Build for sister.

[wolfe]

Let me start by saying that I have successfully swayed my sister away from console gaming to the world of computer gaming. The main reason being that it will be one one system vs 3 or 4 that she will have to move when she goes to college next year. We are building off of a very inexact bill of requirements here. She says she will game, but the most info I can pull out of her is that it will be Skyrim for sure, and maybe some racing games similar to need for speed. She is also open to GTA games (her words). 

Budget for this system is $700 not including software (windows, etc.). She has a monitor (1080p), mouse, and keyboard. We also already have a motherboard (ASrock Z77 Extreme 4), RAM (8GB Patriot Gamer 2 1600MHz), and a PSU (OCZ ZT650). 

 

Here is what I have came up with in budget ($634.95): 

3570K Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

2TB Seagate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834

R9 270x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125476

300R http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139016

Phanteks Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709011

 

Okay, so does this look like it will all cooperate fine? Is there anything that may work better for equal or less price (Only intel because of the board. Getting AMD + Board will be more expensive most likely)? Is this system bottlenecked in any way? If so how? 

 

Thanks for your help in advance. 

[Stav Kats]

Add a 120GB SSD.

[JAKEBAB]

in order for me to help i need her number so i can get to know her to recommend the best parts for the build.  

[brownninja97]

Im againest the 300r, you said that she will be taking it around the place, its better to have a case which is easily to transport, something like a nzxt vulcan or that coolermaster scout 2. They will help with transport and they dont like bad.

[AlwaysFSX]

I'd change the case and cpu cooler to something less expensive and add more to the gpu. Not sure what but that's the gist of it,

[ciprian97pop]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($149.99 @ Microcenter) 

CPU Cooler:  Be Quiet DARK ROCK PRO 2 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  ($59.99 @ NCIX US) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($85.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card:  XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card  ($249.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case:  BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $675.94

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-30 07:11 EST-0500)

[Akolyte]

Firstly, how about saving some money and going to for a non overclockable processor, if its your sister and shes not all into the PC gaming thing and overclocking and stuff it can cause more harm than speed.  Especially if she just goes nuts with the overclocking.  I would also get a Noctua NH-U114S or 12s instead of that cooler just because of the quietness and quality that come with the Noctua coolers, especially the warranty... which really shows how well they feel the product it going to last.  I would also step away from that case and get one that is more best bang for your buck.  Like for a cheaper one, the CM storm enforcer.  Which offers tons of features for the money. In the way of storage, I would actually go with a 120GB SSD and a 1TB 5200rpm hard drive, I know how much noise a 7200rpm drive makes and she might get worried by that if she hasn't experienced it before.   I would also go with an Asus DCU 2 r9 270x instead of the Gigabyte one just as a personal preference because they are much quieter, higher quality and provide great cooling as well as look pretty damn beast!   So to sum it up here is what I think:

 

Intel core i5 3570 instead of a 3570k 

120GB SSD and 1TB 5200rpm HDD instead of a 2TB Seagate

an Asus DCU2 r9 270x instead of a Gigabyte windforce one

CM storm enforcer or Fractal design define R4 instead of 300r

Noctua NH-U12S instead of Phanteks cooler

[wolfe]

Add a 120GB SSD.

If all else is funded, and there is room in the budget, then there will be one. It is not going to add frames, nor make that great of a difference to the computer experience overall, so it is the last thing to be added. (especially with the way that she uses her computer. The less complicated the drive system is, the better for now. But one step at a time). 

 

in order for me to help i need her number so i can get to know her to recommend the best parts for the build.

I hope you are joking. If not, She don't have a cell phone to talk to (she uses her iPod with wifi for everything she needs)

 

Im againest the 300r, you said that she will be taking it around the place, its better to have a case which is easily to transport, something like a nzxt vulcan or that coolermaster scout 2. They will help with transport and they dont like bad.

I am assuming you mean they don't look bad, not like bad. And I will pass those choices along, but she is the one that choose the 300r originally. One thing at a time though. 

