New Custom Build - Thoughts

[gpellis87]

Hey guys,

I've worked in IT for a number of years now, though mostly in the Enterprise/server side. That said, I've never actually built a computer, so I figured now is as good a time as any. I don't necessarily have a hard core budget, but I'd like to be around $1,000 at the moment. I'm not too concerned with the new processors coming out in June from Intel. While the boost is welcomed, I don't think it's absolutely necessary for what I'm doing here.

I want this system, mainly for games. What I've selected so far comes in around $1,100 - which is acceptable to me.

Now, for what I currently have selected.

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz
MoBo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155
Memory: G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB (4x4GB) 240-Ping DDR3 SDRAM 2133
Storage: Seagate Barrcuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200RPM (I'm not too concerned with this at the moment, as I plan to eventually put in an SSD, but for the price at the moment, I just want to get this in there.)
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Superclocked 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0
Power Supply: CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 ATX12V v2.2 Modular
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912

I know for gaming there doesn't seem to be much performance difference in the Core i5 and Core i7's. Do you guys see anything here that you know to be trash, to avoid, or anywhere I could get better bang for my buck?

With shipping and all this comes out to $1,137.78 for me.

 

[gpellis87]

Seems I could save a few here by using the AMD Radeon HD 7970, does anyone have any real world experience with this card? Does it outperform the GTX 680?

 

[Azn Cracker]

The 7970 Ghz edition is better than the 680. The 7970 regular edition is about the same. It depends on what applications, but generally better. I'd go for the 7970 or ghz edidtion if physx is not needed.

Overall this looks like a solid build. You might want to consider buying a ssd with the money you saved by getting a 7970.