My first build. Come tear it apart!

[twrankin]

Monitor: Asus 144Hz 24" Monitor
CPU: Intel i5-3570k
Mobo: Asrock Z77 Extreme4
Case: Azza Genesis 9000
PSU: Corsair HX750 750W PSU on sale for $100
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+
GPU:NVIDIA Geforce GTX 670 FTW
Storage: Crucial M4 256Gb SSD
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16Gb 1600
Optical drive: Asus CD/DVD Burner
Speakers: Logitech Speakers

Buy date: Either this month or early March

Budget: $1800-$2000, and the current build is ~$1700 not including tax or shipping.

Preferred site: Newegg or Amazon

Current rig: All I have currently is a mouse and keyboard. I also have Windows 7 as a download, but no disc so I don't know how that will work.

Intentions: Exclusively gaming on a single monitor at 1920x1080. I'll be playing everything from League of Legends and WoW to Crysis 3, Skyrim and The Witcher 2.

Overclocking: I plan to overclock my CPU and GPU to safe and acceptable levels for the air cooler I'm getting.

Additional Comments: I'm buying the 670 FTW instead of the buying the 680 or waiting for the 700 series Keplar refresh as I hear that's possibly delayed until Q4. I plan to upgrade to a NVIDIA Maxwell card in 2014 after they're released and their prices stabilize.

Please inspect my build and make any comments you want on anything, it's my first time and I'm only doing this based on web research. If you have any tips that someone who has never built before might need I would love to have them.

 

[hubbardt]

Looks like a solid build. You may want to put a 1000W PSU in there if you are planning to run SLI at some later stage.

 

[eyeage]

The 750 will be enough for SLI.

No point in 16Gb RAM for gaming. If you're wanting to OC, look for Samsung Green 1600MHz 11-11-11-28 RAM (if you can find it).

The only suggestion I'd make, is to consider the Auria 27" IPS from microcenter. It's quite beautiful, and I don't notice any input lag/refresh issues while playing FPS (since you're obviously more of a MMO player like me, you'll probably enjoy the PQ more). I lamented over a monitor choice for weeks, decided on the auria, and I am quite happy. I have the matte version, and it's nice (a little aggressive with the brightness way up) in my well-lit office.

 

[twrankin]

I don't live anywhere near a microcenter, but I was looking at the Korean 1440p monitors for a while. The reason I decided on a 24" 1080p monitor is mostly because it's a lot more demanding on your rig. Also I'll be sitting directly in front of my monitor so a 24" will work just as well as a 27".

I just don't like the idea of getting less fps with a higher resolution, as I hear you need pretty good cards in SLI for high end games to run well.

Also thanks for your suggestion on the 8GB of RAM. I'll save the $50.

 

[eyeage]

Well, on a 60 Hz monitor, anything greater than 60 FPS doesn't really do anything (other than cause problems). I may download wow (stopped playing a while ago) and test it, but atm I'm downloading BF3, so I'll soon find out if my PC has issues with it (I have a card that is below yours). Have not had a single issue with games I've played thus far.

Also, they ship the Auria monitor. Only things like CPU deals, etc, are in store only.

 

[twrankin]

Great let me know how it goes as I'm pretty interested in that Auria. I don't play any FPS games competitively so I don't care much about the increased delay and from what I hear 1440p is stunning. Would you recommend the Auria, or the Catleap that can OC to 120Hz?

 

[g-unit1111]

Looks like a solid build. You may want to put a 1000W PSU in there if you are planning to run SLI at some later stage.

No, you'll never come close to using a 1KW PSU, and any decent one will cost you at least $220, paying anything less and you'll get a sub par PSU.

No point in 16Gb RAM for gaming. If you're wanting to OC, look for Samsung Green 1600MHz 11-11-11-28 RAM (if you can find it).

I agree here, I was pointed to some really interesting links about RAM yesterday, I can repost those.

