Another New Gaming Build

[Buckshank]

I am hoping the community can help me with my first gaming build. Take a look at it below and let me know if there are any compatibility issues or other things which the experts can see would cause me an issue.

I don't want to spend more than $1200 on the build so I have some room for additional parts. From previous builds I have a 500gb 7200 rpm HD, optical drive and OS, so I am not concerned about those missing from the list. I also want the capability to OC, expand to SLI and 32gb memory later.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 Thunderbolt ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($152.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($107.95 @ Mac Connection)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card ($287.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black/Orange) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1076.73
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-17 12:26 EST-0500)

 

[tiny voices]

Games only use 4gb of RAM so most people will tell you to drop to 8gb (standard for all gaming rigs). Other than that, it looks like a very solid build.

 

[cball1311]

+1 to tiny voices (what's up man ) plus a few other changes being a bit over your original budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.48 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($369.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black/Orange) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1105.39
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-17 12:46 EST-0500)

1. The Thunderbolt motherboard isn't worth the price. The ASUS that I suggested will give you the same performance.
2. Too much RAM (try to get low profile to make sure the EVO fits).
3. If you want to SLI in the future, get the PSU now so you don't have to upgrade that later too.
4. The 670 outperforms the 660 Ti by a good 8-10 FPS stock (with OC this will be higher).

 

[sharkbyte5150]

Well, you can see on the PCPP website that there are no incompatibility issues, that feature is built in whenever you build a list.

CBall strikes again! hahaha
I like CBall's list....I was going to say go with the ASRock Z77Extreme4 instead of MSI, but he picked the board I'm using and I have no complaints and yes, you really do not need 16GB of RAM and you'd be literally setting money on fire to go to 32GB for anything short of generating the next Pixar film.

 

[Buckshank]

Tiny, Cball and Sharky thanks for the replies. Good to know that I will not be burning money now or in the future. I will go back and adjust my build per Cball's recommendations and see what the cost is at.

 

[Buckshank]

Best answer selected by Buckshank.