First PC build, any advice for improvements?

[Mark8008]

I've been looking around the site to see what is in my price range ($1000 ish), and based on that have come up with this build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/IdLh

Going to purchase in the next week or so and wanted to make sure everything looks good. First time building a computer- thanks in advance.



Budget Range: (1000-1200)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming.

Purchase Date: Sometime between this week and next

Buying a monitor: Yes

Parts to Upgrade: Main parts (CPU, mobo, RAM etc.)

Need to buy OS: No (unless Home Premium won't do)

Parts Preferences: Am on the fence for AMD & Intel

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (hopefully an Asus VX238H 23.0")

Additional Comments: Quiet PC, around 1TB HHD

Why Are You Upgrading: I need something more powerful than a 320M 256Mb, Dual 2.4GHz MacBook Pro

 

[tiny voices]

Get a 500w PSU from Antec, XFX, Corsair, Seasonic.
Get the 7870xt for 10 more dollars. Its much better than a normal 7870.
No need for the extra case fans.

 

[g-unit1111]

Do you really need a Wifi router in your budget? And why not go with Intel over AMD?

Here's what I would suggest:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
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 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1042.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-07 19:16 EST-0500)

 

[tiny voices]

+1 This is a great build. Do this for sure.

 

[Mark8008]

Sorry if this is a really stupid question, but what about Wi-Fi? I'm not close enough to my router to justify running a cable to my computer.

 

[g-unit1111]

Sorry if this is a really stupid question, but what about Wi-Fi? I'm not close enough to my router to justify running a cable to my computer.

I was just asking if you really need one because you could put that in a separate budget so it doesn't take away from what computer hardware you're able to buy.

 

[ikes9711]

Do you really need a Wifi router in your budget? And why not go with Intel over AMD?

Here's what I would suggest:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
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 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1042.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-07 19:16 EST-0500)

Don't just shoot down the 8350 because it is from AMD the only thing that the 3570K will outdo the 8350 is a number of games that use less than 4 cores. More and more of the newer games are also using more than 4 cores as well. As in normal system processes the 8350 demolishes the 3570K. On another note if the user ever decides to use the computer for streaming, the streaming programs love the extra power supplied by the 8 cores.

 

[g-unit1111]

Don't just shoot down the 8350 because it is from AMD the only thing that the 3570K will outdo the 8350 is a number of games that use less than 4 cores. More and more of the newer games are also using more than 4 cores as well. As in normal system processes the 8350 demolishes the 3570K. On another note if the user ever decides to use the computer for streaming, the streaming programs love the extra power supplied by the 8 cores.

Where? I've never seen any benchmark that proves that, and the Crysis chart that's been posted 10,000,000 times already is kind of a baseless benchmark.

And where does it say that programmers love 8 cores? The reality is the software is always going to be several generations behind the hardware - there's a few exceptions but otherwise this is the reality of it.