My First PC Build

martinuv

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Feb 2, 2013
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**If this is in the wrong place I apologize in advance**

Hello,
This is my first time building a desktop PC. I've done plenty of research on this site and others. I've found the components that I want on Newegg. My biggest concern with my build (that I've posted below) is potential bottlenecking with the motherboard. I also chose a rather cheap PSU that I'd like opinions on. I don't really know what wattage I need or how to find that out. Also, I wanted to get an SSD but they were all very expensive and I saw no good reason to spend the extra hundred or so dollars (other than slighly faster program load times). My memory should be more than sufficient and I can always expand it later, but is there a performance difference between getting 2 x 4gb versus 1 x 8gb? I didn't know what to look for in a case either, so I looked at price and what came with it. I'm also worried about buying an OEM operating system: the constraints of changing my HDD or motherboard later and the lack of customer support. Otherwise, I want this computer to be able to handle big games and preferably on high settings. To a lesser extent, I also want it to be capable of working with 3D animation and programming engines (Blender, Unity, etc.). I'm pretty sure that everything is compatible, but if I'm wrong please tell me. I am on a budget. The build I have now costs $774 for everything (without including tax or shipping). I'd prefer not to pay much more than that.

So basically what I want to know is:
1. Will my motherboard bottleneck my CPU or GPU?
2. What wattage do I need for my PSU and which brands are reliable?
3. Is the performance boost of an SSD worth the extra money or should I wait for prices to drop and expand my system later?
4. Is there a performance/price difference between a 2 x 4gb and a 1 x 8gb memory configuration?
5. What should I look for in a case (price and functionality) and is my case a good buy?
6. What are the pros and cons of an OEM OS?
7. Will my GPU and CPU handle big games like Assassin's Creed III, Crysis 3, Skyrim, etc.?
8. And obviously, have I made any huge compatibility errors or have I forgotten anything?


Any advice, comments, or suggestions are more than welcome. Thank you!

My Build
Power Supply:
COOLMAX ZX Series ZX-600 600W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$50

Motherboard:
ASRock Z77 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s
$90

Memory:
CORSAIR Vengeance LP 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M1A1600C10
$46

Optical:
SAMSUNG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model SH-224BB - OEM
$18

Case:
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan
$50

Or

Rosewill REDBONE U3 Black SECC Steel USB 3.0, eSATA, 3x 120mm Fans Mid Tower Computer Case
$50

CPU:
Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2GHz (3.6GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i53470
$200

GPU:
EVGA 01G-P4-3650-KR GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
$140

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$80

OS:
Windows 7 Home Premium OEM
$100
 

2. 550W is plenty for that system.

3. It's worth it, but something you can always upgrade later. You might want to spend the money on a better graphics card for now.

6. Pro: Cheaper, Con: Can't be used with a new motherboard (which is how Microsoft defines a new computer).
 

dcomander101x

Honorable
Feb 2, 2013
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1. An i5 or i7 and their sockets shouldn't have any bottlenecks unless its from the Nehalem generation
2. about ~650w and get one from Corsair, and if you ever want to upgrade & SLI two 650s, id get a 800W from Corsair
3. yes, I recently got a $110 120 GB Mushkin SSD, and it is certainly like night & day, though id invest some time into splitting your games between the SSD & HDD, as the SSD is still quite small, if you do invest in getting one.
4. Dual Channel is always reccomended for gaming
5. any case, is fine, just keep an eye out for build quality, as its usually helps
6. not many, as its locked to the one computer, id invest into getting a retail version instead
7. Intel is in the lead in performance right now, so any major ~$200 GPU will run major games just fine
8. other then an aftermarket heatsink, which is optional, but reccomended, everything is fine.
 

offcenter

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Jan 24, 2013
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SAMSUNG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model SH-224BB - OEM

A blue ray player would be nice, other than that you got it pretty much down as far as I can see.
 

That's a bit over the top. It's a system without CPU overclocking and a relatively modest GPU.
 

dcomander101x

Honorable
Feb 2, 2013
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True, but it leaves enough room for customization and future upgrades
 

offcenter

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Jan 24, 2013
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Jeez..... it's his first build. I am 55 and I remember how I couldn't wait for WIN98 to load on my first build. Cut the guy some slack.....
 

martinuv

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Feb 2, 2013
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So I've decided, after a little research, to pay the extra money for an intel i5 3570k because I've heard that it can be safely overclocked to 4+ ghz. My motherboard says that its supports "Turbo Boost Technology 2.0". Will that overclock my CPU the way I want? My thoughts are that this CPU shouldn't fall behind technologically if I can overclock it. Does that seem plausible?