First gaming rig build. Need advice.

[zackgriffith]

Ok this is my first time ever building a computer and the only reason i am is to save money. I have a friend whose going to build it for me but he hasnt responded to emails in a couple of days and ive got the parts i think im going to use (im new to this. So if some of them are incompatible im sorry. Ive only been using forums and recommendations and other peoples builds to make this)
Here it is.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dMuq

I wasnt sure what power to go with so i just stuck with 1000 if thats too much or whatever please tell me.
Im making this because of course i want to play games.(skyrim. Witcher 2. Bf3. Arma 2 for dayz) But i also build alot of mods and do alot of work and stuff.
I just want this to be a good as possible gaming desktop for around 2500. Little more. Little less. Doesnt matter.

Any recommendations or coments on how to fix something if i screwed it up are welcome.

Thank you

 

[Sakkura]

Yeah 1000W is way too much for that build. ~600W is plenty. Here's a nice offer at Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W - $49.99 after MIR.

A GTX 670 would be better value for money than that 680. The 680 is better, but only by a fairly small margin. On the other hand, it's obviously not the most value-oriented rig.

 

[fpoon]

1. Change the GTX 680 to 670.
2. Using the money you saved, get a ASUS Sabertooth X79. ASUS motherbotherboards are typically better for LGA 2011.
3. Get this PSU, in case of SLI/CF:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151102

 

[Hazle]

if all you're doing is gaming and you're looking to save up cash, considering this is your first build, that CPU and motherboard is definitely overkill. jumping from a ~$200 Ivy Bridge i5-3570K to $565 CPU will only give you a small boost in gaming, so consider grabbing the 3570K with a decent sub-$200 z77 motherboard instead.

4gb of RAM is the current sweet spot for gaming now, and it doesn't seem that'll change for awhile. a 2 x 4GB RAM at best will at least give you some room in the case that there's some sudden need for more RAM.

if you decide to get an i5-3570K, consider getting the Hyper 212 EVO instead unless you're going for looks; they perform nearly as good as the corsair H series for one-third of the price, and they at least don't wear down in performance due to the liquid getting stagnant.

consider getting the GTX670; it performs close to the 680 for a better price.

no, you do not need 1000W unless you plan to OC everything at it's limits, install a TEC cooler, and run a dual/tri-SLI setup. otherwise 600-700W will do you just fine.

not sure about the SSD though. i'm gonna let someone else handle that.

 

[Sakkura]

He does mention doing some work and "other stuff", which may (or may not) warrant a better CPU than the 3570k.

If it were just a gaming build, I'd swap to an air-cooled 3570k with 8 GB RAM and 2 GTX 670s in SLI.

 

[zackgriffith]

Ok i switched the power. Thank you.

Which 670 should i get?

Alright. But wouldnt the Asus rampage iv formula be better?

 

[zackgriffith]

I was thinking about doing sli but that whole microstuttering thing has got me skeptical. Ive always loved playing games on max quality with high fps. So i wanted too. But yeah that microstuttering thing. Its got me staying to one card. Unless it doesnt matter? I know its my first build. But ive played on really high end rigs. If i could id just buy a super stock maingear shift. But no. Im not made out of money.

I just want to get the best playing experience i can. And i want to play for extended periods while also switching off to do work. Specifically i do alot of modding. Ill have alot of programs open too.

 

[zackgriffith]

Oh and other "stuff" was music programs. I do mixing i make music. Etc. I dont use my computer alot for it (thats why im using on board sound. Im going to buy a good head set). I just use it for help with synth parts. And other things. Nothing major.

 

[Sakkura]

Well, I don't think you'll really need an i7-3930k for that. Maybe an i-3770k - but honestly I think an i5-3570k would do the trick. The graphics card makes a bigger difference. A GTX 670 is plenty powerful on its own, it's just that you have the budget to create a superb gaming rig by getting two of them together.

 

[zackgriffith]

Ok. So dumb it down for my noob computer building skills. Lets just forget about all the other stuff. Hardcore gaming only.