And just to straiten my messed up way of writing out, what I was talking about in the OP is that it is easier for her to take a Laptop, Monitor and tower to college than it is for her to take several game systems (at least Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360) and a television as well as the 2 computers. I was not saying that she will be moving the desktop all the time (unless she moves it around the dorm room, and she is pretty strong as is, I don't foresee it being an issue. If not, UNCG is only 30 miles away, and I go to greensboro regularly anyway, so no waste in helping her move it.) 

 

I'd change the case and cpu cooler to something less expensive and add more to the gpu. Not sure what but that's the gist of it,

May I ask why? I mean, I understand why to get more power, but there is little use to get that much more power for the games she wants to play. Without mods (which she herself has said she won't use) Skyrim will play @ or near maxxed on a 480, and the racing games/sims WILL be maxxed on a 480. The 7870 (r9 270x) is more powerful than the 480 (only using for comparison as that is what I am running and thus I know what it can do). I don't see there being more power needed any time soon, and if she does then she can upgrade when needed. 

I guess what I am saying is, that as long as all games run fine on the 7870, then there is nothing but wasted budget to get a more powerful card than she will need, and also requiring sacrifices elsewhere (processor clockspeed/cooling). 

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($149.99 @ Microcenter) 

CPU Cooler:  Be Quiet DARK ROCK PRO 2 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  ($59.99 @ NCIX US) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($85.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card:  XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card  ($249.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case:  BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $675.94

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-30 07:11 EST-0500)

 

I am not sold that the cooler you choose is worth more than the phanteks that is already choosen. When it is not on sale, it runs $99 vs $79 (iirc). That is $20 that could be used elsewhere. 

 

SSD, as said, it will be added farther down the line if the budget is there, and nothing else is sacrificed to be able to afford it. It is not like they are magic sauce (and I say that as a long time (1+ year) user of a Samsung 830 128GB. Really, there is not enough of a difference to justify the $100 I spent on it. 

 

Case I will pass along and see if it suits her fancy. 

 

GPU, no. For the simple reason of it is more than she needs and is more expensive than the r9 270x. Paying for power she does not need at this exact point (and she can upgrade in the future should it not be enough). 

 

CPU we can't get at Microcenter without taking a 400 mile (iirc) trip up to DC. It would be cheaper to just buy the CPU at stock price from newegg than to make the trip to microcenter to save $100. I hope you understand. 

 

The preferred store is Newegg, unless there is a 50% style savings going elsewhere. This is just a choice of who we have used before and the safety of knowing their shipping routes inside and out. Does that make sense? 

 

Firstly, how about saving some money and going to for a non overclockable processor, if its your sister and shes not all into the PC gaming thing and overclocking and stuff it can cause more harm than speed.  Especially if she just goes nuts with the overclocking.  I would also get a Noctua NH-U114S or 12s instead of that cooler just because of the quietness and quality that come with the Noctua coolers, especially the warranty... which really shows how well they feel the product it going to last.  I would also step away from that case and get one that is more best bang for your buck.  Like for a cheaper one, the CM storm enforcer.  Which offers tons of features for the money. In the way of storage, I would actually go with a 120GB SSD and a 1TB 5200rpm hard drive, I know how much noise a 7200rpm drive makes and she might get worried by that if she hasn't experienced it before.   I would also go with an Asus DCU 2 r9 270x instead of the Gigabyte one just as a personal preference because they are much quieter, higher quality and provide great cooling as well as look pretty damn beast!   So to sum it up here is what I think:

 

Intel core i5 3570 instead of a 3570k 

120GB SSD and 1TB 5200rpm HDD instead of a 2TB Seagate

an Asus DCU2 r9 270x instead of a Gigabyte windforce one

CM storm enforcer or Fractal design define R4 instead of 300r

Noctua NH-U12S instead of Phanteks cooler

There is not really that much savings going with an unlocked processor as opposed to a locked one. maybe $20 or so last time I checked. I am not too worried about her messing it up, as there is nothing she will ever need to change in the BIOS/UEFI other than boot order, or maybe RAID mode. She is close enough that if she needs to change those settings, she can ask for help. Not to mention she is open to learning, and is not exactly a stupid kid. I mean, geez, she had most of the build done before she came to me for double checking. 