On a $2K budget I'd get this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($80.06 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($182.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($73.56 @ Amazon)
Storage: OCZ Vector Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($134.15 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($165.98 @ Outlet PC)
Power Supply: NZXT HALE 90 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($18.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($79.20 @ Newegg)
Total: $1827.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-21 18:16 EST-0500)

- Dual GTX 670 gives you near identical performance to the GTX 690 for $300 less
- NZXT Hale 90 is made by Super Flower which is an OEM that's on par if not better than Seasonic
- Gigabyte UD4 has Thunderbolt support for new legacy devices'
- OCZ Vector is currently the fastest SSD on the market, even beats the Samsung 840 Pro in most tests
- I actively discourage against BD-R on PC because the price of the playback software is $100 a license and doesn't always work as advertised

Also if you have a budget - do not, and I repeat - do not purchase those Logitech tin can speakers. The speakers built into your monitor are better than those. Save your money and get a pair of Audioengine A5s or Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 when you can afford them.

 

[twrankin]

Thanks for the great reply g-unit. The only thing is the monitor is included in the budget, and I'm getting one 670 instead of two because I want to save the money and upgrade in 2014.

 

[bryonhowley]

Looks good as far as the ram goes at the price ram is now I do not see any reason not to go for 16gig. When you can get 16gig of good quality ram for less than $100 there is no reason not to. When I built my 2013 rig getting 16gig was on sale and only $10 more than getting the same make/model of 8gig.

I have not been with intel for very long but am really liking my i5 3570K so far. I have been with AMD since the K6-2 so I am still learning the ins and outs of intel.

 

[cutebeans]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($223.79 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Plextor M5S Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($390.04 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N150PCe 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Green) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($79.20 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VS229H-P 21.5" Monitor ($144.18 @ Amazon)
Total: $1424.11
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-21 19:51 EST-0500)

This would be cheaper and still a great deal.

 

[littleleo]

I've had better luck with Gigabyte or MSI then ASRock see if you like the GA-Z77X-UD3H or the Z77A-GD65. You can save money going with a 8GB RAM kit not much performance gain going to 16GB compared to the increased cost. Drop the Crucial M4 256Gb SSD, for the same price you can get a Plextor PX-256M5S SSD much faster and higher quality drive. I think I'd go with at least a 3pc speaker system. I have 5.1 at home and I love it. A good sound system really adds to the enjoyment of your gaming.

 

[twrankin]

Okay how about these for speakers:

Logitech Z623 200 w 2.1 Speaker System

 

[twrankin]

bump

So if I get the 1440p monitor, 8Gb of RAM and the better speakers my build is over $100 more and I'll be getting less performance because of the monitor....Anyways thanks for the suggestions, could use some more advice as I'm still iffy about which monitor to get.

 

[eyeage]

I'll say that with my current build (it's under "more information" > "member configuration"), I am getting 45-70 fps (hovering mid 50s) on 1440p in BF3 on ultra preset. If I bump that down to 1080p, I'm getting 70-100 fps (hovering mid 80s). So, if you plan to do a lot of fps gaming, get a 120hz, as the 670 will pump it out (especially if my 7870xt stock clock does).

That said, it looks amazing at 1440p, and I don't notice issues with the refresh rate or input lag. I don't notice motion blur or ghosting either. I'm quiet happy with this monitor since I've calibrated it. The AG filter is far less noticeable and the picture quality is out of this world. That's my experience with this monitor, ymmv.

Also, the auria has speakers if you use DP it's easy to have them use the sound. I'd also suggest a quality pair of headphones with a mic for gaming, instead of speakers.

 

[twrankin]

So would you say that (in a hypothetical situation) playing on medium on 27" 1440p monitor looks better than ultra on a 24" 1080p monitor and is worth the performance hit? My decision will mostly depend on your answer, and thanks for help so far!

 

[eyeage]

I'm saying with the build you have above, you'll be able to run ultra at 60+ fps, so it's a mute point. Anything over 60 won't matter (as 60hz only refreshes 60 times per second). So, I don't think you'll have to sacrifice from ultra to medium. If you're not building with the components at the top (670), then I wouldn't bother with 1440p. That said, we're talking FPS here, for MMO, I'd get the 27" IPS > 24" TN. That's just me... I play a lot of MMO. I think, in reality, it's your decision, and you may want to test it out first. I struggled over the choice of a monitor for 2 weeks. It's a tough decision.

 

[eyeage]

site unavailable = double post

 

[PlanetaryPenguin321]

http://us.store.creative.com/Creative-Sound-Blaster-XFi-Titanium-HD/M/B0041OUA38.htm

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0002WPSBC/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all

Gotta get better sound! Can't stress that enough! Other than that, great build!