Better gaming build?

[Tibbi64]

- Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129178
Antec Eleven Hundred Black

- Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821
ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

- CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I72600K

- RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233143
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9

[I'd like to get 16 GBs of RAM even if I don't use it right away. But I want to have lots of programs running.]

- Graphics Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162119
Galaxy 66NNH7DV6WXZ GeForce GTX 660 Ti GC 3GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

[Games will be playing Sims 3 & Sims 4 and new SimCity when its released. I also would like a 3GB RAM]

- OS hard drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148444
Crucial M4 CT512M4SSD2 2.5" 512GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

[The Sims 3 and Eps take up a lot of space]

- Hard drive Storage - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136891
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
Western Digital WD Green WD20EARX 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

[I have my reasons for the 2 TB and 1 TB drive, for my movies and TV shows]

TV tuner - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116036
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit Dual TV Tuner w/ IR Remote PCI-E x 1

[Anything better than this with a remote.]

DVD/Bluray - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106348
LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback iHBS212-08 LightScribe Support

CPU Fan - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible with Intel 1366/1155/775 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+

[Should I get this or use the stock fan with cpu]

Fans extra - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103052
COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-124K-GP 120mm Case Fan 4 in 1 pack

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817190033
XION AXP-1000K14XE 1000W ATX SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80+ Bronze Modular Power Supply

[Not sure if this is too many watts..? I know it bad to get one that is too few. Any advice on the psu.]

And I like this monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236261
ASUS VK248H-CSM Black 24" 2ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED-Backlit LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50000000:1 Built-in Speakers&Webcam

Thanks, I am hoping to order everything in December. Is there anything I need or to change. I know it adds up but I want to build a nice system that I will not have to upgrade as new games comes out. And I want to learn to overclock. I'm already tech savy but just never built a computer. I have installed RAM, Graphics cards, and hard drives.

 

[thedimsum]

IMHO:
-Get the DDR3 1866 RAM over DDR3 1600
-Would try to find a better option then Caviar Green HDD
-Go with a 750w Corsair PSU the TX Enthusiast series with modular cables is a nice
-Might be able to bring down the SSD drive from 500gb to 256 and save some $, you can install normal programs on another HDD and leave the games that you play regularly and the OS on the SSD

P.S. Check out microcenter.com and see if they have a store nearby, they sell the i7-3770k for $230 and usually have some decent processor and mb bundle sales.

 

[Tibbi64]

I did just look at droping the ssd size down. And what would be better hard drive for storage, brand type? I can buy those later. I have two 500 GB in my desktop now I can use. Whats different with the 1866 RAM faster?

Thanks for the input.

 

[willard]

Thanks, I am hoping to order everything in December. Is there anything I need or to change. I know it adds up but I want to build a nice system that I will not have to upgrade as new games comes out. And I want to learn to overclock.

With that in mind, let's go through your part choices.

- Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129178
Antec Eleven Hundred Black

Good case, lots of room. Choice of case is largely personal preference, though it will have an impact on thermal headroom and thus overclocking. Good to see you aren't skimping here.

- Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821
ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Solid board, lots of possibility for expansion.

- CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I72600K

Do not buy this processor. If you want to reach crazy high overclocks without worrying too much about heat, get the 2500k. If you want to play the heat management game, get the 3570k. For a gaming build, hyperthreading does nothing, so the 2600k and 3770k are another $100 for 0% performance increase (for a gamer).

- RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233143
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9

[I'd like to get 16 GBs of RAM even if I don't use it right away. But I want to have lots of programs running.]

Don't get 16GB of memory. 8GB is already the point where you have more than enough. 16GB will just give you another 8GB of memory that will never be used. I run far more stuff on my computer than the average person (typically a game running, plus a web browser and several dozen tabs, plus one or more instances of Visual Studio 2010, and other assorted programs). I've never seen my computer use more than 5GB of memory, and typically it's at less than 4GB.

Trust me, you will see precisely zero benefit from another 8GB of memory. You will never, ever, ever have enough programs open to use more than 8GB. It's not going to future proof you any more either. Memory usage has been pretty steady for several years. I doubt we'll see a consumer need for 16GB of memory this decade.

- Graphics Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162119
Galaxy 66NNH7DV6WXZ GeForce GTX 660 Ti GC 3GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

[Games will be playing Sims 3 & Sims 4 and new SimCity when its released. I also would like a 3GB RAM]

Why splurge everywhere but the video cards for a gaming rig? This is literally the most important component. Get a GTX 670 or HD 7970 GHz edition instead. They'll max out any game on the market at 1080p.

