Does this look good for $950?

[hummerhp]

I recently completed getting all of my parts together on Newegg, can someone tell me if everything here is a good choice?
Intel i5 3570K 3.4 ghz
MSI Z77 MPOWER
Sapphire 100352-2L Radeon HD 7950
Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W PSU
G.Skill Ripjaws 2 x 4GB RAM
Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB
Lite-On Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive
Rosewill Blackhawk Gaming ATX Mid Tower

I'm pretty sure I'm not missing anything.
Some things that I didn't put as much time into looking at as I should is the PSU and the Computer Case. I honestly have no idea how many watts I should have for this build. I'm pretty sure the computer case can hold the monstrous GPU.
Also, I don't know how much to pay for a Motherboard. This one is $200, is that too much? Can someone recommend one?
Any other recommendations or suggestions would be appreciated. My budget is $1000.
Thanks

 

[mmccreesh1]

Looks good. You might be able to throw in an SSD there for the OS. I think you might be better going for a better brand like Corsair for the PSU. The last thing you want is a bad PSU powering your beast rig.

 

[larrym]

I would change that PSU..This one is $49 after rebate..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

and you could go to the Asrock z77 extreme4 MOBO. It's a very nice board and this would save you about $60.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

take your savings and get a SSD.

 

[Kiowa789]

Absolutely superb, you don't need an SSD, those are just a convenience, buy one later, Rosewill is fine with their PSU's, (Rosewill is actually the Generic brand of Newegg!), especially that power supply, just make sure you have all the cables you want on the PSU before you buy it, again, You don't need an SSD, you have a budget less than 1000$, Buying an SSD with a budget of less than 1000$ will cause the other parts to suffer in quality, due to you needing to change parts so you can afford the SSD.

 

[larrym]

Absolutely superb, you don't need an SSD, those are just a convenience, buy one later, Rosewill is fine with their PSU's, (Rosewill is actually the Generic brand of Newegg!), especially that power supply, just make sure you have all the cables you want on the PSU before you buy it, again, You don't need an SSD, you have a budget less than 1000$, Buying an SSD with a budget of less than 1000$ will cause the other parts to suffer in quality, due to you needing to change parts so you can afford the SSD.

Anyone who says this, especially with a budget OF $1000, NOT LESS, has never used an SSD. And this is the first time on Toms I have EVER seen anyone recommend a Rosewill PSU.

 

[mmccreesh1]

Why would he need to sacrifice for an SSD? He can pick this quality up for $80 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441

 

[geofelt]

A very reasonable list. A 3570K is as good as it gets for gaming.
I might consider some changes:

1. There is no need for an expensive enthusiast motherboard. They are appropriate for high overclockers, and multiple graphics cards. Any Z77 based motherboard will do. I might suggest a ASRock Z77M for $90:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157325 It is a smaller M-ATX format which gives you some options for a smaller case.

2. Pick the low profile ares series ram from G.skil.

3. Add a $30 cpu cooler. It will be quieter and let you oc the "K" a bit easier and higher.
CM hyper212 or similar is fine.

4. I strongly suggest you base your build around a SSD. It will make everything you do feel so much quicker. A 120gb SSD will hold the os and a handful of games. Defer on the hard drive until you need the storage space. If you initially get a 180gb or 240gb SSD, you may never need a hard drive at all. Expect to pay <$1 per gb.
I would look at Intel 330/335 or Samsung 830/840 series first for reliability. Performance of all modern SSD's is remarkably similar(FAST); ignore synthetic benchmarks.

5. Your graphics card needs only a quality 500w psu. 650w is fine, it will run more efficiently and be able to power a card as strong as a GTX690 or 7970.
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm
As to brand, rosewill can be iffy, but not necessarily bad. Use this list and pick a tier 1 or 2 unit:
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

6. The case is fine. If you like smaller cases, I can recommend the Silverstone TJ-08E M-ATX case if you will use a M-ATX motherboard. See my sig.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182

 

[aebome]

Definitely a +1 to larrym's first suggestion. The change of the PSU is highly recommended, as Rosewill's older designs are definitely not up to par. Only their new designs are worth recommending (Capstone, Fortress series), but not that Green series.

