First PC build - thoughts?

[Aegishjalmur]

Hey guys,

Just looking to get some feedback / opinions on my first build here. All prices are in NZ currency and the build itself is tentative so let me know if I have stuffed up anywhere.

CHASSIS - Antec One (Black) $76

CPU - Intel Core i5 3570 3.4Ghz Socket 1155 $277

Motherboard - ASRock Z77 Extreme4 $190

GPU - Asus GeForce GTX660 $360

ODD - Asus DRW-24B5ST $31

HDD - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 64MB 1TB $89

RAM - Corsair XMS3 Vengeance DDR3 PC12800/1600MHz CL8 2x4GB $100

PSU - Corsair VS650 650W $84

 

[marshallbradley]

Looks good. Love the case (was my first ever <3).

You might be better of with a cheaper motherboard though. The Z77 is only really required if you have an unlocked CPU and you want to overclock (3570K for example). A H77 or a B75 will likely have almost exactly the same features apart from overclockability (which you can't do without a K series anyway) for less $.

How are ATI prices in NZ? A 7870 XT for example would be a large step up from the GTX 660.

M

 

[Aegishjalmur]

Hey mate,

I've decided to change my set-up and go with a cheaper rig, so could you give me some advice of AMD CPUs?


So far I have:

CPU - AMD FX-Series FX-6300 3.5Ghz $188

MOBO - Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 $135

I need some advice on what GPU to get. I don't really understand the concept of the APU I have seen on the forums. So the CPU is AM3+ and the MOBO has an AM3+ socket and AMD970 chipset. Is this correct?

What I'm saying is if they are the same socket type, they are compatible, right? Does the chipset on the MOBO mean much?

I haven't seen much info on this so any help would be appreciated.

If I get a high end GPU, there isn't going to be any bottlenecking as the mobo has PCI x16; correct?

Cheers.

 

[Aegishjalmur]

The Sapphire Radeon HD7870 XT is going for $365NZ

 

[marshallbradley]

@Aegishjalmur Yes you're right about the socket and the motherboard chipset. Yes they're compatible. The chip-set determines the features. Offhand I don't know too much about AMD chip-set features, but it shouldn't be too hard to find out. The main differences are probably stuff like SATA 3 compatibility, USB 3.0 and so on. The chip-set doesn't affect gaming performance as such (unless it limits overclocking).

Bottle-necking occurs when the CPU is much faster than the GPU or vice-versa. It doesn't normally depend upon the speed of the PCI-E port, though in extreme cases it can. You won't be bottle-necked by an FX-6300 and an 7870 XT though.

That's a very good price, I'd definitely get that over the 660.

M

 

[Aegishjalmur]

In the end I went with these components:

GPU - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 650 Ti OC 2GB

CPU - AMD FX-Series FX-6100 Six-Core 3.3GHz 14MB Cache

MOBO - Asus M5A97 R2.0

RAM - Corsair XMS3 Vengeance DDR3 PC12800/1600MHz CL9 2x4GB

ODD - Asus DRW-24B5ST

PSU - FSP Aurum Series 650W Modular

HDD - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 64MB 1TB $99

Chassis - AeroCool PGS Vx-e Pro

Fans:
Front - 140mm fan w/blue LEDs, 800 rpm, 25db (Intake)
Side - 200mm fan, 800rpm, 24db (Intake)
Back - 120mm fan, 1500rpm, 25db (Exhaust)
Top - Cooler Master SickleFlow 120mm w/blue LEDs, 2000 rpm, 19db, x2 (Exhaust)

OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Should be building it in a few days so I'll post the finished result here.