Christmas €1250 build ($1550)

[Zamtar]

Can someone look over this build for any problems please:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fZCu

-wont be buying parts till October to save money.

I'd like it to play BF3 on ultra at a stable 60fps 1080p thru' a samsung tv. then hopefully it'll be able to run ARMA 3 nicely

I know that there's no soundcard or SSD ill add them in closer to Christmas.

 

[arzbhatia]

CPU - Get the i7 3770K instead or the i5 3570K if you wanna save money and want better gaming performance. (I still recommend the i7 though)

CPU Cooler - Get the Noctua DH14 or the Corsair H100 instead.

Motherboard is fine.

Memory - Get the G.Skill RipJaws X 1600Mhz instead.

Videocard is great!

Everything else is fine

 

[obsama1]

i7 won't improve gaming performance. Nor will 16GB RAM. Get the 670 and get 95% of the performance of the 680. Invest the money in peripherals(KB, mouse, headset), fans, and case. But everything looks great. A soundcard isn't a necessity unless you have a sound system and you want the best possible sound.

 

[IamAutiz]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fZX0

This is the build that I made around your price. I changed it to an i5 3570K instead of an i7. And then it is at 8GB of RAM but clocked at 2133 so that will suffice. I used the same 2TB HDD as you had already and then added in a 60GB SSD as a boot drive, etc. Doing this I made you GPU a MSI 670 because as obsama said, it is 95% of the performance and this one was 60 bucks cheaper. Also now with the Mobo, ASUS Sabertooth, you can run another 670 in SLi, whenever you get another 420 bucks, lol. Kept your case and optical drive the same because I like the Antec one hundred series but I did only use the bluray/DVD drive because I see no point in two optical drives. I didn't add in the OS because I am a frim believer of Linux because it is free and IMO more user friendly. Hope it helped.

 

[Zamtar]

Thanks arzbhatia, obsama1 and IamAutiz.

I will definitely change to the Noctua cooler and Ripjaw Ram

That build Autiz is very close to what ill order in October thanks again!

 

[arzbhatia]

Great! Have fun

Don't forget to select the best answer

 

[idroid]

Horrible, this is how your build should look:


CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme 81.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($149.00 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($413.78 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($101.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHBS112-04 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($47.52 @ B&H)
Total: $1507.22


and go here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum1.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=prive&page=1

 

[IamAutiz]

Horrible, this is how your build should look:


CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme 81.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($149.00 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($413.78 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($101.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHBS112-04 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($47.52 @ B&H)
Total: $1507.22


and go here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum1.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=prive&page=1

your kinda of a dick, you dont have to say horrible like we are stupid, you can say "might I suggest" and then give a reasoning to why you BELIEVE that your build is better

 

[nafoni]

Imo several of the builds here are a bit unbalanced.
My suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($75.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($96.49 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($413.78 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 600T ATX Mid Tower Case ($133.56 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: Corsair 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.85 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($47.52 @ B&H)
Total: $1610.11
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-30 11:29 EDT-0400)

I'm not American, but I've heard that you can get a nice discount on your CPU + motherboard if you live close to a microcenter shop. That should bring the price down to approx 1550$.

Some comments:
-Don't go watercooling. The Noctua NH-D14 should give you similar performance at a lower price.
-You can definitely afford 16GB of RAM.
-The 7970 outperforms the GTX 670 in most games, and here it's just as cheap.
-A 850W PSU will handle 2x 7970s. The 680 is not worth it nowadays because the 7970/670 performs similar at a much lower price.
-No need to get a 256GB SSD. Storage does not affect games' performance, only loading times, which you shouldn't care about (they're still very fast on fast HDDs).

EDIT: Other alternatives to bring costs down (I cba to calculate exactly how much they bring the costs down):
Drop the CPU to a 3570K (I would advise you to stay at the 3770K in your budget)

Newegg 3770K + Extreme4 combo deal
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1029178

Newegg TX850W V2 + Extreme 4 combo deal (better saving than the above 3770K + Extreme4)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1029178

 

[nafoni]

Also, since you list your max budget in euros, are you not buying from American sites?

 

[idroid]

your kinda of a dick, you dont have to say horrible like we are stupid, you can say "might I suggest" and then give a reasoning to why you BELIEVE that your build is better

i don't believe its better, i know its better.

 

[idroid]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fZX0

This is the build that I made around your price. I changed it to an i5 3570K instead of an i7. And then it is at 8GB of RAM but clocked at 2133 so that will suffice. I used the same 2TB HDD as you had already and then added in a 60GB SSD as a boot drive, etc. Doing this I made you GPU a MSI 670 because as obsama said, it is 95% of the performance and this one was 60 bucks cheaper. Also now with the Mobo, ASUS Sabertooth, you can run another 670 in SLi, whenever you get another 420 bucks, lol. Kept your case and optical drive the same because I like the Antec one hundred series but I did only use the bluray/DVD drive because I see no point in two optical drives. I didn't add in the OS because I am a frim believer of Linux because it is free and IMO more user friendly. Hope it helped.

*The Noctua DH-N14 is ugly as hell, at least let the OP now that.

*Asus Sabertooth offers no performance advantage over most motherboards, only REAL high-end motherboards are worth their price (the ones that support 3+ SLI)

*There are FAR BETTER options than the Corsair Force series like the Vertex 4, Samsung 830, Plextor M3.

*Why would you buy a 850w PSU when the system will not pull more than 500w?? even if you get a second GTX670 the power consumption will always be bellow the 700w mark.

*There is ABSOLUTELY NO BENEFIT in getting 2133Mhz RAM over average 1600Mhz, the noticeably performance boost occurs when going from 1333Mhz to 1600Mhz.

