I've never built a PC before, but like many PC gamers I got tired of the lack of customization and options that generally comes with pre built machines. To me, saving money is secondary to knowing exactly what's in my machine, what I can do with it, and having the stats to get the job done well. Only problem is, I'm not totally familiar with what those stats are.
I intend to use the computer mostly for gaming, and top performance is very important to me. The games I play vary, but the one that's been the most CPU and GPU intensive is Planetside 2, which to me points to having to drop more money on a good CPU and GPU than just about anything else with this build. If I'm wrong, please let me know
My current budget is about $1,250 - and here's a list of the hardware I've picked out so far.
---------------------------------------------------------
CPU
I've heard that the i5-3570K is a better choice for gaming than the i7-3770K because not many games today take advantage of the multi-threading that the i7 provides, but I don't know what the future holds. It could be that games down the line will be more optimized for multi-threading, or it could be that I pick up video editing and rendering as a hobby or profession. Either way, the extra $100 for the i7 doesn't seem like a bad investment to me. I see it as an insurance policy and I'm fairly set on getting that CPU.
Motherboard
I'm not sure how much of a difference an expensive Motherboard will make over a less expensive version. The one I was looking at getting is the ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Z77 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837)
SSD
It looks like SSDs are the way of the future. Faster, more efficient, but are they really worth the cost for the memory? I was looking at the SAMSUNG 840 Series 250GB SATA III (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147189) but the price for only 250GB makes me sad, especially when I can get 2TB for half the price with a standard hard drive.
RAM
This might be overkill, but I was thinking of something like this for my RAM, G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231615)
GPU
I'd really like to get the GeForce GTX 680, but those are nearly $500 by themselves. Does the 680 really perform that much better than the 670 or the 660? My current video card is a GTX 260, so I'm sure that any upgrade I get will be mindblowingly amazing.
Cooling
Since I'm getting a K series CPU, I'd like to be able to overclock it and see how far I can push it. For this I'm assuming I'll need a liquid cooling system. What would you guys recommend?
Power Supply
It's looking like all of this is going to require a good power supply, but how much is enough, and how much is too much if there even is such a thing? I've only done a little work with power supplies in the past, but I thought I remember someone saying that if you put too strong a power supply in your machine, you'll blow the whole thing up. Is that wrong?
Case
While I don't want something ugly, my top concern is that the case is large enough to hold everything. What size should I be looking at getting? How can I tell what the right size is for my build?
---------------------------------------------------------
Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other parts that are critical to building the system. I've heard that you don't need sound cards these days because the on-board technology has gotten to the point that sound cards are next to useless, and I'm not concerned with a DVD drive unless there's some reason I wouldn't be able to take an older one out of the computer that I have now and put it in the new one. But what about tools? Can I do all of this with what's found in the standard tool kit? Or are there special tools I will need to buy just for the job?
Thank you so much in advance for reading to the bottom of all of this, and I hope this build isn't too terrible. Price isn't too much of a concern to me, as long as I don't go over my budget too far. The total price of the first 4 parts on my list alone is $775 though, which is a little steep considering I haven't added the price of the GPU yet. I won't say no to saving money, but I don't mind spending the full $1,250 either.
Again, thank you guys so much for any advice you can give. I've been thinking about this for weeks and I just seem to be going in circles, so I really appreciate it
I intend to use the computer mostly for gaming, and top performance is very important to me. The games I play vary, but the one that's been the most CPU and GPU intensive is Planetside 2, which to me points to having to drop more money on a good CPU and GPU than just about anything else with this build. If I'm wrong, please let me know
My current budget is about $1,250 - and here's a list of the hardware I've picked out so far.
---------------------------------------------------------
CPU
I've heard that the i5-3570K is a better choice for gaming than the i7-3770K because not many games today take advantage of the multi-threading that the i7 provides, but I don't know what the future holds. It could be that games down the line will be more optimized for multi-threading, or it could be that I pick up video editing and rendering as a hobby or profession. Either way, the extra $100 for the i7 doesn't seem like a bad investment to me. I see it as an insurance policy and I'm fairly set on getting that CPU.
Motherboard
I'm not sure how much of a difference an expensive Motherboard will make over a less expensive version. The one I was looking at getting is the ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Z77 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837)
SSD
It looks like SSDs are the way of the future. Faster, more efficient, but are they really worth the cost for the memory? I was looking at the SAMSUNG 840 Series 250GB SATA III (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147189) but the price for only 250GB makes me sad, especially when I can get 2TB for half the price with a standard hard drive.
RAM
This might be overkill, but I was thinking of something like this for my RAM, G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231615)
GPU
I'd really like to get the GeForce GTX 680, but those are nearly $500 by themselves. Does the 680 really perform that much better than the 670 or the 660? My current video card is a GTX 260, so I'm sure that any upgrade I get will be mindblowingly amazing.
Cooling
Since I'm getting a K series CPU, I'd like to be able to overclock it and see how far I can push it. For this I'm assuming I'll need a liquid cooling system. What would you guys recommend?
Power Supply
It's looking like all of this is going to require a good power supply, but how much is enough, and how much is too much if there even is such a thing? I've only done a little work with power supplies in the past, but I thought I remember someone saying that if you put too strong a power supply in your machine, you'll blow the whole thing up. Is that wrong?
Case
While I don't want something ugly, my top concern is that the case is large enough to hold everything. What size should I be looking at getting? How can I tell what the right size is for my build?
---------------------------------------------------------
Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other parts that are critical to building the system. I've heard that you don't need sound cards these days because the on-board technology has gotten to the point that sound cards are next to useless, and I'm not concerned with a DVD drive unless there's some reason I wouldn't be able to take an older one out of the computer that I have now and put it in the new one. But what about tools? Can I do all of this with what's found in the standard tool kit? Or are there special tools I will need to buy just for the job?
Thank you so much in advance for reading to the bottom of all of this, and I hope this build isn't too terrible. Price isn't too much of a concern to me, as long as I don't go over my budget too far. The total price of the first 4 parts on my list alone is $775 though, which is a little steep considering I haven't added the price of the GPU yet. I won't say no to saving money, but I don't mind spending the full $1,250 either.
Again, thank you guys so much for any advice you can give. I've been thinking about this for weeks and I just seem to be going in circles, so I really appreciate it
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram