Friend's Build

[Z3R0]

I'm helping a friend choose parts for a build and figured it would be a good Idea to get more opinions. This build is really only going to be used for gaming.

CPU: i5-3570k

Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 evo

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB(2 x 4) DDR3-1600

Motherboard: ASRock Extreme4 ATX

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB

SSD: Samsung 830 128GB

Graphics Card: Gigabyte Geforce GTX 670 2GB

Case: NZXT Switch 810

PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W 80 PLUS Certified

OS: Windows 8 Home Premium OEM

Optical Drive: Lite-On

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Fj8y

He would preferably like to stay around 1300 dollars. Thanks for the help.

[NannerBeans]

You should grab the Samsung 840 series instead since its the same price but better performance.

[NannerBeans]

Also it doesn't look like you need a full tower case like that. You could save like $70 and get something like a Fractal Design Define R4 or a BitFenix Shinobi Window. Both cases have a white version but if you really like how the Switch looks then go for it.

[Socky]

heres a some what new build it just has a different gpu gtx 680 and a different case otherwise I would recommend dropping the SSD for an. Also Windows 8 isn't good for gaming recommend Windows 7 http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FlB9

[Socky]

heres a some what new build it just has a different gpu gtx 680 and a different case otherwise I would recommend dropping the SSD for an. Also Windows 8 isn't good for gaming recommend Windows 7 http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FlB9

crap I meant to say drop the SSD for a HDD for more space

[Guest]

You should grab the Samsung 840 series instead since its the same price but better performance.

It's actually not. The writes are slower on the 840 and to get the 840 pro is about another $50.

[bradscoolio]

Seeing as the next gen consoles will be kicking AMD parts the near future of games will be heavily optimized for such rigs, and as crysis 3 can actually utilize 8 cores (the benchmarks really show it) I think it's a good idea to be building AMD rigs.

Here is what i'd recommend: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FlIo & no to windows 8, just... just no!

[Glenwing]

heres a some what new build it just has a different gpu gtx 680 and a different case otherwise I would recommend dropping the SSD for an. Also Windows 8 isn't good for gaming recommend Windows 7 http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FlB9

Gaming performance is about the same on W8 vs W7.

[Spite]

- I would recommend switching out the GPU for a 7970 if he is just gaming. I'd only keep the GTX 670 if your friend will benefit from CUDA which I doubt he will.

- You should get about a 600W power supply as the 7970's can pull a lot of power once overclocked, I'd recommend a Rosewill HIVE 650W for an additional $20. It's a great power supply, very high quality and semi-modular.

- Does he really need the full sized tower, NZXT Source 810? I'd recommend getting a mid-tower such as the Fractal Design Define R4 for $110 with the window, minus $10 without the window. It's a great case, silent, looks very nice and is worth your money. Another choice would be the NZXT Phantom 410, or if you wanted a full tower then an NZXT Phantom Full Tower is also a good choice. All cases are around the $100-$120 mark.

- You may want to get some low profile RAM as the big heatspreaders on that Vengeance can conflict with coolers.

Hope that helps you out!

[Willson94]

You should grab the Samsung 840 series instead since its the same price but better performance.

840Pro > 830 > 840