First ever build plan

[codycool55]

So this is my first ever plan to build a computer. This computer will be primarily for gaming, but also for music, and web surfing. As I am not extremely knowledgeable with the inner workings of computers, I have some questions, and any help is appreciated.

CPU: $230 Intel i5 ivy bridge 3570k @3.4 ghz stock.. Planning to overclock.

Hard drive: $100 TOSHIBA DT01ACA100 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal HD

Graphics card: $180 GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi)

RAM: $50G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 Desktop memory

Optical drive: $50 Blueray reader, dvd/cd reader writer

Motherboard: $220 Intel BOXDZ77GA70K LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU fan/ heatsink $35 COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler

Case: $100 Cooler master Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower

PSU: $90 Rosewill HIVE Series 750W Continuous @40°C

OS: $0 linux

Moniter: Around 20" LED HD moniter, probably bought locally.

Speakers: Some kind of 2.1 system around $50

Keyboard/Mouse: probably something local, unless something online catches my eye.

-------------------------Questions-----------------
1. How much will switching from a 7200 RPM drive to a 10000 or 15000 RPM, or a SSD drive improve performance?
2. Would it be worth the extra $100+ to go from an i5 to an i7?
3. With this set up, how much will I be able to overclock the cpu?
4. Am I correct in believing that the mother board has onboard wifi? It says it has Intel 82579 as a lan chipset, and intel 82574 as a secondary lan chipset. What does that mean?
5. Is the psu under or over powered? I couldn’t really find any information about how much power most of the components use.

So its going to cost around $1200-1300 dollars. How good of a computer is this? How long until it will be so far out of date that I just need to scrap it and start over?

If I wanted to go far budget, how much would a cheap gaming computer be?

EDIT: I was planning on runnning SLI when an upgrade was needed, or as i got the extra money.

 

[DeusAres]

Try this...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($102.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 600W ATX12V Power Supply ($66.79 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $886.76
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-12 22:33 EDT-0400)

If you can wait it out a couple more days, the gtx 660ti is supposed to be released on the 16th of this month. I believe it'd be better than the hd 7950 in both price/performance.

Answers/opinions

1. Faster drives do not improve performance in the FPS sense. It only decreases load times. At your budget, I'd suggest dumping as much cash as you can in the CPU and GPU. Just get a standard 7200 rpm HDD. It's plenty fast. The 10000/15000 rpm drives are extremely expensive and just aren't worth it. I'd suggest grabbing a 128gb SSD as an upgrade later on when you acquire the cash.

2. No, not for gaming. All the i7 introduces is hyperthreading. This is useless unless you plan on doing heavy video rendering or something like 3d modeling. The quad core i5 will give you the same performance in games as an i7. The i7 may actually hinder performance at times.

3. With my setup, you could easily reach 4.5GHz.

4. Even if it does, that doesn't justify spending over $200 on a motherboard. Depending on the adapter, you could just get a $20 wifi adapter and plug it into either a pci slot or a usb port.

5. If you don't plan on doing SLI or Crossfire, it's overpowered. If you do plan on doing SLI/Xfire, then a 750w PSU would be perfect. Keep in mind, you'll want to make sure the PSU is 80+ certified. I'd recommend going with a single card solution. Then if you need to upgrade, sell your current card and put some extra cash towards a new, powerful single card solution. Much simpler than having to deal with driver issues and the stuttering crossfire/sli offers.

 

[DeusAres]

Unless you live near a microcenter, the i5 2500k is gonna cost you around $200 on newegg.

 

[g-unit1111]

1. How much will switching from a 7200 RPM drive to a 10000 or 15000 RPM, or a SSD drive improve performance?

It's not worth paying the premiums on 10K and 15K hard drives when SSDs are way faster.

2. Would it be worth the extra $100+ to go from an i5 to an i7?

For games - no. You won't get the full use of the i7. Take that $100 and upgrade your GPU instead.

3. With this set up, how much will I be able to overclock the cpu?

Sustainably - a Hyper 212 Evo will be able to achieve a stable overclock of about 4.2GHz.

4. Am I correct in believing that the mother board has onboard wifi? It says it has Intel 82579 as a lan chipset, and intel 82574 as a secondary lan chipset. What does that mean?

It's not worth paying the money for a motherboard with onboard wifi - get a less expensive motherboard and get a cheap USB wifi adapter. Don't pay money for that Intel motherboard - Intel boards are way overpriced for the feature sets they offer compared to boards from Asrock, Asus, and Gigabyte. If you go with say - the Gigabyte UD3H - you'll save $100 and get a better BIOS for overclocking. Take that $100 and upgrade your GPU to the Radeon 7870.

5. Is the psu under or over powered? I couldn’t really find any information about how much power most of the components use.

It's about right - 750W will power any SLI setup. I'm not the biggest fan of Rosewill though - go with something from Corsair or Seasonic.

So its going to cost around $1200-1300 dollars. How good of a computer is this? How long until it will be so far out of date that I just need to scrap it and start over?

