Building a gaming computer.

[FrayInDaCloudz]

Hi, My name is Alfredo. I am looking into building a gaming computer soon over at microcenter. I have built a computer before but it was also about 5 years ago. I sold it and have been using my laptop and am now in need of a new desktop. I have monitor, keyboard/speakers/os/etc, so just need the tower.
I was originally trying to spend around $850 before taxes/rebates. Then spend an extra $150-$300 in the near future to finish it. But am wiling to spend up to around $1000 now after looking at my optional graphic cards, and still spend extra in the future if needed.
Here is the template from the sticky, along with a mock build i set up on micro centers website, and a few extra ideas and things I was looking at for future investments.


Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next 2-3 weeks.

Budget Range: $1000 after rebate/ after taxes.

System Usage from Most to Least Important:Gaming, Web Design, Programming, other IT work/ college work.

Parts Not Required: Just need the tower, no peripherals.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Getting everything from microcenter (www.microcenter.com) am picking up in-store (Live 30 min away from one)

Country: USA.

Parts Preferences: Intel, Mid or full tower, open to ideas for brands.

Overclocking: In time yes.

SLI or Crossfire: In the future maybe.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Am willing to hold off on solid state/liquid cooling for a better graphics card.




Idea Build I already made:

Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 Processor
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0388577

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0387554

Corsair Vengeance Series 8GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354611

OCZ Technology 750 Watt Fatal1ty Series Modular ATX Power Supply
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354611

Samsung 22X DVDRW Burner with Dual Layer Support -
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0382892

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive WD1002FAEX - OEM
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331606

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Universal CPU Cooler
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315397

EVGA 02G-P4-3660-KR NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2048
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0397952

Was also looking at

EVGA 02G-P4-2670-KR NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2048MB...
http://www.microcenter.com/product/391000/02G-P4-2670-KR_NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_670_2048MB_GDDR5_PCIe_30_x16_Video_Card

The solid state I was looking at was also

Intel 330 2.5" 120GB SATA 6Gb/s Internal Solid State
http://www.microcenter.com/product/388571/330_25_120GB_SATA_6Gb-s_Internal_Solid_State_Drive_(SSD)

The Liquid Cooler I saw on their site.

Corsair Hydro Series H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler Kit
http://www.microcenter.com/product/391501/Hydro_Series_H100_Extreme_Performance_Liquid_CPU_Cooler_Kit

depending if I could increase my budget.

Microcenter Shopping Cart Total with 660 ti - $1,004.78 before rebate/after taxes. -$45 rebate.
with 670 - $1,100.18 before rebate/after taxes -$45 rebate.

both totals are without solid state/liquid cooler.

So with the 660 ti i was thinking get a solid state, or with 670 wait and get solid state later.
Or if any of you see something else that can get changed or should be changed, or any ideas I am open to listening.

Thanks,

Alfredo.

 

[TheBigTroll]

if you can buy the motherboard and CPU at micro instore, you can save quite a bit but otherwise, it makes more sense to buy elsewhere since it is almost always cheaper than the online price of microcenter

here you go
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kZKN

the msi 670 is the way to go. my other pick would be the windforce gtx670 from gigabyte. evga cards arent that great in terms of cooling so i dont recommend them unless you got a cramped case

i also assume you dont have a case so i included one

i have a better SSD.

hard drive change doesnt really matter that much to me. i like seagate but some people dont

cheaper ram

much better power supply. ocz power supplies are not worth gettting

 

[bambinobomber]

Are you going to get Borderlands 2 with the 660 ti? That would surely make it the better bang for the buck, and you could get the SSD as well.

and later on get a second one to do SLI.

 

[lycros]

Waiting for black friday?

 

[FrayInDaCloudz]

Are you going to get Borderlands 2 with the 660 ti? That would surely make it the better bang for the buck, and you could get the SSD as well.

and later on get a second one to do SLI.

I might, Right now I play battle field 3. They don't have a deal if thats what you are referring to.

And that was one of my ideas as well, to get that, the ssd, and SLI when I can afford a second one in the future.

Waiting for black friday?

Nah lol, I don't usually get a chance to go out on Black Friday. But If i do I will end up getting a second monitor.

 

[lycros]

Well if you're going to be buying in 2-3 weeks might be worth waiting another week for black friday / cyber monday. Not every amazing deal is a door buster deal.

Otherwise your build looks pretty good, the ram heatsinks might be too tall and I would get the 670 over the 660ti and just get an ssd later.

