New Build Im thinking of

Donut417 · January 17, 2013

My Current Rig:

Windows 7 Home

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33 Ghz

Asus Board

8 Gigs DDR2 800

2x 1 Tb SATA III hard disk

1x 500 Gb SATA II hard disk

Power Color HD Radeion 4830 512 megs GDDR 3

500 Watt Raid max PSU

Raid max Smiladon Case

Dual Layer DVD burner

32inch 720p Samsung HD TV (Monitor)

New Rig

Windows 7 home

Not sure If I want AMD or Intel

Asus Sabertooth or Formula Board

16 Gigs DDR3 1333 or 1600

2x 240 Gig or 256 Gig SSD (Raid 0) Windows and Steam

2x 1Tb Hard disk (from current machine)

Corsair 650 watt to 750 watt PSU

External Blu Ray/DVD Burner combo

Not sure on Video card or Case

The rest of my old machine is going to my sister. Told her she needs a hard disk and OS. Might try her on Ubuntu. The machine is for surfing the net.

I figure for Ram, Corsair, GSkill, or Kingston would be good. I dont have any exiprance with SSD's or Raid for that matter. Would like to say this would be my second gaming machine I have built. As far as cases go I want cable management and the ablity to use a H100i. Kinda need HDMI on my video card because I use my HDTV for a computer monitor. I know its not the best monitor but Im limited by space in my room and substandard wireing. Hurray for UPS's.

Budget. I dont really have one but I figure It probley wont be less than $1500 USD. Hurray for $2000 credit limit. Trying to keep it as cheap as possible. Dont want to spend more than I need.

InfinityHardware · January 17, 2013

Here is what I would recommend, take it for what you want.

Processor - i5-3570K (Essentially the best one for gaming)

Motherboard - Asus Sabertooth Z77 (You seem to like that one)

Ram - 16 GB of Corsair RAM at 1600 MHz (You listed 16 GB so I stuck to that, 8 Gb will be fine for just gaming)

SSD - Samsung 840 Pro (Raid 0 doesn't really speed up SSDs all that much, they are fast enough as is)

HDD - 2 TB Western DIgital Black (Only if you change your mind and want a new one)

PSU - Corsair HX Series (Watts varies depending on final parts)

Blu Ray - They are all pretty much the same.

GPU - Nvidia 660 ti (I like it for the PhysX and soon Geforce Experience, also driver support)

Case - Fractal Design Define R4 (Place for H100i, sleek design, good cooling, modern features)

Some extra notes:

The GPU depends on the price you can spend. You may be able to go for a 670 with that price point. Or you can go AMD, there wont be to much of a difference either way. Cases are sort of a personal thing, you have to like the aesthetics of it to get it. Personally I like the R4 for aesthetics and features, but you may want something different. Hope that helped!

January 17, 2013

What InfinityHardware has listed is a pretty good setup. If you want to save a bit of money on it though, drop the HDD to a Seagate Barracuda and you'll save about $50. Also with the motherboard; I would personally go the P8Z77-V Pro or similar unless you really like the aesthetics of the Sabertooth. The advanced thermal system in it whereby you add the fans is reportedly very very loud as well - just something to think about.

InfinityHardware · January 17, 2013

I agree with windpeed36, the motherboard isn't really the best. I just listed because you seemed to like it and I wasn't sure if you would change or not. Also, if you prefer a bigger case, the NZXT Phantom 820 seems like a good choice.

Donut417 · January 17, 2013

The Reason for the 2 SSD's is because my Steam Apps Directory where all the game data is stored is almost 200 Gigs. I perfer to have all my games on the SSD's.

InfinityHardware · January 17, 2013

Ok then, but I still wouldn't put them in Raid 0. I would just have the two SSDs as separate drives with game on one and OS on the other. But thats just me, you can do whatever you want. The Raid 0 may be a little faster but then if one dies you lose everything.