*You're buying a 400$ card with a cheap 60$ case?? sounds good.

*i suggest the 7970Ghz edition over the GTX670 :

 

[idroid]

Imo several of the builds here are a bit unbalanced.
My suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($75.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($96.49 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($413.78 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 600T ATX Mid Tower Case ($133.56 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: Corsair 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.85 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($47.52 @ B&H)
Total: $1610.11
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-30 11:29 EDT-0400)

I'm not American, but I've heard that you can get a nice discount on your CPU + motherboard if you live close to a microcenter shop. That should bring the price down to approx 1550$.

Some comments:
-Don't go watercooling. The Noctua NH-D14 should give you similar performance at a lower price.
-You can definitely afford 16GB of RAM.
-The 7970 outperforms the GTX 670 in most games, and here it's just as cheap.
-A 850W PSU will handle 2x 7970s. The 680 is not worth it nowadays because the 7970/670 performs similar at a much lower price.
-No need to get a 256GB SSD. Storage does not affect games' performance, only loading times, which you shouldn't care about (they're still very fast on fast HDDs).

EDIT: Other alternatives to bring costs down (I cba to calculate exactly how much they bring the costs down):
Drop the CPU to a 3570K (I would advise you to stay at the 3770K in your budget)

Newegg 3770K + Extreme4 combo deal
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1029178

Newegg TX850W V2 + Extreme 4 combo deal (better saving than the above 3770K + Extreme4)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1029178

Your buils seems ok but take a few things into consideration:

*the i7 IS NOT needed for gaming, you will NEVER get any benefit from having it over the i5

*That motherboard is 3" thinner than normal ATX motherboards making it lack of secure mounting for dual cards.

*16GB of RAM are needed only for professional tasks, there's no point in over-killing anything at this price range

*a much better case would be the Phantom 410

*a 750w PSU is enough to handle and overclock the full system with dual 7970s

*a 256GB SSD offers a lot more speed than a 128GB SSD so instead of getting an i7/16GB RAM i'd get a 256GB SSD

*Why are you advising the OP against watercooling???? the thermaltake cooler I linked performs fairly better than the Noctua DH-N14

 

[IamAutiz]

*The Noctua DH-N14 is ugly as hell, at least let the OP now that.

*Asus Sabertooth offers no performance advantage over most motherboards, only REAL high-end motherboards are worth their price (the ones that support 3+ SLI)

*There are FAR BETTER options than the Corsair Force series like the Vertex 4, Samsung 830, Plextor M3.

*Why would you buy a 850w PSU when the system will not pull more than 500w?? even if you get a second GTX670 the power consumption will always be bellow the 700w mark.

*There is ABSOLUTELY NO BENEFIT in getting 2133Mhz RAM over average 1600Mhz, the noticeably performance boost occurs when going from 1333Mhz to 1600Mhz.

*You're buying a 400$ card with a cheap 60$ case?? sounds good.

*i suggest the 7970Ghz edition over the GTX670 :

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7970_GHz_Edition/images/avp_1920_1200.gif

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7970_GHz_Edition/images/bf3_1920_1200.gif

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7970_GHz_Edition/images/crysis2_1920_1200.gif

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7970_GHz_Edition/images/metro_2033_1920_1200.gif

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7970_GHz_Edition/images/skyrim_1920_1200.gif

Im not one who thinks that the case matters too much, oh thats cool you drive a 2012 bmw 7 series, but oh ***, it has one seat cause thats all that you could afford?? sounds good

 

[idroid]

Im not one who thinks that the case matters too much, oh thats cool you drive a 2012 bmw 7 series, but oh ***, it has one seat cause thats all that you could afford?? sounds good

Well, the case does matter, it can affect the overall temperature of your rig by about (i think) 5-10°C at most.

 

[IamAutiz]

Well, the case does matter, it can affect the overall temperature of your rig by about (i think) 5-10°C at most.

but i dont need a case with a window on the side, 8 fans that are LED lit, the only part, fans are important. the more simple the better, the cleaner and professional looking is better

 

[idroid]

but i dont need a case with a window on the side, 8 fans that are LED lit, the only part, fans are important. the more simple the better, the cleaner and professional looking is better

i don't give a F about what you need, let the OP do the talking and no, a perfectly managed build with 8 fans (led or no led) can look very professional and no... the fans are no the only thing that matter, their position matter too because depending on their position you can get better/worse airflow.

 

[nafoni]

Your buils seems ok but take a few things into consideration:

*the i7 IS NOT needed for gaming, you will NEVER get any benefit from having it over the i5

*That motherboard is 3" thinner than normal ATX motherboards making it lack of secure mounting for dual cards.

*16GB of RAM are needed only for professional tasks, there's no point in over-killing anything at this price range

*a much better case would be the Phantom 410

*a 750w PSU is enough to handle and overclock the full system with dual 7970s

*a 256GB SSD offers a lot more speed than a 128GB SSD so instead of getting an i7/16GB RAM i'd get a 256GB SSD

*Why are you advising the OP against watercooling???? the thermaltake cooler I linked performs fairly better than the Noctua DH-N14

http://www.overclockerstech.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/oc_chart-450x254.jpg

http://www.overclockerstech.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/stock_chart-450x254.jpg

I know, but since he's got a high budget I'm just trying to fill it up.

About the PSU; I've heard mixed opinions on what wattage you need to handle 2x 7970s.
About the cooling; water cooling is more advanced, more expensive, and most people won't need it because they don't overclock too high.

I agree on dropping the i7/16GB and going for a 256GB SSD.