Need advice on a new computer build!

moza

Honorable
Dec 27, 2012
8
0
10,510
Hi Tom's Hardware!

So here's my new computer build. I plan to sacrifice my current build to keep the case, Power supply unit and other things. This came to under $1000 but I had up to 1K budgeted so if anything could use with a 100 bucks upgrade please let me know! Otherwise it looks like a nice rig for the price, but I would love to hear any advice. It's been 3 years since I last bought a computer so any help would be really appreciated!

CPU
Intel Core i5 3570 LGA1155 CPU 3.4Ghz 6Mb Cache Ivy Bridge

Motherboard
Asrock Z77-EXTREME4-M Z77/4 x DDR3/2 x PCI-E3.0/4 x SATA3/4 x USB3.0/HDMI/D-Sub/DVI-D/7.1CH/GBLAN/RA

GPU
Asus GF GTX660 TI DirectCU II OC Edition PCI-E 3.0, 2GB 192-bit DDR5, Base: 967 Boost: 1058/600

RAM
Corsair 16GB (2x8GB) CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz CL9 DIMM

SSD
Samsung 128GB SSD 840BW Pro SATA3 2.5

Already owned:

Case
Coolermaster RC-690-KKN1 690 (Already own)

Power Supply
Corsair HX-750 ATX Power Supply, 140mm Fan (Already own)
HDD, DVD-RW and other components are already owned.


...To answer the questions on the forum upgrade advice: Im upgrading so I can play Bioshock infinite in MAXXXX graphics and everything, I want to have all the upgrades finished ASAP, My budget range is around $1000, System usage is 3D gaming and streaming movies through our WDTV, I have a monitor and windows 7 etc, I am in Australia, NOT overclocking (it gets too warm here and so I dont trust myself to manage the heat), SLI nope and dont know what crossfire is, Monitor is 1680x1050, Logitech keyboard and mouse.

Thanks for any advice!
 
Drop the 16GB ram - with photoshop, battlefield 3, and 50 tabs in chrome, my computer still doesn't need more than my 8GB. (And I run on an SSD without a page file, so under normal circumstances, 8GB is even more overkill. Now extrapolate to 16GB...)

Make double sure that the 840 you get is the pro version - the normal version uses cheap NAND and has bad reliability.

Just as a side note, crossfire is SLI but with Radeon cards.

The hugest bit of advice I can give you is to upgrade to a 670 - that's the sweet spot for price / performance, and is a bloody amazing card. (I'd also recommend you upgrade to a 1920x1080 monitor - it actually does make a HUGE difference in the graphics.)

Ooh, except for this... If that Logitech mouse and keyboard are wireless, get wired peripherals. (If you play competitive games at all.) The lag on a wireless mouse is very noticeable if you're used to a wired one.
 

volcan

Distinguished
Apr 25, 2011
28
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18,530
Crossfire is the AMD equivalent two or more AMD cards running in synergy. 16GB of ram probably isnt necessary 8 would suffice. As for wether or not it will run Bioshock Infinite at max graphics i dont know probably better to let someone else decide that matter :)
 

Hazle

Distinguished
drop down to an i5-3470/3450 if it's considerably cheaper ($30+). a 0.2ghz performance drop is too small to even notice in most cases, and is worth the cash saved.

if you want to overclock, keep the motherboard and grab a 3570K. if you're not going to OC, consider an H77, B75 or even a Z75 board for far less. a Z77 is a total waste when paired with a non-K processor, much more so when you're not OCing.

stick with 2x4gb memory kits. 8gb is more than plenty for gaming and video streaming. when you do need more ram for more professional uses, they're easy enough to add in the future.

if you followed my advice, you may have enough to grab a better GPU hopefully.
 

moza

Honorable
Dec 27, 2012
8
0
10,510
Great, Thanks heaps for your help! I've made some additions/alterations:

Cooling
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO w Transparent 12cm $36.00

New Monitor
Asus VS248H 24" 2ms wide LED w/DSUB DVI-D

GPU
Gigabyte GF GTX 670 OC EDITION PCI-E 3.0 2GB 256-bit DDR5

Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-H77-D3H-MVP/H77/4 x DDR3/2 x PCI-E3.0 x 16/2 x SATA3/6 x USB3.0/HDMI/D-Sub/DVI-D/GBLAN/R

Any advice for any of these components? :)

Getting closer to the purchase date!! yay!
 

Hazle

Distinguished
seeing as you're not overclocking, a third party heatsink isn't exactly necessary as stock will do you just fine. but assuming you had saved up a fair bit with a bit left, i guess it won't hurt if you're willing to spend on it, so it's fine if you want to keep it.

EDIT: please note that based on Gigabyte's website, the board only supports AMD crossfire for dual graphics config, and even then, expect them to run at 4x/4x instead of the preferred 8x/8x (which i guess is one good thing to go with a Z77. yeah, D'OH, indeed). either way, a single 670 and an i5 can take you as far as the three years you're expecting out of it, with maybe a new GPU on the second or third year if you're so inclined.