$1300 Budget gaming build i5 7950

[lucascompton]

Just need a little advice about if this will all be compatible and work alright. I am pretty sure about most of what I have selected with the exception being my case. FOr cases my choice is between Zalman ZM-Z9 U3 | Thermaltake VM400M1W2 | Rosewill BlackHawk | NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) | Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 | Corsair Vengeance C70 (Black) | Corsair Carbide Series 300R Windowed | Corsair 650D | Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus (Black) | Antec Nine Hundred Two V3

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($5.98 @ Outlet PC)

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)

Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.49 @ NCIX US)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($305.66 @ Newegg)

Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)

Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-L2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($6.36 @ NCIX US)

Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-L2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($6.36 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($86.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)

Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Elite Wired Gaming Keyboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $1264.72

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-14 18:53 EDT-0400)

[TechNerd181]

Hey there.

Thermal paste isn't needed, Intel CPU's come pre-pasted, so you can save yourself $6 There :)

Seagate/Western Digital, doesn't matter. For a SSD, I wouldn't advise getting that. Whilst Samsung 840 SSD's are good, I'd rather, and would recommend either an Intel 330 Series SSD or a Corsair Force GT. Intel's reliability with performance, and 3 year money back guarantee can't really be beaten considering how much it costs. Depending on if you want to spend a little more, the next step up would be a Corsair Force GT/Neutron GTX SSD.

Seasonic/Corsair PSU, both good and reliable, 520/620W For Seasonic, CX 600W For Corsair. For your case, definitely either a Corsair 300r/650D. Both good, affordable, well ventilated with cut-out panels for wiring.

All in all.. A pretty decent rig!

[Glenwing]

He's not using the stock Intel heatsink, he's using the 212 EVO. That said, the Hyper 212 comes with a tube of thermal compound. Arc Midi R2 is fine for a case. Not sure what you mean with the 650D being affordable, it's twice as much as the 300R. For an SSD you might want to look at the G.SKILL Phoenix III. It beats both the Intel 330 and the Samsung 840 while staying around the same price. G.SKILL has an excellent reputation for quality as well.

Last thing, you will need different RAM. Corsair Vengeance is too tall to fit underneath the Hyper 212 EVO and can interfere with mounting depending on how far the DIMM slots are from the CPU socket.

[TechNerd181]

He's not using the stock Intel heatsink, he's using the 212 EVO. That said, the Hyper 212 comes with a tube of thermal compound. Arc Midi R2 is fine for a case. Not sure what you mean with the 650D being affordable, it's twice as much as the 300R. For an SSD you might want to look at the G.SKILL Phoenix III. It beats both the Intel 330 and the Samsung 840 while staying around the same price. G.SKILL has an excellent reputation for quality as well.

Last thing, you will need different RAM. Corsair Vengeance is too tall to fit underneath the Hyper 212 EVO and can interfere with mounting depending on how far the DIMM slots are from the CPU socket.

Oh, didn't see he was going with an aftermarket CPU cooler. I'm sure an Arc Midi R2 is fine, however he's much better of with a Corsair 300r case. You say a 650D is twice as much as a 300r.. Where are you? Here, a Corsair 300r is £100 whereas the 650D is £125. Also, not normally. I have i5-3570k with Hyper 212 on an ASRock Extreme4 Motherboard with 8GB's of Corsair Vengeance RAM and everything fits fine.

[Glenwing]

He's not using the stock Intel heatsink, he's using the 212 EVO. That said, the Hyper 212 comes with a tube of thermal compound. Arc Midi R2 is fine for a case. Not sure what you mean with the 650D being affordable, it's twice as much as the 300R. For an SSD you might want to look at the G.SKILL Phoenix III. It beats both the Intel 330 and the Samsung 840 while staying around the same price. G.SKILL has an excellent reputation for quality as well.

Last thing, you will need different RAM. Corsair Vengeance is too tall to fit underneath the Hyper 212 EVO and can interfere with mounting depending on how far the DIMM slots are from the CPU socket.

