New gaming computer need some advice thanks

[cravejosh]

Hello everyone and thanks in advance for any help.

I am looking to build a new gaming computer. I currently own a Dell XPS 720
http://www.pcworld.com/product/30130/dell-xps-720.html

I have upgraded the video card a year or so ago to a GTX 570.

Well I tried to play the crysis 3 demo and it was just unplayable on the lowest setting . I love to play all the newest and latest games. I'm scared to buy Tomb Raider and not be able to run it. So i guess its time to look into building a new computer. This time I'm looking to build my own. I have no idea how to overclock but I am going to learn as much as I can to do so.

So basically what I am looking for is a great gaming computer. I would like to spend around $1300 but I am willing to spend around $1500.



Here is what I have come up with so far. Have a few questions on it.

Could I keep my GTX 570 and save on some of the cost?

Am I able to turn off the LED lights on the fans?

How much performance will I see upgrading from my XPS ?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DTld
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DTld/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DTld/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 ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.04 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($113.79 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($355.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 ATX Mid Tower Case ($101.97 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Aerocool Shark 120mm Red 82.6 CFM 120mm Fan ($11.98 @ Outlet PC)
Case Fan: Aerocool Silent Master 200R 76.0 CFM 200mm Fan ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ 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) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1260.58
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-06 14:52 EST-0500)

 

[unoriginal1]

Nice build. Your going to see a HUGE improvement. You'll be able to play on high settings. You'll also like the added snappyness a SSD provides. As far as the LED lights on the fans i don't think so. But that is just me guessing . Enjoy your new machine.

 

[stickmansam]

Made some changes overall
added a larger PSU (assumes you want to SLI)
Chose an custom cooler 670
ASUS mb over AsRock

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.04 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($113.79 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($363.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 ATX Mid Tower Case ($101.97 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Aerocool Shark 120mm Red 82.6 CFM 120mm Fan ($11.98 @ Outlet PC)
Case Fan: Aerocool Silent Master 200R 76.0 CFM 200mm Fan ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1305.65
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-06 15:32 EST-0500)

 

[photonboy]

Hi,

Points:
1) don't keep the GTX570. It would be a major bottleneck when you upgrade everything else.

2) Don't bother with SLI. It causes micro-stutter. I can provide the latest info if required.

3) PSU: Having said no SLI, I still recommend a 750W PSU. Power Supplies start ramping up the fan at 50% load which is roughly where you'd likely sit when gaming with your rig. You could save $10 or $20 with a 550W or 650W but it would be noisier. (This also means a 750W, IMO is too little for SLI).

4) Get Windows 8 64-bit OEM, and also START8 from Stardock.
*Windows 8 is significantly improved over Windows 7 and Start8 bypasses the new interface so it basically works the same as W7.

Security is vastly improved with W8. For example, when you also have a motherboard with UEFI (BIOS) like most (all?) Z77 motherboards this helps prevent malware from hiding itself in Windows during bootup when Windows is normally vulnerable.

The PROS far outweigh the CONS with W8 vs W7. If you want reference info I can link it.

5) Graphics Card.
I'm not necessarily saying don't get that GTX670 (I love my Asus GTX680 TOP which is right at the top of the heap below $600 or close to it). However, compare an HD7950 to benchmarks then factor in the price difference of the card which also comes with TWO FREE GAMES:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202007

There are other difference between NVidia and AMD cards however I'm comfortable recommending either card but I feel it important to factor in the game cost of:
- Crysis 3, and
- Bioshock Infinite

These games new total $120 I believe and the price difference in cards was $50. With tax that's close to a $200 difference (if you would buy these game. You already said you're getting Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite looks like a great game). FYI, at the beginning of Bioshock Infinite there's a sequence on the beach; wander around to let the girl explore everything... you'll see.

 

[Kindredsouls]

I have a very similar build (built it in November 2012) to what you're purposing and I'm running a re-used GTX 570. The 570 is on par with a GTX 660 TI. Its no slouch and I can run most games at medium-high settings, but I'll admit its tempting to get a 670. My recommendation is wait until the next generation cards are released. Rumors I'm hearing is Nvidia is looking at this summer or fall for the 700 series cards, but the performance increase may not be as significant as the 500 to 600 jump was. In my opinion, think about how hard you work for your money and how easy you are willing to part with it. You really could go either way.

 

[photonboy]

I have a very similar build (built it in November 2012) to what you're purposing and I'm running a re-used GTX 570. The 570 is on par with a GTX 660 TI. Its no slouch and I can run most games at medium-high settings, but I'll admit its tempting to get a 670. My recommendation is wait until the next generation cards are released. Rumors I'm hearing is Nvidia is looking at this summer or fall for the 700 series cards, but the performance increase may not be as significant as the 500 to 600 jump was. In my opinion, think about how hard you work for your money and how easy you are willing to part with it. You really could go either way.

