Gaming PC - First Build/Slightly Lost

[PorcelainVienna]

Hi there, I have been doing intensive research since this will be my first build ever and I'm very nervous. I am not sure if all the parts are good quality and if they are compatible. Any tips on the wiring/assembling process will be greatly appreciated also! I'm very afraid I might screw up the wiring process and the software process.

Since I'm not sure if the parts are fine and if they work together, I have been asking on Reddit for advice. It's been a while and no one has commented.

My target budget was around 1000-1200$ but somehow after I picked out everything I liked, it went to around 1450$. I was wondering, since I am not familiar with parts, if there are any substitutions I can pick over the parts I have currently picked out.

This is my build so far

Sorry for the long text but I'm really scared about messing up somewhere! I bolded some of the words just so it's easier to read (I hope).

If you want anymore details on what I really want from this computer I have more details at My Reddit Thread

I bought the optical drive already. I was going to purchase the PSU today but I don't know if 550W will be enough. I might OC down the road. Also, it's from Rosewill and a lot of people seem to like SeaSonic, Corsair or XFX better. I don't know if I should go modular or not because of the cables. I'm stuck between Rosewill and XFX . That is, if my assumed watts is correct...

I was debating on the RAM since I had the Corsair Vengence as my first choice. Some people say that since they have high heatsinks, my after market cooler might not fit. That is why I switched to a more low profile RAM. It should be fine right?

As for the video card, I don't know if it will be fine for the games I want. I'm just tired of playing video games with 04 - 20 FPS and lag.

I also hope the case I picked out is alright for cable management and overall roominess. I just really like the look of it.

Once again, SORRY for typing so much (I just want to provide as many details as I can) and THANK YOU (really) for reading!

Edit: I'm also not sure about rebates. Should I or should I not factor them in my budget? I have heard that sometimes you don't get the rebate back and therefore the time and money wasted was not worth it. Thank you!

 

[ssddx]

providing a pcpartspicker list is okay but it is also preferred if you copy and past the individual parts in a list here so we can easily make notes underneath.

i believe pcpartspicker has a compatability checker.

do a search in the opinions and experiences section for any posts made by me about pc builds. you will find quite a bit of information. i have many times went through step by step what you want to check and do for building your own pc.

Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
--all you really need for a gaming pc. since you plan on overclocking a k series is what you want.
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
--this heatsink really isnt all that big and probably doesnt have as many clearance issues. see the images marked 1a and 1b.
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
--this should work however there are some nice newegg combo deals for mobo+ram you may want to look into. personally i like using asus boards.
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
--this should work fine. personally i like using corsair or mushkin.
Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
--see ssd note below marked 1c
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
--i would suggest going with a caviar black version.
Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card
--not a bad card. an alternative would be the gtx740 which receives similar performance scores. personally i prefer nvidia (i like the drivers ALOT better) and evga (great company).
NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
--open designs like the cooler master haf series are more ideal especially since you plan on overclocking. since you want to overclock i would highly suggest a full tower case since the extra ambient airflow does wonders for cooling. i personally like cases with 2-3 fans on the front, 2-3 slots open on the top and at least 1 or 2 on the rear. very open windtunnel designs. your choice though. technically what you have would work but your temps may be higher.
Rosewill Capstone 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
--you are most likely looking at around 450-500w total draw so you dont have much headroom. i would highly suggest at least stepping up to 650w and would highly suggest a corsair hx series or pc power & cooling psu. personally i would use a 750w since there are alot of unknowns for the future but i'd like you to run a power calc to see what your number estimates would be. google for "psu calc" and its the first link. remember to add in that you want to overclock and use 100% load numbers.
Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
--just about anything will work but buying oem drives is cheaper.
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)
--personally i prefer this than win8
Asus VX238H 23.0" Monitor
--read the monitor guide by me and manofchalk stickied at the top of the perepherals forum. lots of good info.
Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard
--your choice but i would highly suggest a mechanical keyboard. what about a mouse?
SteelSeries Siberia V2 Full-Size Gaming Headset with Built-In USB Sound Card (Frost Blue)
--your choice

image 1a. this is a cooler with serious clearance issues.

image 1b. this is your cooler which is not so bad if you swap the fan location to the other side.

note 1c. a ssd will not improve game performance except load levels faster. a ssd will start windows faster, resume windows faster and make windows seem more snappy. keep in mind the 80% rule to ssd drives. after an os you only want to put 70gb more on that 120gb drive. (100gb total used). you really do not need this but a ssd is very nice. (my laptop uses a 840pro 256 and my desktop uses a 840pro 512)

 

[PorcelainVienna]

providing a pcpartspicker list is okay but it is also preferred if you copy and past the individual parts in a list here so we can easily make notes underneath.

i believe pcpartspicker has a compatability checker.

do a search in the opinions and experiences section for any posts made by me about pc builds. you will find quite a bit of information. i have many times went through step by step what you want to check and do for building your own pc.

Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
--all you really need for a gaming pc. since you plan on overclocking a k series is what you want.
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
--this heatsink really isnt all that big and probably doesnt have as many clearance issues. see the images marked 1a and 1b.
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
--this should work however there are some nice newegg combo deals for mobo+ram you may want to look into. personally i like using asus boards.
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
--this should work fine. personally i like using corsair or mushkin.
Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
--see ssd note below marked 1c
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
--i would suggest going with a caviar black version.
Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card
--not a bad card. an alternative would be the gtx740 which receives similar performance scores. personally i prefer nvidia (i like the drivers ALOT better) and evga (great company).
NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
--open designs like the cooler master haf series are more ideal especially since you plan on overclocking. since you want to overclock i would highly suggest a full tower case since the extra ambient airflow does wonders for cooling. i personally like cases with 2-3 fans on the front, 2-3 slots open on the top and at least 1 or 2 on the rear. very open windtunnel designs. your choice though. technically what you have would work but your temps may be higher.
Rosewill Capstone 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
--you are most likely looking at around 450-500w total draw so you dont have much headroom. i would highly suggest at least stepping up to 650w and would highly suggest a corsair hx series or pc power & cooling psu. personally i would use a 750w since there are alot of unknowns for the future but i'd like you to run a power calc to see what your number estimates would be. google for "psu calc" and its the first link. remember to add in that you want to overclock and use 100% load numbers.
Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
--just about anything will work but buying oem drives is cheaper.
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)
--personally i prefer this than win8
Asus VX238H 23.0" Monitor
--read the monitor guide by me and manofchalk stickied at the top of the perepherals forum. lots of good info.
Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard
--your choice but i would highly suggest a mechanical keyboard. what about a mouse?
SteelSeries Siberia V2 Full-Size Gaming Headset with Built-In USB Sound Card (Frost Blue)
--your choice

image 1a. this is a cooler with serious clearance issues.

image 1b. this is your cooler which is not so bad if you swap the fan location to the other side.

note 1c. a ssd will not improve game performance except load levels faster. a ssd will start windows faster, resume windows faster and make windows seem more snappy. keep in mind the 80% rule to ssd drives. after an os you only want to put 70gb more on that 120gb drive. (100gb total used). you really do not need this but a ssd is very nice. (my laptop uses a 840pro 256 and my desktop uses a 840pro 512)

Thanks for the pictures! They really do put things into perspective. I will definitely be looking at your guides.

For the motherboard, I think I will be switching to the MSI Z77A-GD55 since the ratings are higher, it's more blue (I like the blue/black theme), and it's the same price. I am not sure. If you know either boards, I'd really appreciate it if you tell me which one is better...

For the SSD, I'm still debating over it. I know it doesn't help gaming wise much but having my computer work faster seems appealing. I am still trying to reduce the total amount of money, or else I would leave it in without hesitation.

For the HDD, I might possibly get the Black Caviar but if Seagate Barracuda 2T is around the same price. I might go Seagate, especially if I choose to keep the SSD in. Would that be better?

For the case, I heard the NZXT Phantom Full Tower is super big. I will taking it back and forth from college to home so I don't know if I should opt for that one. Maybe I can just get more 120mm fans and it'll be fine to use the Phantom 410? I don't plan on OC-ing soon. Maybe in 1-2 years since I'm still new to all this. I hope this computer will last a couple years before I have to upgrade parts.

For the PSU, I found on Amazon Corsair Enthusiast Series 750W is 89.99 but the modular series is 97.74. Is there any point in getting the modular series over the enthusiast series?

I have a cheap gaming mouse already. I wanted to get a mechanical keyboard but they're pricey.

Once again, thank you for taking your time looking at my build!

 

[ssddx]

the monitor guide i am working on with manofchalk has lots of photos. he is trying to do laymans guide to monitors and i went in depth.

i've used gigabythe boards before in the past and they are okay. i have never used msi. i would suggest sticking with 4 or 5 star rated products, reading all of the bad reviews and looking at the percentage of good to bad reviews. i trust reviews more so than any particular brand loyalties.

the ssd does speed up system performance but this is the first item you want to get rid of if you spent too much money.

seagate barracuda, western digital caviar black and samsung spinpoint f3 are all good choices. do avoid 2tb drives as the large platter drives have high failure rates. to put things into perspective one of my drives went on me and the replacement rma drive died in 3 days. i received another replacement and that one died in 6 months. since then i now only use the drives for storage and not my os drive. the 1tb and 1.5tb drives do not suffer from reliability issues.

if you want to stay small since you will be taking it back and forth in the car then i would suggest getting something with alot of fan ports.