For your purposes a $200 mobo is probably overkill, and the one recommended by larrym is good but out of stock. This would be a good replacement for only $10 more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157295

Pick up an SSD for sure, if you can stretch the $80-110. mmccreesh1's suggestion is a good solid entry level choice, but if you can spring for the extra $30 to get the 128, do it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442

 

[hummerhp]

Thanks for all the responses everyone!
Iv'e already changed out the motherboard. Right now I have aebome's choice on my list, and larrym's choice on auto-notfiy if it goes back in stock. I'll probably pass up on Geofelt's suggestion, because of that chance that I'll have 4 sticks of RAM, or want 2 3.0 x16 ports for CrossFire.

I'll probably go for a 600W PSU, probably from Corsair instead.

One question, what does it mean when a PSU is modular?

Edit: I'm also going to look into an SSD since the new motherboard saved me money. Does it really boot up a computer in under 10 seconds?

 

[larrym]

The cords come off if your not using them. Makes it look nicer in the case and better air flow. The boot up times will vary, mine boots in about 12 seconds or so. Steam loads before my hand is off the button from clicking on it.

 

[aebome]

Modular psu makes running the cabling easier, and can positively impact airflow, as larrym said, because you don't have the potential for a wad of cables in the middle of your case.

See Tom's SBM for an idea of what the difference is:

non-modular: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-a-pc-overclocking-do-it-yourself,3366-5.html
modular: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-computer-how-to-overclock-gaming,3363-5.html

At your GPU requirements, it would probably take $80-90 to get a good modular PSU (see: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119). If you can swing it, go for it, but if it would impact your other parts, don't worry about it, it's not worth the sacrifice.

 

[geofelt]

Some more thoughts for you:

I am not much in favor of planning on cf/sli up front unless a good single graphics card will not do the job.
If you will be gaming on triple monitors, or are a professional gamer with an unlimited budget, then sli/cf is ok.
Here is my canned rant on that:
-----------------------------Start of rant----------------------------------------------------
Dual graphics cards vs. a good single card.

a) How good do you really need to be?
A single GTX650/ti or 7770 can give you good performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.

A single GTX660 or 7850 will give you excellent performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.
Even 2560 x 1600 will be good with lowered detail.
A single gtx690 is about as good as it gets.

Only if you are looking at triple monitor gaming, then sli/cf will be needed.
Even that is now changing with triple monitor support on top end cards.

b) The costs for a single card are lower.
You require a less expensive motherboard; no need for sli/cf or multiple pci-e slots.
Even a ITX motherboard will do.

Your psu costs are less.
A GTX660 needs a 430w psu, even a GTX680 only needs a 550w psu.
When you add another card to the mix, plan on adding 150-200w to your psu requirements.

Even the strongest GTX690 only needs 620w.

Case cooling becomes more of an issue with dual cards.
That means a more expensive case with more and stronger fans.
You will also look at more noise.

c) Dual cards do not always render their half of the display in sync, causing microstuttering. It is an annoying effect.
The benefit of higher benchmark fps can be offset, particularly with lower tier cards.
Read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

d) dual card support is dependent on the driver. Not all games can benefit from dual cards.

e) cf/sli up front reduces your option to get another card for an upgrade. Not that I suggest you plan for that.
It will often be the case that replacing your current card with a newer gen card will offer a better upgrade path.
The GTX780 and amd 8000 series are not that far off.
-------------------------------End of rant-----------------------------------------------------------

Modular allows you to remove unused leads from your psu.
If you have properly sized your psu, there will not be many.
In a normal case, there are plenty of places to tuck unused leads out of the main airflow path.
I see modular as a non issue. If you will be using a small form factor case, then OK.

