Newbie building $1000 computer

XxTyboxX

Honorable
Mar 18, 2013
18
0
10,510
Date: Looking to buy it on my birthday which is at the very beginningWindows of May, just planning ahead.

Budget Range: Around $1000 preferably not much more

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Main use will be for serious games. I want it to replace my current Xbox 360 and in the future I want this to be my gaming system instead of the ps4.

Are you buying a monitor: No


Do you need to buy OS: Yes


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Looked up all of my main parts on new egg but i just want to get the best parts I can for the best price

Location: Lexington, Ky USA

Parts Preferences: Prefer Intel CPU.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future to keep up with the latest games

Your Monitor Resolution: I have a 1080i 60" plasma TV that I plan on using this for.

Like I said I want to be able to use this instead of buying a ps4 this year and I want to run games at least as good as that, at least. I want to get the best price and value of everything while maintaining a good budget and performance for now and the foreseeable future. I don't care where I buy the parts from as long as its reputable, like new egg.

The ones I have a question mark in front of I'm very open to suggestion and not sure at all if that's the best choice, I basically just winged it on those, Lol. The others I researched fairly so I THINK that they will be sufficient but I'm definitely open to suggestion and just want to get the best I can for the money.

(?)Graphics card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814121656

(?)Ram: Ripjaws 8gb 4x2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231445

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813131837

CPU: Intel i5-3570k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819116504

Power supply: Corsair cx600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817139048

Hard drive: 3.5" WD 1tb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822236339

(?)Heat sink: Cooler Master evo 212
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16835103099

(?)Case: Aprevia x G-supra
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811144218

Os: Windows 7 64 bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16832116986

Any help is greatly appreciated and I will take advice for anything. I have never built a computer but this will be my first, again any advice is welcome.
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
Apevia cases are garbage - I wouldn't buy one. It will last maybe six - months to 1 year before you need to replace it.

That build looks pretty good, this is what I would suggest:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ 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 ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($305.66 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($74.64 @ Newegg)
Total: $993.23
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-18 13:23 EDT-0400)
 

XxTyboxX

Honorable
Mar 18, 2013
18
0
10,510
Alright I had actually thought about getting the radeon 7950 over the gtx 660ti especially because right now on new egg it comes with crysis 3 and BioShock infinite but I'm wondering why you would chose that over the 660, Is it better or basically the same performance just cheaper just wondering. Also why the as rock motherboard over the Asus, I figured Asus was more reliable so I went with that but is the other a better deal, or in other words why did you chose it over the Asus?
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


Whether or not a particular brand is more reliable than the other is very debatable. There's some brands where it's a no brainer (Biostar, ECS) and they're to be avoided most of the time. Most motherboards in the $100 - $200 range have all the same features.

The Radeon 7950 is a far better GPU in the $250 - $300 range than a reference 660 is.
 

SlipryHippy

Honorable
Feb 28, 2013
7
0
10,510

7950 is a no brainer. I recommend the Sapphire Vapor X. Once overclocked ive see it reach speeds on par with a GTX 680. In my opinion you cant go wrong with that card!
 

XxTyboxX

Honorable
Mar 18, 2013
18
0
10,510
Alright this is my new setup that I have edited around a little bit, how does this sound now?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KBag
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KBag/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KBag/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 ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.15 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Raidmax 530W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($47.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $967.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-18 18:10 EDT-0400)

Much nicer case I believe, little less of a power supply, and the radeon HD 7950 graphics card that I think will be the better choice.

So do you all think this build will meet my needs and wants.

My only other questions I can think of is the power supply sufficient? It got reviews, and also I'm not really sure how to determine what motherboard is better than what other motherboard, so if someone could explain to me why I should chose the asrock over what I have chose or for that matter anything else. Right now with that above im happy with the price so I would like to stay close to that by the way.
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


No - do not purchase that PSU. Don't believe what the store reviews tell you - Raidmax is a very very low tier vendor. This would be a far better PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096
 

XxTyboxX

Honorable
Mar 18, 2013
18
0
10,510
But I want a modular supply, I'm really worried about cable management and overheating issues, this is the main reason I also bought a nicer case so it has many ways to route cables.
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


But Raidmax PSUs are crap, plain and simple. Modular or not, they're a very low tier vendor and they produce a lot of junk. It's better to get a good power supply now or get the wrong one and it takes your system down with it. The thing is modular or not all the cables will get hidden behind the motherboard tray when you actually build your PC. So it's not how many cables you have in your system, it's how they're effectively routed.
 

XxTyboxX

Honorable
Mar 18, 2013
18
0
10,510
Alright so after that I wondered with most calculators saying i need around 400w mainly a little less than that, wouldnt I be alright to get a cx430m, or cx500m, and what I mean is 500 or 430 watts instead of the seems to be overkill 600