$3250 Gaming System Advice

[n_s]

Approximate Purchase Date: November/December


Budget Range: $3250 Including Shipping


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Internet, Photoshop, Microsoft Office, Movies, Lite 3D modelling.


Are you buying a monitor: Yes


Do you need to buy OS: Yes


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com


Location: Montana, USA


Parts Preferences: Intel, Nvidia, ASUS


Overclocking: Maybe


SLI or Crossfire: Yes


Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080


Additional Comments: Primarily gaming system, need a good reliable solid system that will last me at least 2 years. Never going to get more than one monitor.


And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Old system wasn't satisfying my gaming needs, want a fresh system.

I picked out some parts and need some opinions on them.

CPU: Intel i7 3770K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181017

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus V Formula http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131854

RAM: Corsair Vengeance (2X4) 2133 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233245

Storage: Intel 330 120gb SSD Boot http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167121
Intel 520 480gb SSD Games http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-167-087
Seagate Barracuda 1TB Storage and Other Programs http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

Case: Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147157

GPU: ASUS GTX 670 TOP if I can find one. (x2 when I get the money) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121638

Monitor: ASUS VE248H http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236102

PSU: Corsair AX1200 1200w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Power%20Supplies-_-Corsair-_-17139014&AID=10440897&PID=3938566&SID=

Sound Card: ASUS Xonar Phoebus http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132054&Tpk=xonar%20phobus

Other Peripherals: Microsoft Sidewinder X4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109191&Tpk=sidewinder%20x4

This is my first time building a completely custom system (I have modified countless other pre-built computers) and I want to know if it is a good combo, Thank you.

 

[raytseng]

i think you have added complexity by going with 3 storage drives.

You can just get like a 256GB SSD and then a bigger HDD.

I also don't see how you really are going to be using up 480gb of ssd as APPs even with most of the apps on the world if you are properly managing your space

If you want to get fancy to speed up a bigger chunk of storage, then you should instead use SRT to speed up your BIG data drive, either with another small SSD or partition your SSD to give a chunk up for SRT purposes.


So I would say you should start like a 256gb SSD boot/apps drive then add on as many (cheaper) 2TB data drive as you want.

If then your 2tb drives seem slow, then you can decide to either carve a partition out of your SSD to use for SRT, or add on a 60gb SRT....or go back old school and RAID your data drives for speed.


For your budget, you should be spending more on a monitor i think. Monitor is not going to go obsolete. I'm sure there are recommendations for monitors where extra cash will get you an upgrade (and not just gimmicks like 3d).


if you are spending this much on a system, I would suspect just in terms of balance you should be going for more ram. even if you don't need it, you can afford it...I would think you should start with 16gb. Windows will cache stuff so this memory will be more useful than your "wasted" 480gb of ssd you had in your build.

I don't think you need a sound card, unless you have specific need for it such as you are mastering or doing audio work.

keyboard/mouse is personal preference.

 

[n_s]

Thanks for the quick answer. Thinking about it more I have decided to go with one 256 SSD for now and save some cash. As for the sound card I need it as I am going to be using some high performance headphones that need the built in amp and I can get a good deal on that specific card locally. Is there any 16gb ram kits you would recommend, as you probably know price isn't much of a problem.
I have chosen this SSD, what do you think about it?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147164

 

[raytseng]

i don't have personal experieence with that SSD, but it is often recommended.

Most recommended here are the samsung 830 or crucial m4. (i have m4).
People who want the bleeding edge and care less about stability go with the vertex4 since they are releasing new firmware that scores well in benchmarks and gets articles written about it..

In reallife home gamer user behavior used as boot/apps drive, once you have ANY SSD, then you are sped up, and there is only much less difference between them. So people buy what is considered stable and reliable rather then squeezing out benchmark speed.

As far as ram, I don't have any specific recommendations. Just go with any of the popular choices or see what is recommended by other experts in other build threads. You should not pay a premium for overclocking RAM, but don't get cheapest ram either. Any 16000 "performance" ram should be good.
If 2x8 kit is about the same price as 4x4 go for that. But if it's wildly more expensive, just buy the 4x4 (or 2sets of 2x4).

most of your overclock comes from multiplier and not from changing the clock. As a result, you don't need to get overclocking ram.

For gaming, Take all your savings and plunk it into your Video card. Everything hinges around that.

 

[n_s]

I decided to go with a Samsung 830 256 SSD, a pair of 8g sticks of corsair ram and a 2gb WD HDD.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136792

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147164&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Solid+State+Disk-_-SAMSUNG-_-20147164

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233310

And about the video card, I have done the most research into that and the 670 looks like the best option, but I am thinking about getting a 680 instead. Is it worth it to get a 680? I will go SLI later when I get the money because now I only have about 250 extra and I can only afford to get 1 670 or 680.