Ive changed my power.
Im going to get a gtx 670 (which one should i get? Should i get dual for sli?)
What cpu should i get to get the best out of my pc?
And what motherboard should i get? Asus sabertooth or asus rampage iv formula? Or something else?

 

[Sakkura]

Well the motherboard choice would have to follow the CPU choice; Sabertooth is Z77 which is socket LGA 1155, so that would work with the i5-3570k or the i7-3770k. Rampage IV is X79 which is socket LGA 2011, so that would work with the i7-3930k.

I'd probably pick the Sabertooth Z77 with a Core i7-3770k or i5-3570k. 2 sticks of 4 GB RAM should suffice, and then a couple of GTX 670s IMO. You can always just use one if SLI acts up in one game or the other. AFAIK microstuttering, while not totally eliminated, is less of a problem in more recent (and powerful) cards. I think the risky cards in that regard are eg. the Radeon HD 6850/6870s.

The PSU fpoon recommended for SLI would work well with that setup. Leaves room for overclocking as well.

 

[zackgriffith]

Isnt the rampage better than the sabertooth though? Or does it not matter?
Which gtx 670s should i get?

 

[fpoon]

Rampage is the enthusiast motherboard series for X79 only. They will not work with LGA 1155 CPUs.
Sabertooth motherboards are overall very good quality, but without some extra bells and whistles (extra PCIe lanes, OC' extras, etc.)
As for what brand of GPU to get, I usually go with EVGA for Nvidia cards and Sapphire for Radeon cards. Although MSI is also a solid choice (Twin Frozr I mean).

 

[zackgriffith]

Also i got that psu. Even if i dont get sli. Its still good. I want to get sli though.

 

[zackgriffith]

Ok. So ill get sabertooth and all that. Ive read some of the evga cards like the 680s i think? Have been faulty alot. Will my 670 be the same? And if i get duals is there a greater risk of malfunction?

 

[Why_Me]

Here's your pure gaming build. This build allows you to add a second one of those GTX 670's down below later on in SLI. That CM case down below is the most recent one from Cooler Master and it comes with all the latest bells & whistles. The Sandisk SSD down below utilizes SF Toggle Nand which equals solid and quick. And for the icing on the cake a 120Hz monitor. A 120Hz refresh rate makes a world of difference when you have this much fire power. Your games will run as smooth as butter.


http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RC-922XM-KKN1-External-X-Dock/dp/B007Q7EG7I/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1344050548&sr=1-8 $124.98 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master RC-922XM-KKN1 HAF XM Mid Tower ATX Case with USB 3.0 and External SATA X-Dock

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Computer-Cooling-R4-LUS-07AR-GP/dp/B002LE8BJA/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1344050693&sr=1-1&keywords=R4-LUS-07AR-GP $14.33 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200 R4-LUS-07AR-GP 200mm Red LED Case Fan

http://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-M12II-750-BRONZE-Power-Supply/dp/B00607JN1E/ref=sr_1_21?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1344051564&sr=1-21 $119.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
SeaSonic M12II 750 SS-750AM 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Semi-modular Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1030160 $396.98 save: $13.00 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103176 $63.99 FREE SHIPPING
Cooler Master TPC 812 RR-T812-24PK-R1 120mm Sleeve with Dual Vertical Vapor Chamber TPC 812 CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226245 $59.99 FREE SHIPPING
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model 997015

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-AD-7280S-0B-Internal-Drive-Black/dp/B0057FRTPW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1344055371&sr=1-1 $16.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Sony AD-7280S-0B 24x SATA Internal DVD+/-RW Drive (Black)

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B0036Q7MV0/ref=pd_cp_pc_1 $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006EKJ8UI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=ANGH2JWPH9TDR $184.79 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
SanDisk Extreme SSD 240GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive- SDSSDX-240G-G25

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_cp_pc_3 $88.73 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001537 $379.99
SAMSUNG S23A700D Black 23" 2ms HDMI Widescreen 3D Capable LED-Backlit LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 1000:1 | 120Hz

