Need New Build Evaluation & Recommendation

[ErikAZ]

After seven Dell computers over the years three weeks ago I ordered an Alienware Aurora.... it was a complete piece of junk (returned after five days the final straw was the video card shutting down and an out of control fan). I've never had a bad computer from Dell before so it was a shock and they took the return in stride and it's already on it's way back to Lebanon TN at their expense (thank you Dell & UPS). Anyway I've been upgrading my own computers for years and the IT guru at work suggested I DIY. I picked up a couple of books and have been studying (Building a PC and Build Your Own PC do it yourself for Dummies) and I really want to learn this new skill at age 48.

I'll primarily be using the system for gaming although I don't do intense FPS gaming rather it's stuff like SimCity4 and The Sims and Civilization. I answered the questions posted in the first thread below and further down is a list of some parts I've picked out that I'd like the community to evaluate and make recommendationson on. I've lurked here a long time and have come to really respect Tom's as a resource. You guys are great teachers!

How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice

Approximate Purchase Date: Order parts in the next week or so and start building

Budget Range: $1000-$1800 desired but flexible

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing internet, office work

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: New build all new parts.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes planning Windows 7 Premium

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg

Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Parts Preferences: Desire Intel i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4 GHz processor

Overclocking: Yes

Your Monitor Resolution: LG Flatron E2742 at 1920x1080

Additional Comment: Would like a side window and some blue lighting. Doesn't have to be super fancy as anything I get will look more exciting then the decades of Dell comptuers I've owned.

Additional Comment: Would prefer to stay away from liquid cooling and stick with fans.

Why Are You Upgrading: Old computer is a four year old Dell XPS that is pretty slow (AMD processor) and the video card connection on the board is faulty with intermitent blackouts regardless of what card I'm using. Time for someting new plus I really want to do this and learn.

I have been running around NewEgg today and have picked out a couple of things but this is me daydreaming so I need some experienced recommendations, feedback and more importantly comments on why something should or shouldn't be used (to help me learn). I'll also note "why" I picked something so you can see my reasoning and correct it if I'm wrong. When I searched for things on Newegg I always used "Best Rating" for the search so these were some of the top choices in each category.

NewEgg Parts Scouted:

Rosewill THOR V2-White Edition, Gaming ATX Full Tower Computer Case w/four fans
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147158
Picked because: I like the white case and the snap-in versus bolt in connections/brackets. I watched the newegg video to get a feel for taking it apart. It looks very user friendly and the four large fans (plus room for more) should keep it cool.

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD4H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s Motherboard with UEFI Bios
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128583
Picked because: It seems like the best Intel board for the money. Many SATA hookups and ultradurable. I read about some weaker boards having issues with the weight of the heatsinks over the CPU.

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
Picked because: Read many reviews and benchmarking data and it seems the best buy for the money. Quite a bit more powerful then my existing AMD and not much slower then the base i7 for less money.

G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 32GB 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231569
Picked because: Top rated 32GB ram package on newegg. It was a choice between this and Corsair Vengence and I liked the blue color (stupid reason but there it is).

Rosewill Xtreme Series RX850-S-B 850W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182072
Picked because: It got good reviews, it's LED blue coloring and 850W is more then enough to run whatever I need (I hope).

Kingston HyperX 3K SH103S3/120G 2.5" 120GB SATAIII Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239045
Picked because: I plan on loading Windows 7, SimCity4 w/mods and TheSims3 w/mods onto the SSD.

Western Digital WD VelociRaptor WD5000HHTZ 500GB 10000RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Harddrive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=22-236-244
Picked because: Plenty fast secondary drive for the other applications like MS Office and other games like Civilization V that aren't as memory intensive. 500GB is plenty big since I wont' be doing alot of image processing stuff.

ZALMAN CNPS9900MAX-B 135mm Long life bearing CPU Cooler Blue LED
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118074
Picked because: It looks like a well designed cooler fan and it's blue. This is one area I'm not sure of. The Intel i5 chip is rated Thermal Design Power 77W so this is really overdoing. Another area I'm not to sure about.

Creative Sound Blaster Z70SB150000000 5/1 Channels 24-bit PCI Express Sound Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102048
Picked because: It has a good rating and I'm familiar with the name. To be honest I don't use alot of speakers because I'm abit hearing imparied (from my time in Navy).

ASUS DVD Burner SATA Model DRW-24B3ST/BLK/G/AS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135240
Picked because: Planned to get two of these as they got great ratings.

I left a video card off the list because I have a three month old GTX570 EVGA in a box I could use or I could also use a recommendation on a pair of new cards. I believe the gigaforce motherboard I picked would hold two video cards if I wanted to pair them? My only question then is how hard is that to set up?

Note: None of this stuff has been purchased it's sitting on a "saved wish list" so it can be easily changed. If you see something that you think is a bad match, that wouldn't fit, that wouldn't work, please help me out with your wisdom. This is the first time I've ever attempted something like this and it's very intimidating.