 

On the cooler, you are looking at loosing performance for the same noise levels. 2 fans, $5 difference, and higher peak temperatures as seen here 

*edit: Seems this image is not allowed here. http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/1458939/width/350/height/700/flags/LL is the image*

On the silence, I doubt that it will be an issue, as the cooler (The phanteks) is quiter than the PSU is already. To go quieter would not change the overall decibel level, and getting a quieter PSU would only net marginal differences with an air cooled GPU (assuming that the idle fans of the nonreference cards are quieter than the reference cards idle, then that may also not be an issue.)  On an investment front, the performance to decible and dollar value of the phanteks is right (Just to note, The cooler may not be new. I am thinking of going full loop water on my CPU and letting her use the cooler, but it is budgeted for now). 

 

 

Case, again, was her choice. the instructions I give for the case decision was "Whatever looks good to you and holds an ATX board" and she choose the Corsair. That is not to say it is set in stone, we will see what she says later (when she gets home I'll have her look at the suggestions). 

 

She is fine with the 7200RPM. She regularly uses my desktop for school work, and it is equipped with 3 7200RPM drives. Never really makes that much noise either. The choice of 2TB was made as it is only $20 more than a 1TB of the same drive for 2x the storage space. She absolutely needs somewhere in the area of 1TB minimum before the games though, as she has exactly 4GB free on her 750GB HDD in her laptop, and she wants to offload most of that onto the desktop for storage. Also accounting for 50GB for OS, and maybe 20GB for other programs (office, photoshop, etc.), then it will be pushing it close on 1TB. 

SSD, if there is money left, we will invest in one. The performance will not be harmed if she can not afford it, so no loss there. 

 

Any particular reason for the Asus over the Gigabyte? I am asking only because this is stepping completely out of my confort zone. I have never used anything but reference cards, and in that they are all the same sound be it a Zotac, Asus, or MSI. Nonreference coolers, I assumed would be different, but I don't know what to use for sure. Going to go look for some videos of them in use to listen too first. I would assume the quieter the better, but nothing a good set of headphones can not cure. lol. (joking there). 

 

 

 

Edit: 

Just in case I missed it, I am not too worried about her messing with the BIOS. She is a smart girl and I will teach her what to do to properly overclock it before she leaves for college. I am assuming that the CPU and Cooler (or one alike it) will allow for something like 4.5Ghz more or less at 70*C, and be fairly quiet. I ask nothing less of my own CPU and cooler. The only thing I am worried about her messing with is the BIOS version, as this board has been bricked doing that before, and it took forever to get a new BIOS chip from ASRock. I will be sure to instill the DON'T TOUCH factor with that. It is on the latest BIOS and the BIOS should not need to be upgraded again, unless there is a component not compatible, which there should not be. 

 

 

Wait: 1 more question: 

Is there a setting to change to get IvyBridge to output PCIe 3.0 to the GPU, or will it auto adjust? (may be newb, but I have no experience beyond GTX500 and HD6000 series). 

 

 

Again, thanks for the help, and sorry if I am less than diplomatic. I mean no anger by it, just the way I talk. 

[JAKEBAB]

If all else is funded, and there is room in the budget, then there will be one. It is not going to add frames, nor make that great of a difference to the computer experience overall, so it is the last thing to be added. (especially with the way that she uses her computer. The less complicated the drive system is, the better for now. But one step at a time). 

 

I hope you are joking. If not, She don't have a cell phone to talk to (she uses her iPod with wifi for everything she needs)

 

I am assuming you mean they don't look bad, not like bad. And I will pass those choices along, but she is the one that choose the 300r originally. One thing at a time though. 

And just to straiten my messed up way of writing out, what I was talking about in the OP is that it is easier for her to take a Laptop, Monitor and tower to college than it is for her to take several game systems (at least Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360) and a television as well as the 2 computers. I was not saying that she will be moving the desktop all the time (unless she moves it around the dorm room, and she is pretty strong as is, I don't foresee it being an issue. If not, UNCG is only 30 miles away, and I go to greensboro regularly anyway, so no waste in helping her move it.) 

