What do you guys think of my first build?

[whatRU]

Hello all, new to the forum and I joined specifically because I'm in the process of building my first custom rig, but I think I'll be sticking around

Anyway, I was wondering if you guys could take a look at my specs and tell me if there's any wiggle room for downgrading one aspect to marginally upgrade another where it will be more meaningful.

Main uses of rig: Gaming, Web Browsing, Movies (Blu) + Music... I want to be able to run all current games on maxed settings with relative ease.. and I've got my eyes on GTAV and the endless modding that will stem from that.

CF/SLI: Nope, but possible in future

CPU: Intel i5-3750K
GPU: Radeon HD 7870 (still thinking about the OC edition.. any thoughts on this? They appear to be the same price at newegg right now)
Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4
RAM: 8 GB (2x4Gb) DDR3
PSU: 450W FSP Group Booster X5
HDD: 120GB (O.S. + Essentials) / 500GB (Media)
OD: Bluray+Cd+DVD
Cooler: H100 Liquid Cooler

I'm also looking for suggestions from folks on a sick looking case that would still maybe be considered "budget", and I'd like to trick it out with some neon. Make it look as mean as possible, haha.

Thanks everyone!

 

[spentshells]

PSU: 450W FSP Group Booster X5

This is almost comical considering the rest of your well researched build.

Spend some money on a PSU from Corsair or PC&P or franky just about anything would be better than your selection.

since you are keeping it cheap perhaps try a cx 500 from corsair

 

[whatRU]

PSU: 450W FSP Group Booster X5

This is almost comical considering the rest of your well researched build.

Spend some money on a PSU from Corsair or PC&P or franky just about anything would be better than your selection.

since you are keeping it cheap perhaps try a cx 500 from corsair

Haha, I assumed this was going to be way off. I had to stop last night when I was just about to fall asleep, and so I used some janky wattage calculator online to try to figure out what type of supply I would need. Thank you very much for setting me straight

 

[spentshells]

If you plan to overclock heavily a quality brand 600 watts would be best.

 

[whatRU]

If you plan to overclock heavily a quality brand 600 watts would be best.

what do you think about something like this guy here? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103055

or this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194103

or this guy? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182071

 

[spentshells]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

40 after MIR

Sparkle used to be really great in the early 200x but now im not to sure about them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096 or this

 

[whatRU]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

40 after MIR

Sparkle used to be really great in the early 200x but now im not to sure about them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096 or this

Awesome, thanks for the help. Another question: Is the liquid cool system worth it? My boss was looking over my build and he immediately told me to downgrade that to a fan setup because it was overkill. What say you?

 

[mikerockett]

I agree, unless you're getting into some heavy overclocking a fan setup will be fine.

 

[whatRU]

I agree, unless you're getting into some heavy overclocking a fan setup will be fine.

Well I'm planning on overclocking to a comfortable level.. maybe 4.5 ghz or something like that? I guess I'll just have to stress test and see where the temps start to get out of control. Thanks for the advice.

 

[mikerockett]

I think a generally accepted recommendation is the hyper 212 evo (or is it +, i forget), and that will get you to pretty good clock speeds.

 

[whatRU]

I think a generally accepted recommendation is the hyper 212 evo (or is it +, i forget), and that will get you to pretty good clock speeds.

awesome awesome awesome. Feels good to be working towards a finished product, thanks for the help mike.

I suppose now, all that remains is to find a cool / cheap (conflicting ideals I know) case and figure out the visual augmentations I'm looking for. Anyone have any experience with that kinda stuff that can suggest a cool theme? Lol I like the idea of a black and red or blue theme, if that helps at all? I'm sure I can find info on this elsewhere too, but I thought I'd ask since you guys are making me lazy with all this helpful knowledge :lol:

 

[whatRU]

Another question for anyone out there that feels like answering. For the money, would an ssd for loading the OS + essentials be worth it, or am I better served just sticking with the hdd? Especially for a semi-budgeted rig? This is more a matter of opinion I suppose, but I curious what you folks have to say about your experiences with ssd.

 

[Technoob420]

Another question for anyone out there that feels like answering. For the money, would an ssd for loading the OS + essentials be worth it, or am I better served just sticking with the hdd? Especially for a semi-budgeted rig? This is more a matter of opinion I suppose, but I curious what you folks have to say about your experiences with ssd.

I just went with a HDD for now since im on a budget but i will get a SDD for a boot and a few games later on

 

[Technoob420]

I love the look of the NZXT Phantom cases and the 410 series they look really good and are at a reasonable price.... well for me that is but i think there worth it

 

[whatRU]

I just went with a HDD for now since im on a budget but i will get a SDD for a boot and a few games later on

I love the look of the NZXT's as well.. I'm looking at this guy here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146025

vs this guy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144266

vs this guy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144264


I'm currently trying to locate a 3-sided coin


any recommendations among those three finalists? Seems like the NZXT is the best deal just based on it's original price (it's on sale right now) but that's not always the best indicator. Will I have spacing issues with the current parts I've listed, with any of these three at all? From what I gather, all three are supposed to be pretty wide open and easy to build in but you might have prior experience.

