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Forums - PC Discussion - Building my first PC and would like some input

Some critical mistakes on your RAM and GPU choice and some other small details can be improved:

1. Motherboard
- The one you picked looks very budget, even lacks proper VRM cooling. If you are getting a K series CPU, I am guessing you want the option to overclock later. The board you picked seems inadequate for overclocking a K series to 4.5ghz+. Spend a tad more for a board that will handle overclocking, such as ASRock Z77 Extreme3 for $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157330

2. PSU
Ultra PSUs have never been considered to be good and the one you picked continues that tradition. You have a 750W PSU with only 45A on 12V rail. Good PSUs have 40-41A at only 520-550W. Also, it has 78% efficiency rating which is terrible.

For $10 more, this PC Power & Cooling 750W is vastly superior:
http://www.amazon.com/PC-Power-Cooling-Performance-compatible/dp/B003U29C3Q/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1354574247&sr=8-6&keywords=pc+power+%26+cooling

or this PC Power & Cooling 600W modular unit for $65 after $20 MIR and 15% off w/ promo code OCZPCPSALE, ends 12/4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703036

Other good brands to consider are Corsair, Antec, Enermax, SeaSonic. I wouldn't skimp on the PSU as this component will outlast almost everything in your build (easily 7-10 years life I bet).

3. Case. I am not a fan of that case. It looks kinda cheap and only comes with 1 fan from what I see (rear).

I'd rather get this $50 COOLER MASTER CM690 II. It case some cool features like SSD dock at the top, and seems to be built of much higher quality materials, as well as it's painted black on the interior which makes it look much better than cheap unpainted cases like you linked.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216

or if you don't like that design and might want to carry your case with handles, $60 COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

Both of those look nicer to me.

4. Screws for the optical drive should come free with a case. No need to spend $ on that.

5. Optical drive.

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - $20 with free shipping at newegg. Nearly 4000 reviews, hugely positive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

6. Hard Drive
-- OK for now. When you get $$$, get a 120-128GB SSD for your OS and applications. You can wait a couple years if you don't have the budget for it but it will be a huge boost to snappiness of the main system.

7. RAM
- OK this is not good at all. For Z77 and modern i5/i7 CPUs, you want DDR3 of 1.5V or lower. The RAM you picked is Enhanced CAS Latency (9-9-9-24) and 1.65V voltage. You don't want this at all.

If you want the best overclocking budget ram without a doubt (Or just awesome ram overall), get this for $35:

SAMSUNG 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model MV-3V4G3D/US
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096

Trust me, it's amazing. Review: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Samsung/MV-3V4G3/

If you want the ram to look "pretty" with heatspreaders, G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL for $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

The Samsung EcoGreen RAM is the bomb because not only is it low profile, runs at just 1.35V, but it also overclocks like mad and costs less! I'd get that in a heartbeat.

8. Graphics card.

- The GPU you picked is easily one of the worst choices in your build. It only has 1.28GB of VRAM which is not enough for next generation PC games, mods and so on. It's also build on an outdated 40nm process and uses more power at idle than modern 28nm GPUs (HD7000/GTX600 series) and it uses way too much power at load despite being slower than either HD7870 or GTX660.

HD7870 = 115W
GTX660 = 118W
GTX660 after-market = 126W
GTX570 = 210W
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_660_HAWK/26.html

Get this GTX660 by Gigabyte (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125443)
or this

Asus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 2GB = $226.99 - $20 MIR - $10 off (front page coupon) + $9 shipping = $206

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AS-660D2GD

Both of those cards come with a free copy of Assassin's Creed III.

Also, if there is a MicroCenter around you, you can get a way better deal on the CPU+Motherboard combo. Later down the line, you can always pick up a Cooler Master 212+ / Evo for $25 or so and overclock that CPU.

Out of all the components you picked, the worst ones are probably your GPU, RAM and PSU. The motherboard is fine if you don't want to overclock but I think it has other cost cutting measures like cheaper onboard sound too. You can also get cheaper prices if you start shopping around and picking your components not from just 1 website or trying to price match things. For example, the HDD you found is $79.99 before $10 rebate but it doesn't look like it has free shipping. Well you can find the same drive at NCIXUS for $69.99 with free shipping and no rebate:

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=74462&vpn=WD10EZEX&manufacture=Western%20Digital%20WD&promoid=1310

Your CPU is also $5 cheaper on Newegg. I've also seen the Asrock Z77 with free 8GB of DDR3-1600 on Newegg for under $100 on SlickDeals. These types of deals come up from time to time. If you are not going to overclock the CPU ever, then save some $ and get the non-K quad-core i5, or better yet save $15 and get an i5-2500K. Also, depending if you want to buy Far Cry 3, Hitman Absolution and Sleeping Dogs, HD7950 is an incredible bang for the buck for $280:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006

HD7950 is one of those incredible hidden gems where with 15 min of tinkering in MSI Afterburner, you can get it to outperform $450 HD7970Ghz/GTX680 cards:

http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/his_7970_iceq_xsup2_ghz_edition_7950_iceq_xsup2_boost_clock,13.html

You can see the performance is in an entirely different league from GTX660Ti/HD7870/GTX660. If you can stretch your budget, it's worth every penny. Like I said it's a $280 GPU that can beat a $450 GPU. GTX660 or GTX660Ti cannot do this. Also, you mentioned you want to play:

1) Skyrim

HD7950 is faster than GTX680 in this game with mods, and that's only at 925mhz. HD7950 overclocks to 1100-1200mhz.

http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/grafikkarten/2012/test-nvidia-geforce-gtx-660/23/

2) Far Cry 3 comes free with HD7950.

