other subtle changes are self explanatory. However, if you do have any more questions feel free to ask. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I definitely agree with the above build but I wouldn't purchase a Sandforce based drive, and I also wouldn't purchase a 2500K with a Z77 motherboard. Otherwise everything else on that build looks good.

 

[DeusAres]

I definitely agree with the above build but I wouldn't purchase a Sandforce based drive, and I also wouldn't purchase a 2500K with a Z77 motherboard. Otherwise everything else on that build looks good.

I normally wouldn't put the 2500k on a z77 board, but on his budget the z77 board is cheaper than most z68 and p67 boards. If he can afford it, go with the i5 3570k. Otherwise stick with the good 'ol sandy bridge. The z77 board is backwards compatible with both the 2500k and the hd 7950. You may run into bandwidth issues if you try doing crossfire or SLI setups with pci 3.0 based GPUs and what not...I'm not particularly certain though. Do you know anything about that g-unit? I'd actually love to know myself. I've been going over pros and cons of the 2500k and 3570k for a while now.

 

[Akilles]

Hey DeusAres and g-unit1111

Thank you for your replies. I looked over your build and understand most of the changes that you made. I can go over $1000 a little bit but would like to keep close so if the i5 3570k would be a noticeable increase or last a little longer before needing to be upgraded that would be worth $15 to me.

As a second thought which maybe should have been included in my first post I tend to play strategy games like the total war series and other games like minecraft. For games like CoD or rpgs I tend to play those on my xbox. I do not know if that would change your recommendations or not but thought I should add the info.

I am familiar with the concept and benefits of overclocking but have never actually done it before. Is it something that I could easily damage components doing or is it fairly simple to do?

 

[g-unit1111]

Hey DeusAres and g-unit1111

Thank you for your replies. I looked over your build and understand most of the changes that you made. I can go over $1000 a little bit but would like to keep close so if the i5 3570k would be a noticeable increase or last a little longer before needing to be upgraded that would be worth $15 to me.

As a second thought which maybe should have been included in my first post I tend to play strategy games like the total war series and other games like minecraft. For games like CoD or rpgs I tend to play those on my xbox. I do not know if that would change your recommendations or not but thought I should add the info.

I am familiar with the concept and benefits of overclocking but have never actually done it before. Is it something that I could easily damage components doing or is it fairly simple to do?

Overclocking is fairly simple to do - you set your multiplier to one value, your voltage to another, and your RAM multiplier to another. It's definitely worth the $15. It is possible to damage your CPU and overclocking isn't covered under warranty but if you know what you're doing - you can achieve a modest clock without a lot of effort.

I normally wouldn't put the 2500k on a z77 board, but on his budget the z77 board is cheaper than most z68 and p67 boards. If he can afford it, go with the i5 3570k. Otherwise stick with the good 'ol sandy bridge. The z77 board is backwards compatible with both the 2500k and the hd 7950. You may run into bandwidth issues if you try doing crossfire or SLI setups with pci 3.0 based GPUs and what not...I'm not particularly certain though. Do you know anything about that g-unit? I'd actually love to know myself. I've been going over pros and cons of the 2500k and 3570k for a while now.

That is a good point about the bandwidth issues - on Sandy Bridge you lose PCI Gen 3, and while it's not really that noticeable, if you're going for a really high end GPU like the Radeon 7950 or GTX 670 - which do make use of PCI Gen 3, you might lose a few FPS.