I'm building a new pc - need help.

[Fluid195]

Hello everyone, I'm new here at the Tom's Hardware website. And I'm building a new Computer and i was really wanting your help to get the best out of my budget, i think so far i have done really well with my budget but this is what i have.

Budgets - $2500

Computer specs

Intel core i7 3770k ($335.00)
Motherboard: MSI z77 Mpower ($199.00)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Red CMZ16GX3M4X1866C9R 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 ($125.00)
Graphics cards: Gigabyte Radeon HD7970 GHz Edition 3GB x2 (Crossfire) ($958.00)
Windows: Windows 7 64-bit ($99.00)
Case: Aerocool X-Predator Case Evil Blue Edition (169.00)
CPU cooler: Coolermaster seidon 120M Liquid Cooling Solution ($89.00)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHES312 12X Blu-Ray DVD Combo Drive ($55.00)
Wireless adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 450Mbps Wireless N PCIe Adaptor ($49.00)
Power supply: OCZ Technology ZX Series 1250W Power Supply ($219.00)
Hard Drive: Western Digital WD Green 2TB WD20EARX ($99.00)
Build cost: ($99.00)

All of this is being Built on PC Case Gear.
Total cost of $2491.00

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

Get an i5 3570k.
then get the asrock extreme4 and you will also get free ram, so you won't need to buy that either.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293
Go with an 800watt psu, that will probably be overkill even.
Also, Do you really need 450mbps wifi? I haven't ever heard of wifi above 100mbps. Look at the edimax nano. It's only downfall is that it doesn't have the longest range, but I can get a signal from my basement when my modem is at on the second story. Also, I don't see why you would need to get a $170.

 

[J_E_D_70]

Here we go again. Please fill out the questions on the sticky in this forum. It sounds like complete overkill for most situations.

Regardless, why use that slow hard drive with such a ridiculously overpowered PC?

Agree with what is up with the wireless?

No SSD?

Do you need a BR player or even an optical drive at all? (truth in advertising - I have a DVD in this one but never use it - oh, silly me)

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

I didn't even think about the hdd. It doesn't say on the page how fast it was. I assume 5400rpm? I would get a 7200rpm 1tb, and with that budget, I would include an ssd. Basically everything JED said

 

[DarkSable]

^Yep. I didn't even bother to move my optical drive over into my new rig - I just put another input fan in three bays. (It's kinda ghetto/badass looking, hanging by wire.)

That being said, this is a silly waste of money - you get NO better performance out of this than you would out of a $1500 computer.

Before you say "But it's future proofing" or such like that, let me point out two things:

1) You don't get any better performance. (About 2 frames a second.) So why bother?

2) There's no such thing as future proofing.* It's way, WAY better to buy a computer now for less, and upgrade down the road. That way after X number of years, you'll have a still-good computer that's only X/2 years old, instead of 4, 5, 6, years old. You'll be able to sell the parts for more, and you'll be happier with your computing experience.


*In pretty much any situation. The places where it exists are where technology is much, MUCH slower. Buying a good case or extra fans, for example, never hurts. Nor does a sound card if you're an audiophile, a good wifi card if you need it, or a quality monitor.

 

[Fluid195]

Well Only reason I'm getting that HDD is because it was cheap and I already have a SSD which i am transferring into this pc along with a 1Tb & a 3TB HDD. so this 2Tb will just be a storage drive with my 3TB.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

You will want 7200rpm. I can, 5400rpm is a lot slower. Honestly do you need 5tb of storage?

 

[Fluid195]

Yeah i do, I download bulk load of stuff.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

I would still recommend a faster HDD.