I am building a new system and want to know if my parts are right

[Davian_Thule]

Thread says it all. I'll start with what I already own so you know what I have.

Small HD TV for monitor
931gb freeagent drive to bolster ssd
logitech g700 gaming mouse.
A bunch of old computer parts my dad shoved into an old corn-dog box. Maybe the fan still works, but I doubt it.

I want to do gaming and some low-poly modeling (for MTW2) as well as having a computer for college. (but if it can do the former two, it should be able to do that too right?)

Here is what I plan on getting, price estimates, and some reasons why.

Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor $199.99 Somebody told me the i7's are not much better for what I need so I went $100 dollars cheaper with this one.

Thermaltake CLP0556 39.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler $12.99 It was cheap and had five eggs.

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard $129.99 The MB confused me so again I went with what other people said.

G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory $49.99 I heard that dual channel ram was better than single channel, but I figured that the 8gb would get me by for a while until I actually need something that large. (inwhich case just get another 8gb stick and have more bang for my ram slots) Also, I that thought having a better single card could have better future safety in case I build another and it only takes up one slot of the improved hardware)

Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk $127.00 It looked like a good ssd (which I really want) and was cheaper than the 250 gb. I think that using my freeagent I'll be able to just have this for my important programs.

EVGA GeForce GTX 660 3GB Video Card $269.99 seemed like a really good video card that could handle anything I would use it for.

Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case $101.93 I really like the look of this case and it seems to have no real flaws. cable management is good and removable hard drive trays are a bonus to a build that uses only two. Also the fan control is a plus.

CoolMax 900W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $79.99 It seemed like the best high voltage power supply to have 80 bronze and modular cords that was relatively cheap.

Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer $16.98 Ineed windows seven on my computer, which seems to need a dvd reader. Only reason for this.

Microsoft Keyboard 200 Wired Standard Keyboard $9.98 I need a keybord and this seemed good for the (very little) money

HDMI cable $3-10 dollars. I'll just get this one for cheap offline as it makes no sense to get those $30 ones that arn't all that much better.

over all price: $1,100.00

Obviously I want to get this cheaper while still being just as good. I don't plan on buying for a little while, so I might just shop around more, but I want to know if I have the right idea.

 

[admbautista]

1. If your planning to overclock you need a k cpu. with that you would need a 3570k.

2. If your not planning to overclock go with a i5 3470, performs nearly with 3570 and cost less. You could also change that mother board to a h77 board if your not planning to overclock and sli and drop the cpu cooler because you won't need it. An asrock h77 pro4-mvp will do or asrock h77m if you want matx.

3. For me $100 case is so much for a $100 build. I would have bought a cheaper case like a cm storm enforcer or rosewill line m of you went matx.

4. 900w psu is really overkill for your build. a 500-600w is more than enough for a single gpu build. and 750w for dual gpu. Check this for brand and series that you'll want. Go with tier1/2. http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

5. With the savings from (2) if you went to non-oc and on (3) and (4) you can then upgrade that gpu. A 7950 is the better bang for you buck if you go amd, and 670 if you stayed with nvidia.

 

[Outlander_04]

A 900 watt coolmax psu probably blows up under a 450 watt load .

But seriously the build only needs 500 watts

The reasoning behind the RAM choice is not that sound . Get a dual channel kit . You mb has 4 RAM slots so you could still add another 16 gig on top of the original 8 even if you use a dual channel kit .

 

[geofelt]

My thoughts:

1. For a gaming build, starting with a GTX660 is good. It is the most important component. I particularly like the direct exhaust type coolers that EVGA favors.

2. The 3570 is fine.

3. The 3570 will come with a similar 92mm cpu cooler; save your money. Since you will not be overclocking, the stock cooler will be fine. It might get noisy under load.
For quieter operation, a cm hyper212 with a 120mm fan will be about $30.

4. How many expansion slots do you really need? Like most of us, it is only one for the graphics card. A M-ATX sized motherboard will be cheaper.
Something like this ASRock B75M-DGS for $55 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157335

5. The ssd you picked is very good.

6. The GTX660 only needs 450w or so. Buy a quality unit. Coolmax is a tiier 5(not recommended, replace asap) unit on this list
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx
You can do better. Do not go cheap on the psu. Get a tier 1/2/3 unit.
I would not pay extra for modular in a standard sized case. You will use most of the leads anyway, and there is always room to hide the rest. Modular is good primarily in a small form factor case.

7. 8gb of ram is good, but buy a 2 x 4gb kit so you get dual channel operation.
And... 1866 ram is pointless. ivy bridge is not sensitive to ram speed. Read this:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3
and... 1.5v ram does not need any fancy heat spreaders; don't pay extra for them.

 

[Davian_Thule]

Thanks you for your replies.

I do not plan on overclocking, so I will lose the cpu cooler.

While sli sounds really cool, I have to admit that I'll probably never do it so I won't worry about that anymore.
Probably the same thing with 32 gb. So I can probably go for a micro atx mb

Speaking of which, due to your suggestions, here are the two I picked out.

ASRock H77M LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

ASRock Z77 Extreme3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

The former is much cheaper and will probably be the one I buy unless there is a feature I need to have in the latter.

Now I looked for dual channel ram and found that, when you check the price per gb, this looked like a better deal for the money

Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model BLS2K8G3D1609ES2LX0

and since I would only have two ram slots on the micro atx mb I said I would be using, I would be at the maximum level of ram for my board.

Now I am having a little trouble with the psu. the expert list led me to some psu's that were out of stock, so I went to pcpartpicker and tried looking there.
This one would be the same price as my old one, but have much higher efficiency.

Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-650-M 650W ATX12V v2.31 & EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Should I look around more, or is this a good one?

These changes would bring down the cost to $1050 and double the ram.

Now, is it really worth it to spend at least $100 dollars more (or 38% more if you will) to upgrade my video card to the next level? Also, is there anywhere else (besides the case unless if there is just an outstanding one) to make this less expensive?

This is my first time building a computer, so pardon my ignorance. (pretty please?)

 

[geofelt]

Worth is something only YOU and your wallet can determine.

The Asrock M-atx should be good.

The ram is 1.35v which might not work. Look for 1.5v ram. This g.skil ares low profile kit should work, but take the time to go to the g.skil web site and verify that it is supported on the motherboard you pick. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231558

For a single 1080P monitor, I think a GTX660 will do you very well. In the future, you can always replace it with the next best thing.

For the psu, 650w is fine. But you will never recoup the price premium for a gold rated psu based on efficiency.
For anything except a small form factor case, modular does not add value and will cost more.

The rosewill capstone was well reviewed by anandtech :http://www.anandtech.com/show/5698/rosewill-capstone-450w-and-650w-80plus-gold
I would not have a problem with it.

I might pick this SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W unit @$79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096

 

[Davian_Thule]

Yay, it looks like I have the plan for my computer. And it coming at the suggested price of $1,050 isn't bad either. (the goal was just $1,000) I only have one question left. What are those little plastic things they use to tie up the wires that get them really tight, and should I also order those online? I think I'll need some of those handy.

 

[Davian_Thule]

Best answer selected by Davian_Thule.

 

[geofelt]

Yay, it looks like I have the plan for my computer. And it coming at the suggested price of $1,050 isn't bad either. (the goal was just $1,000) I only have one question left. What are those little plastic things they use to tie up the wires that get them really tight, and should I also order those online? I think I'll need some of those handy.

They are called zip ties. You can find them at home depot/lowes.

I don't bother with them. On occasion, I use the tie wires that come with parts to secure something.