Spite · January 17, 2013

Seen as you're trying to keep it cheap as possible switch your RAM to 8GB due to it being a gaming rig, you won't have any improvement going with 16GB rather than 8GB. For speeds go with 1333MHz or 1600MHz, there isn't a noticeable difference between the two speeds. -$40

For your motherboard, go with an ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 / Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H / MSI-Z77A-GD65 -- they are all very alike and will offer the features you need. There is no point in spending extra for the Sabertooth or Formula if you don't need the features. -$100

You can save money by going with half the size of SSD's, use ~120GB for OS and applications and then use the other ~120GB for games that you actually use, if you don't play some, move them to a HDD. For the SSD themselves I'd probably go with Intel 330's or a Crucial M4 for your boot drive as they some of most reliable SSD's. -$200 (possibly more.)

For the PSU, I have no idea which Corsair power supply you're thinking of going with but you can choose something like a Rosewill HIVE 550W for $60. It's semi-modular, great quality and is dirt cheap.

For your CPU, go with an Intel i5 3570K, costs $220 and is best CPU you can get for $200 and has a great price : performance ratio

For a case, I would recommend something like Factal Design R4 ($120) or the NZXT Phantom 410 ($100) both have great cooling available and have great cable management options.

Next the GPU, I'd recommend you go with a 7950 (~$300) or 7970 (~$400). 7950 over the 660Ti due to wider memory bus and once you start turning up the AA and/or resolution the 660Ti will start to drag behind. 7970 is the fastest single card currently out and has much better price : performance ratio than a 670 or 680. Both GPU's are great choices, look at some benchmarks but you can't go wrong with either of them.

Lastly for the CPU cooler I would go with something like the Noctua NH-D14 due to fact that you can get some amazing overclocks with it and about half the price of the H100. If you want to spend less then go with the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO, you can reach a nice overclock with this cooler and only costs $35.

You should be well under $1500 and you could use the rest for some nice peripherals. ;)

Toby · January 17, 2013

Damn good post. Listen to this man.

Donut417 · January 17, 2013

Im going to sit down this weekend and look over my options. So I have time to evaluate. I hear you about the peripherals. I got a nice mouse, my keyboard still works, but my $30 Microsoft Clear Chat headset doesn't cut it. I kinda liked what Turtle Beach was presenting at CES and I hope those headsets come out soon.

Donut417 · January 21, 2013

I looked a few of the suggestions and came up with this.

Fractal Design R4 with Window $119.99
PowerColor 7950 $294.99
Fractal Design Newton R3 (80 Plus Platinum) $139.99
Corsair Vengeance 8Gb Red (2x 4GB Sticks) Speed 1600 $76.99
Asus Sabertooth $229.99
H100i $119.99
Crucial M4 256Gb Sata III SSD $214.99
LG USB 2.0 External Bluray Rewriter $109.99

Grand Total not Including Shipping $1,552.91

Coming home to a house full of newegg boxes Priceless :D

Not totally sure on the Bluray drive. I may just drop that for now and use my current drive. Or not have a drive. My laptop has the drive in it for burning stuff. Might just get an External DVD burner and call it a day. Not sure if my laptop supports bluray play back, which is why I wanted an external drive. Have a PS3 for bluray play back at home.

Just wanted to hear final thoughts. And has any one have any experience with fractal design power supply's? Only one review on newegg, it was a positive one but only 1 Review. Chose the PSU because of its high efficiency.

On a side note I got a UPS all ready on my current machine rated for 810watts so I should be good in the protection area.

Kruziik_Kel · January 21, 2013

H100i is good but really bad for the price id grab a Noctua NH-D14 or a Phanteks PH-TC14PE the sabertooth isnt worth the money id go with an ASRock extreme 4 its an excellent board the M4 is a bad SSD IMO Samsung 830/840 (what ever is cheaper) would be far better PowerColor make possibly the worst collers so id avoid them and stick to Sapphire, MSI, Gigabyte, XFX or HIS

the PSU is ok but id swap to perhaps a Corsair AX series/SeaSonic M12II/SeaSonic X series or an XFX

Toby · January 21, 2013

You said you didn't want to spend more than you need to, so with that in mind I'd say the PSU, RAM, Motherboard, Blu-ray drive and probably CPU cooler are all overkill. Unless you want to be running enthusiast-level overclocks and 3+ GPUs, you can be looking at motherboards about $100 cheaper. You also don't need to get anything more expensive than the Samsung Green RAM. Look up the user-reviews/ratings on Newegg to see why.

