First Gaming Build

[fergusD]

Hi all,

Having never made a PC before considering putting the following together - thoughts/opinions?

Apologies if I have made some silly bottleneck errors

thanks

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/whVK

 

[EzioAs]

What are you using the PC for? If you want to overclock, replace the motherboard with a Z77 motherboard. If not, don't bother getting a 'K' cpu.

 

[fergusD]

Not planning to overclock atm

 

[fergusD]

Edit: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wi2y

 

[EzioAs]

Then get the non-k cpu, the 3770. Although, if you're main usage is gaming, an i7 and 16GB is pointless. Get the i5-3470 and 8GB RAM. For graphics card, a 670 is a better buy because it performs just slightly slower than the 680 but at a well reduced price. The psu is also overkill, a tx650 can power that system with no problem. If you're in the market for modular, high efficiency and top grade unit, get the Seasonic SS-660XP

 

[boulbox]

If it is for gaming, go with the i5, you can even go the K version and OC when needed(can get an easy 4.2GHz with a hyper 212 evo) this would be my build for you

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.57 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.95 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($366.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Arctic White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1313.38
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-06 22:41 EST-0500)

Parts that you can upgrade for gaming:
1)The GPU- if you want, you can change the GPU to a 7970GHz which is the fastest single GPU around currently for gaming(don't go 680, it only has a slight increase in power than the 670)
2)CPU cooler - If wanting to go over 4.2GHz then i would go with a Noctua D-14
3)Motherboard - i would upgrade to ASrock extreme6 but leaving it at the ASUS V LK is perfectly fine

And now for some mistakes on your build "if it was for pure gaming"

-i7 has no performance increase over the i5
-16GB of ram is pointless because you will not even be able to use 8GB of ram
-No backup storage(unless you already have one) and the SSD is quite the pricey one
-AX850 no need to buy an overpriced PSU, the XFX PSU i put in is the same thing except being Gold and fully modular(it is semi because it gives you the important cables inside and you can just attach the other ones when you add more stuff, and it will be a very long time until Gold can pay itself off over the Silver)
-680 - not really a bad choice but it is overpriced and the 670 gives similar performance for a whole lot cheaper
-NZXT - Not a bad choice but i like to get more of a quality Corsiar/Coolermaster/Fractal kind of case over it
-Blu ray - Not even needed, it is rare that people would even touch the DVD drive let alone spend money on a Blu ray drive for a computer when you can download high def videos

 

[boulbox]

Then get the non-k cpu, the 3770. Although, if you're main usage is gaming, an i7 and 16GB is pointless. Get the i5-3470 and 8GB RAM. For graphics card, a 670 is a better buy because it performs just slightly slower than the 680 but at a well reduced price. The psu is also overkill, a tx650 can power that system with no problem. If you're in the market for modular, high efficiency and top grade unit, get the Seasonic SS-660XP

Fully modular is still going to use pretty much the same amount of cables as a Semi Due to the reason that Semi will have the needed cables attached to the PSU already

 

[EzioAs]

^@boulbox

I know that. However, they do have the slight advantage of taking out the power supply unit itself without taking the cables as well. That can be quite a hassle especially if one already a has neat and tidy cable management.

Suggesting 750W is overkill. 650W is more than enough to power your config or OP's config. I believe rather than getting a higher wattage rated unit, it's better to spend on higher efficiency, lower ripple and tighter voltage requlation unit. The Seasonic 660XP is one of the best performing unit on the market now granted it's quite expensive.

 

[boulbox]

I left it as a 750W in case he wanted to SLI/CFX, even though it can run fine on a 650W especially on Seasonics where they rate their PSUs down, but a platinum PSU isn't going to pay itself off over a silver until a very long time considering the price.

Getting an OEM of Seasonic is good enough, they already have no hiccups and perform top tier

 

[fergusD]

Sorry - not sure if I mentioned - would like to run 3 monitors - is that going to work with this rig?

 

[EzioAs]

Are you gaming on 3 monitors or is it just for general use and work?

 

[fergusD]

Are you gaming on 3 monitors or is it just for general use and work?

Probably gaming on 1 monitor and using the other monitors for other general applications

 

[EzioAs]

Then a single 670 is fine