Waiting for the GTX700 series is not a bad idea.

However, if he was willing to do that may I recommend:
- wait for a GTX770 or 780.
- by then Intel's Haswell CPU's and motherboards will be out (i.e. an i5-4570K?)

Haswell is supposed to be out June/July and the 700 series is rumored to be Q2 or Q3 (I suspect Q3). While Haswell will only add a small boost (10% of so likely), the IDLE power consumption should be far lower as the CPU is being redesigned with MOBILE usage in mind (it can basically turn OFF and ON really fast which produces a far lower power usage on average which may not even require a fan during basic usage).

So one possibility is wait for Haswell (if the price is similar) and build that PC with your GTX570 then replace that with a GTX770.

 

[cravejosh]

Thank everyone for the help.

Stickmansam: Why the ASUS orver the AsRock?

I don't think I want to wait for the new cards or processors... Sounds expensive and honestly I want something soon.

Does anyone know how easy this setup will be to overclock ? I have never overclocked before and the best news I have seen is that some motherboards have a overclock feature that is only 1 click! However after some research I can not figure out if this motherboard has the ability ?

Also these damn LED light fans..... Can they be disabled?

Thanks Everyone!

 

[photonboy]

Thank everyone for the help.

Stickmansam: Why the ASUS orver the AsRock?

I don't think I want to wait for the new cards or processors... Sounds expensive and honestly I want something soon.

Does anyone know how easy this setup will be to overclock ? I have never overclocked before and the best news I have seen is that some motherboards have a overclock feature that is only 1 click! However after some research I can not figure out if this motherboard has the ability ?

Also these damn LED light fans..... Can they be disabled?

Thanks Everyone!

Asus and Asrock both make good motherboards. There's no "wrong" answer here. I generally look at:
- value (price and features)
- customer reviews (mainly I look at the 1/5 or 2/5 scores to see if a high percentage failed)

Overclocking:
If a motherboard costs $100 or more (sometimes less) chances are it can overclock the CPU. You can also download the MANUAL from the main website if in doubt).

How easy to overclock?
Generally it's pretty easy however some motherboards have an AUTO OVERCLOCK feature which does a quick overclock for you. The Asus board likely has this feature.

I also did a SLIGHT overclock with my Asus Z77 Sabertooth while also maintaining POWER MANAGEMENT for the CPU. So my CPU runs the same but can Turbo up to 4.1GHz instead of 3.9GHz and it drops below 2GHz (and drops the voltage) in idle mode.

If you have issues, simply Google or come back here. Here's what I did:
1) Updated my BIOS
2) Boot into the BIOS (UEFI)
3) applied the overtune (or whatever it's called) which REBOOT my PC
4) Boot into BIOS again
5) pressed XMP (optimal CPU/RAM profile) because my RAM was not correct frequency
6) *Finally my CPU was at 4.1GHz (Turbo), my RAM was at the optimal 2133MHz and I had Power Management working (confirmed with CPU-Z in Windows)

 

[cravejosh]

Thanks everyone for all this help. Ive put a lot of thinking into this and here is what I have ended up with. I'm thinking about ordering today. I hope to overclock to 4.2ghz. Does this look good? Do I need to buy more case fans?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Il1T
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Il1T/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Il1T/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 ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.04 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($117.28 @ TigerDirect)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($389.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($18.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1304.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-08 10:32 EST-0500)

 

[stickmansam]

I would still grab the ASUS LK over the Extreme 4 as the extreme 4 dosen't really offer anything more but is a bit more expensive

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks everyone for all this help. Ive put a lot of thinking into this and here is what I have ended up with. I'm thinking about ordering today. I hope to overclock to 4.2ghz. Does this look good? Do I need to buy more case fans?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Il1T
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Il1T/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Il1T/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 ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.04 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($117.28 @ TigerDirect)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($389.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($18.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1304.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-08 10:32 EST-0500)

It looks good but get the OCZ Vertex 4 over the Kingston SSD. And as far as fans go your system's air flow is determined by the position of your heat sink and the fan mounts on your case. So don't get the fans until you have that situated.

 

[cravejosh]

What do you guys think about extended warranty?

 

[stickmansam]

What do you guys think about extended warranty?

On what?

 

[cravejosh]

Just wondering if I should get it on anything?

 

[stickmansam]

Just wondering if I should get it on anything?

Most of the parts are likely to die within first bit or use or be DOA than to die outside of the normal warranty
I have never gotten extended warranty myself

EVGA has 3 years or life time if you register AFAIK

Seagate has 2 years (1+1 if you register your drive)

AsRock has 1 year warranty, again good enough for most issues to pop up (CAPs no longer troll you like they used to)

ASUS should you choose them has a 3 year year warranty for mb's AFAIK which is longer than asrock's

From what i read, kingston has a 3 year warranty on their SSD's

The Corsair PSU has a 5 year warranty