Toby · January 21, 2013

Source for the PowerColor comment? Acoustically their PCS and Vortex coolers are on par or better than even ASUS and I'm not aware of temps being an issue, either.

Kruziik_Kel · January 21, 2013

As I recall they are much further down on AMD's ''binning list'' than other major cooler manufacturers such as Asus or Sapphire i.e. people like Sapphire get the better scoring GPUs than people like Powercolor who get the lower performing GPUs this may explain some of the bad experiences people have had with their coolers GPUs outputting more heat than expected however that would need to be tested.

as for the acoustics im not the best person to talk about that it dosent bother me as long as it isnt overly loud

they have had many poorly designed coolers from updating myself on it a little they appear to be improving but there are still far better solutions such as the Windforce X3 probably the best current GPU cooler (bar the Ares II) (ill try to dig up some of my sources its been a while since I looked into them last)

Toby · January 22, 2013

Please do. PC have now moved from "recommended" to "in question" in my mental checklist, but I'd really like solid evidence to know where they belong.

WaspishVyper · January 22, 2013

My friends Power Colour blew up because the cooler was rubbish

Kruziik_Kel · January 22, 2013

Noe that I have never heard of. not only that but that would be his error an overheating card would at worst melt the cooler so I would assume your trolling or he set the voltage to high and fried the card.

as for the source no luck as I said it has been a while ill keep digging and if I come across them ill send them your way (a few threads from around the internet and a couple benches on a few older cards) Id avoid them if possible for the time being they dont really have anything on the other manufacturers in their price range (typically XFX) and the coolers are questionable

InfinityHardware · January 23, 2013

I would say the Crucial M4 is not a great choice. It is generally believed that the Samsung SSDs are a little better. The motherboard is kinda over doing it, as there are others for a little cheaper and the same general features, but if you are buying it for looks than thats your choice. I think the H100i is a great cooler, and the pricing isn't too bad, but unless you are overclocking a lot you should step it down a little. Powercolor isn't great, anything else will probably be fine. Don't know much about that power supply but I would say Fractal Design is very reliable. I like corsair because I have used them a lot and they are always great. Other than that is looks really good, but you left out the HDD and the Processor. My opinion on that is 3570K and WD Black. But im sure a lot of people will disagree with me on the WD Black because the price, but they are more reliable in my opinion.

Donut417 · January 24, 2013

Yeh planning on going with the 3570k. I got 2 1Tb Seagate drives and a 500 Gig seagate drive, that are in my current machine. Was looking at this board. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130643&Tpk=MSI-Z77A-GD65. I think it should do every thing I want and its cheaper.

InfinityHardware · January 25, 2013

That is a great board and it has all the features you need. Good choice.

Donut417 · January 28, 2013

I did a few more changes to save a little money.

Fractal Design R4 with Window $119.99
Corsair 600Watt PSU $79.99
MSI Z77A-GD65 $144.99
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 $299.99
3570k $229.99
Samsung 830 Series 256Gig $204.99
Corsair Vengeance 2x 4Gb Low Profile $51.99
Nactua NH-D14 80.99

Total $1292.91

Possible Add ons

Razer Kraken Pro $79.99
ASUS USB Blu ray drive $79.99
Mechanical Keyboard $???

I need a new headset so the Kraken is probley going to be bought. The issue with the blu ray drive is it has no software for play back. Does VLC media player play Blu ray? If not I probley wont get a drive or might just get a DVD burner. No clue on the keyboard. I have never own a mechanical keyboard in my life. My mom said she likes my keyboard and her's kinda sucks so. If I buy the Headset and Bluray I will have about $127 for a keyboard if I stick to $1500.

Donut417 · January 29, 2013

I changed out the PSU because newegg was out of stock and the new PSU is also now out of stock. Gotta love that. But Amazon has some. Not 100% sure on keyboard. I was looking at the Razer Black Widow but not sure. Once I figure out a keyboard and make sure my hardware looks good Ill make a purchase.

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