- OS hard drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148444
Crucial M4 CT512M4SSD2 2.5" 512GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

[The Sims 3 and Eps take up a lot of space]

Not that much space. Not even close. Maybe a few dozen gigabytes. At any rate, you'd get better performance by using two smaller drives and putting your games on one and the OS on the other, to further deconflict the drive. I'd recommend a pair of 120 GB drives. They're economical and 120GB is plenty to hold a ton of games, including The Sims 3 and its expansions.

Also, the amount of VRAM on the card is totally irrelevant. There is no difference between a 1GB card, a 2GB card and a 3GB card until you get to insanely high resolutions with the eye candy turned all the way up. For 1080p, a 1GB card is fine for almost everything. 2GB is enough for the rest.

- Hard drive Storage - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136891
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
Western Digital WD Green WD20EARX 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

[I have my reasons for the 2 TB and 1 TB drive, for my movies and TV shows]

Simple enough to just create folders on one drive, or even to partition a single drive into two if you really, really want different drive letters assigned to your TV and Movies. Also, 7200RPM is a waste for media files. A cheap 5400 RPM drive can read them plenty fast. I'd recommend either a pair of 2GB drives, or a single 3GB drive. I see no good reason to get two drives.

TV tuner - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116036
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit Dual TV Tuner w/ IR Remote PCI-E x 1

Know nothing about TV tuners, sorry.

DVD/Bluray - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106348
LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback iHBS212-08 LightScribe Support

Any particular reason you're going with a Blu-ray burner? I know it's not much more, but media is absurdly expensive, and with 3TB+ of storage, I don't see much of a need for burning large backup discs. If it's for transferring your media to a Blu-ray player for viewing, it would be cheaper and easier to just set up DLNA streaming. Pretty much everything supports it these days.

CPU Fan - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible with Intel 1366/1155/775 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+

[Should I get this or use the stock fan with cpu]

The stock fan is not close to adequate for overclocking. The Hyper 212+ is a monster at its price point. The overclocks in my sig were accomplished with that cooler, though I replaced the fan with a Cougar 120mm, and added a second for push/pull to get noise down.

Fans extra - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103052
COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-124K-GP 120mm Case Fan 4 in 1 pack

Why? Your case already comes with plenty of fans. This won't increase cooling substantially, but it will make your computer louder. Ditch them.

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817190033
XION AXP-1000K14XE 1000W ATX SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80+ Bronze Modular Power Supply

[Not sure if this is too many watts..? I know it bad to get one that is too few. Any advice on the psu.]

Way, way, way too much. A good 450W PSU can handle a single video card. 550W is better. More than that is overkill unless you plan to add a second or third card later, but even then you can just use multiple PSUs and save money (I've got a PSU dedicated to each video card in my rig).

And I like this monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236261
ASUS VK248H-CSM Black 24" 2ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED-Backlit LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50000000:1 Built-in Speakers&Webcam

Spending this much money and I'd absolutely go with something nicer, and larger. Good 27" monitors can be had for not much more than that one.

 

[Tibbi64]

Also what the difference between semi modular and modular? Will either fit that case?

 

[willard]

-Get the DDR3 1866 RAM over DDR3 1600

So he picks too much memory and your advice is not to get an appropriate amount, but to make the memory even faster? There's very little benefit to Intel chips for memory beyond DDR3-1600 because the memory controller is so good. AMD sees a much bigger impact of memory speeds, because they have to make up for their inefficiencies in the controller.

-Would try to find a better option then Caviar Green HDD

For media storage? Why? You don't need low latency or high throughput to play or stream media files.

-Go with a 750w Corsair PSU the TX Enthusiast series with modular cables is a nice

Way more than he needs. 450W would be fine.

-Might be able to bring down the SSD drive from 500gb to 256 and save some $, you can install normal programs on another HDD and leave the games that you play regularly and the OS on the SSD

That eliminates the whole point of getting an SSD if you install your programs to a mechanical drive. You're then spending hundreds of dollars for nothing more than a faster boot and game loads that are a second quicker. I think I'd rather extend the benefit to the whole computer, don't you think? 256GB is more than enough to handle all the things normal users install, and even large steam libraries can be managed with Steam Mover to keep games you're actually playing on the SSD.

