Need help picking parts for a ~ $1300 gaming pc

1. I would change your cpu to i5 3570k. You dont need the i7 because its only advantage is hyperthreading which is not advantageous with gaming build, and most of the time making a crap with your fps. so I would go with the i5 instead.

2. Your psu in pcpartpicker link and in your post are not the same. But nevertheless, check this link,

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

I'm not sure which series of enermax is that on your post, so i can't check if it is a great psu (high tier psu) or nut, but I would probably go with tier 1/2 psus, a seasonic m12II will do. 500w will most probably do, but I would suggest get a 600w tops for a 1 gpu build.

so tweak the parts above got me with this, http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wvLk

First off, I use that case, it's an excellent choice but make sure you open it up and dust it (I do once every 3-4 weeks).

Second, I ran NewEgg PSU Calc and it said ~457 watts for your approx build (can't get 100% specific with the thing), so 650W should be adequate.

Third, If possible I'd splurge on a Modular PSU. Doesn't need to be, but I love mine.

Forth, I'd add at least the side panel Case fan, the HAF 922 can support 2 120mms or 1 200mm on it's side panel. I'd suspect the 670 puts out a little heat, and for #380 it's worth thhe extra $10-$20 to make sure it stays nice and cool.

Last, with a build like that your shouldn't really need to OC it, unless you're dead set on doing so.

All in all it looks like a nice build, good work  

EDIT: I do agree with the i5 over the i7, forgot to mention.

Thank you!
I agree except I like the old case better.



Yeah I was planning to get a 200mm fan for the side to make sure the GPU will stay cool.
Thanks!

For 370$ I highly suggest the Radeon HD 7970 > the GeForce GTX 670, unless You'll be doing something with adobe.

7970 all the way, with your budget, the 7970 pulverizes the 670.

May I ask what is better about the 7970?

7970 is just a strong card overall that can compare to Nvidia's top tier and beat it.(mostly if you are just going to game the whole time) unless you have special reasons like using CUDA, i would just stick with the 7970

Also don't plan on getting good temps on the i5 3570k@4.5GHz, It uses a smaller chip which gets hotter unlike the previous generation i5 2500k SB where you can OC it to 5GHz pretty easy with a hyper 212 evo.

Will be editing out my build in a bit.

PS:Nvidia is just a bit more stable over AMD cards but AMD are unlocked and can OC a lot better than Nvidia due to Nvidia locking up their cards because they want it to remain stable and last quite a while

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1131.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-08 22:12 EST-0500)

Reasons for changes:
-M4 because it is a lot cheaper than the 840 pro and i think you will even be using the full speed of the 840 pro anyways(M4 is already fast and reliable, if wanting an upgrade, upgrade to Plextor M5S or 830 or to a 256GB SSD)

-Fractal R4, This case has crazy quality for this kind of price(usually priced around $110 for the windowed version) and i do not think that the CM HAF XM will be worth the extra cost over this kind of case.

-7970, as said, the 7970 is beastly and i really like the Sapphire brand for AMD

-Motherboard, just get what ever is cheaper ASrock extreme4 vs ASUS V-LK

-Ram, crucial makes some quality ram and for this price i would jump on it for a new build(also $13 off from the combo)

-XFX750W, OEM by Seasonic, not fully modular but it is semi and silver rated, will also do you an easy SLI/CFX if you would want so

-1TB, totally your choice, i have no idea how much space you are going to use but, as for one of my pure gaming machines, i really don't even need 1TB. I have backed up a lot of games and current generation games that it's not even half fully yet.

Things that i might upgrade:
-SSD, totally your choice if wanting an upgrade but i wouldnt really recommend it unless you are aiming for that 256GB

-CPU cooler, OC does not do as much as people think anymore, OCing a CPU makes it only a bit faster and will help with SLI/CFX(if you do change it, go for the NZXT havik 140 or Noctua NH-U9B)

a lot of the 7970/7950's are now coming with locked voltages. while the 7970 on paper might be more powerful amd's horrible driver support that causes bad frame latency is something that should be taken into consideration.

yea that is what i was talking about, they need to get in a better crew for the support updates. But man, why are they trying to lock them now, it was what they were good for over Nvidia.

im guessing to force people to buy GHz cards. why would anyone buy a GHz card for $100 more when you can buy a regular 7970 and make it a GHz card yourself. that's just my guess. amd is shooting themselves in the foot.

well you can make 7970 up to par with stock GHz but GHz allows you for more OCing abilities and thats pretty much it. Even though the difference is not that much in performance since 7970 can run pretty much all the titles on ultra and 7970GHz runs some frames higher than 7970, it will still go down to 60FPS unless you have a higher res than that.

So unless he is going down the road for a 120Hz monitor, i would just stick with the 7970, if he does get a 120Hz monitor i would definitely go for a 7970GHz for about $50-60 more(pricing by good branded/non reference card EX:Sapphire's 7970 : Sapphires Vapor-X 7970 GHz)

yea they are the exact same hardware just clocked to 1000MHz and can boost to 1050MHz. i cant think of any other reason to lock the voltage on 7970's unless they were getting a lot of RMA's because of people messing with voltage.

Also that 7970 OC stops around 1200Mhz and 7970GHz stops around 1500

I actually found out I have more money for this build now.

What would you guys recommend I buy if I were to increase my GPU(s) budget to $800?

Would that be overkill?
I just want great framerates for nearly anything I play.

Edit: I will have an extra fan for the side of my case to cool my GPU(s).

$800 for a GPU is overkill, if you want to spend that much money, get a quality monitor.

for getting 60FPS on ultra, you can do it with just a 7950. We say go for the 7970 for future games that you would might like.

i agree. i would look at either a nice 27" IPS 2560x1440 monitor or 3x monitors for eyefinity/surround. then you could justify sli 670's.