Submitted for your approval: (just another new build thread)

[deepblue1180]

Hello, everyone! Long time listener, first time caller. I've generally lurked around these forums for years, and have always found the people here to be the most knowledgeable and helpful for people with questions. I've never built a computer from the ground up before, but I've been wanting to for years, and in a world with google, youtube, and forums like these, I feel fairly confident in doing so! Thanks in advance!

Approximate Purchase Date: ~3-4 weeks

Budget Range: $800-$850 (Really firm at $850, as I plan to build two).

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming/XBMC

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: N/A

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg and Amazon, mostly, but willing to go where the deal is best

Location: Indianapolis, IN (Too far from Microcenter)

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, would have preferred Nvidia GPU, but I think the 7850 is best in this price range. (not too picky)

Overclocking: Definitely in the future. I plan to take it slow, though, as I really like to do my due diligence with research, and I'd really like to get a good feel for how the new system performs unmolested.

SLI or Crossfire: Once again, definitely in the future. The whole theme of this build is upgradeability and looking ahead to Crossfire. CF'd 7850s seem to put up some pretty impressive numbers.

Your Monitor Resolution: Both my monitor and my 60" DLP are 1920x1080.

Additional Comments: I'm hoping that the locals here can help me trim some proverbial fat from this build. It may be tough. I'm pretty well sold on the CPU, Mobo, and GPU, but i'm open to suggestions, and I like dissecting benchmark numbers! I have had a particularly difficult time pinning down just the right PSU (I'm not overly confident in the one I have listed here), as I do plan to do some mild OC'ing and Crossfire down the road. I'm not married to the case, either, but I like that it comes with two 120mm fans and has front audio and usb.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My current PC is a P4 3GHz 1GB ram XP machine I had built in 2003. I'm tired of waiting for it to die in order to justify an upgrade. I have a 1TB HDD that will be making a transition into my new machine.

With no further ado, here we go:

Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-i5-3570K-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B007SZ0E1K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345085890&sr=8-1&keywords=intel+core+i5-3570k

ASRock DDR3 2400 Intel - LGA 1155 Motherboards (Z77 EXTREME4-M)
http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-DDR3-2400-Intel-Motherboards/dp/B007P710G4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345083482&sr=8-1&keywords=asrock+z77+extreme4

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

OCZ Solid 3 SLD3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227728

VisionTek Radeon 7850 2GB DDR5 PCI Express Graphics Card (900505)
http://www.amazon.com/VisionTek-Radeon-Express-Graphics-900505/dp/B007KJ1URG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345087386&sr=8-1&keywords=visiontek+7850

Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023&Tpk=rosewill%20blackbone

ModXStream Pro 600W Modular ATX Power Supply
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0301547

Lite-On iHAS124-04 24x SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer DVD Burner (Black)
http://www.outletpc.com/c2327.html?utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cse

Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_cp_sw_3

 

[nekulturny]

Hi.

The first advice that comes to mind, is to forget about an SSD. SSDs do not improve your gaming FPS or the resolution, the merely reduce the load time of games and programs. That being said, you have 2 options for using an SSD with Intel. 1. is running it as your primary boot drive, the 2nd is using it as a cache drive.

Almost nobody runs an SSD as a cache drive because its not really *that* good compared to running it as a boot. And as such that leaves option 1. 60GB is not very much space. Between NTFS formatting and Win7 you will lose almost 20GB of it. Considering a single game can easily take over 10GB for just one these days, unless you can afford at least a 128GB SSD, my advice is to forget it altogether. Its a luxury best saved for another day..


-I would suggest not ordering from MicroCenter online. In my experience they tack on shipping+sales tax at the final page of the order, and the stuff ends up being no cheaper (and in some cases more expensive) than Newegg, which does not play such dirty little tricks to get customers. Newegg ships free, and doesn't charge sales tax. When I ordered from MC online, they charged me sales tax even though my state does not require it for online orders, thats is not only misleading, but potentially illegal on their part.

----
Yes a 7850 is a great video card, but why not step up to this one? Its $285 with mail in rebate,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102983


---
The PSU you have chosen, while not bad, isn't great either. I'm going to put together a build using most of the same parts and fixing some things I think would gear it for better performance:

That mobo while decent, is a lot fo money for a MicroATX board, not that this is a big deal, but.. just a personal preference thing on my end.

I would add the video card I linked you, its not on PCpartpicker.com yet.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/eKRe

I didn't include a hard drive since you said you had a 1TB drive already you would be using.

 

[nekulturny]

BTW, expect the 7870 to take a price dip with 660 TIs releasing tomorrow. So far its looking like the 7870 GHZ edition will still smack it around, contrary to previous "leaked benches" from TweakTown. (Theres a certain user on the forum I got into an argument with this, this is my moment to say "told you so"- don't mind me)

I dunno if newegg was glitching out, but I checked that video card a couple hours ago and it was $265 after rebate. So give it a day or so and see whats up with newegg on that.

 

[obsama1]

-I would suggest not ordering from MicroCenter online. In my experience they tack on shipping+sales tax at the final page of the order, and the stuff ends up being no cheaper (and in some cases more expensive) than Newegg, which does not play such dirty little tricks to get customers. Newegg ships free, and doesn't charge sales tax. When I ordered from MC online, they charged me sales tax even though my state does not require it for online orders, thats is not only misleading, but potentially illegal on their part.

