Finalized $1500 Gaming build (Rate it please)

error169

Honorable
Dec 1, 2012
10
0
10,510
Hi,

I started organizing and seeking advice for my build here, http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/373376-31-help-prioritizing-gaming-build

Thanks to the help of those that commented on my original thread I have finalized my build, and am hoping the community will give my setup the once over and provide feedback on my chosen hardware.

My focus was value for money, with the build being optimized for gaming whilst coming in at or below $1500. The build life cycle is 5 years. Will be Overclocking the cpu and will possibly pick up another GTX 670 for SLI gaming in the future.


CASE: Fractal Design Define R4 ($149)

PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus 750W ST75F-P ($145)

MOTHERBOARD: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ($135)

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K ($229)

CPU FAN: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO ($35)

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4) ($46)

VIDEO CARD: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Overclocked 2GB ($425)

SSD: Samsung 830 256gb ($205)

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001 ($99)

DVD: Samsung SH-224BB/BEBS SATA DVDRW Drive OEM ($19)

THERMAL COMPOUND: Noctua NT-H1 ($9)


Total: $1496 (All prices were take from Pc case gear, an Australian online store)


The Case and SSD are the obvious luxuries. Seeing on how much direct use the case will see I decide to allow a little indulgence. As for the SSD size, I would like to store a small collection of "currently playing" games as well as my os and the 256gb will give me space to grow in the builds 5 year life cycle.

Thanks for reading/rating.
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


It's stupid to spend extra money on thermal paste - if you get a good cooler like the Hyper 212 or the Noctua U9B it comes with good solution, buying extra means you're paying for the same part twice.
 

error169

Honorable
Dec 1, 2012
10
0
10,510
I heard the thermal paste Cooler Master uses isn't that great and the Noctua U9B cost more then the Evo + paste. Probably unneeded, figured for $9 it was worth the upgrade over the supplied thermal paste.

Thanks for the comments, nice to know the paste is the only sticking point....

Regarding the case, I really like design. Its understated and elegant. The soundproofing also sets it apart from other cases I was looking at.
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


Actually it's the opposite - the Hyper 212 Evo includes a nonconductive MX-4 solution and that's better than anything else you could purchase separately.

Fractal Design makes excellent cases - I wouldn't worry too much about "bling", rather than form and function.