My First Build

[ddavenport83]

Hello all

I am new to PC gaming, having always played on consoles. I decided to take the plunge into PC gaming, but instead of buying something off the shelf, I am attempting to build my own.

Here is a list of components that I have ordered from newegg. Like I said I am really new to this, so please let me know if there are any better choices that I can make with my setup. I have already ordered everything, so I probably should have asked before actually placing the order, but better late than never.

Rosewill Thor V2 - Black

Asus Maximus v Formula

Intel i7-3770k

2 x XFX Double D 7970 Black Edition

XFX Proseries P1-1050-BEFX 1050w

4 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1866

OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SSD

1TB WD Black HDD

Corsair H60 Hyrdo Cooler - thinking about returning and upgrading to an H100

LG 24x CD\DVD Burner


Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated

 

[Ubrales]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums!

Looks like a nice build!

For a few dollars more you could have got 32 GBs of RAM; but 16 GBs will serve you well!

 

[ddavenport83]

Thank you. Like I said, I am really new to PC gaming. Every PC\Laptop I have bought before has been off the shelf from Best Buy or something similar. Will I see a difference with 32GB of ram? I have no issue with spending more money for it, but I want to make sure that I see a return.

 

[Ubrales]

At RAM prices these days, I will go for 32 GBs, and that is what I have in my new build which is about 4 weeks new.

More RAM is better for multi tasking, and for certain programs like Autocad, Photoshop. It will help in gaming too, even though in gaming you need a good Graphics card and you have that.

 

[ddavenport83]

ok, thanks. correct me if I am wrong but if I go ahead and purchase the extra 16GB of RAM, I will also need to move to Windows 7 Professional, right? Its not an issue, as the price is similar, I just want to make sure that it's all compatible.

 

[timarp000]

1.Get 2x8GB sticks for RAM.

2.Buy a Crucial M4 256GB

3.And instead of 2 Radeon 7970, buy 2 GTX 670's unless you are gaming 3-monitors.

4.And for CPU cooler buy the Cooler Master TPC 812. Higher end air coolers are better than cheap water coolers. The TPC 812 can get you to 4.3GHz easy.

5.For power supply, buy the Corsair AX860i. You dont need 1000W for GTX 670 SLI. Actually 750W is enough buy since you are overclocking id buy the 860W.

6. And for case, do you really want Full Tower? A Corsair 500R or Fractal Design R4 or Cooler Master HAF XM would do

 

[Ubrales]

ok, thanks. correct me if I am wrong but if I go ahead and purchase the extra 16GB of RAM, I will also need to move to Windows 7 Professional, right? Its not an issue, as the price is similar, I just want to make sure that it's all compatible.

To utilize over 4 GBs of RAM you need a 64-bit Operating System; not the 32-bit OS (the prices are identical for either).

And if you are considering Win 7, go for Win 7 Pro 64-bit. Then you can use 32 GBs of RAM; limited by the motherboard (Windows limit is 192 GBs of RAM for 64-bit OS).

 

[ddavenport83]

thanks timarp000, I appreciate the feedback. I went with a full tower, because the MB that I got is an E-ATX board and many of the mid towers, I liked didn't say they support the E-ATX board. My goal with the 7970's and the power supply was to try and "future proof" it as best as possible. I understand in the PC world, that is difficult, but that was my goal.

WHy the Crucial M4 over the OCZ Vector 3? I do not need the storage of the 256GB and the prices on the 128 are identical, but the write speed is significantly lower on the M4.

 

[ddavenport83]

Thanks Urbales. One last question about Win 7. Newegg offers OEM and retail packaging. OEM being a fair amount cheaper. Any reason to not go with the OEM?

 

[Ubrales]

Thanks Urbales. One last question about Win 7. Newegg offers OEM and retail packaging. OEM being a fair amount cheaper. Any reason to not go with the OEM?

My recent 4 weeks new build has Win 7 Pro 64-bit (OEM) from Newegg.

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) means that you will have to do your own support; not Microsoft support. In the past this has never been an issue.

Another aspect of OEM is that you cannot legally uninstall it and transfer it to a different computer. With the 'Retail' version this can be done, but it says in the fine print, only once.

My suggestion: Go with the Win 7 Pro 64-bit OEM (Newegg) - Wait until the 30-day period is close before you authenticate it. Make sure that all bugs are worked out first.

 

[ddavenport83]

so, 32 GB of RAM and Win 7 Pro, it is then. Thanks

 

[Ubrales]

so, 32 GB of RAM and Win 7 Pro, it is then. Thanks

Right! And all the best!

 

[bakertylerea]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums!

Looks like a nice build!

For a few dollars more you could have got 32 GBs of RAM; but 16 GBs will serve you well!

I have to disagree. 32 GB of RAM is way overkill for a gaming PC. 8 GB will do just fine, spend the difference on a nice SSD or upgrade your GPU.

 

[timarp000]

I agree with bakertylerea

 

[timarp000]

thanks timarp000, I appreciate the feedback. I went with a full tower, because the MB that I got is an E-ATX board and many of the mid towers, I liked didn't say they support the E-ATX board. My goal with the 7970's and the power supply was to try and "future proof" it as best as possible. I understand in the PC world, that is difficult, but that was my goal.

WHy the Crucial M4 over the OCZ Vector 3? I do not need the storage of the 256GB and the prices on the 128 are identical, but the write speed is significantly lower on the M4.

The Maximus V formaula isnt E-ATX. The Maximus V Extreme is... (correct me if im wrong)

For SSD- dont only look at reads and write speeds... The M4 is much more reliable. If you a 256GB its more bang for your buck. $170 for 256GB seems reasonable. If you buy the 256GB you can install the OS and some games... The ssd wont make gameplay better, its just that loading times can be less...

A single Radeon 7970 Ghz is enough for today's games at 1080p. you dont need sooo much. And you can always upgrade later. Unless you are Gaming 2560x1440 or higher then you wont Crossfire 7970's.

 

[marqol]

32GB of ram sounds way overkill.
I play gw2, counterstrike: GO, Battlefield etc... and they barely take up 4GB.
My suggestion would be as stated above 2x4GB ram unless you're a graphic designer and need all of that.

 

[bakertylerea]

Also, the 3770K is only needed if you do a lot of video editing and stuff like that. You will get the exact same performance in gaming with the 3570k which will save you almost a hundred bucks. Just a suggestion.