PC noob buying for first time

[7eff]

What's up guys, I'm looking to buy my first gaming rig and I have no idea what I'm doing. The origin chronos looks like what I want, size power etc but I have no idea what components to select. I really want to keep it under $2,000. The primary game I will be playing is Counter Strike GO but really want to play Far Cry 3 etc. For the past year I've been running windows 7 via bootcamp on an iMac. I ready to take the next step. See my build below, what do you think?


CHRONOS
Details
Case: Bitfenix Prodigy (White)
The ORIGIN Difference: Truly Custom PC's. Want a component that is not on our site? Call or email us and we will include it in your system.
Case Fans: ORIGIN High-Performance Ultra Silent Fans - Black
Motherboard: ASUS P8H77-I (USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s)
System Cooling: ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 120 Sealed Liquid Cooling Systems
Processors: Intel Core i7 3770 Quad-Core 3.4GHz (3.9GHz TurboBoost), 8MB Cache
Power Supply: 500 Watt Corsair CX500
Graphic Cards: Single 3GB GDDR5 EVGA GTX 660 Ti+
Memory: 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600Mhz (2x4GB)
Operating System: Genuine MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition
Hard Drive One: 180GB Intel 520 Series
Hard Drive Two: 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 32MB Cache
Media Card Reader: 40 in 1 Media Card Reader
Optical Drive: 8X Slim Slot Load CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability (No DVD Playback Software for Windows 8 Incl
Audio: On Board Audio
Networking: Onboard Network Port
ORIGIN Maximum Protection Shipping Process: ORIGIN Wooden Crate Armor
Warranty: 1 Year Part Replacement and 45 Day Free Shipping Warranty with Lifetime Labor/24-7 Support
ORIGIN Recovery: ORIGIN Recovery Media
Evolve Part Upgrade Service: No Part Upgrade Service
Total: $1,925.86

 

[butremor]

for gaming no difference between i7 and i5, except i5 cheaper i5-3470 is good, i5-3570k -if you want to overclock

 

[geofelt]

Is this YOUR build, or is it a prebuilt from somewhere?
You might add up the price of the individual parts to see how much it is costing you for assembly.
I suspect you can do better.

My thoughts:

1. few games use more than 2-3 cores, so the hyperthreads of a 3770 are not of much use. A 3570 would be about as good.

2. without overclocking, liquid cooling is not needed. and, air cooling can be just as effective, cooler, more reliable, and cheaper.

3. Love the ssd. I might up it to 240gb and defer on the hard drive.

 

[loresr97]

Build it yourself, 1900$ is way too much for that build.

 

[7eff]

Build it yourself, 1900$ is way too much for that build.

I would love to build, sounds like fun. Im just afraid I would screw it up waste a bunch of cash. I put a video card in a mac pro once but that is the extent of my experience...

 

[geofelt]

I would love to build, sounds like fun. Im just afraid I would screw it up waste a bunch of cash. I put a video card in a mac pro once but that is the extent of my experience...

It is hard to go wrong.
All the parts are standard and keyed to fit only one way.
If there is any difficulty, it is selecting compatible and appropriate parts which you are in the process of doing now.
Google should find you tutorials and video's on how it is done.
Do not worry about warranties and bad parts. All will have some sort of rma process and factory warranties.

 

[butremor]

watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QUdt9NDcVNw
and also search youtube for other assembling pc videos.
oh and read this topic, few good advices there http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/261145-13-perform-steps-posting-boot-video-problems

also there is this thread http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/274745-13-step-step-guide-building

hope this helps you decide if you can do it

 

[7eff]

Thanks to all for the help! I think I may try to build my own! Do ya'll have any favorite builds in the $1500-$1700 range. Would like to save a little so I can get a good monitor.

 

[Guest]

Thanks to all for the help! I think I may try to build my own! Do ya'll have any favorite builds in the $1500-$1700 range. Would like to save a little so I can get a good monitor.

this is a really good tutorial on how to assemble the computer...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw
watch part 2 for the actual assembly

 

[butremor]

Thanks to all for the help! I think I may try to build my own! Do ya'll have any favorite builds in the $1500-$1700 range. Would like to save a little so I can get a good monitor.

you don't actually have to spend that much on top notch gaming pc http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xpWI plenty of budget for good monitor
this one looks good http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xq0O