 

[Technoob420]

if its a price issue id prbly go with the 2nd or 3rd i personally wouldnt go with the first cuz i dont see any cable managment in that one and why have a huge window if ur cables are showing ? lol only problem i see with the other 2 is they have those windows but huge fans blocking the view lol from my point of view atleast.
Im going to be useing this one mainly for the outside looks http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146092, i also like the fans it has and a directional one on the inside that can actually be removed if my gtx 670 ftw is to big

Hmmm it actually looks like none have cable managment so if that is the case i dont think it would look asthetically pleasing to have cables everywhere lol

 

[whatRU]

if its a price issue id prbly go with the 2nd or 3rd i personally wouldnt go with the first cuz i dont see any cable managment in that one and why have a huge window if ur cables are showing ? lol only problem i see with the other 2 is they have those windows but huge fans blocking the view lol from my point of view atleast.
Im going to be useing this one mainly for the outside looks http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146092, i also like the fans it has and a directional one on the inside that can actually be removed if my gtx 670 ftw is to big

Hmmm it actually looks like none have cable managment so if that is the case i dont think it would look asthetically pleasing to have cables everywhere lol

Yeah I agree about the first one. Aesthetically I like them mainly because of the LED's in the fans, and I guess I shouldn't really be concerned about the size of the window into the machine if I don't have a theme or any real organization as far as that goes anyway. If I had $50 more in my budget I'd jump up to something more in your range.. that looks like a really cool case, but I'm really trying to cut dollars wherever I feel okay about it. Is fitting my HD 7870 into either of the last 2 going to be an issue? I've also read with the 2nd one that some power supply cords come up a little short, so that might be a problem.

The reviews on the 2nd one mention lots of cable management options, it's just not listed in the product details for whatever reason.

 

[claysm]

This build does not need 600 watts, end of story. Unless you intend to get another 7870 sometime soon, your original selection of the 450 watt FSP was fine. You can take comfort in the fact that FSP is one of the most preeminent OEM's of power supplies in the world. You could go all the way to a GTX 680 and still only need a 450 watt PSU.

PSU: 450W FSP Group Booster X5

This is almost comical considering the rest of your well researched build.

Spend some money on a PSU from Corsair or PC&P or franky just about anything would be better than your selection.

since you are keeping it cheap perhaps try a cx 500 from corsair

You do know that FSP manufactures some of PC&P's Silencer series PSU's right?

 

[whatRU]

This build does not need 600 watts, end of story. Unless you intend to get another 7870 sometime soon, your original selection of the 450 watt FSP was fine. You can take comfort in the fact that FSP is one of the most preeminent OEM's of power supplies in the world. You could go all the way to a GTX 680 and still only need a 450 watt PSU.



You do know that FSP manufactures some of PC&P's Silencer series PSU's right?

Well now I'm all sorts of confused, lol.

Would it be more logical to just get something like this since I may upgrade to crossfire in the future, and it's 20 bucks cheaper than the 450W psu, or is my thinking off? I also have to assume that the FSP is of pretty high quality just based on the price for a 450W compared to the SeaSonic below

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096

 

[Technoob420]

i originally was gona get this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147061

cuz of the led fans and the fact u can have up to 7 fans and it has cable managment and its a good price, but the downside is its to "boxy" but for ur card i dont see why it would'nt fit in the case u want. I look at it as for cases are the hardest to choose cuz that is what u and everyone sees lol

 

[Technoob420]

Well now I'm all sorts of confused, lol.

Would it be more logical to just get something like this since I may upgrade to crossfire in the future, and it's 20 bucks cheaper than the 450W psu, or is my thinking off?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096

Seasonic and corsair are the two best from what ive had people tell me

 

[claysm]

Well now I'm all sorts of confused, lol.

Would it be more logical to just get something like this since I may upgrade to crossfire in the future, and it's 20 bucks cheaper than the 450W psu, or is my thinking off?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096

Yes, if you intend to get a second card, then that SeaSonic would be a good choice. Just note that it only has one 6 pin and one 6+2 pin auxiliary connector, so you'll need some aux-PICe adapters to power a second 7870.

 

[claysm]

Seasonic and corsair are the two best from what ive had people tell me

That's mostly because about half of Corsair's PSU's come from Seasonic . The rest actually come from a company called Channel Well, which makes really good PSU's for Corsair, Antec, In Win, Chieftech, Thermaltake, and a number of other smaller brands.

 

[Technoob420]

i would look into a psu that is sli or xfire ready, u might spend just a tad xtra but probly well worth it in the long run

 

[whatRU]

Yes, if you intend to get a second card, then that SeaSonic would be a good choice. Just note that it only has one 6 pin and one 6+2 pin auxiliary connector, so you'll need some aux-PICe adapters to power a second 7870.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to go with the SeaSonic and give myself some room to grow as my finances do. Still flip flopping on what I want to do about a case. Is wire management an amazing feature worth seeking, or will zip-ties make up for the difference? Bear in mind this is my first build, so I have no experience with a stuffy box.