 

May I ask why? I mean, I understand why to get more power, but there is little use to get that much more power for the games she wants to play. Without mods (which she herself has said she won't use) Skyrim will play @ or near maxxed on a 480, and the racing games/sims WILL be maxxed on a 480. The 7870 (r9 270x) is more powerful than the 480 (only using for comparison as that is what I am running and thus I know what it can do). I don't see there being more power needed any time soon, and if she does then she can upgrade when needed. 

I guess what I am saying is, that as long as all games run fine on the 7870, then there is nothing but wasted budget to get a more powerful card than she will need, and also requiring sacrifices elsewhere (processor clockspeed/cooling). 

 

I am not sold that the cooler you choose is worth more than the phanteks that is already choosen. When it is not on sale, it runs $99 vs $79 (iirc). That is $20 that could be used elsewhere. 

 

SSD, as said, it will be added farther down the line if the budget is there, and nothing else is sacrificed to be able to afford it. It is not like they are magic sauce (and I say that as a long time (1+ year) user of a Samsung 830 128GB. Really, there is not enough of a difference to justify the $100 I spent on it. 

 

Case I will pass along and see if it suits her fancy. 

 

GPU, no. For the simple reason of it is more than she needs and is more expensive than the r9 270x. Paying for power she does not need at this exact point (and she can upgrade in the future should it not be enough). 

 

CPU we can't get at Microcenter without taking a 400 mile (iirc) trip up to DC. It would be cheaper to just buy the CPU at stock price from newegg than to make the trip to microcenter to save $100. I hope you understand. 

 

The preferred store is Newegg, unless there is a 50% style savings going elsewhere. This is just a choice of who we have used before and the safety of knowing their shipping routes inside and out. Does that make sense? 

 

There is not really that much savings going with an unlocked processor as opposed to a locked one. maybe $20 or so last time I checked. I am not too worried about her messing it up, as there is nothing she will ever need to change in the BIOS/UEFI other than boot order, or maybe RAID mode. She is close enough that if she needs to change those settings, she can ask for help. Not to mention she is open to learning, and is not exactly a stupid kid. I mean, geez, she had most of the build done before she came to me for double checking. 

 

On the cooler, you are looking at loosing performance for the same noise levels. 2 fans, $5 difference, and higher peak temperatures as seen here 

*edit: Seems this image is not allowed here. http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/1458939/width/350/height/700/flags/LL is the image*

On the silence, I doubt that it will be an issue, as the cooler (The phanteks) is quiter than the PSU is already. To go quieter would not change the overall decibel level, and getting a quieter PSU would only net marginal differences with an air cooled GPU (assuming that the idle fans of the nonreference cards are quieter than the reference cards idle, then that may also not be an issue.)  On an investment front, the performance to decible and dollar value of the phanteks is right (Just to note, The cooler may not be new. I am thinking of going full loop water on my CPU and letting her use the cooler, but it is budgeted for now). 

 

 

Case, again, was her choice. the instructions I give for the case decision was "Whatever looks good to you and holds an ATX board" and she choose the Corsair. That is not to say it is set in stone, we will see what she says later (when she gets home I'll have her look at the suggestions). 

 

She is fine with the 7200RPM. She regularly uses my desktop for school work, and it is equipped with 3 7200RPM drives. Never really makes that much noise either. The choice of 2TB was made as it is only $20 more than a 1TB of the same drive for 2x the storage space. She absolutely needs somewhere in the area of 1TB minimum before the games though, as she has exactly 4GB free on her 750GB HDD in her laptop, and she wants to offload most of that onto the desktop for storage. Also accounting for 50GB for OS, and maybe 20GB for other programs (office, photoshop, etc.), then it will be pushing it close on 1TB. 

SSD, if there is money left, we will invest in one. The performance will not be harmed if she can not afford it, so no loss there. 

 

Any particular reason for the Asus over the Gigabyte? I am asking only because this is stepping completely out of my confort zone. I have never used anything but reference cards, and in that they are all the same sound be it a Zotac, Asus, or MSI. Nonreference coolers, I assumed would be different, but I don't know what to use for sure. Going to go look for some videos of them in use to listen too first. I would assume the quieter the better, but nothing a good set of headphones can not cure. lol. (joking there). 

