Gaming pc $1600 or less

gregman101

Honorable
Dec 17, 2012
13
0
10,510
Hey Guys,
I want to build my first gaming pc for this christmas, I have a bit of knowledge about pc components. I want to make a pc that can smash any game I trow at it on a single monitor but still have room for future-proofing ( If I want to get a x3 monitor setup) I have found a few products that I want to use but have not found a motherboard yet. I also may want to water-cool in the future that is why I went with the NZXT switch 810.

CPU - i5 3570k
GPU - Sapphire vapor-x ghz 7970 3gb (I want to go with AMD because of the 3 games that comes with it, And I like Sapphire as a brand.)
PSU - ax 760i (I like the all black look to the cables and thats is fully modular)
RAM - Kingston Hyperx beast 8gb
Cooler - cm hyper 212 evo
SSD - ocz vector 128gb
HDD - 1tb wd black

I want to mainly get the components from newegg.com
 
Solution

CaptainTom

Honorable
May 3, 2012
1,563
0
11,960


Motherboard?
 

mrdowntownkiller

Honorable
Sep 14, 2012
725
0
11,060
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master V6 GT 93.7 CFM CPU Cooler ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($453.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($134.82 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1352.72
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-17 09:57 EST-0500)

You can switch the psu to the 650W one , but i chose the 750W , because maybe you will want to crossfire in the future.
 

CaptainTom

Honorable
May 3, 2012
1,563
0
11,960


A good build, but I recommend these changes:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021 (Save $35)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233350 (Save $7)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066 (Save $60)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202001 (Add $6 but this IS stronger, and it has a rebate)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015 (Add $10 but this is liquid cooling)


With these changes I have made, you gain water cooling over air, get a slightly stronger graphics card, and save $86. With these savings you can almost fit another 7970 GHz in, but I recomend you wait half a year and then buy it when it is cheap and USEFUL...
 

mrdowntownkiller

Honorable
Sep 14, 2012
725
0
11,060

- for a $1600 build i wouldn't put a non modular psu to it. and this xfx psu costs $84 @ NCIX for quality at this price pretty good.
- i wouldn't save $7 for worst ram with Cas Latency 11.
- he wanted a large case for future water cooling , the Antec Three Hundred would suffer with fitting a watercooling in it.
- the gpu you recommended is good but why pay more for the same performance ?? both are ghz edition and both has nice cooling.
- i wouldn't pick any closed loop cooler , maybe the h100 or the antec kuhler , and if he want a better cooler the nzxt havik 140 or the noctua is a better upgrade.
hope you get ma point :)
 

gregman101

Honorable
Dec 17, 2012
13
0
10,510
Yes I do want a modular power supply that can xfire latter down the road, but I don't really want to spend that much on a cooler any recommendations for a good bang for buck cooler?
 

gregman101

Honorable
Dec 17, 2012
13
0
10,510
hmmmm the budget on the cpu cooler probably about $50 and I only want to get like 4.2 but if I can get higher thats cool. For the case I really want something with a side window and has good airflow and is simple.
 
Get the hyper 212 plus or EVO for cooling.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&Tpk=hyper%20evo

Better psu (fully modular and with 850w, seasonic is the best brand of psus) for less price :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151102&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Mobo : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544

The gfx card it's the best staying with the sapphire vapor-x.

Also get this ram : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147094 (buy two sticks, it has low voltage, it's perfect to overclock with good timings and speed for the buck and it's low profile for clearance problems).

As for the ssd get this one : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442 (the samsung 830 is out of stock)
 

mrdowntownkiller

Honorable
Sep 14, 2012
725
0
11,060
if you will not going further than 4.2 yeah get the 212 , but for higher overclocking and fit your budget the v6 looks solid , built my friend rig with v6 and it performs pretty well @4.5 with the 2500k.
djangoringo : the seasonic is great psu but less price than what , the xfx costs $89 however the seasonic costs $140 !!
 

mrdowntownkiller

Honorable
Sep 14, 2012
725
0
11,060

ah ok , and for the cooler as i said the 212 is good cooler but for safety to get a better cooler for over 4.2 overclocking , might be a temporary cooler as you say till he upgrade to water cooler.
 

gregman101

Honorable
Dec 17, 2012
13
0
10,510
Yes I do like the cm storm stryker, If anything it would come down to those two. But the 810 can fit a 360 rad and has nice cable management while the stryker looks better and has good airflow but can not hold the 360 rad unless you mod the case. as for the coolers I like the hyper 212 evo.
 
The hyper 212 evo can keep the cpu cool overclocked to 4.2 ghz, no problems at all, even for ~4.5 ghz(depending on the cpu, it's like a lottery), it's one of the best coolers price/performance.
In my opinion the V8 is not worth it, not much difference at all in temps vs hyper 212 evo and it's cheaper.
 

mrdowntownkiller

Honorable
Sep 14, 2012
725
0
11,060
so you might now compare between the
- switch 810.
- BitFenix Shinobi.

djangoringo : no body spoke about the v8 ^^ and if you meant the v6 , no the v6 is better than the 212 but not by a margin , but it can handle high clock speed than the 212 , but still a mid level cooler