Intel Gaming System Recommended for 5 yrs.

[pgerv]

Here you guys go, this build kicks ass.! I have only been researching INTEL because the first thing i googled was "AMD vs INTEL on gaming" and it was clear INTEL is kicking ass right now. On a side not i would like to point out that ASUS mobo's LAST for ever.

The 2 main concerns of mine when building this PC were: Being able to run any game on max settings for at least 3 yrs without OC, then when i need to OC in the future i will get a d14 Noctura air cooler for 100$ and be fine for another 2 years approx. As well as making sure i researched the best parts designed by the best companies based on reviews to last long.

here it is.


CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($86.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($134.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA 02G-P4-2678-KR GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (389.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C8D-8GAB (34.99 @ Newegg right now)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible. (39.99 @ Newegg)


ANY suggestions,tips,FEEDBACK? hook me up.

 

[twelve25]

Well for starters you can't overclock a 3450.

GTX670 is nice, but in 5 years it's going to be worse than a $75 graphics card. There is no such thing as a future proof system, and planning 5 years out is impossible.

 

[g-unit1111]

Well for starters you can't overclock a 3450.

GTX670 is nice, but in 5 years it's going to be worse than a $75 graphics card. There is no such thing as a future proof system, and planning 5 years out is impossible.

It's definitely true that you can't future proof a build. The only real way to do so is to not limit your expansion options. If you want a serious system I'd go with a 3570K and a 7970, but knowing the budget would help.

 

[raytseng]

You can overclock the 3450 by 400mhz same as all the non-k i5s. But you should be able to get the 3470 for like $5 more or the same price and get extra 100mhz boost there. then $10 for for the next bump and so on.

Your cost increases at newegg:
max stock speed, id, price

3.5 3450 $195
3.6 3470 $200
3.7 3550 $210
3.8 3570 $215
3.8k 3570k $230

You can do your +4 oc right off the bat, you don't need to wait 3years down the line, and you don't need a $100 cpu cooler to do it. The 212evo is enough.

Everyone who bought their k processors and are overclocking "only" 400mhz or less are the rubes, not those who bought non-k.

It's up to you if you think you need the extra cpu speed, but even, if you think about een if you get the 300extra mhz between 3.5->3.8,it is only 10% or so.


With your SSD, I'd rather get a 2TB HDD since it's just bulk storage.
If you need 1tb, before you know it, you will be wishing you had 2 tb. I don't know if blue gets you anything really, all hdds fail these days...

now onto the bulk of my suggestion:
That being said, pretty much game performance is linear to your graphics cards budget. So focus on that area rather than the CPU. Already ifyou think about it, your GPU budget is 2x the CPU budget, so you should be worried 2x as much about your choice there.
So put aside your money to SLI down the line and don't worry about the CPU.


The strategies are either spend $200 worth of video cards every couple of years to stay just behind the curve.

Or to spend $400 now and eek it out for longer before hitting a game you can't play anymore then doing a bigger upgrade or complete new build perhaps every 4years or so.

The strategy to buy 1 card now, then SLI in the future, is a bet based on how much you think the card will drop in price down the line.

If you think the card will come down from $400->$200, then you saved $200 but gave up having that extra sli performance for the time that you waited.

If however the card only goes down from $400->395, then you are only saving $5 and gave up having the card for all that time.

 

[pgerv]

-So you're saying the gtx 670 is too much for even the i5-3570 because the price of the 670 is double the i5-3570?
-I will get the i5-3570k and i will overclock it with the evo as you suggested.. and not spend 100$ on the noctura/hastle.

-Is it a waste if iam only going to overclock when i lag out in say a 40 man wow raid? like..will i need to overclock with this build ever? can you even notice a difference in graphics when you overclock you're CPU? or does it just make things load faster?

 

[willyroc]

GTX 670s SLI won't bottleneck the 3450 at high resolutions. They would be just right for each other. The 670 is perfect for a 3450 at 1080p though. Just drop down to an H77 motherboard instead. And drop the cooler too. You most likely won't need it.

 

[xtreme5]

Leave extra discussion, get the 3570k only turbo it don't overclock it also pick a beast card like GTX 670 with 8GB of DDR3 1600mhz memory, then see your gaming performance your system will be crushing all the latest games on MAX setting I am sure about that cause I am still maxing games on my 2500k.