First home build, budget of $2500, currently at 1700.

Alex19420

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Sep 18, 2012
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I have never built a pc before, but I have finally reached the point where I feel I know enough to give it a go. (Thanks to forums like this one, overclock.net, and newegg's very helpful video tutorial on how to actually build the pc.)

Basically I have a few questions on my current build and am looking for any constructive criticism. So here it is.

Case - Thermaltake lvl 10 GT

Motherboard - ASUS P8Z68 - V PRO/GEN3 (my questions on this are : how "future-proof is this motherboard and, it may sound stupid, but are there any motherboards similar to this that are black or black and red? I'm not a huge fan of the bright blue color.)

PSU - Corsair professional series HX750

CPU - Intel core i5 2500k 3.3Ghz( some people recommend getting the i7's for a little more, I was just wondering your opinions on this. )

CPU Fan - Coolermaster hyper 212

SSD - Crucial M-4 128Gb (maybe 256Gb)

HDD - Western digital Caviar Black 1Tb

Ram - G skill Ares Series 8Gb (2x4)

Optical drive - LG back 10x BD-ROM 16x DVD-ROM

GPU - AMD 7970( this is where I'm having some trouble, with all the different manufacturers and various negative and positive reviews on them I have no clue. )

Other info:

Overclocking: Maybe.
SLI/Crossfire: Maybe.
OS: Purchasing windows 7 HP
Monitor: Purchasing a 1920x1080


Any constructive criticism or advice is much appreciated and thanks in advance.

 

malbluff

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Rather than get 2500K and Z68 board, I would suggest i5-3570K and Z77 motherboard. Better performance/ features, more up to date, for small additional cost. If you want a really good looking board, you can use Republic of Gamers (red), by Asus. Gives you some sophisticated capabilities, but not especially cheap.
Finding your way around the "high-end" graphics cards can be confusing. Have you any particular games you want to play well, or do you want a decent average performance over many games?
 

emperor piehead

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jump up to ivy bridge first z77/i5-3570k. thermaltake make cheap products get a better brand (corsair, antec, nzxt, silverstone, coolermaster). for the 7970 gigabyte has a good cooler and it is a ghz edition link below. on the ssd go for the 256gb, the best brand is intel link below. Crucial is value not speed. dont go for the i7 there is little gain performance unless you are video editing or something similar.

graphics card= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125439

intel ssd= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167086

i5-3570k= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

mobo red= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157298

mobo black= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128558
 
This XFX psu down below is manufactured by Seasonic as are all XFX psu's. Windows 7 is combo'd with the motherboard. Just add a case to this build.


http://www.amazon.com/XFX-PRO750W-Semi-Modular-80Plus-Supply/dp/B005IUVYA2/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1347949610&sr=1-4 $111.71 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping | Price after rebate: $101.71
XFX PRO750W XXX Edition Semi-Modular 80Plus 750 Watt Power Supply (Silver)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1032178 $279.98 save: $10.00 FREE SHIPPING
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1053944 $290.98 - $15.00 Mail In Rebates save: $18.00 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
Cooler Master TPC 812 RR-T812-24PK-R1 120mm Sleeve with Dual Vertical Vapor Chamber TPC 812 CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226245 $59.99 FREE SHIPPING
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model 997015

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD-RW-Serial-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=pd_sim_pc_3 $23.49 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B0036Q7MV0/ref=sr_1_5?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1347949429&sr=1-5 $98.03 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX

http://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-7PC256B-WW/dp/B0077CR66A/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1348117460&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=samsung+256gb $192.75 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC256B/WW

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127685 $409.99 - $400.00 after $10.00 rebate
MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127685 $409.99 - $400.00 after $10.00 rebate
MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Total: $1,816.92 *not including shipping & rebates


http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_670_Power_Edition/ <----- review of that MSI GTX 670 w/benchmarks

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Extreme6/ <----- another look at that board along with a link to the latest bios update

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77-extreme6-z77a-gd65-z77h2-a2x,3187.html <----- review of that board w/benchmarks

