My first gaming computer

[missileshield]

Hello, i'm new here so I apologize for anything unnecessary. As said, I plan on purchasing a gaming computer, however, I have little knowledge when it comes to the components of a PC. That being said, I have decided to look at CyberPower PCs in order to customize a Desktop capable of playing games like Skyrim(on ultra-high settings) and etc.
Will I use mods for them? Yes. Will I use many mods? Possibly.


The component summary is as follows:


*BASE_PRICE: [+939]
BLUETOOTH: None
CAS: Cooler Master Storm Scout II Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ USB 3.0, Carrying Handles (Black Color)
CASUPGRADE: None
CD: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)
CD2: None
COOLANT: Standard Coolant
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-3820 Quad-Core 3.60 GHz 10MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011 (All Venom OC Certified)
CS_FAN: Maximum 120MM Case Cooling Fans for your selected case [+9]
ENGRAVING: None
ENGRAVING_MSG:
FA_HDD: Vigor iSURF II Hard Disk Drive Cooling System [+21] (1 x System)
FAN: Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) (Dual Enermax Enlobal Silent High Performance 120MM Fans (Push-Pull) [+29])
FLASHMEDIA: None
FREEBIE_CS: None
FREEBIE_MB: None
FREEBIE_VC: None
FREEBIE_VC2: None
GLASSES: None
HDD: 500GB Western Digital Caviar Black SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 7200 RPM HDD [+6] (Single Drive)
HDD2: None
IEEE_CARD: None
IUSB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
KEYBOARD: AZZA Multimedia USB Gaming Keyboard
MEMORY: 16GB (4GBx4) DDR3/1866MHz Quad Channel Memory [+66] (Corsair Vengeance [Free upgrade from 1600MHz Major Brand])
MONITOR: 24" Widescreen 1920x1080 Sceptre X246W-1080P LCD (Viewable 23.6")(Black Color) w/ Built-in Speaker, DVI & Input [+219]
MONITOR2: None
MONITOR3: None
MOTHERBOARD: (3-Way SLI/CrossFireX Support) ASUS P9X79 LE Intel X79 Chipset Quad Channel DDR3 ATX w/ Remote GO!, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, 3 Gen3 PCIe X16, 2 PCIe X1 & 1 PCI
MOUSE: AZZA Optical 1600dpi Gaming Mouse with Weight Adjustable Cartridge
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
OS: None - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY
OVERCLOCK: Extreme OC (Extreme Overclock 20% or more) [+49]
POWERSUPPLY: 600 Watts - Standard 80 Plus Certified Power Supply - SLI/CrossFireX Ready
RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS
SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
SOUND: ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channels PCI Xonar DG Sound Card [+29]
SPEAKERS: None
TABLET: None
TEMP: None
TUNING: Intel® Core™ i7-3820 Performance Tuning Protection Plan by Intel [+29]
TVRC: None
USB: None
USBFLASH: None
USBHD: None
USBX: None
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB 16X PCIe Video Card [+144] (MSI Twin Frozr II 750 Mhz Powered by NVIDIA)
VIDEO2: None
VIDEO3: None
WNC: None

(OS not added here)
All with a total of: $1540


So questions is as follows:

1. Will this setup be capable of playing Skyrim(on ultra-high settings)?

2. A monitor has been chosen(24" Widescreen 1920x1080 Sceptre X246W-1080P LCD (Viewable 23.6")(Black Color) w/ Built-in Speaker, DVI & Input), would this be a good choice or should I pick an alternative?

3. A large number of people on this site state that the intel core i5 is the way to go rather than the superior intel core i7 because of lack of necessity, do most agree on this? and will it not affect gameplay or settings capability?

4. Same as number 3. Is 8GBs RAM all I need instead of 16GBs of RAM?

5. Overclocking, a template created here on this forum asks if a new PC builder would be interested in overclocking. That implies to me to two things, 1. To instruct on how to configure overclocking, and 2. there might be a disadvantage to it. Are there any disadvantages to overclocking?

