Building a new gaming rig

[Boatinman]

Hey all,

I'm about as green as they come with regards to building a computer. Been online searching for three days straight and here's what I've come up with (inside my budget of $800)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel
OR: Asrock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 ATX Intel
OR: ASUS P8Z77-V LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU: i7 3770k 3.5ghz

RAM: G.Skill ripjaw 8gb DDR3 1600

OS: W7 Home premium 64

DVD drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5

Power Supply: Eagle Technologies Voltas X 600W ATX 12V

Case: Zalman Z9 ATX mid tower


So I'm here or just go buy this without any hassle of putting it together:

Dell X8500-1581BK (http://www.microcenter.com/product/400499/X8500-1581BK_Desktop_Computer)



I know it can be annoying for a noob 1 poster to come and ask a question like this but some help would be awesome!

Thanks

*Dangit sorry I knew I would mess that up. Can someone move this to New Build?

 

[avenseth12]

Some thoughts:

What is the computer for? gaming, net surfing??
You have not listed a graphics card (GPU) which for a gaming build is the backbone.
You have chosen a PSU that I am not familar with. You should a high quality PSU like corair, silverstone, rosewill,etc
If you are gaming you might think about an i5 CPU, less money and equal gaming performance as an i7

 

[Uberragen21]

Some thoughts:

What is the computer for? gaming, net surfing??
You have not listed a graphics card (GPU) which for a gaming build is the backbone.
You have chosen a PSU that I am not familar with. You should a high quality PSU like corair, silverstone, rosewill,etc
If you are gaming you might think about an i5 CPU, less money and equal gaming performance as an i7

Avenseth12 has a very good point. If you plan to do some gaming, you have to consider a decent graphics card. That'll add between $300-500 to your build. Then you must make sure there are no weak points in your gaming PC build. Any one component can slow down your PC and make it lack luster that the i7-3770k would otherwise shine with. If you're thinking of a mid range gaming PC with a price range of $800, you will have to make serious compromises.

I've put together a new i7 build specs and to be honest, it's over $1600 with none of the high end stuff. With high end, it was well over $2000. I couldn't get it down below $1000 even with major compromises.

Switch to the i5-3570k and you'll save $100, and the AMD HD-7870 for $240.

Aside from the major components adding cost, you have to look at the small components that are often over looked. While they don't add significant cost, they do add up. Thermal paste ($10), extended power cables for fans ($5), extra (replacement) fans, because lets face it, most fans that come with the PC case are lame. Spend $10 and buy one that high quality or quieter, or flows more air than the stock case fans. Don't forget CPU cooling, because the stock HSF almost always sucks. If you're going to buy the K edition CPU, which can be overclocked, you might as well invest in a decent HS cooling.

With the components you listed, adding in the missing components you left out, the build I put together came to around $1500.

Just some food for thought.

 

[J_E_D_70]

^ that plus an Extreme4 is plenty unless you need all the extra connectors on the 6. My rig is for gaming and I've got plenty of free USB ports.

 

[Boatinman]

Right on. I was in a hurry and forgot to mention that I already have a good gpu that will do. My main reason for the i7 is because I've been told that for flight sim X, the CPU is what is really needed.

Thanks for the quick responses everyone, and I appreciate the feedback!

One question, for someone completely new to building pc's, would the dell be OK for a mid range gamer (with my current gtx 560)? It seems to have pretty decent specs...

 

[Uberragen21]

GTX 560 is not bad. I would avoid Dell computers like the plague, they are horrible. Even the Dell Alienware PCs are sweet, but not that great. You compromise on the internals, or if you get it built to the specs you want, you might as well bend over and pay for it, prison bitch style.

I would go setup a Newegg account if you don't already have one. Go through and create a PC build and save it a new PC build. Make one with an i7 CPU, one with a i5 and one with an i7-Sandy bridge E if you choose.