Gaming Rig - 3 600 USD

[Groomer]

Hello! I am in the stages of picking parts for a new computer, and would like to get some expert advice before I proceed into ordering.The computer is for serious gaming, and want high graphics quality in any game, as well as the performance i need to keep up in competitive games like StarCraft2. The budget is not really strict, I have decent income, and games mean a lot to me, but as it is already somewhat expensive, I would like to not buy any other upgrades unless necessary.

I live in Norway, and highly prefer ordering from komplett.no, due to shipping and customer service. This means that their prices are the ones that matter. Do not worry about scary prices, everything is norway is expensive.

Currently owning a computer with a HD6970, Phenom II X4 965, and strongly feel the need for an upgrade.

Parts in consideration:

Case - 895 NOK
Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced Black

PSU - 795 NOK
Corsair TX V2 650W

CPU - 1 879 NOK
i5-3570K

GPU - 8 295 NOK
Gainward GTX 690 (C@1019 MHz)

Board - 949 NOK
ASUS P8Z77-V LX

RAM - 429 NOK
Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz 8GB

SSD - 799 NOK
OCZ SSD Agility 3 120GB

HDD - 1 499 NOK
Western Digital Black 2TB

Optical Drive - 195 NOK
Sony Optiarc DVDRW AD-5280S

OS - 895 NOK
Win7 64 HomePremium

Monitor - 4 995 NOK
Samsung 27" LED SyncMaster S27A850T 2560x1440

Total: 21 625 NOK / 2 902 EUR / 3 577 USD

Worries:
1. Is the power supply powerful enough? Will only do mild overclocking.
2. How does the GTX 690 perform versus two GTX 680s? I chose for price and max TDP.
3. Motherboard good? I don't know much about motherboards.

If there is anything else you would like to mention, please do so! Thanks.

 

[azeem40]

Two 680s are more powerful and have better store stock, but not all games make useof cf or sli. 650W is enough power for one 690. That board can cf or sli but only at x16/x4, which is slower than x8/x8.

 

[nafoni]

Hey there. I'm from Norway myself, but I'll post in English to make it possible for others to read.

First off - use other sites than Komplett. I've had just as good experiences with CDON.com and dustinhome.no as I've had with Komplett. Ordering from these three websites, instead of only Komplett, will probably save you some money.

Now to the build itself.
Are you absolutely sure you need a GTX 690? That card costs A LOT, and is way too powerful for most users. A GTX 670 or Radeon 7970 will save you about 5000 NOK and still be more than powerful enough for games like StarCraft 2 and Battlefield 3.

Since you are buying a 3570K CPU (K = it's overclockable), I would recommend getting an aftermarket CPU cooler. Go for the Hyper 212 EVO.

Getting an aftermarket CPU cooler like the Hyper 212 EVO will also require you to change your RAM to the Low Profile version of that Corsair Vengeance. The normal version will conflict with a CPU cooler like the Hyper 212 EVO.

Personally I would up the PSU to a 750W, regardless of getting a GTX 690 or not.
Here you go.

SSD: I wouldn't go OCZ Agility. Either Samsung 830 or Crucial m4 - Samsung 830 in this case since it is the cheapest one. Here you go.

That HDD looks expensive. Go for something like this Seagate Barracuda 2TB.

I feel like you are overspending on the monitor. This is a popular 24" 1080p monitor for half the price.

Yes, the motherboard is good.

Bottom line: there is money to save.

 

[nafoni]

Also, you can maybe re-use your optical drive from your old PC.

 

[Groomer]

Nothing can be used from my old PC, I will give it to my younger brother.

Yes, I definitely need something like the GTX 690 or two GTX 680.

I already have a 24" 1080p monitor. I can easily see the pixels in games even with AA. Having a larger monitor will also allow me to increase FOV in FPS games to a more immersive view and help with motion sickness. Or simply allowing me to lean back more when watching movies or playing games with persistent tiny field of view.

An aftermarket cooler is additional money. How much in terms of gaming performance would the extra overclocking really give me? Also if it ends up drawing more power I might not get away with the 650W PSU.

Wouldn't a larger PSU be a waste of money if I can get away with a smaller one? Remember I can always give it back if it does not fit my system.

Would like someone elses opinions on swapping to Samsung SSD 830 128GB, and Seagate Barracuda 2TB.

 

[nafoni]

If you absolutely want a GTX 690, then be my guest Choose that over 2x 680s.

Since 650W is the minimum PSU requirement, I would get 750W to have some room for overclocking, more HDDs etc etc.

You are already "wasting" enough money on that GPU and monitor, so getting a 750W PSU shouldn't be a problem.

 

[nafoni]

An aftermarket cooler is additional money. How much in terms of gaming performance would the extra overclocking really give me? Also if it ends up drawing more power I might not get away with the 650W PSU.

Not extremely much, but when you are getting an unlocked CPU in the first place, I see no reason to not get an aftermarket cooler on a high-end build like this.

This is one of the reasons you should get a 750W PSU.

 

[Groomer]

Buying the monitor is obviously going to have an impact on my gaming experience. The 750W PSU will probably not. That's how I prioritize spending.

 

[nafoni]

When already spending 20.000 NOK on a PC, I would personally go for a 750W instead of a 650W to have some room for overclocking/future upgrading when it's only 134 NOK more.

If you decide to stick with the 650W and no aftermarket CPU fan, I would ditch the 3570K as well and go for the 3570.

 

[nafoni]

Never mind.

The 3570K is actually cheaper than the 3570 if buying from CDON or Dustin Home
http://cdon.no/elektronikk/intel_core_i5-3570k_3.4ghz_socket_1155_box-19230957
http://www.dustinhome.no/product/5010622176/intel-core-i5-3570k-3-4ghz-6mb-s-1155-ivy/#intcmp=searchProvider_dacsa

 

[excella1221]

If you're fine with spending an extra 500NOK for WD Caviar Black 2TB, then sure.
It's faster, more reliable, and 'safer'. I started staying away from Seagate ever since that time where their 1TB HDDs had a mass failure.