buidling a new comp. ?s about MB and OS. Suggestions about everything else is appriciated

dwidep

Honorable
Mar 22, 2013
1
0
10,510
Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: Within the next week

Budget Range: ~$1000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: games, movies, work

Are you buying a monitor: No, hooked up to 60 in Panasonic Viera via HDMI



Parts to Upgrade: If I keep anything it will just be my optical DVD RW, and maybe my case

Do you need to buy OS: I own windows xp pro 64. What are the pros/cons of spending $100 on window 7 or 8? Do I need to?

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: amazon ( i have prime for free shipping, and I get 3% back on my card)

Location: Knoxville TN

Parts Preferences: Intel for CPU, ASUS or GB for MB

Overclocking: It seems sort of pointless not to, but I will be a set and forget user, not into benchmarking

SLI or Crossfire: Yes, I will eventually want to add another GPU

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments:

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Time to upgrade. I want a semi future proof gaming comp that I will be able to upgrade instead of have to completely replace in the next 8 years or so.

This is what I'm looking at right now

i5-3570k with a CMH 212 plus

The two MB's I'm looking at are:
Gigabyte GA-z77x-UD3H - Much cheaper, seems to have the features that I want.
Asus Sabertooth Z77 - This is what my comp friend recommended. I think it may be overkill for the 3570k, but if it would make a huge difference I would be willing to spend the money

WD blue 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s HDD (I will purchase a SSD in the near future, but not with the build)

Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB GDDR5-- I'm not married to it; it just seems to be a good card @ a price that fits my budget ($249.99)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007PJVB3Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER


Corsair Vengeance Blue 2x8GB DDR3 1600MHz PC3-12800

Corsair Enthusiast 650w PSU

Dont have a case in mind, but if I buy one I would probably not want to spend more than $80. Mid tower ATX

With window 7 home premium this puts me right around $1050.






 

bodeen2012

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2013
631
0
19,160
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LrCO
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LrCO/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LrCO/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.17 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.37 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($91.17 @ Amazon)
Total: $992.65
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-22 13:40 EDT-0400)