True, but I live in a state where Newegg charges tax+shipping, so I prefer to go MC.

Forego the SSD, and get 8GB of RAM. Don't get Visiontek. Not that great of an OEM.

 

[nekulturny]

True, but I live in a state where Newegg charges tax+shipping, so I prefer to go MC.

Forego the SSD, and get 8GB of RAM. Don't get Visiontek. Not that great of an OEM.

Yea, but if Newegg is charging you sales tax its because they're legally required to. MC charged it on me for the hell of it. When I order from newegg, it drops from Elizabeth, NJ. Even though its "3 day free shipping", it always gets here the 2nd day. I love it.

I agree Visiontech is meh, Sapphire is the way to go for AMD cards.

 

[obsama1]

Yea, but if Newegg is charging you sales tax its because they're legally required to. MC charged it on me for the hell of it. When I order from newegg, it drops from Elizabeth, NJ. Even though its "3 day free shipping", it always gets here the 2nd day. I love it.

I agree Visiontech is meh, Sapphire is the way to go for AMD cards.

That's what I'm saying, lol. Newegg charges tax in only a few states, and I live in one of them. So, if both charge tax+shipping, I'll go MC. Though, that is pretty sneaky of them to tax you for the heck of it.

 

[nekulturny]

Well, MC is desperate for income. Honestly my opinion is they're circling the drain. They're selling Intel CPUs at no profit at best, or at worst at a loss. They have a terrible infrastructure for online ordering. They're trying to keep their Brick and Mortar stores afloat with their In-store only specials.

They should have learned their lesson from Circuit City, and should be getting a good logistics network setup for online orders. Tech savvy people simply are not as likely to buy techie toys in a store. They're going to do the techie thing and buy it online.

 

[obsama1]

Well, MC is desperate for income. Honestly my opinion is they're circling the drain. They're selling Intel CPUs at no profit at best, or at worst at a loss. They have a terrible infrastructure for online ordering. They're trying to keep their Brick and Mortar stores afloat with their In-store only specials.

They should have learned their lesson from Circuit City, and should be getting a good logistics network setup for online orders. Tech savvy people simply are not as likely to buy techie toys in a store. They're going to do the techie thing and buy it online.

Their strategy of B&M CPU deals is failing. They try to get you to come in store, and when you pick up your CPU+mobo, they try to get you to buy other stuff. It's a bit annoying having to go to a store, and if they stopped taxing online(except when legally required) and sold their Intel CPU's online they'd see a lot more profit.

 

[deepblue1180]

I'm getting some food for thought already!

I'm not sure why I had the "M" motherboard listed. I blame it on the late hour and all the cutting and pasting.

And I really won't miss the SSD? I thought the draw with those was the shorter load times...? I'm with you about the 60GB being puny, anyway. Out it goes!

I would LOVE to be able to squeeze a 7870 into my budget. I suppose we'll see how far the prices drop in the coming days.

The PSU you recommended...I'll have to have a look at it in the morning. I've got to be up in 5 hours (ugh. work.). I do know that Corsair is a well-respected brand. Will 500W be enough for a crossfire setup in the future?

 

[obsama1]

Shorter load times, but no performance increase. It's a luxury. And 500W might do Crossfire, but go 650-700W to be safe.

 

[nekulturny]

Glad I can help.

No you won't miss the SSD if you've never had one. Like I said, if your budget is tight now, save it for another day. There is a price war with SSDs going on now anyway. They've dropped considerably in price over the past 6 months, give it another 6 or so and see where we're at.

Corsair is a good brand yes, no 500 watts isn't enough to crossfire in the future. for two 7870s, I'd look at a Corsair TX750v2. But honestly, by the time your video card is not meeting your standards, there will probably be a single, stronger video card to replace it with. Thats usually the most economical solution. Sli/Crossfire is kind of a do it on day one or forget it. (and even then a single card solution is usually a better idea), for example you could crossfire 2 7870s or just get one 7970 lol.

If you're calling it a night, have a good one. If you have any more questions, obsama and I shall be here when you return I'm sure.

Their strategy of B&M CPU deals is failing. They try to get you to come in store, and when you pick up your CPU+mobo, they try to get you to buy other stuff. It's a bit annoying having to go to a store, and if they stopped taxing online(except when legally required) and sold their Intel CPU's online they'd see a lot more profit.

I figured it was. Well, I ordered online from them once, they had my order processing 4 days, called em, dealt with rude people after being on hold 20 minutes. When I did my Phenom II build I ordered parts from Tiger, Newegg and MC on the same Sunday morning. Newegg and Tiger had stuff at my door Tuesday evening. Only thing I needed was the RAM from MC. (at the time they were the only ones who had decent 8GB modules in stock since they were fairly new), of course in hindsight, 8GB modules was a silly idea, but come Thursday, the RAM was still "processing", called em up, they told me it wasn't going to ship until Friday. I cancelled it and drove 3 hours to the store to get em at a MicroCenter store.

Don't get me wrong, it was like nerd heaven there, nice store, friendly people but. Lets face it, this isn't the kind of business that requires a showroom like a mattress store where you have to try the product to know what you're getting. Its not like you go into MC and say "hey I want to try out your 7870 with a 3570K on BF3 before I decide I want it.

 

[azeem40]

My experience was good with MC. They didn't try to get me to buy anything else.