Brand New Gaming PC - Upgrade from 2009 PC

[machan188]

Hey everyone !

I've put a good amount of time and research into each component of my build below. I'm a neutral person, so I could care less if my processor is AMD or Intel, same with GPU. I built the last two systems I've owned over the years, latest was 2009. So I'm fairly familiar with the 'good vendors' etc.

I am a slight fan of Corsair, they just have a nice sounds to them and all of their products have solid reviews and are reliable. The case I've chosen is simple, quite, and I love the way it looks. I'm coming from a CoolerMaster HAF 932 heavy beast that has served me well. I don't care about being able to see the inside of my case, but I do care that it is organized and cables well routed etc. So my build will be OCD compliant =)

And if your curious, my current gaming rig is a Core2Duo E8500, 4GB RAM, GTX 260 Core 216, 120GB Raptor HDD

I went with AMD because the $130 price increase to get a 3770K just doesn't seem worth it to me. I could care less if Super PI benchmarks that are awesome or suck etc. The gaming benchmarks are pretty much equal (from the oodles of youtube benchmarks I've seen), and where Intel does excel, its not 130 dollars worth (to me, just my opinion).

I'll pretty much only be doing WoW and BF3 and some other FPS games that interest me. Dual monitor (two 24" 1080p Samsung SyncMaster 2494). Any new or interesting MMO's, and just some HD video's, maybe some rendering if I get bored, nothing serious. Just a nice solid refresh to last me for 2 years.

I will not be overclocking, but am interested in silence/quite. I also have no interest in SLI/Crossfire as it still doesn't seem cost effective yet.

Probably going to purchase some Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition fans for the case. 120 or 140mm. Noctua are too pricey.


CASE - $69.99
Corsair Carbide Series Black 300R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139011

CPU - $189.13
AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FX-Series-Eight-Core-Processor-FD8350FRHKBOX/dp/B009O7YUF6

MOBO - $94.99
ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131873

GPU - $299.99
GIGABYTE GV-R795WF3-3GD Radeon HD 7950 3GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414

PSU - $89.99
SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W
http://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-80Plus-M12II-620-BRONZE/dp/B003HE260I

CPU FAN - $66.99
CORSAIR Hydro Series H60 2nd Generation
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A0HZMGA/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

SSD - $219.99
Corsair Neutron Series GTX 240GB SATA III (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233398

HDD - $72.37
Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6GB/s
http://www.amazon.com/WD-Blue-Desktop-Hard-Drive/dp/tech-data/B0088PUEPK/ref=de_a_smtd

RAM - $112.99
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233299

DVD - $19.99
ASUS 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204


TOTAL = $1,236.42




Also worth mentioning maybe, is since I have had experience with my internal 1TB 'storage drive' going bad before. I am also going to be picking up a NAS, simple 2 bay for RAID 1. Simple backup solution, redundancy is key, not performance. This is also serves as a backup for my laptops, tablets etc.


NAS
Synology DS212j
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822108095

HDD 1
TOSHIBA DT01ACA200 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149407

HDD 2
TOSHIBA DT01ACA200 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149407

TOTAL = $409.97


I look forward to anyone's feedback

Thanks !

 

[properbuilds]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($47.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Plextor M5S Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($179.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($389.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1228.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Hi, some changes, the i5-3570k is a better cpu for gaming, and the 7970 as well.
With a silent case

 

[g-unit1111]

$1200 build - do not bother with AMD, don't let anyone persuade you otherwise. The benchmarks don't lie - Intel is far superior for gaming than AMD is. Except for maybe one or two games but you won't really notice in the long run. The 3770K is not a wise investment for a gaming rig anyways (neither is 16GB RAM), get the best GPU you can get for your budget. Also Corsair does not make good SSDs, and that H60 isn't really worth purchasing. Just because it has the Corsair name on it doesn't automatically make it better than everything else.

