Gaming computer advice

thelaughingman127

Honorable
Jan 7, 2013
2
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10,510
Hello,

I'm considering buying a new gaming PC with the following components
(Here's a link to the newegg wishlist. I'm listing the components below anyway):

■Intel Core i7 3770
■ASRock Z77 Pro4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77
■Corsair CX750 750W
■Gskill Ripjaws X Series 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 1600
■Corsair Hydro Series H80
■Seagate Barracuda 1TB @7200RPM with 64MB cache
■Windows 7 Home Premium
■COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP (Space wise)

All that to run with an already owned Zogis Geforce GTX 550Ti.

I would like an opinion about compatibility, room for cooling and proper handling, possibilities for upgrading later on and if you good folks think the overall setup overkill for the purpose of said computer, please say so.

I wouldn't mind saving a few bucks or sacrificing some performance (say, an i5 or Phenom processor or trimming down the memory), so any advice/opinions on other options are more than welcome.

Thanks for taking the time to read.
 

DARGIE

Honorable
Dec 16, 2012
35
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10,530
i5 3570(k) would be just as good for gaming as i7 3770(k)
32gb of ram is a bit excessive for gaming
i have the Asrock Extreme4 z77 Mobo and its brilliant would recommend it for a little more!
 

Bolivious

Honorable
Apr 4, 2012
133
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10,710
Agreed with Dargie.

Especially running with a 550ti, you don't need anything more than an i5 and the i5 is going to be good for a long time.

Also, you might look at a Noctua DH14 instead of the H80. Quite a bit cheaper for equal/better performance.
 

Rammy

Honorable
It should all work together but from a "gaming PC" perspective, it makes no sense really.
It's an awful lot of money on stuff that won't help gaming, and a huge neglect to the one thing that makes a massive difference - graphics card.

You don't need an i7 for a gaming PC. An i5 3570k will outperform it for a lower price. Nothing wrong with spending money on an i7, but for gaming there are better ways to spend.

You don't need a Z77 motherboard unless you want to overclock really. There's other features ofc, but generally an H77/B75 is perfectly sufficient. That said, the Pro4 is pretty good value so it's not like you are wasting much on it.

750W is massive overkill for that PC, though it does potentially give you more score for upgrades in the future.

32Gb of Ram is pretty functionless unless you are using some sort of ram-disk thing. For most people, 8gb is perfectly sufficient, and it's incredibly easy to add more later, so it's not really something to invest in.

No SSD - with a hefty budget like yours, you should be looking to sneak in even a low capacity SSD, makes a much bigger difference than most things will to your overall experience.

No graphics card - The GTX550ti is a slightly outdated mid-range graphics card. There's nothing wrong with it but in a $1000 gaming PC its very weak. Depending on the types of resolutions and games you want to play at, it could be instantly outdated.

Just a few things to think about, hope it helps.
 

thelaughingman127

Honorable
Jan 7, 2013
2
0
10,510
Taking your advice to heart. This is exactly the smack up the head I needed.

Here's the updated wishlist.

I do plan to upgrade later on, I originally wanted and SLI build, but turned out to be too expensive/too much of a hassle to put together.

I am well aware the graphics card issue, I had to buy the 550Ti recently when my X1800 died of old age, and even though its not high end for the system I intend to put together, it'll do for a while. I am inclined to getting the GTX 660 later on, but I would hate to store away the GTX 550Ti which is but a few months old. I take consolation knowing they sold me a 2GB 550Ti for the price of a 1GB 550Ti (not newegg, a big, local retailer), that poor salesman must hate me.

I'm not entirely convinced about the SSD. Too high a price for too small capacity. Is there really that much difference from an HDD regarding loading downtime/management speed?

Though I want to buy it as soon as possible (my current build dates back to 2007; I run on 2 GB ddr2 *shudder*), I want to make the right choices and get the best/lowest prices, even if it takes me a month or so to get all the discount codes. Though the budget is hefty, every penny is valuable.

Thanks again for your answers!
 

Rammy

Honorable
New wishlist is looking a lot better. Couple of points.

You need a Z77 motherboard for overclocking really. Alternately, you could drop the cpu down to a non overclocking varient (3450/3470 is usually decent value), drop (or downgrade) the cpu cooler and keep the H77 motherboard. You'll loose performance ofc, but you'll gain a nice chunk back in terms of value.

Currently newegg is offering the CX500 PSU at $30 after rebates which seems ridiculously good value. I'd jump on that if I were in the states. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027 If you aren't planning on doing SLI it's perfectly sufficient for the majority of current generation graphics cards.

SSD is optional really. It's the way forward and having incredibly quick boot and load times is kinda awesome, but in terms of performance it's not necessarily good value. Having said that, I doubt I'll ever build another PC without one, just for getting through all of the Windows Update restarts earns quite a lot of favour for me.

Rest looks ok, but I'll reiterate my earlier point that you are going to be held back by your graphics card. It's still a decent entry level card but you are talking about matching it with the best (or near) gaming cpu money can buy. There's a bit of a mismatch which doesn't make a lot of sense as its likely a $400 build would provide very similar performance to your $800 build in the vast majority of games. It really depends on your expectations and what you want to achieve. Spending that much money and not being able to max out games might be very disappointing.

As for the GTX660, I'm a big fan, bought one myself. Not the fastest card around but probably around the "sweet" spot for value along with the HD7850/HD7870, though ideally in a ~$1000 build you probably want to be aiming a little higher.