Thanks,

ErikAZ

 

[lycros]

Quickly looking over:

- I feel 32GB of ram is probably overkill, 8 is good, 16 if you feel better about that.

- I'd probably pick another PSU, 850W is a lot for your build, and that particular one isn't of the same quality as say ( Seasonic X-850 check out the amps on the 12v+ rail ).

- I'd suggest going for a 256GB ssd, they can be had for a little more than that one you linked (under $200).

- Is there any reason you need a sound card? The onboard audio should be fine for most users.

- I wouldn't be too concerned about color, you can always buy fans with blue leds to replace the default ones, and you can buy accessories like these to put inside your case. Just don't let it limit you in your options.

- Lastly, I'd stick with the GTX 570, it's a powerful card and best of all... you already have it. If you find yourself needing more power later, you can always get the latest card then.

 

[ErikAZ]

Can a moderator please move this thread to the Systems > New Build forum? I'm not sure how I ended up posting in this one! Thank you. ErikAZ

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

This topic has been moved from the section Windows 7 to section Systems by SR-71 Blackbird

 

[ErikAZ]

Erik, you don't need a sound card unless you are doing something special these days. Motherboards now have a crazy good processing compared to a decade ago for audio.

You also do not need (or want) 32GB of RAM. You only "need" 8GB for gaming and general usage these days. However, I went ahead and spec'd 16GB for future proofing.

Switched the SSD you picked for a much better one (Samsung, Crucial and Intel are the only brands I trust with SSDs, the 840 Pro is the fastest)

Okay, so the PSU might seem tricky since I picked the same brand that you did. However, there are two things you should know. This build, with a single graphics card, will never pull over 450W, even overclocked. Also, the OEM (not brand) of a PSU is extremely important as well as the age of the platform. The PSU you chose is almost 7 years old and is extremely mediocre for the price. The Rosewill Tachyon series is made by Super Flower (upgraded Golden King seires platform), a premier PSU manufacturer, and is a very good price relative to its competition right now (the SeaSonic SS-660XP 660W is $126 after rebate). Honestly, you would have no problem running the 550W Tachyon (both are fully modular) and save $40.

Changed your motherboard out for the ASRock Z77 Extreme4. Probably the most popular LGA1155 motherboard on the market. Great for overclocking, solid 3 year warranty.

Switched your HDD out with a 2TB Toshiba storage drive. The VelociRaptor is a bit pointless these days, especially if you are using a 256GB SSD.

I chose a Gigabyte HD7950 since the HD7950 is a great overclocker and has a ton of power for the price. Gigabyte has a pretty nice cooler on theirs that does a good job.

I also switched out your CPU heatsink for one of my personal favorites, the Corsair H60 (2013 version). Super easy to install, 5 year warranty, and worry free temps that beat almost any big air cooler. Plus, you won't have to worry about the weight of a large heatsink stressing your motherboard and potentially causing damage (as demonstrated in a review on Tom's just this week).

Let me know if you have any questions.

Edit: One last word of advice, I would reconsider purchasing a full-size ATX case as that case is pretty massive. However, if that is what you like and you have the space, go for it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($64.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($229.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($297.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill THOR V2-W ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Tachyon 750W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1442.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Thank you for the prompt reply and great examples. I was going to go with the Samsung SSD but they were out of stock on Newegg I guess I need to widen my search parameters. Looking down the road I like the full size case although I guess I should get a piece of paper out and "map" some of this stuff obviously I'm going to have alot of extra room although I'm thinking of future upgrades I may want to do down the road and I have the room so the big case should be OK. Would all of this fit comfortable (and well) in a mid-size tower? There are some nice ones out there.

Thanks, ErikAZ

 

[ErikAZ]

Quickly looking over:

- I feel 32GB of ram is probably overkill, 8 is good, 16 if you feel better about that.

- I'd probably pick another PSU, 850W is a lot for your build, and that particular one isn't of the same quality as say ( Seasonic X-850 check out the amps on the 12v+ rail ).

- I'd suggest going for a 256GB ssd, they can be had for a little more than that one you linked (under $200).

- Is there any reason you need a sound card? The onboard audio should be fine for most users.

- I wouldn't be too concerned about color, you can always buy fans with blue leds to replace the default ones, and you can buy accessories like these to put inside your case. Just don't let it limit you in your options.

- Lastly, I'd stick with the GTX 570, it's a powerful card and best of all... you already have it. If you find yourself needing more power later, you can always get the latest card then.

OK on the RAM I'll plan on 16 and save some money. The bigger SSD drive was sold out on Newegg but I see below a different location mentioned with it in stock. I wasn't sure about the sound card I can just leave that off with the onboard sound.

Thanks for the reply, ErikAZ

 

[ErikAZ]

OK I ordered the "iknowhowtofixit" recommended parts. After reading up about them they are the better choice. I also went to Frys Electronics and looked at the full size case and agree it was way to big. I did see a Corsair 600T white special edition tower that I liked so I got that one. I'm very excited about my first build! I should have all the parts by Thursday then I can start this weekend.

ErikAZ