Thank you for reading and thank you for helping me out.

 

[gtaomg]

[deleted]

 

[manofchalk]

1. Yes, I would say its quite overkill. No way you need an X79 patform i7, you can downgrade to an i5 without losing any performance. Also upgrade that 570 to a 670, that will actually lead to more performance.

2. Dunno.

3. Mentioned it above. An i7 (especially a LGA2011 one) will outperform an i5, but games dont need that extra performance. Better off using the cash elsewhere (like an SSD, which your rig doesn't have).

4. 8GB is all you need for gaming, but RAM is cheap so 16GB isnt being too wasteful.

5. Depending on how far you want to push the chip it can be very simple or very complicated. I assume that you would only want a very simple overclock? In that case you can just go into the BIOS and set the CPU multiplier to 42, then leave it there. That has just raised the frequency from 3.4Ghz to 4.2Ghz, very easy to do. Just run Prime95 for an hour or so to check if its stable and your all good.

Advantages of overclocking.
- More performance for your Dollar, its essentially a free performance boost.

Dis-advantages of overclocking
- If you do something stupid (like give its tons of voltage), you can kill the chip.
- Increased power draw and heat output, so aftermarket cooling is required.
- Can degrade the lifespan of the CPU. Though unless your doing extreme overclocks, it will be long obsolete before it actually fails.

 

[missileshield]

1. Yes, I would say its quite overkill. No way you need an X79 patform i7, you can downgrade to an i5 without losing any performance. Also upgrade that 570 to a 670, that will actually lead to more performance.

2. Dunno.

3. Mentioned it above. An i7 (especially a LGA2011 one) will outperform an i5, but games dont need that extra performance. Better off using the cash elsewhere (like an SSD, which your rig doesn't have).

4. 8GB is all you need for gaming, but RAM is cheap so 16GB isnt being too wasteful.

5. Depending on how far you want to push the chip it can be very simple or very complicated. I assume that you would only want a very simple overclock? In that case you can just go into the BIOS and set the CPU multiplier to 42, then leave it there. That has just raised the frequency from 3.4Ghz to 4.2Ghz, very easy to do. Just run Prime95 for an hour or so to check if its stable and your all good.

Advantages of overclocking.
- More performance for your Dollar, its essentially a free performance boost.

Dis-advantages of overclocking
- If you do something stupid (like give its tons of voltage), you can kill the chip.
- Increased power draw and heat output, so aftermarket cooling is required.
- Can degrade the lifespan of the CPU. Though unless your doing extreme overclocks, it will be long obsolete before it actually fails.

I see, so am I able to set up this overclocking without paying for the 30% increase by CyberPower? However, the more I look into overclocking, it seems the more I get put off by it. The information about the chances of stability, and if they become unstable, to start messing with your CMOS makes me not comfortable with pursuing overclocking. I think I need better knowledge and understanding of this before I trust myself with tinkering with my components.

So, perhaps it would be best to do what gtaomg said and avoid overclocking for the sake of the processor?(Or follow through with Cyberpower doing it for me with 10% or 30%?)

So cpu is good with the i5.

You suggested the GTX 670, would it be an advantage to acquire FTW edition?

One last thing, the cooling for this, now that I look at it, with the big deal put on cooling it seems, is it sufficient enough?

 

[manofchalk]

Easily.
You will only have to worry about stability once you start having to mess with voltages, which you wont if you stay under 4.3-4.4ghz.
Modern overclocking is very simple compared to the old way through the FSB. As I said before, its literally a matter of changing a number in the BIOS.

If you are wiling to overclock the card yourself, no. You can just set the card to FTW speeds and set it to run, under the hood its the exact same hardware.
If anything I would advise brand swapping away from EVGA, all their cards use reference design cooling which runs loud and hot compared to custom designs.

The water-cooler detailed in the rig above is basically a dual rad closed loop cooler. So assuming its ~equivalent to a H100 (another dual rad closed loop cooler), you have all the CPU cooling you could need.