$1000 gaming build

vincefacon

Honorable
Aug 26, 2012
3
0
10,510
Hey guys,

I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice on my build, and tell me whether or not it is the best I could get or $1000. So here it is:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($98.03 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($429.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.25 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1037.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-16 20:07 EDT-0400)

I am planning on using this build for gaming and just general computer use such as surfing the web and watching videos. My budget is around $1000. Let me explain my philosophy for each part I chose:

CPU - Went for the 3570k obviously, best gaming CPU of 2012

CPU Cooler - Decided to save money and not buy one yet, I'll purchase one later when I plan to overclock in a while.

Motherboard - Went for the Z77 Extreme4, one of the most popular Z77 chipset boards, so I'm gonna follow the bandwagon.

Memory - Went for some Ripjaws 1.5V 2x4GB 1600 RAM, 1.5v for my CPU, dual channel for my mobo, and 8GB and 1600 is all you need for gaming anyway.

Storage - Went for the very popular Caviar Black 1tb 7200rpm HDD, to store everything on, and later, I'll upgrade and add an SSD for faster boot/load times.

Video Card - Went for the ASUS GTX 670, it comes with Borderlands 2 for free, which is a huge plus as I was going to purchase that. I have a 1920x1080 monitor, and I hear that the Geforce cards are better for lower resolution, so that's good. A lot of current popular games are also engineered for Nvidia, like BF3, Skyrim, and Borderlands, and I mostly play those games. When it's not as good as the 7970, it's really close to it, and most of the time it's above 60fps anyway so who cares. I also hear more good things in general about Nvidia, so gonna go for that card.

Sound Card - Don't need one, I'm not a sound engineer.

Case - Heard a lot of good things about the Storm Scout case, so I'll go for that as it's a good case for it's price.
Power Supply - I went for a modular 600w PSU that's 80+ certified, and I heard it's a good one, not as good as the Corsair or Seasonic ones, but those are 3 times as expensive, and the OCZ is still good.

Optical Drive - Just went for the cheapest one, who gives a ***.

Monitor - Already have one, 1920x1080p 27", was a christmas present.

OS - Dad works at Microsoft, so I'm set.

Keyboard - Already have the Microsoft Sidewinder X4 keyboard

Mouse - Already have the Logitech G9x

So what do you guys think?
 

MotherFerJones

Honorable
Sep 2, 2012
264
1
10,810
The build looks great.
IDK about the 670, i mean yeah its good but you can OC a 7950 to get just as good, maybe 5-9 fps lower, performance as the 670 while saving $130, or $80 since youd have to buy Borderlands 2, im definitely getting it too but for XB360, just a personal preference (dont like FPS's on the comp), but in the end its your call if your happy with the 670 then so be it.
^^^ definitely a run-on sentence lmao, and have fun building that beast.
 
Nvidia's cards aren't necessarily better for low resolutions. If you use heavy AA to make your performance not be overkill, then AMD's cards can easily beat Nvidia's, especially at low resolutions where you can pile on the AA.

My recommendation would be to get a 7950 or if you care about PhysX, a 7870 with a GTX 650 to run PhysX on. Either option will be cheaper than a 670 and without sacrificing performance even though you have to buy Borderlans 2. Both options also have superior overclocking headroom. A 7950 with a good non-reference cooler such as the Gigabyte WindForce has greater overclocking headroom on average than even the best GTX 670 models available.

Also, a GTX 660 with a GTX 650 for PhysX is also a good option. It's not quite as good as the 7870 PhysX option if you like AA, but depending on the settings that you play at, it is still a good option that is better than the 670.

EDIT: I also agree with the recommendations about getting a better PSU.