$900 gaming pc - suggestions/advice b4 purchase

[SkyQ88]

I'm looking to spend about $900 for a new gaming rig, current games that I play are diablo 3 and starcraft 2. I'm not big on overclocking, just want a solid pc that's very up-gradable in the future. please look over this build and give any advice/suggestions on parts, and any changes I can make to save some $ without too much loss on performance. - will be placing order tonight. thank you!



ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Item #: N82E16827135204
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204


Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136769
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

GIGABYTE GV-R787OC-2GD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video ...
Item #: N82E16814125418
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125418

Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-750 750W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified, Modular Design, Single +12V Rail, ATX12V v2.31/EPS12V ...
Item #: N82E16817182133
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182133

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144

ASRock Z77 Extreme3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157330
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157330

Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450
Item #: N82E16819116506
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116506

 

[jsrudd]

You don't need a 750w PSU. You should get a 550w PSU instead unless you plan to significantly upgrade you're graphics card or crossfire in the future.

 

[1337RPG]

Very nice build. If SC2 and D3 are all you play you will have no problem. This machine is way more than you need for those games. It's seems to be very up-gradable with room for 4-way SLI/Crossfire. And LGA1155 allows you to upgrade to an i7 in the future.

 

[Kiowa789]

Pretty good but a few minor changes need to be made

1. Get low profile vengeance instead
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

2. Get this 7870 intead, cheaper and better cooling
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161404

3. Since youre not overclocking can save a few bucks on the mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130647

4. Antec One > Three hundred IMO worth checking out atleast
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129181

EDIT: Yeah if your not going to crossfire in the future you can definately get a cheaper PSU and Mobo

Actually.

Get this 7870, rather than that, 5.00 more, and it offers better performance, by a huge margin
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127681

Also, don't spend so much on a case and PSU, you don't need 750w, only around 550w (I use 485 on max).

Get an i5 3570k, great for gaming.

 

[Kiowa789]

Why do you even bother posting lol? I dont think ive seen you share anything with even a shred of intelligence behind it.

No that 7870 is not a better performer. On the contrary its alot worse. The IceQ will let you overclock much higher, and it vents all the hot air out of the back of the case. Did i mention its cheaper too?

Hes not overclocking so the 3450 is just as good.

Clearly, based on his mobo and PSU choice he is thinking of crossfiring down the road. 750w is the perfect wattage for this.

Get a clue man cmon.

Actually.
Have some benchmarks.
=on&prod[5467]=on]http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2012-vga-gpgpu/compare,2942.html?prod[5650]=on&prod[5467]=on

 

[Kiowa789]

Nice link, and im sure those benchmarks arent of stock frequencies which is completely irrelevant. Just stop man. Go outside or something lol this is painful watching you try and think.

Its tom's hardware benchmarks.
The most un-bias benchmarks on the internet.
Those are stock, whats painful is watching you deny that I was right about the Graphics card.

 

[SkyQ88]

Thanks guys.

I switched out the ram for the low profile and videocard for the MSI R7870 HAWK Radeon HD 7870. jrgong, do you mind linking that case suggestion again it's not going through for me. thanks!

 

[mousseng]

If your budget is $900, you can get much better than that.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3550 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: NZXT HALE82 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $871.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

The CPU is a hair faster than the one you selected, for roughly the same price. The motherboard is also roughly on par with the Extreme3 (I'm currently avoiding recommending ASRock while I look into some quality issues that were raised in another thread). The Caviar Black is a much faster hard drive and offers twice as much storage, as well as a 5-year warranty. The power supply is a great Seasonic-made unit, and has enough headroom to Crossfire with 7950s (and is modular, to boot!). There is a single $20 rebate, so even if that doesn't go through you're still under budget.

 

[mousseng]

You're making quite a few assumptions, so let's just get SkyQ to clarify whether or not he's planning on Crossfire, and if he would like to order from only Newegg.

 

[bigshootr8]

Overall I think you have a good build there however I wouldn't touch rosewill power supplies I would suggest buying something better. This for example.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

 

[mousseng]

Just because he chose his all his parts from Newegg doesn't mean he's opposed to ordering elsewhere. Just because he chose a 750W power supply doesn't mean he's planning on Crossfire. Just because he chose a Caviar Blue doesn't mean he doesn't care about the warranty.

I'm not saying I didn't make assumptions - I don't particularly like to though, which is why I'm asking for some clarification. Nor am I saying all your points are invalid (or valid, for that matter) - the 3450 is much more affordable (I didn't see it in PCPP's list), and the D3SH isn't good for Crossfire (I thought it had 2 PCIe 3 slots; see, I'm assuming), I'll give you that.

However, I've not seen anything to indicate that the Barracuda 7200.12 is any faster than a Caviar Black. And on the PSU, it's only 'close' at its max load - see this and this.

 

[Novulux]

When purchasing my HD 7870, I was deciding between that IceQ and this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102983

One was from amazon which was still sale tax free for California at the time, and while the IceQ was cheaper and looked more appealing to me, I would have had to pay tax/shipping. I don't know if I would have noticed much of a difference either way.

 

[mousseng]

Why would he include all his parts from newegg and include a 750w PSU? For shits and giggles? Maybe its some freak coincidence but until he specifies otherwise why assume differently?

Perhaps he assumed Newegg has the best prices on everything, or isn't sure where else is reputable? I don't get why you're making such a fuss over this.

64mb cache vs 32 mb cache = seagate faster.

That might be true if the Caviar Black had 32MB cache. But it's got 64MB, just like the Seagate.

Of course its only close at max load, but it will be at max load often when gaming furthermore it doesnt leave much leeway in terms of further expansion... Especially when those two wattages retail for the same price.

7950 Crossfire pulls ~290W during gaming; add in a 77W locked i5, and perhaps ~90W for the motherboard, hard drive, and fans, you get ~460W total under load. Considering the Hale82 puts out 636W max, I think he'll be fine, even taking overclocking into consideration.

Also, the most affordable 750W PSU I'd trust my hardware to is $10 more than the Hale, and that's with a rebate. Otherwise, it's $20.

 

[Kiowa789]

Look at what hes got in the op and then tell me whose making assumptions ;(

The rest of my points are valid regardless.

Objection!

You still, cannot assume that he wants to do crossfire, unless he states that he does.
And again, he is asking us for help, any tech smart person would not ask for help, if they really are tech smart (No offense to the OP, its ok, those who aren't as smart as some of us have plenty of room to learn more),

And again, that 7870 HAWK can still overclock like a monster, with the twin frozr on it, its unstoppable.

ALSO.

Again on the first point, don't assume anything, until the OP says its true, or false.