First Build (€1500 Gaming Rig)

[Jayc0pSIN]

Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as possible

Budget Range: €1500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Movie watching, Music Listening, Net Surfing, some Photo Editing

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: caseking.de, alternate.de

Location: Germany

Parts Preferences: Intel CPUs, nVidia

Overclocking: Yes (At later stage)

SLI: Yes (At later stage)

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (LCD TV)

Parts List:

Case: Cooler Master HAF X
CPU: Intel i5 3570k
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
Graphics Card: EVGA nVidia GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2048MB
Motherboard: ASRock z77 Extreme 4
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X 16 GB (2x8GB) 240Pin DDR3 1600 CL9
SSD: Samsung 830 256GB
OS: Windows 7 Pro. 64Bit, English
Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B5ST DVD Writer
PSU: ?Corsair AX 750?

Total: €1430 ( Less than I expected)

Additional Comments & Questions:

This will be my first build ever . Previously I only owned laptops, which would only play new games (if at all) at low settings. That has to change, which I hope this build will do.

It took me some time to get this parts list together. However I'm not 100% sure that everything will be compatible. I'm especially not sure about what PSU to get (picked the Corsair AX750 for now). This is where you guys come in. Any comments/suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated. Please keep in mind the following:

Future Upgrade Thoughts:

- Add another Graphics Card
- Overclock
- Fill empty RAM Slots
- Add more HDDs
- Add some lights, fans, fan controller
- 3 Monitor setup

I think I covered everything. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[malbluff]

Generally very good. Don't know what prices are like, where you are. The MSI GTX 670 power edition is well regarded, not that there's anything wrong with Evga one, just MSI version, I think, a bit better.
If you are seriously thinking of SLi, then Corsair AX750 is ideal, and very good quality. Without SLi, on the horizon 550w would be more than enough. There, Seasonic X series would be the highest spec choice.
I would recommend a hard drive. If necessary use a smaller 128GB SSD, to pay for it. You don't want to end up storing a lot of photos, and general stuff, on an SSD. That's a waste of money.
Most motherboards have decent control for CPU and Case fans. Not used that mobo, to know how good it is, just don't rush to buy contoller, unless you find mobo control inadequate.

 

[Jayc0pSIN]

Thanks for the reply

Here is my parts list on newegg (which I used a lot for research, as well as PCPartPicker). I added a few changes (Mobo, SSD).

Case: Cooler Master HAF X
CPU: Intel i5 3570k
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
Graphics Card: EVGA nVidia GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2048MB
Motherboard: ASUS z77 Sabertooth
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X 16 GB (2x8GB) 240Pin DDR3 1600 CL9
SSD: Samsung 830 128GB
OS: Windows 7 Pro. 64Bit, English
Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B5ST DVD Writer (Different version on newegg)
PSU: Corsair AX 750

New Total: €1430

I chose the EVGA because it had higher ratings on newegg and it is about €30 cheaper than the MSI on my german site.
I do want to SLI later, obviously for the extra performance, but also to gain the experience (so I can level up faster ).
I changed the SSD to the 128GB version, but I don't think I need to buy and extra HDD because I have some external WDs, which I intent to take out of their case and install in my build. I'm not sure what specifications they have or whether it will work. If not I will get a new one.
With the money saved from the SSD I picked another mobo, the Sabertooth, which I was thinking of getting anyway.
The controller is mainly for looks, which I usually don't care much about but for this PC I feel compelled to make it look awesome. I won't add it anyway until I have some change to spare.

 

[malbluff]

Nothing wrong with any of those choices, will all work well together. Sabretooth is good mobo, although, frankly overpriced. You can get same features, for less, but understand its attraction, and it's a matter of personal choice.

 

[Jayc0pSIN]

Nothing wrong with any of those choices, will all work well together. Sabretooth is good mobo, although, frankly overpriced. You can get same features, for less, but understand its attraction, and it's a matter of personal choice.

Do you have any suggestions for another good mobo?

 

[malbluff]

If you want best quality, stick with Asus. All their boards, in P8Z77 range are good. It's just a question of picking which one is closest to your exact needs. On Asus' site, it's easy to compare specs for two or three boards, side by side, so you can see what you gain, or lose, between boards. Personally, I like the VPro, that gives EVERYTHING, that most people want, but a different one may be best, for YOU.

 

[Jayc0pSIN]

I checked out the Asus site and compared the sabertooth, the V Pro and some others (quite a list of features they all have). And it seems to me that the V Pro is the better choice, which also saves me €20. An added bonus is the integrated WiFi, so I save another couple of bucks I would have to spend on a USB or PCI WiFi. So thank you for that suggestion.

I think I'm about ready to order all the parts. I was actually hoping for some more opinions from more people (the german sites probably scared them off) and expecting more criticism. I'll take it as a sign that I did my research well. Thanks malbluff, for your help. You will get a special mention at my 'ON' switching ceremony (me, the power button and a beer , don't worry the beer and the power button will be on opposite sides of the room).

I will order the parts tomorrow morning. Any more opinions are welcome.

 

[malbluff]

The beer AFTER the on, or, at least, the 2nd or 3rd one.lol.

 

[Jayc0pSIN]

I think when that day finally comes I will be more interested in that power button.