First time building my own PC, I think I need some help

[blackmage201]

Hi there. I'm planning on building my first gaming PC and, if it helps, I'm basing some of my choices on Hardware Revolution's High-End Gaming PC Article and what I'm trying to do is build it so that it will last for a good 3 to 4 years.

The parts that I am most likely going to buy are:

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K

CPU Cooler: Phanteks CPU Cooler

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H ATX LGA1155

Memory: Corsair XMS3 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600

Storage: Two Seagate 3TB Internal Hard drives

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB

Sound Card: Asus Xonar D1 24-bit 192 KHz

Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 1050W 80 PLUS Gold Certified

I can't really decide on the case, but I would like one that has at least a few USB 3.0 ports.

The optical drive doesn't matter too much to me.

Approximate Purchase Date: Next Weekend

Budget Range: My maximum budget is $3000, but I might try to keep it at $2500 or less

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, programming, surfing the internet, hobby game development, watching TV/movies

Are you buying a monitor: Probably not, My current monitor is a Planar PX2710MW

Do you need to buy OS: Yes, Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: None, really, I'm mainly going through PC Part Picker.

Location: Jamestown, New York, USA

Parts Preferences: My only preference is that I want to stick with AMD video cards

Overclocking: Not right now

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Due to how dark the room with my PC is I'd prefer a monitor with back lighting and a case that glows, but I'm not sure if I should upgrade from the monitor I have.

I currently have a Logitech G110 keyboard and a Logitech G300 mouse and I'm not sure if I want to/should upgrade from those.

Really, I think the only truly demanding games that I own are The Witcher 2 and a few others that I can't remember off the top of my head.

I was just going to use hardware-revolution's guide, but after doing some research I see people recommending Intel i5 CPUs instead of i7 and some other differences, so I thought I would ask here instead of just basing everything on a guide.

Other than that, I really can't decide on what case I want to buy.

Why Am I Upgrading: I just really want to build my own computer.

 

[azeem40]

In 3-4 years, HT still won't be utilized. Get the 3570k instead.
You aren't CF/SLIng yet you have a board that can and a PSU that is way overkill. Same with RAM (way overkill). Since you said not right now for OCing, I am assuming you will OC in the future, so keep the unlocked processor. Change PSU to an XFX Pro550W and the mobo to a Z77 Pro3.

 

[mladen88bl]

your build overall is solid, but :

if you are not going for sli, programming you dont need i7 (but you can buy it if you want to spend money )

sound card- not really requiered if you are using pc for gaming/ home use

case- CM storm enforcer if you ask me


also you could help us if you say for what will you be using pc

 

[idroid]

flagged... i will post back later.

 

[blackmage201]

In 3-4 years, HT still won't be utilized. Get the 3570k instead.
You aren't CF/SLIng yet you have a board that can and a PSU that is way overkill. Same with RAM (way overkill). Since you said not right now for OCing, I am assuming you will OC in the future, so keep the unlocked processor. Change PSU to an XFX Pro550W and the mobo to a Z77 Pro3.

The only reason I selected the 3770k was due to that Gaming PC guide, same with the PSU. Well, that and because I read somewhere that it was better to have a PSU a few hundred watts above what is required for efficiency, or something. I also posted here because I was having doubts about the guide itself. I might just have been looking in the wrong spots, but I never saw that site recommended anywhere, unlike Toms Hardware.

Yeah, I don't really plan on overclocking until I'm pretty comfortable with figuring out how everything works first. Especially since I've only just become interested in/caring about how my computer works over the last year or two.

 

[blackmage201]

your build overall is solid, but :

if you are not going for sli, programming you dont need i7 (but you can buy it if you want to spend money )

sound card- not really requiered if you are using pc for gaming/ home use

case- CM storm enforcer if you ask me


also you could help us if you say for what will you be using pc

Oh, I thought sound cards were actually meant to be used for sound quality. I honestly didn't know that they were meant for other uses. Although, I did read that they were somewhat useless for headphones which is what I'm mainly going to be using.

Also, I might be misunderstanding this, but I thought I already wrote that I'm mainly going to be using this a gaming PC.

 

[azeem40]

It is for gaming mladen.

 

[blackmage201]

Best answer selected by blackmage201.