If you can, stick with two sticks of ram.
Because all sticks must be controlled to the same voltage, it is easier for a motherboard to manage two sticks vs. 4.
Since ram is so cheap, and your budget is comfortable, I suggest you buy 16gb in a 2 x 8gb configuration up front.
I suggest this kit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231558

Realize that if you want to access more than 16gb, you need windows 7 pro or ultimate.

On Tom's heirarchy chart, the GTX670 is comparable to the 7950.
But, after reading this review, comparing the 7950 to the GTX660ti, I wonder.
It seems that there is more to performance than average FPS. Read the review carefully and look at the charts of consistency of response times.
I do not know if this behaviour carries across to all amd cards.
http://techreport.com/review/23981/radeon-hd-7950-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti-revisited

Yes, once you get past the Bios post, windows starts up in 10 seconds with a SSD.
For what it is worth, I don't boot cold very often. I use sleep to ram instead. Restarting is 2-3 seconds.
If you have sufficient ram, your games will tend to reside in ram, and a relaunch is only a second or two.
With a SSD, installing windows happens very quickly, as does the large initial maintenance updates.
Past that, everything you do will feel much quicker. Game level loads will be quicker.
All 120/128gb ssd's have the same capacity. It is just a matter of how much spare is reserved for performance, and truth in advertising.
You will actually be able to use 110gb or so.
Do not try to go smaller. A SSD will lose performance as it approaches being full.
I suggest the Samsung 840 120gb SSD which sells for $99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147188

 

[hummerhp]

Wow... thanks for the lecture
Looks like I'll never ever need crossfire.

If I get a cheaper motherboard, I can use the extra money to get an SSD!

I'm still on the fence about modular PSUs, my decision may probably be based on the sales going on at the time of purchase.

I'm pretty sure that anything more than 16 GB is overkill when it comes to what I'm gonna be doing (playing one game with a web browser or two open)

Realize that if you want to access more than 16gb, you need windows 7 pro or ultimate.

Why is that?

And one stupid question: Can the quality of a motherboard affect performance?

 

[geofelt]

Wow... thanks for the lecture
Looks like I'll never ever need crossfire.

If I get a cheaper motherboard, I can use the extra money to get an SSD!

I'm still on the fence about modular PSUs, my decision may probably be based on the sales going on at the time of purchase.

I'm pretty sure that anything more than 16 GB is overkill when it comes to what I'm gonna be doing (playing one game with a web browser or two open)

Realize that if you want to access more than 16gb, you need windows 7 pro or ultimate.

Why is that?

And one stupid question: Can the quality of a motherboard affect performance?

Sounds to me like 8gb is plenty.
If you were using 64 bit enabled apps like photoshop. extra ram can be used to reduce workfile I/O.
Past that, there is really no need for more than 8gb.
No game by itself uses more than 2-3gb.

It is a restriction of windows home premium that it does not support more than 16gb.

Not such a stupid question.
Yes, all Z77 chipsets come from the same source... Intel.
But, past that, the performance of a cpu in any motherboard is determined by the cpu that is installed.
If you have an unlocked "K" cpu, then a more expensive motherboard with better voltage regulators might get you one or two multipliers higher if you are overclocking aggressively. Check out any motherboard reviews, and you will see only an insignificant difference in performance among all of the tested comparison boards.
For reliability, I would tend to pick a motherboard that has been out for a while. Any minor bios fixes will have already been applied.

 

[hummerhp]

Best answer selected by hummerhp.

 

[geofelt]

Best answer selected by hummerhp.

n
n1. Newegg has a samsung 240gb ssd for $150 if you use promo code EMCJHJC23.
nhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147189&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL121412CO&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL121412CO-_-EMC-121412-Index-_-SSD-_-20147189-L0E ditch the hard drive until you start to fill up the ssd.
n
n2. Ram is cheap. If you save on a motherboard that has only two ram slots, populate them initially with a 16gb kit. With what you save on the motherboard, I bet you can end up not paying extra for 16gb.
nFor gaming, 16gb is not that helpful. But, windows will keep used code in ram in anticipation of reuse. That means that a game you play regularly will launch from ram; very fast.