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2654 <----- review of that CM cpu h/s @ Frosty Tech

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm <----- that same CM cpu h/s on Frosty Tech's Top 5 list


120Hz refresh rate monitor. If your going to have that much GPU firepower than 120Hz is the only way to go. It makes gaming smooth as butter.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824014270 $389.99
BenQ XL2420T Black-Red 24" 5ms (2ms GTG) HDMI Widescreen Height & Pivot Adjustable LED-Backlit 120Hz 3D-Ready LCD Monitor 350 cd/m2 DC 12M:1 (1000:1)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116513 $469.99 FREE SHIPPING
ViewSonic V3D245 Black 23.6" 2ms HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD 120Hz 3D Monitor 300 cd/m2 20,000,000:1 w/ Speakers & 3D glasses


Some headsets to have a look at.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826570017 $59.99 - $49.99 after $10.00 rebate FREE SHIPPING
Cooler Master CM Storm Sonuz 3.5mm Connector Circumaural Gaming Headset

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826570018 $79.99 FREE SHIPPING
Cooler Master CM Storm Sirus S 3.5mm Connector Circumaural 5.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset
 

arzbhatia

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Aug 1, 2012
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You could do a LOT better with a budget of 2500$ ! :)

Have a look at this -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus V Formula EATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.59 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card ($530.25 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D ATX Full Tower Case ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($149.98 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2005.74
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Now isn't that nice?

CPU: It's the best CPU in the LGA1155 market. 3770K comes over the 3570K just because it has HyperThreading - Which is good for editing/graphic work. A 3570K is ideal for gaming though.

RAM: It's the best RAM I've used yet. I use the same one. I'm so happy with it! It overclocks like craaazy.

Graphics Card - The DCII variant of the GTX680 complete BLOWS! It's so amazing - And like thebigtroll said - NVIDIA cards have more features than ATi - I realized this when I switched from NVIDIA to ATi, I will be switching back to NVIDIA in the near future.

Motherboard - That's one of the BEST motherboard I've ever used. Mind-blowing audio, craaaazzzy overclocking ability - Has EVERYTHING you need. It's honestly the second best in the LGA1155 market (The Maximus V Extreme comes first)

SSD - Undoubtedly, that's an amazing SSD. But you can find something better which might cost you a little more.

PSU - Corsair is great as a PSU manufacturer. I absolutely love Corsair PSUs. The HX850 is MORE than enough for handling ANYTHING.

Optical Drive - The fastest BD Drive available in the market.

Cooler - The H100 is the best I've used. I actually found it much better than the Thermaltake Water 2.0 that everybody suggests - I've used both. The H100 seemed/looked way better. The temperature levels were almost the same.
 

idroid

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Aug 18, 2012
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here:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: TUNIQ Tower 120 Extreme 90.7 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.Sniper 3 EATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($280.01 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.98 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: VisionTek Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($419.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: VisionTek Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($419.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($149.98 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Samsung S23A700D 120Hz 23.0" Monitor ($379.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2394.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-22 17:51 EDT-0400)
 
Solution

Alex19420

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Sep 18, 2012
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I more or less just want to run games like skyrim (with system demanding mods) guild wars 2, diablo 3 and Bf3 on ultra with playable fps.

To everyone saying I could build a much better system, you're probably right, that's why I am asking you guys ha. But honestly I know nothing about running cards in sli or crossfire and put maybe on that because somewhere down the line when the pc can now longer run games on high I'd like to figure it out. ( I figure the cards will be cheaper then as opposed to now where I really don't need them.)


 

arzbhatia

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You can run those games at ultra even with a $1100 build. You don't need to spend that much. Seriously!
 
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/340/276/e77.jpg

*Games don't benefit from having an i7, in fact if you have HT ON your gaming performance will be reduced because games can not properly use more than 4 cores and if you turn HT you will be "splitting" the 4 strong cores into 8 weak cores

*There is 0 difference between 1866 and 1600 RAM and 16GB are not needed for almost anything, games only use about ~3GB of RAM because they're mostly coded under a 32bit codification.

