My first pc build

[air tree]

Ok so i'm building my first pc build and i was wondering if i have a good pc going here (wich i think i do but i want a opinion) so here is my build *BenQ XL2420T monitor *gtx 680 *Intel Core i5 3570k *COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced case *CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W (i know its a bit overkill but i like to future proof it ) *Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB *ASUS P8Z77-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard *Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2BAA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive * CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 ram *SAMSUNG USB 2.0 Slim External DVD Writer Model SE-208AB/TSBS *COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO cpu heatsink so that's it thanks for reading this and giving any input. EDIT also when i was writing this it did not look like a wall of text so sorry

 

[killerhurtalot]

Everything looks good,
You can drop the GTX 680 for a 7970 GHZ edition which will be cheaper priced and perform better.

Is there a reason why you went with a external USB based DVD drive instead of a internal DVD drive?

And there really isn't futureproofing with PSU... you either need it or you don't. Are you going to go SLI/CFX with the system later on? iIf not, then there is no reason to need a 850w psu. Even if you're going to "upgrade" later on, you still will never need a 850w PSU since the CPUs and GPUs keep on consuming less and less energy for similar/better performance. So basically the only reason for anyone to have that big of a PSU is that they know that they're going to do SLI/CFX.

 

[jay2tall]

I would say good build. The only thing I would consider changing it the 850W power supply because it is simply overkill. I know you commented that you would like to "future proof" your system, but what does that mean? Are you planning to add a second GTX680? If that is the case, then it could be valid. However, chances are that 680 will carry you for a while and if you want to upgrade, a better option would be to sell it and use that money toward a better single card. This would then negate the need for an 850W PSU. You could get away with a really good 600W. Heck a Corsair HX650 would probably be sufficient to power 2 GTX680's.

 

[laststop311]

I'd like to comment that the monitor you chose is an excellant performer and one of my top picks. Why you may ask yourself? Well that BenQ has an incredibly low black level. One of the lowest black levels on all lcd monitors. Deep inky blacks makes everything else look much better and clearer none of that foggy greyish look in dark scenes when you watch a movie. That's an awesome monitor for watching movies and tv shows and youtube videos and for gaming on dark levels too. Deep black levels boost the contrast ratio significantly as well and that benq has one of the highest contrast ratios as well.

I agree with everyone else on the PSU. Really all you need is a 450 watt psu. The gtx 680 actually uses much less power then most flagship cards have lately.

Replace external dvd with internal as they are cheaper and a direct sata connection performs better than a usb 2.0 connection.

Also since you have an SSD it is really not needed to have a 7200 rpm hdd. Save some money and go with the western digital red drives. They feature 1TB per disc density so even though they are slower rpm the higher density makes back some of the speed and they are cheaper than black and they are durable and meant to be ran 24/7 in a NAS box. If you don't mind a little less performance you could save even more money going with a WD green drive or upgrade to a larger size for the same price as the lower size black.

Your OS and all your important programs and games will run off the ssd. All the media you store on the HDD will run the same off a slower rpm drive. Save the money or get a larger HDD for the same price.

You should also think about saving 100 dollars and getting a gtx 670. The gtx 670 has 90%+ the performance of the gtx 680 and it puts a benjamin in your pocket. The GTX 670 is the closest a step down card has been in performance in relation to the flagship in a long while. It's going to run anything you throw at it nearly identical to the gtx 680. If you will be gaming on just that 1080p benq monitor the gtx 670 will allow you to play every game at ultra settings at 1080p resolution no problem. Save yourself the cash.

GTX 680 is going for 405 [wow thats a really good deal]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134154 (generic stock card at 2GB) to 600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693 (incredibly high overclocked custom card)

GTX 670 is going for 360 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500242 (2GB stock clocks and board) to 450 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500267 (2GB super fast oc even faster oc then many 680's)

That 1 gtx680 for only 405 is messing the comparison up as usually gtx 680's are not that cheap. That GTX680 for 405 is an incredible deal. It may not overclock the highest but for that price wow.


Do you plan on overclocking? If you really want to overclock and experiment and that's important to you I highly suggest the swiftech h20 x20 self contaiined water cooling system. It costs 220 dollars but it blows away all the competition except advanced multiple loop water cooling setups. And it's just as easy as setting up a corsair self contained water cooling. If you care a little less about overclocking but still want to then you could pick a corsair h100i for 115 or an h80i for 100. If you don;t care about the corsair link monitoring built in you can get the h100 for about 85-90 or an h80 for 80-85 and still be able to overclock nicely.

If you aren't going to overclock then the cheaper cooling you have selected is fine.

 

[air tree]

well thanks for the comments everyone i will go down to a 600 w to 700 at max yeah i know it was overkill quite frankely i know it was and i don't know why i thought i needed that

 

[killerhurtalot]

I would say good build. The only thing I would consider changing it the 850W power supply because it is simply overkill. I know you commented that you would like to "future proof" your system, but what does that mean? Are you planning to add a second GTX680? If that is the case, then it could be valid. However, chances are that 680 will carry you for a while and if you want to upgrade, a better option would be to sell it and use that money toward a better single card. This would then negate the need for an 850W PSU. You could get away with a really good 600W. Heck a Corsair HX650 would probably be sufficient to power 2 GTX680's.

Ya. a good quality 650w psu should be able to handle GTX 680s in SLI...

I most reviews, a i7 3960x (130w tdp) and a gtx 680 (195w TDP) completely maxed out (with no overclocks) at around 370w. so a good quality 650w psu should be able to do them in SLI if provided with enough current through the 12v rails...

 

[air tree]

i'm also going to do a bit of overclocking cpu wise.

 

[BriboCN]

If you can get a good price on that PSU go with it. It is at least 90% efficient from loads of 20% to 100% so dropping to a lower capacity PSU is not going to really save you money on your power bill the only difference will be the up front cost. Corsair makes fantastic PSU units and I applaud your choice. Assuming you got a good price not only do you future proof your system or systems (I have a corsair that has survived for 3 computers so far) but you also put much less of a demand on your PSU because it not have to work nearly as hard to meet your current demands.

 

[air tree]

i mean the psu compared to the hx650 is only like 40-50 bucks apart not really a big deal tbh
also the psu i posted is like 160$

 

[laststop311]

if you are going to overclock you should get a corsaire h100i. It will cool that way better plus it will move all the heat generated by the cpu out of the case instead of blown back into the case like a regular air cooler. With all that extra OC heat you don't want all that blowing in your case. H100i with corsair link is 115 or save 20 and get the h100 for 95 without link monitoring if you dont care to monitor fan speed and coolant temp.

If you can only fit a 120mm rad get the h80i (90) or h80. (80)

 

[air tree]

ehh i would perfer not to water cool i think i will just stick to air cooling since i will be pretty heavily doing that.

 

[laststop311]

it's not water cooling like you think. It is all self contained. No filling up liquids no extra maintenence. It is just as easy as a regular air cooler. You don't have to do any special things everything is built into it.

If you prefer air cooling I suggest noctua heatsinks. Noctua makes very high quality pieces and they will give you some OC headroom. And they run very quiet too thanks to those noctua fans.