 

[FrayInDaCloudz]

if you can buy the motherboard and CPU at micro instore, you can save quite a bit but otherwise, it makes more sense to buy elsewhere since it is almost always cheaper than the online price of microcenter

here you go
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kZKN

the msi 670 is the way to go. my other pick would be the windforce gtx670 from gigabyte. evga cards arent that great in terms of cooling so i dont recommend them unless you got a cramped case

i also assume you dont have a case so i included one

i have a better SSD.

hard drive change doesnt really matter that much to me. i like seagate but some people dont

cheaper ram

much better power supply. ocz power supplies are not worth gettting

Thank you for the quick and in-depth response!

I am getting everything in-store, the online links are just a reference. That Is why I went with the as rock / intel i5 combo because they have it for a good deal.

In reference to the build you sent me.

Case - I have the case I like I saw in store, but I couldn't find it on their website. It was a big cooler master on sale for $109, but if price asked, i was going to lower to a lil bit smaller one for cheaper.

I could look for the parts you recommend over the parts I chose in-store but not sure if they are going to have everything.

I know they have that SSD, which I could get. along with going to a 750 w psu instead of 850.
I'm not sure if they have MSI, that is why i went with EVGA, I am pretty sure they have gigabyte, evga, zotac, pny, galaxy.

http://microcenter.com/product/391175/GV-N670C-2GD_NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_670_2048MB_GDDR5_PCIe_30_x16_Video_Card Is the gigabyte card I found online for the 670 at microcenter, and all my options are based of what they have in-store. But it is also possible for them to have stuff in-store they do not have online.

Are you also recommending I buy part in store and the rest online? I haven't thought of that (mainly cause of the waiting im-between) but it could be an option.

Thanks,
Alfredo

 

[FinneousPJ]

If you're not going to OC and SLI now then don't bother investing in compatible parts, that's a waste of money. Instead get a better GPU to begin with.

 

[FrayInDaCloudz]

Well if you're going to be buying in 2-3 weeks might be worth waiting another week for black friday / cyber monday. Not every amazing deal is a door buster deal.

Otherwise your build looks pretty good, the ram heatsinks might be too tall and I would get the 670 over the 660ti and just get an ssd later.

Yeah i honestly, did not think of black friday, so I will look at that as an option to see what Microcenter is doing.

And yeah, the 670 is quite better then the 660 ti, so might be better in the long run.

 

[FrayInDaCloudz]

If you're not going to OC and SLI now then don't bother investing in compatible parts, that's a waste of money. Instead get a better GPU to begin with.

I do plan to OC, and sli when I can afford to, so no reason not to get the build that I can afford now and make it better in the future.

 

[lycros]

A lot of people just buy the cpu/mobo combo at microcenter because of the amazing deal and then buy everything else on newegg/amazon because it's much cheaper.

 

[FinneousPJ]

I do plan to OC, and sli when I can afford to, so no reason not to get the build that I can afford now and make it better in the future.

If not in the near future chances are you're better off just replacing parts.

 

[FrayInDaCloudz]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/l07I

is the build I set up using parts I know I found in-store at micro center.

All the parts I am pretty sure I saw there, and were mostly all cheaper then newegg.

 

[TheBigTroll]

change the ram. it doesnt fit under the hyper 212 evo

personally i hate all cooler master cases other than the haf xm (which happens to be my other favourite case). thats my opinion but you dont have to follow it

the power supply can use changing. my xfx xxx 750w is modular and more efficient than the corsair tx750w v2. makes no sense to get it

 

[FrayInDaCloudz]

change the ram. it doesnt fit under the hyper 212 evo

personally i hate all cooler master cases other than the haf xm (which happens to be my other favourite case). thats my opinion but you dont have to follow it

the power supply can use changing. my xfx xxx 750w is modular and more efficient than the corsair tx750w v2. makes no sense to get it

The only reason I chose the ram and the psu is to keep all the parts at microcenter, I don't see Gskill nor Xfx at my microcenter though.

Other ideas for ram and psu that I saw are
Ram: Corsair, Crucial, Kingston, Patriot, PNY. and a few others
for psu i saw some thermaltakes that are nice if OCZ is not good, and a few other brands.

 

[TheBigTroll]

thermaltake power supplies are also not that great

in 2012, unless there is a massive deal instore or that it is groceries, you should be buying stuff online. plus, if you buy online, you cant lose the receipt since you can always print another.

so yeah, buy online

 

[phenom90]

why don'y just get a hd 7950.. with another upcoming driver updates.. it'll be a much better choice than nvidia..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Video%20Cards-_-Sapphire%20Tech-_-14202006&AID=10440897&PID=3938566&SID=



http://www.techpowerup.com/174145/AMD-Announces-Never-Settle-Catalyst-12.11-Driver-Update.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/174146/AMD-Also-Announces-Never-Settle-Game-Bundles.html