Here's what I would suggest:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($36.99 @ 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)
Storage: OCZ Vector Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($349.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($107.98 @ 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: $1200.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-25 02:44 EDT-0400)

 

[machan188]

Thanks for the reply G-Unit1111

As for the SSD, the Corsair Neutron GTX series is a new SSD they have (new controller) that is pretty much just under the Samsung 840 PRO series. It matches up with the one you recommended (the 256GB version), but at a lower cost.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2082/1/

As for the Intel 3570K, the fact that its 4 cores is making me lean towards the AMD with 8. Just from a future proof perspective. My gaming isn't "serious", and I just want to make sure that overall, the system is ready to handle any new applications that utilize multi-core structures in the near future.

As for the CPU cooler, I just really want one of those neat all-in-one water cooling ones =)

I'll take a look at 8GB vs 16GB

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks for the reply G-Unit1111

As for the SSD, the Corsair Neutron GTX series is a new SSD they have (new controller) that is pretty much just under the Samsung 840 PRO series. It matches up with the one you recommended (the 256GB version), but at a lower cost.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2082/1/

The bad thing is previous Corsair SSDs - especially the Sandforce ones - had ridiculously high fail rates. I personally would go with the Vector as it's also based on a new controller, has had some really favorable reviews and even beats the Samsung 840 Pro on most read - write tests.

As for the Intel 3570K, the fact that its 4 cores is making me lean towards the AMD with 8. Just from a future proof perspective. My gaming isn't "serious", and I just want to make sure that overall, the system is ready to handle any new applications that utilize multi-core structures in the near future.

There's no such thing as making a build completely future proof. It will be several years before games catch up to Hex and Octo core CPUs - and even then most 1st and 3rd person games really only use one or two cores at the most. There's no reason to buy an FX-8350. Intel pretty much dominates when it comes to gaming, there's really no evidence to suggest otherwise - aside from that Crysis chart that has been posted 1,000,000,000 times already. But very few games use the resources that Crysis does.

As for the CPU cooler, I just really want one of those neat all-in-one water cooling ones =)

They're not necessary though. Air is always better and safer. If you want to use liquid cooling, use the real thing or don't use it at all. Plastic water blocks like the NZXT Kraken and Corsair H series are plastic toys compared to a real liquid loop.

 

[steave_01]

Thanks for the reply G-Unit1111

As for the SSD, the Corsair Neutron GTX series is a new SSD they have (new controller) that is pretty much just under the Samsung 840 PRO series. It matches up with the one you recommended (the 256GB version), but at a lower cost.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2082/1/

The bad thing is previous Corsair SSDs - especially the Sandforce ones - had ridiculously high fail rates. I personally would go with the Vector as it's also based on a new controller, has had some really favorable reviews and even beats the Samsung 840 Pro on most read - write tests.

As for the Intel 3570K, the fact that its 4 cores is making me lean towards the AMD with 8. Just from a future proof perspective. My gaming isn't "serious", and I just want to make sure that overall, the system is ready to handle any new applications that utilize multi-core structures in the near future.

There's no such thing as making a build completely future proof. It will be several years before games catch up to Hex and Octo core CPUs - and even then most 1st and 3rd person games really only use one or two cores at the most. There's no reason to buy an FX-8350. Intel pretty much dominates when it comes to gaming, there's really no evidence to suggest otherwise - aside from that Crysis chart that has been posted 1,000,000,000 times already. But very few games use the resources that Crysis does.

As for the CPU cooler, I just really want one of those neat all-in-one water cooling ones =)

They're not necessary though. Air is always better and safer. If you want to use liquid cooling, use the real thing or don't use it at all. Plastic water blocks like the NZXT Kraken and Corsair H series are plastic toys compared to a real liquid loop.

Corsair Neutron is an exception & is working like a charm. I believe newer SATA III SSDs from Corsair are really worth the buy!

 

[g-unit1111]

Corsair Neutron is an exception & is working like a charm. I believe newer SATA III SSDs from Corsair are really worth the buy!

I've heard good things about the Neutron but I haven't really seen any at length reviews about the controller that it uses. I have seen such reviews for the OCZ Vector and it's an incredibly solid drive that exceeds the Samsung 840 Pro in most read - write tests.