Gaming/recording PC Build.

[Ariskava]

So I am building a new PC after my old PC decided to die. I've got a setup that I like, and my friends all agree that it should be a good computer, but I have a week or so before I can order the parts so I figure it wouldn't hurt to get more opinions.

If you have any suggestions as to better/alternative parts those would much appreciated. This was built with pcpartpicker.com if that matters in any way.

Also- Price is somewhat a concern, I have no Definitive budget yet, but if you suggest a expensive part I will still look into it.

CPU- Intel Core i3-3220 $109.99
(Friend has one, says it should be good enough)

Motherboard- ASRock Z77 Extreme3 $102.99
(Same reason as CPU)

RAM- G.Skill F3-1600C11D-8GNS $61.88
(Two sticks of 4Gb for a total of 8Gb, friend said brand was a good one.)

Video card- GeForce GTX 460 $0.00
(Friend is gonna send me one he's not using, According to him its a factory overclocked one so it has 2Gb memory instead of one. Also according to him it is NOT a x2)

Storage- Western Digital WD1002FAEX $84.98
(1Tb caviar black for general storage, may down grade to a caviar blue($64.98) if I need to save the money. Going with the black if I can due to performance, and extra 3 years of warranty for a total of 5 years)

Western Digital WD2002FAEX $154.98
(2Tb caviar black for writing fraps recordings to, not sure if I really need 2Tb but I do wanna do a lot of recording (lets play's and such))

Case- NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) $39.99
(I like the looks, and it looks as if it has the space I need, plus plenty of ventilation W/dust covers. Only problem I see it that it doesn't have USB 3.0 connecter, but I don't really need USB 3.0)

Power supply- Antec BP550 Plus $69.54
(550 Watts and its modular, and seems to have all the connectors I would need.)

Optical drive- Lite-On iHAS124-04 $17.98
(Cheap, CD's and DVD's, and according to my friend Lite-On is a pretty good brand.)

OS- Windows 7 Home premium SP1 64-bit $89.98
(I'm getting a OEM copy.)

Possible monitors- Asus VS229H-P $139.99
(Has IPS, 21.5 inch (Big enough for me as I am used to a smaller CRT), has VESA mounts so I could get a new mount, relatively cheap, and has HDMI which my motherboard does support) (The only question with the monitor is should I get one and dual screen using my old CRT, or get 2 and just use those... (or tri-screen with the CRT if at all possible(is it possible?) and use the CRT for internet browsers...))

Total price without monitors: $732.42
With one monitor: $872.41
Twosies: $1012.40

So should this computer be good enough to play games such as minecraft, EVE online(three instances at once), planetside 2, ect. on high settings while recording? Is there some better hardware out there for relatively equivalent price? or equivalent hardware for a cheaper price?

Also semi off-topic question- What (preferably cheap/free) video recording/editing software would you guys suggest using?

Anyways, Thanks for reading and for any replies/suggestions!

 

[tiny voices]

Get an i5 and an h77 motherboard. It will cost the same and give you MUCH better gaming performance.

Software: Buy FRAPS. Its the best.
Good editing software will cost you a pretty penny.

 

[Ariskava]

Well, I looked at the H77 and while I lose some memory types supported and no SLI, it is cheaper, plus I gain two SATA 6Gb/s connections so I will likely change to that.

However I am still thinking on the on the i5. What I'm reading about the core's ect., my i3 has a 3.3 GHz speed, and hyper-threading so it can mimic 4 cores (at reduced efficiency for the virtual cores), but if I get a i5 it will have 4 cores at full efficiency. Thus the 4 cores is better if quad-core is supported for my programs... so I guess a i5 is what I want then.

The i5 will either be a Core i5-3350P($179.99) or a Core i5-3570K($196.48),

The 3350P has a 3.1 speed (less than the i3 but I assume the 4 cores makes up for it) and the 3570K has a 3.4 speed which means its faster than the i3 and has more cores...

Total with i3 and H77: $711.98
3350P and H77: $770.99
3570K and H77: $798.47

So I guess optimally I should get the 3570K if possible and if I need to save a bit o' cash, go for the 3350P right?

Or would the i3 be better then the 3350P?

Thanks again!

 

[tiny voices]

Don't worry so much about clock speed. the i5-3350p will be better than the i3 any day.

 

[Ariskava]

Well then, as it stands now the full build is as follows

Linky-http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Ariskava/saved/1IwW

Considering its gonna be $800 without monitor, and it is better than my friends (Minus GPU(But its free!)) I am quite happy. Thank you for the CPU/Motherboard suggestion!

 

[tiny voices]

Looks good. I would recommend changing the PSU to the XFX 550w and you cannot overclock that CPU on an h77 motherboard.

 

[Ariskava]

Looks good. I would recommend changing the PSU to the XFX 550w and you cannot overclock that CPU on an h77 motherboard.

Don't plan on overclocking so no problem there, what reason should I switch to XFX? It's only $4 cheaper ($14 if I can get it while the mail in rebate is available), and I lose the modular capability.

 

[tiny voices]

Its a better quality unit.

 

[Ariskava]

Its a better quality unit.

Hmmm, well I'll look into it a bit more, once again thanks for the good suggestions.