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$1200-$1500 Gaming PC

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Hello, community i'am ready to fork out around $1500 for a new gaming pc for the next 1-2 years. These are the parts i plan to buy, just wondering on perhaps any tips or improvements that could be made, thankyou in advance.

Intel Core i5 3570k 3.40GHz

Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H LGA1155 Mainboard

Kingston 8GB Kit (2x4G) PC12800 (1600MHz) HyperX KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX

Intel 520 Series 60GB SSD

WD Caviar Green 1TB WD10EZRX

Antec Strictly VP-650P 650W Power Supply

NZXT Phantom USB 3.0 White Case

and lastly i'am deciding between a 660 TI for $330 or a Gigabyte GTX 670 OC for $400 ish(or wait for 700 series and hope for price drops?)

Also thinking of throwing in two Samsung S24B300H 24in Widescreen LED Monitor



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Gaming Expert

I wouldn't get a microATX board considering your budget and the casing.

Get at least a 128gb SSD. You'll find 60/64gb units to be very limited since the OS will more or less take half the capacity. Also, get the Vertex 4, Sasmsung 830/840, or Crucial M4 instead.

660 Ti isn't really that great thanks to its crippling bus rate. 670 is the way to go. Though if you want more bang for your buck, the 7970 outperforms it at the same price point.

There really isn't much place for 650w PSUs as of yet.
Single GPU systems would only need a max of 500-550w, while 2-way Crossfire would be mostly suggested a 750w unit.

Can I get a link to that Kingston RAM? Most of them run @ 1.65v and Intel voids warranties for any RAM running more than 1.5v. An easier and more efficient way is to just buy an 8gb kit from Corsair(preferably Vengeance Low Profile) or G.Skill Ares/Sniper.
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Gaming Expert

Yeah that thing needs 1.65v.

AMD cards have the price : performance at the moment, and their Catalyst drivers have been great and improving so far, so don't worry too much. They're a good manufacturer.

And I don't know about price drops, sorry. Judging from recent happenings though, nVidia hasn't really done any even though AMD wins on pricing at practically every tier.

Do you mind if I suggest parts from other stores there in Australia?

Alright thanks, I'll change the ram up :D . Alrighties so the 7970 is what you suggest? I will have a look at AMD, i have been mostly been looking at Nvidia >.<.

And no worries, I don't know too many places to buy computer parts. I have 3 other sites .. centrecom , msy and pccasegear that i may buy from

Alrighties, thanks your help is appreciated.

*update.. i have decided im happy to fork out another $200 so i can spend $1700, so maybe get an i7 instead or a 680, more ram or something etc... not quite sure aha

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Gaming Expert

Naw, there's virtually no difference in terms of gaming performance between the i7 and the i5. You'll just be wasting ~$100.

Same with the 680. It performs too close to the 670, you'll be paying ~$100 for a 5% increase in performance.

Okay, here's one.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($233.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($139.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Storage: Plextor M5S Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($174.99 @ Mwave Australia)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($469.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case ($189.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($158.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($22.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 3-Pack (64-bit) ($99.00 @ Scorptec)
Total: $1610.99
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-10 01:39 EST+1100)

This is OC and Crossfire-ready. You can add a 2nd GPU in the future without upgrading wattage.

The SSD is where you'll install your OS, most used programs, games and apps for greatly accelerated boot-up and little to no loading times.

Feel free to change the casing as they are mostly personal preference. It's just a random suggestion.

The 7970GHz outperforms both the 670 and 680 in general, so it's a better buy.
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