In the US 300R is around $80-90, 650D is around $180.

[TechNerd181]

He's not using the stock Intel heatsink, he's using the 212 EVO. That said, the Hyper 212 comes with a tube of thermal compound. Arc Midi R2 is fine for a case. Not sure what you mean with the 650D being affordable, it's twice as much as the 300R. For an SSD you might want to look at the G.SKILL Phoenix III. It beats both the Intel 330 and the Samsung 840 while staying around the same price. G.SKILL has an excellent reputation for quality as well.

Last thing, you will need different RAM. Corsair Vengeance is too tall to fit underneath the Hyper 212 EVO and can interfere with mounting depending on how far the DIMM slots are from the CPU socket.

Oh wow.. Didn't expect that. What else can I say? o:

[Crowcore]

I would go for a better SSD, the 840's performance leaves something to be desired. The 840 Pro, the Vector, the M5 Pro or the Neutron GTX are a considerable improvement.

I would also chose a better air cooling solution (SB-E Extreme by Thermalright or Dark Rock Pro 2 by Be Quiet) if your budget permits it, but the Hyper 212 is decent enough if it doesn't.

[ravens2792]

Hey there.

Thermal paste isn't needed, Intel CPU's come pre-pasted, so you can save yourself $6 There :)

Seagate/Western Digital, doesn't matter. For a SSD, I wouldn't advise getting that. Whilst Samsung 840 SSD's are good, I'd rather, and would recommend either an Intel 330 Series SSD or a Corsair Force GT. Intel's reliability with performance, and 3 year money back guarantee can't really be beaten considering how much it costs. Depending on if you want to spend a little more, the next step up would be a Corsair Force GT/Neutron GTX SSD.

Seasonic/Corsair PSU, both good and reliable, 520/620W For Seasonic, CX 600W For Corsair. For your case, definitely either a Corsair 300r/650D. Both good, affordable, well ventilated with cut-out panels for wiring.

All in all.. A pretty decent rig!

the stock heatsink has paste on it already, not the cpu, however, the hyper 212 evo comes with a small tube of reasonable quality thermal paste

[TechNerd181]

Hey there.

Thermal paste isn't needed, Intel CPU's come pre-pasted, so you can save yourself $6 There :)

Seagate/Western Digital, doesn't matter. For a SSD, I wouldn't advise getting that. Whilst Samsung 840 SSD's are good, I'd rather, and would recommend either an Intel 330 Series SSD or a Corsair Force GT. Intel's reliability with performance, and 3 year money back guarantee can't really be beaten considering how much it costs. Depending on if you want to spend a little more, the next step up would be a Corsair Force GT/Neutron GTX SSD.

Seasonic/Corsair PSU, both good and reliable, 520/620W For Seasonic, CX 600W For Corsair. For your case, definitely either a Corsair 300r/650D. Both good, affordable, well ventilated with cut-out panels for wiring.

All in all.. A pretty decent rig!

Well it would be pretty silly if CPU chips had Thermal Paste on them now wouldn't it..

[Glenwing]

Hey there.

Thermal paste isn't needed, Intel CPU's come pre-pasted, so you can save yourself $6 There :)

Seagate/Western Digital, doesn't matter. For a SSD, I wouldn't advise getting that. Whilst Samsung 840 SSD's are good, I'd rather, and would recommend either an Intel 330 Series SSD or a Corsair Force GT. Intel's reliability with performance, and 3 year money back guarantee can't really be beaten considering how much it costs. Depending on if you want to spend a little more, the next step up would be a Corsair Force GT/Neutron GTX SSD.

Seasonic/Corsair PSU, both good and reliable, 520/620W For Seasonic, CX 600W For Corsair. For your case, definitely either a Corsair 300r/650D. Both good, affordable, well ventilated with cut-out panels for wiring.

All in all.. A pretty decent rig!

That's what you said -.-