take a look at these:

cooler master haf 912

antec 300

antec 902

all exhibit good airflow qualities. dust is more of an issue but they definitely should provide more than enough airflow. if you decide to overclock in the future you could always add some more powerfull case fans for better airflow.

i would specifically get the corsair hx series. ie a "corsair hx650" or "corsair hx750" since i know that series is rock solid (i have a hx1000) and have heard that the low end tiers are not built as well. the hx series is semi-modular which does help to cut down on the number of cables you have to hide. if you've never seen them side by side here is a comparison

can you see the difference in the number of cables? with a modular or semi-modular you can only use what you need. i've used a non-modular in the past and those cables take up quite alot of room in a mid tower. so much so that i had to remove the bottom hdd bays in my old case to stuff the cables down there.

you can get a mechanical keyboard for around $100. this may sound expensive but remember this: most people spend lots of money on their pc but really do skimp when it comes to input devices. would you buy a $30,000 car and put a plastic steering wheel and wooden seat inside? would you wear shoes that are not comfortable just because they were cheap? it is worthwhile investing in a quality keyboard and mouse. they do not have to be mechanical but need to be ergonomically comfortable for you and built well. mechanical keyboards can last a very long time so can be considered an investment.

i personally use a wasd keyboard currently and overall i would have to say that for $100 it really isnt all that bad. keep in mind that i am highly partial to the original ibm model m keyboard which i feel has a perfect mechanism but does need to be updated for the times. i have a model from the year i was born and it still worked up until someone spilled alcohol onto the pcb. the unicomp customizer is a 90% replica of the original. in case you've never seen one...

yes, i am very partial. however cherry mx switches are not bad at all and are a good second.

of course good rubber dome keyboards can be perfectly fine as well. try to avoid stiff, high resistance models as they often feel spongey and are harder to type with.

 

[PorcelainVienna]

I really do want to thank you for giving me so much info with such details haha I'll think I'll just stick to the WD 1TB then.

I REALLY like the Antec 902 but it's discontinued. I love how it has the blue LED and window side panel. I decided to get the HAF 912 Advanced since it's the best of both worlds. I'll probably get a bunch of blue LED fans to brighten it up. I found it on eBay for 59.99, which will cut back around 50 bucks.

I guess this works out because I found the Corsair HX750 for 120$ on Amazon. I suppose investing in a good PSU is much better than investing in a flashy tower.

Since you mentioned mechanical keyboards that way, it does make sense to invest in one. I picked out the Max Keyboard Nighthawk X8 (Cherry MX Brown) Backlit Mechanical Keyboard. They have a 20% off coupon going for Memorial Day so it'll be 120$.

I'm pretty excited now! Thank you once again

Edit: Just checked and it's actually out of stock. I guess Amazon 150$ it is... :\

 

[ssddx]

just passing along information i know from experience, from research or what i've heard from others...

i will leave the final choice of case up to you. i was providing some examples of good airflow type designs. as long as it supports atx format motherboards and usb3 i would say its a go.

as far as flashy towers are concerned mine is rather nondescript. i do have a window on the side and my asus rampage rog board glows an erie red but i never added anything to make it flashy. granted my advice seems to go counter to what i said earlier since the front is completely blocked but there is still adequate airflow in the case and since it is so large this also helps keep temps low. in fact i never had to add any fans and my stock cpu heatsink is plenty good. well... in case you wanted to know what i personally use...

i've heard good things about maxkeyboard but i havent dealt with them before. i'm sure you will like your keyboard. personally i like the mx blues (i like the noise) but if you dont want the click noise then mx browns are the way to go.

 

[PorcelainVienna]

I think I'm pretty much all set on the parts now! I got an excellent deal on Max Keyboards. I ended up switching to the Cherry MX Reds instead of the Browns since X8 was out of stock. In case you have anyone that is interested. Until 5/27, they are having a sale where you get 20% off total purchase and since keyboards are over 100$, you get a bunch of cool key caps, key cap puller and a wire strap. After customizing the WASD and ESC key, and getting 1 key cap, everything turned out to be 147$

Do you have any tips on the assemling/wiring process? Thank you!!

 

[ssddx]

are you sure about the mx reds? they are a non-tactile non-audible linear switch.

linear switches are generally regarded as good for gaming but not so pleasant to type on.

mechanical keyboard guide

just thought i would mention it.

search back through the opinions and experiences subsection for a how to assemble a pc type thread. i posted quite a few details in one. let me know if you find it or if you have any specific questions.

 

[PorcelainVienna]

I don't really mind what kind of switch. I actually never really noticed how my keyboards feel. I kind of adapt.

And okay thank you I think I'll start buying the parts now and build it first week of June! I'll search for your assembling posts when I get all my parts. I'll let you know! Thank you once again!

 

[ssddx]

or if you prefer i can have a short irc session with you to discuss. freenode has a free webirc option. let me know.