You can get Saints Row the 3rd for cheap with this HumbleBundle deal in the next 9 days or so:
http://www.humblebundle.com/

The GPU is by far the most important component in a PC for modern games when paired with any mid-range CPU. Whatever you gotta do to get a faster GPU, try to make it happen. You can get i5-2500K for $15 less than i5-3570K. The performance in games will be identical. With overclocking they will be tied as i5-3570K usually maxes out at 4.4-4.6ghz without a better cooler (or delidding the heatspreader) and i5-2500K can go to 4.6-4.8ghz.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

*** The other thing to keep in mind, within the next 6 months or so Intel will release a brand new CPU architecture called "Haswell" on a brand new socket 1150. Essentially i5-2500K and i5-3570K are still more or less the same generation called SandyBridge/IvyBridge (refresh of Sandy Bridge that's only about 4% faster per clock). Next year is the bigger upgrade to Haswell. I am not telling you to wait 6 months but letting you know so you don't come back 6 months later and are upset your parts are last generation (of course that doesn't mean they will be slow as new stuff always gets released but just giving you a heads up where you are in the Intel CPU upgrade cycle. Intel upgrades their architecture roughly ever 2-2.5 years and you are buying at the end of the current architecture's cycle, right before the new one starts for another 2-2.5 years --> Haswell/Broadwell 2013-2014). ***

There are some big changes coming to Haswell such as 2x floating point performance and new instruction set AVX2, etc.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6355/intels-haswell-architecture



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I'm reading everything that's been posted and will be making changes. Thanks for the input, everyone!



4 ≈ One

Dgc1808, I added a quick footnote at the bottom of my last post regarding Haswell. I am not telling you to wait if you want to get a PC asap, but just giving you that info so you know upfront where things are on the Intel's CPU roadmap.



Soleron said:
ishiki said:
Soleron said:
Looks good as is. If you want to save money you could go down a few steps on CPU and GPU (i3 and 7700/GTX 660) but if you know you need what you have to play those games then what you have is fine. What games do you plan to play and at what resolution?


660 ti is better and more expensive than his 570.

660, not 660 Ti. Less expensive and less powerful.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162123

the GTX660 is less powerful and less expensive than the GTX570?? I thought the 660 was more powerful and expensive, considering it was released later.



BlueFalcon said:
Dgc1808, I added a quick footnote at the bottom of my last post regarding Haswell. I am not telling you to wait if you want to get a PC asap, but just giving you that info so you know upfront where things are on the Intel's CPU roadmap.


Oh damn....hmm... I'll have to think about this. Seems like a good reason to hold off for a while. 



4 ≈ One

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Dgc1808 said:
BlueFalcon said:
Dgc1808, I added a quick footnote at the bottom of my last post regarding Haswell. I am not telling you to wait if you want to get a PC asap, but just giving you that info so you know upfront where things are on the Intel's CPU roadmap.


Oh damn....hmm... I'll have to think about this. Seems like a good reason to hold off for a while. 

Don't do that. There's always a next best thing, and this time the performance increase at your budget will be VERY small. Intel has zero competition at those prices, what incentive do they have to lower them with new stuff? 

If you have a need for a system now, buy now.

Also most of his recommendations seem overclocking focused, and unless you have a desire to I would say don't do that, and therefore the cheaper motherboard, RAM and non-K CPU are good choices.



PC gaming is clearly for loosers and you should stop while you are ahead. I mean, who plays games on PC anyways? It's dying I tell you! DYING!



Oh BTW I'd really look into the 7950, do some research and see which one has the best price for the unlocking or OC you'd need to bring it to 7970 level and you'd be gold.



Soleron said:
Dgc1808 said:
BlueFalcon said:
Dgc1808, I added a quick footnote at the bottom of my last post regarding Haswell. I am not telling you to wait if you want to get a PC asap, but just giving you that info so you know upfront where things are on the Intel's CPU roadmap.


Oh damn....hmm... I'll have to think about this. Seems like a good reason to hold off for a while. 

Don't do that. There's always a next best thing, and this time the performance increase at your budget will be VERY small. Intel has zero competition at those prices, what incentive do they have to lower them with new stuff? 

If you have a need for a system now, buy now.

Also most of his recommendations seem overclocking focused, and unless you have a desire to I would say don't do that, and therefore the cheaper motherboard, RAM and non-K CPU are good choices.


OC is a very valid way to get the performance you want at a cheaper price while maintaining stability unless you go overboard these days, recent OC won't really damage your hardware either, just need to do some research and you can save hundreds of dollars while have a top performing PC that runs very stable and would last you for years. The correct parts are needed though of course, it'd take more research time instead of just plug and play.



BlueFalcon above made an excellent post. Suggestions he gave you will give you an gaming enthusiast-like PC.

I personally would go a totally different route. Id spend a few weeks and hunt for deals...

For example, for black Friday, I picked up the following components:
Phenom II X4 965 - 59 bucks from tigerdirect
MSI 970A-G46 - 64 bucks, tigerdirect
Cougar Evolution full tower - 64.99 tigerdirect
8 GB of 1600mhz AMD Performance RAM - 29.99 at Canada Computers
Scythe Mine 2 Cooler 24.99 Canada Computers

I have a spare 1000 Watt OCZ PSU and Intel SSD and my other rig which is running 3570k and an EVGA FTW mobo has a GTX 670 which Im using on this build for some benchmarks.

Ive overclocked the Phenom to 4.2 GHZ as well as the RAM, NB and few other tweaks and with VSYNC on (60hz monitor should have it enabled) I honestly dont see any difference what so ever between my Intel rig which cost me 3X more. Any game out there I can run at 50-60 fps with high or ultra settings.

Who doesnt like money left over while enjoying the similar performance... :)