first build, need tips on parts

[OP POLARBEAR]

im looking to build my first gaming pc, and ditch my crappy console. i would like to keep the price below $1500, and these are the parts that i am thinking of purchasing.

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k

Motherboard: ASUS sabertooth Z77 LGA 1155

RAM: G.Skill rip jaws f3 2x4gb 1600mhz

GPU: ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II 980mhz 2gb

PSU: Corsair Gaming series 800W

Case: Corsair Vengeance C70 black

i dont know if i should use an ssd or a mechanical hard drive and would like some input, also want to know which cpu cooler i should use

im going for a red on black colour scheme

[gamer tom]

Go with the 3570k, if you don't know what CPU cooler to use then just use the Hyper 212 Evo. As for the boot drive, go with an SSD.

[OP POLARBEAR]

thanks for the idea of the 3570k im going to use that instead of the 2500k, and the idea of having a boot drive is nice but i dont think i have the budget for an ssd and a mechanical drive

[Spite]

For the motherboard, drop the Sabertooth down to an ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 as you'll save over $100. The Sabertooth doesn't offer anything too great and even the features it does come with I doubt you would use them. The ASRock has everything you'll need an if you did want to go SLI/CrossFireX down the road then you could. The motherboard is also black with a few gold/yellow accents which will go nicely with a red/black colour scheme.

I would recommend you go with the HD 7970 versus the GTX 670 as it'll out perform it. Though if you'll benefit from the CUDA cores then it may be a good choice going with NVIDIA but I doubt you will as you have stated it's a gaming rig. If you want something that can perform on par with the GTX 670 but for less, look at HD 7950 for $300.

You don't need 800W, you could power that system on quality 500W-600W PSU, if you wanted to leave room for SLI/CrossFireX then grab a 700W-750W. My recommendation would be a Roswill HIVE 550W or the 750W. 550W can be found for $60 on newegg and the 750W can be found for $90 on newegg.

For a CPU cooler, go with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO for $35. It will give you a respectable overclock. If you want something that can perform on par with a H100, grab a Noctua NH-D14 or Phanteks PH-C14PE for $80. Seen as you're trying to follow a colour theme Phanteks offer a red or black version of their cooler.

Switch the CPU to 3570K as it's usually the same price as the 2500K or about $10 more but you'll get some free performance.

For storage, depending on how much you want to spend and what your budget is I would recommend something like Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB or Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB. If you have money for an SSD then grab something like a 64GB Crucial M4 for about $70-$80 and use it for a boot drive and some applications. If you want more space then you could go with the 128GB version for $120 as it'll allow you to put more applications and perhaps some games onto it.

If there is anything else, ask away.

[OP POLARBEAR]

in which games is the 7950 on par with the 670? because from what i have researched the 670 out performs even the 7970 in most games. i will definitely switch out the motherboard, if i buy the 800 w psu wouldnt it be reasy for teh future if i wanted to crossfire/sli? if i use a 128gb boot drive could i load a game or two onto it to benefit from the faster read/write times, and move games back and forth between it and a mechanical drive?

[Nidiahk]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/645?vs=598 great website for benchmarks all you need for two card crossfire is about a 750 watt psu, a 120gb ssd will hold 5 ish games depending on the size of the games and its a huge boost to your computer, i would recommend the ocz vertex 4 128gb i personally have the 7950 w/ boost and a 3570k and i max out any game i play with great frame rates at 1080p

[OP POLARBEAR]

i will definitely be using an ssd now. have you played the crysis 3 beta yet, and if so what kind of framerates are you getting?

[Nidiahk]

I have not played it, though battle field 3 campaign was showing frame rates of over 80 fps at all times

[OP POLARBEAR]

thanks for confirming that, i had fallen for the nvidia fanboyism and now i realize that nvidia isnt all that they say they are. I'm going to grab a 7950 now and in the future im going to crossfire it with another

[Nidiahk]

you can choose whichever card you like but this one is great http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003

and for a cpu cooler my the CM hyper 212 allows me to run my 3570k at 4.3ghz with a max temp of 60 degrees in prime95

[Scia]

• Intel Core i5 2500k
  
  • Using the same CPU, overclocking a lot better than the 3750k and barely any performance difference, so imho grab the cheaper one.
    

  [*]Motherboard: ASUS sabertooth Z77 LGA 1155

  • Using the same board, overclocking fairly nice, and survived uber-coolant-spill without any problems ;)
    

  [*]RAM: G.Skill rip jaws f3 2x4gb 1600mhz

  • Make sure the RAM is at 1.5V, 1.65 is no good for the memorycontroller
    

  [*]GPU: ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II 980mhz 2gb

  • Built this card into a buddies PC, awesome!
    

  [*]PSU: Corsair Gaming series 800W

  • Unless you plan to SLI or something this is way over the top. 650W will already do SLI np. go for a 550W or 650W Seasonic / Corsair PSU
    

  [*]Case: Corsair Vengeance C70 black

  • Looks nice ^^
    

  [*]i dont know if i should use an ssd or a mechanical hard drive and would like some input,

  • Get a SSD. Or 2 and put them in RAID 0. Or go with a SSD 128gb for OS and some progs, and a fast HDD like the Caviar Black for games and storage.
    

  [*]also want to know which cpu cooler i should use im going for a red on black colour scheme

  • The H100i will cool nice, and you can set the lights to what ever you want. You will however have to change the fans, cause the stock ones are really loud. For the red/black colorscheme you are planing you could use Corsair SP 120 Quiet Edition and put on the red rings. There's slightly better fans out there but they would fit you color.
    

[OP POLARBEAR]

Thanks scia those parts make alot of sense based on the ones i provided and this is what im at right now, the 3570k is in the cart because the 2500k is sold out but its only $40 cheaper so just ignore the 3570k and subtract $40 from the grand total. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Nidiahk]

so i downloaded crysis 3 beta and i cant max it out but running all max except anti aliasing turned down a bit i got 29-40 ish framerate

[OP POLARBEAR]

thats pretty good, i still need another pay check before i can pick up all of the parts, so im going to wait until the full game is out and base my gpu choice on the benchmarks with the newer drivers