my first build, almost final. mATX Gaming

[tom_dobro]

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming(games to be stored on SSD), HTPC(files to be stored on network storage)

Are you buying a monitor: Maybe...



Parts to Upgrade: Build from scratch

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: US based, or China based (living in China, free postage from US coz of embassy)

Location: Beijing, Beijing, China

Parts Preferences: AMD GPU, coz they give me good free games, not weird tank wars whatever like Nvidia

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Very much on the no side of maybe, you never know tho.

Your Monitor Resolution: HDTV

Additional Comments: Sleek, unassuming, NO BLING. Black.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I have no desktop. I want to build one. >>Here<< is my build. I won't be buying all the parts from those sources, most I will be getting here from China. For sure I will be getting the PSU and GPU in the US, maybe the CPU. Wherever I can get it cheapest really, if it's the same price within like $5 then I'll get it here in China just for ease of return.

So:

Case: Temjin TJ08-E China ~ $95

Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M China ~ $128

CPU: i5-3570k, undecided where to get it from... roughly the same prices, ~ $220

CPU cooler: Hyper 212 EVO China ~ $30

RAM: 4*4gb or 2*4gb Corsair Vengeance lo-pro ~ $65(arctic white special ed. 1.35v) or ~ $116(standard 1.5v) not sure which I should get, I know I only need 8gb now but that's a pretty good price for the 16gb and seems a decent way to future proof, idk, will I ever need it for gaming?

Storage: Samsung 840 250Gb China ~ $156

GPU: HD 7870GHz ed, Any pointers on which brand to get, or if it's better to get an XT version? I will be getting it in US tho because it comes with the free games. ~ $260

PSU: Seasonic SS660XP(platinum) Do I need this? I heard it's best to go for a really good PSU and this one looks it. Plus it's modular. ~ $140

Optical: LG this one Not sure if it's exactly the same one as in the part picker, but it's cheap. As long as it reads disks I'm happy.

Total, all postage included: ~$1080 (changes due to currency exchange rate)

On the monitor thing, I'm not super fussed about it coz I'll probly just play on my TV, but if I can get a reasonably good one for a good price then, why not? If you have any suggestions for alterations I'd like to keep the total build cost under $1200, and of course if you have ways that I could keep this performance level and lower my costs then that would be most welcome.

Also this is good to OC right?

Cheers,

Tom.

 

[realchaos]

I would suggest a mid-tower, but I guess m-atx is alright if you want to keep it smaller.
Get the 8gb of ram, the 16gb is average price. When the time comes, you can just grab the same set of 8gb for 16gb.
I would suggest a HDD for storage purpose and a 128gb SSD for fast boot times. A good 1tb HDD is the Western Digital Blue 1tb 7200rpm 64mb cache. For the SSD, you can grab a Kingston one since its cheaper or a Samsung 840 PRO for speed.
Since you're getting the GPU in USA and could spend about $260 on it, grab the 7870 XT or a 7950 (sometimes there's some pretty good deals that brings a 7950 down to ~270)
That psu is really good, but most people would suggest to cut down on the psu by a bit so you can grab a 7950. You can grab this psu: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00918MEZG/?tag=pcpapi-20 but it won't allow you to crossfire. But if you do get this, it will allow more budget in the gpu for a 7950.

 

[tom_dobro]

I would suggest a mid-tower, but I guess m-atx is alright if you want to keep it smaller.
Get the 8gb of ram, the 16gb is average price. When the time comes, you can just grab the same set of 8gb for 16gb.
I would suggest a HDD for storage purpose and a 128gb SSD for fast boot times. A good 1tb HDD is the Western Digital Blue 1tb 7200rpm 64mb cache. For the SSD, you can grab a Kingston one since its cheaper or a Samsung 840 PRO for speed.
Since you're getting the GPU in USA and could spend about $260 on it, grab the 7870 XT or a 7950 (sometimes there's some pretty good deals that brings a 7950 down to ~270)
That psu is really good, but most people would suggest to cut down on the psu by a bit so you can grab a 7950. You can grab this psu: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00918MEZG/?tag=pcpapi-20 but it won't allow you to crossfire. But if you do get this, it will allow more budget in the gpu for a 7950.

Hmmm, for storage I was just going to have like a 2TB plugged into my router (I just got a new Netgear R6300 ac router today so it should be pretty fast) and just store over the network. I think that's NAS right? About the video card, something like this? At that price I could still get my nice platinum modular PSU too.

 

[realchaos]

Link to your gpu is weird...Think you posted the wrong link?
If you were just going to plug 2tb into your router, then that's fine.
You don't really need platinum as it's really expensive. A 550w 80+ gold will run your rig with lots of headroom for overclocking: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00918MEZG/?tag=pcpapi-20

 

[tom_dobro]

Link to your gpu is weird...Think you posted the wrong link?
If you were just going to plug 2tb into your router, then that's fine.
You don't really need platinum as it's really expensive. A 550w 80+ gold will run your rig with lots of headroom for overclocking: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00918MEZG/?tag=pcpapi-20

Lol yeah, my bad. I was just reading about the geographical restrictions coz I live in China, apparently the games deal for AMD isn't available here . I'll run steam thru a VPN tho so it thinks I'm in the States, even if that doesn't work it's still cheaper than buying it here in China (including postage and everything).

>>THIS<< should be the link.

You make a compelling argument for the PSU, Do you know of a modular one tho? Because I plan on using a Temjin TJ08-E as my case and modular would make things a bit easier on the wire management side. If not tho it's cool, $40 is enough money to change my mind. The Seasonic one is a 660W tho, so maybe that's why it's a bit more epensive?

 

[realchaos]

The psu I listed was modular. The reason your was expensive was partially the 660w, but it's mostly towards the fact that it's platinum.

This gpu should have better cooling, overclock well and cheaper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[tom_dobro]

The psu I listed was modular. The reason your was expensive was partially the 660w, but it's mostly towards the fact that it's platinum.

This gpu should have better cooling, overclock well and cheaper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

So it is... *facepalm* That was some good reading on my part.

Huh... weird. About the GPUs, Last night when I opened the one I posted it was cheaper and the one you posted was more expensive... oh well. For the extra $20 tho, is it worth going for the Vapor X? I can afford it now that I'm getting a $90 MODULAR PSU. Also, what's it mean when it says "with boost?"

 

[realchaos]

Mine is cheaper o_o....
The "with boost" means that it's higher than normal clock rates. Though most gpus are around the same clocks of ~950-1000.

 

[tom_dobro]

Mine is cheaper o_o....
The "with boost" means that it's higher than normal clock rates. Though most gpus are around the same clocks of ~950-1000.

Yeh I know, I didn't write very clearly, the one I linked to last night was the same price as the one you just linked was the price of the one I linked now, now tho, the prices have changed. The gpu linked's price has gone down and the gpu I linked's price has gone up... that's not that much clearer I know, just it's the best I can articulate what I said. So is it worth the extra $20 on the Vapor-X or just go with the standard 7950?

 

[realchaos]

Vapor-X undoubtly has better cooling, thus letting you overclock more, though that's about it. It's up to you, not a huge difference between the two.

 

[tom_dobro]

Vapor-X undoubtly has better cooling, thus letting you overclock more, though that's about it. It's up to you, not a huge difference between the two.

Mmm, but it is factory locked to 1.25v...

Hey man, super appreciative of all your help. Thanks for answering all my questions.