You can do way better for $1200 including monitor and OS. If you're relying on what the reviews on Newegg say - don't. That's a classic rookie mistake and it will wind up costing you deeply later on. It's better to get it right the first time. All the reviews are 99% baseless and 100% of the positive reviews are pure fanboyism. The negative reviews generally don't have anything to do with the product at all - it's either users are pissed off about a bad refund or shipping experience. You're paying way too much in some areas and not enough in where it counts (the GPU). Try something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($359.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer G215HVAbd 21.5" Monitor ($128.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.63 @ Amazon)
Total: $1220.01
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-12 22:57 EDT-0400)

A little bit over but this will be a way better system and give you a bit more headroom for overclocking.

 

[azeem40]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/243226/the_desktop_wireless_adapter_difference_usb_vs_pci.html

I'd rather use a PCI card than a USB card.

 

[DeusAres]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/243226/the_desktop_wireless_adapter_difference_usb_vs_pci.html

I'd rather use a PCI card than a USB card.

+1^

 

[Why_Me]

This build allows you to add another one of those cards later on for a dual card set up.



http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Tower-Gaming-Computer/dp/B0055Q7BR4/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1344808586&sr=1-8 $89.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case - CC-9011011-WW

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1020392 $149.98 save: $15.00 - $20.00 Mail In Rebates FREE SHIPPING
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9B

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1030095 $346.98 save: $18.00
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 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O65JXI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A2EUTVCJXLAJ4K $32.39 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2)

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-AD-7280S-0B-Internal-Drive-Black/dp/B0057FRTPW/ref=pd_cp_e_0 $17.99 & 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/Seagate-ST2000DM001-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal/dp/B005T3GRN2/ref=sr_1_2?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1344800116&sr=1-2 $113.46 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Seagate ST2000DM001 Barracuda 7200RPM 2 TB SATA 6 GB/s NCQ 64 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive

http://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-7PC128B-WW/dp/B0077CR60Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1344800801&sr=1-1&keywords=samsung+120+gb+ssd $100.55 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC128B/WW

http://videocardz.com/nvidia/geforce-600/geforce-gtx-660ti est. retail $300 and due for release August 16th.
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 660 ti 2GB

or...

http://www.amazon.com/HD7870-DC2-2GD5-DisplayPort-Utilities-PCI-Express-Graphics/dp/B007JLFVNO/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1344820216&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+7870 $297.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping | Price after rebate: $277.99
ASUS HD7870-DC2-2GD5 Radeon 2GB DDR5 VGA/DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort GPU Tweak Utilities PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card HD7870-DC2-2GD5

http://www.amazon.com/VS228H-P-21-5-Inch-Full-HD-Monitor-Black/dp/B005BZNDOO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1344807205&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+21.5+led+monitor $136.40 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
ASUS VS228H-P 21.5-Inch Full-HD LED Monitor (Black) | 5ms; 50,000,000:1 ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio; Full 1080P with HDMI

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-980-000402-Speaker-System-Z623/dp/B003VAHYTG/ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1344831261&sr=1-7 $131.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Logitech Z623 Speaker System | THX-certified | 200 watts (RMS)

Total: $1,319.94 *not including shipping & rebates


http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_cp_e_2 $90.63 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack


http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Extreme4/ <----- another look at that board along with a link to the latest bios

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/asrock_z77_extreme4_review,1.html <------ review of that board w/benchmarks

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77-express-ivy-bridge-benchmark,3254-2.html <------ another review of that board w/benchmarks

http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/carbide-series-pc-case/carbide-series-400r-mid-tower-case.html/ <----- another look at that case

 

[reubenvm]

-------------------------Questions-----------------
1. How much will switching from a 7200 RPM drive to a 10000 or 15000 RPM, or a SSD drive improve performance?
2. Would it be worth the extra $100+ to go from an i5 to an i7?
3. With this set up, how much will I be able to overclock the cpu?
4. Am I correct in believing that the mother board has onboard wifi? It says it has Intel 82579 as a lan chipset, and intel 82574 as a secondary lan chipset. What does that mean?
5. Is the psu under or over powered? I couldn’t really find any information about how much power most of the components use.

So its going to cost around $1200-1300 dollars. How good of a computer is this? How long until it will be so far out of date that I just need to scrap it and start over?

If I wanted to go far budget, how much would a cheap gaming computer be?

1. Higher RPMs? Small. SSD? Very noticeable.
2. Not for gaming.
3. 4.5 GHz
4. No. LAN means an ethernet plug. WLAN is wireless.
5. You could operate this system on a 500W power supply. Try buying one that's more efficient.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182262

 

[codycool55]

Just though of something. The intel 3750k says that it has onboard graphics. How will that work with a GPU? Will they work together similar to sli / crossfire or only one at a time?

I was planning on runnning SLI when an upgrade was needed, or as i got the extra money.

 

[DeusAres]

The onboard and dedicated graphics work separate of each other

If you plan on doing SLI/Crossfire, make sure the mobo you side with supports it. The ASRock z77 Extreme4 supports both. You'll want a PSU that puts out at least 750w and is 80+ certified.