P.S. Check out microcenter.com and see if they have a store nearby, they sell the i7-3770k for $230 and usually have some decent processor and mb bundle sales.

The 3770k is a waste for gaming, and actually most things. 3570k is far more economical for a gamer, and the 2500k more economical still.

 

[thedimsum]

Personal experience with caviar Green HDD at work seems to like to die a lot but if is for storage it could be fine . 3770k is not the much of a waste if the price is right for over $300 I would also say go for the i5 but if he can get it get it at just over $200 is not a bad option. SSD drive prices are still pretty high and most programs do not benefit that much from being on a SSD drive only certain intensive programs such as solidworks benefits from being on a SSD unless s/he wants to stockpile everything on a SSD, it's cheaper to go with a smaller SSD drive and have non essential programs on a normal HDD.

 

[willard]

Personal experience with caviar Green HDD at work seems to like to die a lot but if is for storage it could be fine

All HDDs die a lot. I've heard lots of hearsay about how bad the Green drives are, but I've seen plenty in use and never actually known one to die.

3770k is not the much of a waste if the price is right for over $300 I would also say go for the i5 but if he can get it get it at just over $200 is not a bad option.

No matter how cheap the 3770k is going to be, that same place will be selling the 3570k for less (how would they sell any if the better chip were less expensive?). Since the 3770k doesn't do a single thing for gaming, that's wasted money. Take that money and put it into something that actually matters. Foolish to do otherwise when components like the video card can be upgraded easily.

SSD drive prices are still pretty high and most programs do not benefit that much from being on a SSD drive only certain intensive programs such as solidworks benefits from being on a SSD unless s/he wants to stockpile everything on a SSD, it's cheaper to go with a smaller SSD drive and have non essential programs on a normal HDD.

This is untrue. Every program must be read from disk. 100% of them, no exceptions. The latency and speed of your disk is what determines how quickly it can be read from disk. Thus, 100% of programs benefit from SSDs.

The types of things that don't benefit as much are things where there is a lot of CPU work during loading. Things like games. The things you told him to put on the SSD, to replace the things that don't have this problem.

 

[thedimsum]

If going for complete economical value I agree that the i5 is definitely the way to go, but my view s/he was set to spend that much already might as well get the i7.

I've replace plenty of HDD to SSD and honestly do not see a real noticeable difference for most programs from SSD to HDD. They might have some preformace boost from being on a SSD but I don't think is worth it.

 

[Guest]

If going for complete economical value I agree that the i5 is definitely the way to go, but my view s/he was set to spend that much already might as well get the i7.

The problem with that logic is it will do nothing for gaming, whereas getting a better GPU will increase his FPS.

Most people just see i7 and go OMG ITS SO MUCH BETTER, I NEEDS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[willard]

The problem with that logic is it will do nothing for gaming, whereas getting a better GPU will increase his FPS.

Most people just see i7 and go OMG ITS SO MUCH BETTER, I NEEDS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Exactly. It's not that it isn't faster, or better. It's that it doesn't do anything for him.

 

[redgarl]

I have 3 caviar green HDD and they are good for storage. One of them is giving me difficulties lately, but the drive is about 3 years old.

As for gaming, you should go core i5 with dual GPU. Both AMD and Nvidia offer really good results.

Also... memory speed...? Really? Buy slower memory and OC, you will end up with barely the same FPS.

For the case, if you could grab a cheap R02B Raven...

By the way... SSD not impressive...? I have 2 and tend to really differ. Game loadings are extremely impacted. I still remember my old system loading time, it was hell >

 

[Hazle]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nIyk

grab an i5, and you very well could spend on a better GPU as many has expressed above. an i7 in gaming gives a VERY negligible boost at best.

motherboard's the best there is, build quality wise. a ~$130-140 board can work just as well, but you'll be sacrificing quality.

8gb is more than plenty. if you ever need more, ram's pretty easy to upgrade. memory speed isn't going to help in gaming by a whole lot.

seagate barracuda and WD caviar black/blue are fine as well for storage if reliability is a concern. SSD is more than plenty for your OS + a game or two.

your build should be able to run with a 550W PSU just fine, so consider one from Antec, Corsair or Seasonic among others highlighted in this list, if you're looking to save up a bit more; http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

Tier 2 & 3 are fine. if you have plans to CF/SLI, consider a 750W PSU instead, preferably in Tier 1.

don't know much about BR drives, so change it as you wish

 

[Tibbi64]

Thanks for all the advice. And I am a girl Love being a nerd.