*Seriously?? a GTX680?? there is a reason why NO BODY on this forum recommends the GTX680 and that reason is its low price/performance ratio, a 7970Ghz edition which can be found for as low as 413$ on some sites outperforms it!!! and what Nvidia do you REALLY use??? i only have a quad GTX680 setup because play @5760x1080 with Nvidia 3D vision 2 enabled (the only 3D mode my monitors support)

*Why would want a extremely good overclocking board if Ivy can't be overclocked beyond 4.7Ghz without using a high-end liquid cooler or liquid nitrogen????? the audio is OK (i have the Asus Rampage IV Extreme x79) yes, its great but not as good as the one in the Gigabyte Sniper/Assassin motherboards.

*Yes the Crucial M4 is good but both the Vertex 4 and Samsung 830 outperform it for the SAME price.

*Why? WHY? why would you linked an 850w PSU for a SINGLE card setup?? if you add a second card the power consumption will be lower than 750w but if you add a third card you will need about 900w of power and for a forth card you will need about 1100W to overclock them and making sure you will not run into stability issues caused by low power.

*A corsair Obisdian 800D??? buddy, the Switch 810 costs a lot less and it offers better watercooling/aircooling capabilities and if you want a true watercooling ready case then you need the Azza Fusion 4000 or the Caselabs STH10.

*The H100 is no where near as good as a Thermaltake Water 2.0 extreme, stop lying, you have NEVER tested them before because you would have noticed that the Thermaltake water 2.0 extreme is a LOT quieter and them temps are fairly lower.

*you forgot the monitor genius.

-the extreme boards dont have good onboard audio. you get the standard audio chip but asus does some magic to make it sound better than usual. the formula board has about the same audio as a dx 7.1

-i hit 4.5ghz with 1.15v stably but it took me 1.185 to reach 4.6ghz and then 1.23v to get 4.7. after that i needed like 1.3v to reach 4.8.

-the water 2.0 extreme is just a h100 with much quieter fans but a double thick dual rad.
 

Alex19420

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Sep 18, 2012
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I probably put my foot in my mouth there a bit, what I meant was I don't need anything like 100+ fps on bf3 just around 60 on the most demanding games. It is interesting that you recommend an i7 though, as most people say they're not good for gaming, could you explain why you chose an i7? Also is 16gb ram necissary? Don't most games use only 2gb?
 

Alex19420

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Sep 18, 2012
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Oh so basically getting the i7 would just make the pc a little worse for gaming but better for other tasks, making the pc more useful for everyday things.
 

idroid

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+1!! what TRULY makes a PC better for day to day usage is an SSD!
 

Alex19420

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Sep 18, 2012
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Ok, thanks for clarifying that.(I was under the impression that i7s were horrid for gaming, but you're basically saying they perform a bit worse for extra money, reason enough for me to stay away)

Back to your original post you're saying swap the i5-2500k with an i5-3570k and I'm good to go?

And droid you're saying I should get a second 7970 and replace most of the components for higher quality varients?
 

Alex19420

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Haha yeah man I'd LIKE to do that eventually, but there's a few things I need first:
1:$$$

2: Experience

3:$$$$$
 

idroid

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i thought you had a 2500$ budget :( well... you can skip buying one 7970 for now and buy it later when you feel you needed and don't worry.... you can use ANY other 7970 you want.
 

idroid

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Cuz the 7970GHz edition from sapphire are a bit more expensive and according to a LOT of newegg reviews the card is VERY quiet and most of them say the card never gets beyond 65°C under full load.
 

Alex19420

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No, you're mistaking what I meant lol. I DO have enough for the 2,300 build you posted, I was saying I don't have enough for the 4 total 7970s and two additional monitors haha. As for your 2,300 build, I like it, but I have no idea what to do as far as sli is concerned, so that's something I'm going to have to look into soon.