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-JQD-00001-SideWinder-X4-Keyboard/dp/B002ZV51DI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1344055509&sr=1-1&keywords=Microsoft+SIDEWINDER+X4+Wired+Gaming+Keyboard $47.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Microsoft SideWinder X4 Keyboard

Total: $1,598.74


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121637 $399.99 FREE SHIPPING
ASUS GTX670-DC2-2GD5 GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

or...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127685 $409.99 (Before $25.00 Mail-In Rebate Card) FREE SHIPPING
MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

or...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423 $399.99 FREE SHIPPING
GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card


http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Optical-Gaming-High-Precision-910-002277/dp/B0055QZ216/ref=pd_cp_e_0 $35.31 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Logitech Optical Gaming Mouse G400 with High-Precision 3600 DPI Optical Engine (910-002277)

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CA-9011111-WW-Vengeance-Analog-Headset/dp/B005QUQP7Q/ref=pd_cp_e_1 $67.50 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair CA-9011111-WW Vengeance 1300 Analog Gaming Headset


http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Extreme6/ <---- another look at that board along with a link to the latest bios update

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77-extreme6-z77a-gd65-z77h2-a2x,3187-2.html <----- review of that board w/benchmarks

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6821 <----- another look at that case along with links to professional online reviews

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119257 <----- that same case on Newegg with customer reviews

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2654 <----- review of that CM cpu h/s @ Frosty Tech

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm <----- that same CM cpu h/s on Frosty Tech's Top 5 list

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/monitors/LS23A700DS/ZA <----- another look at that Samsung 120Hz monitor

 

[zackgriffith]

My heads going to implode. Too many good choices. Anyone? Im lost. Whats the best over all you all think?

 

[Why_Me]

My heads going to implode. Too many good choices. Anyone? Im lost. Whats the best over all you all think?

That build I posted totals to $2,100 if you include a $400 vid card, that Logitich mouse I posted and the Corsair headset. That means for another $400 ($2,500 total) you can be running two of those GTX 670's in SLI. Your total came to $2,445.06 and includes a 128GB SSD vs the 240GB SSD I posted not to mention that 120Hz Samsung monitor I have up there.

 

[zackgriffith]

Thanks for looking that all up. So your saying thats the best stuff i can get for my money? Better than what those others suggested?

 

[Why_Me]

Thanks for looking that all up. So your saying thats the best stuff i can get for my money? Better than what those others suggested?

It's pretty much what was suggested earlier on this thread. Ivy Bridge cpu, gtx 670, etc... but I just read where you do a lot of modding. What program(s) do you use for that? If they use a lot of memory then change that RAM I posted to this down below.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231545 $88.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9Q-16GAO


Also if any of those programs utilize hyper threading then combo that board with the 3770K.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1029316 $509.98 save: $10.00 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

[zackgriffith]

Oh alright. Well thanks alot. This has been a big help and money saver.
Oh. Last thing i was doing before my pc fried was making dlcs for my jtag. So i was only using lefluffie for that which is nothing. I mod anything really. I made alot of mods for morrowind and oblivion. Some for fallout 3. But nothing super awesome. Always wanted to work on an overhaul. Now i finally can with this.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Maxor1]

Ok for what you are doing you are seriously over buying/overbuilding.

Its a case similar to someone buying or building a LAV4 because they go off roading a little.

99% of the actual capability 2/3rds the price. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dNby

 

[Sakkura]

Ok for what you are doing you are seriously over buying/overbuilding.

Its a case similar to someone buying or building a LAV4 because they go off roading a little.

99% of the actual capability 2/3rds the price. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dNby

That motherboard would have to be flashed with a new BIOS before it would accomodate a Core i5-3570k. Better go with a Z77 board instead.

 

[azeem40]

Yes, get a Z77 board for IVB. They are relatively cheaper.

 

[zackgriffith]

Z77 board recommendations?