 

 

 

Edit: 

Just in case I missed it, I am not too worried about her messing with the BIOS. She is a smart girl and I will teach her what to do to properly overclock it before she leaves for college. I am assuming that the CPU and Cooler (or one alike it) will allow for something like 4.5Ghz more or less at 70*C, and be fairly quiet. I ask nothing less of my own CPU and cooler. The only thing I am worried about her messing with is the BIOS version, as this board has been bricked doing that before, and it took forever to get a new BIOS chip from ASRock. I will be sure to instill the DON'T TOUCH factor with that. It is on the latest BIOS and the BIOS should not need to be upgraded again, unless there is a component not compatible, which there should not be. 

 

 

Wait: 1 more question: 

Is there a setting to change to get IvyBridge to output PCIe 3.0 to the GPU, or will it auto adjust? (may be newb, but I have no experience beyond GTX500 and HD6000 series). 

 

 

Again, thanks for the help, and sorry if I am less than diplomatic. I mean no anger by it, just the way I talk. 

lol i was joking kind of as for the cooler the phanteks one is fine its a really nice cooler and the asus vs gigabyte not any real difference except i think the gigabyte one is ugly as balls but if its cheaper than asus get it looks are a luxury not a necessity.

 

edit- forgot to say the pci 3.0 should auto do it but if not u can just go into the bios and change it also there is a feature i dont know if its nvidia only or both amd and nvidia but when the gpu isnt being used it will go down to pci 1 and then when its being used it will go back up to pci gen 3 its a power saving feature thats why i like to leave it on auto in the bios.

[wolfe]

@JAKEBAB

okay. I will let her know just in case anyway. lol. (To be totally serious, I don't think she goes for men though. Never seen her without another girl, and other than class functions never with a boy. Never asked though as I don't care.) 

 

I quite think so on the Phanteks. It looks nice, and performs well. Not well enough for me, but I can blame that on a crappy overclocker. Only thing I would like more is if it came with a black and blue fan instead of black and white. Much easier to match to an asus board (P67). I will discuss it with her and figure up what we have to work with here, and then determine if she will get this one or a copy (same heatsink) or a different air cooler. For the price it can't be beat though, and has a superb retention mechanism, far better than the x plate spring of the hyper 212 for sure. 

 

The Asus is $10 more, but that is not that much. Performance should be similar acoustically, and thermally, so I guess it will come down to what she wants. Here is what is available in the same price range: 

GB:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125476

MSI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127761

Sapphire: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202050

Asus: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121802

I will agree that the asus one looks nice to me. I will have to ask her which one she thinks looks better though. 

 

I though so, but was not sure. Shouldn't be an issue either way though, as there are no cards bottlenecked by PCI 2.0 yet, right? 

[JAKEBAB]

@JAKEBAB

okay. I will let her know just in case anyway. lol. (To be totally serious, I don't think she goes for men though. Never seen her without another girl, and other than class functions never with a boy. Never asked though as I don't care.) 

 

I quite think so on the Phanteks. It looks nice, and performs well. Not well enough for me, but I can blame that on a crappy overclocker. Only thing I would like more is if it came with a black and blue fan instead of black and white. Much easier to match to an asus board (P67). I will discuss it with her and figure up what we have to work with here, and then determine if she will get this one or a copy (same heatsink) or a different air cooler. For the price it can't be beat though, and has a superb retention mechanism, far better than the x plate spring of the hyper 212 for sure. 

 

The Asus is $10 more, but that is not that much. Performance should be similar acoustically, and thermally, so I guess it will come down to what she wants. Here is what is available in the same price range: 

GB:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125476

MSI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127761

Sapphire: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202050

Asus: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121802

I will agree that the asus one looks nice to me. I will have to ask her which one she thinks looks better though. 

 

I though so, but was not sure. Shouldn't be an issue either way though, as there are no cards bottlenecked by PCI 2.0 yet, right? 

nope no bottleneck on pci 2.0 also about your sister lol im just joking your in America and im Australia there is no point haha but surprised u were going to say something lol

[brob]

In a system that is going to be used for school work an SSD with make a huge difference. Load and store times are important when browsing, loading and saving essays, etc. There is no other single component that will make the system more responsive, arguably not even the cpu. The 120GB Samsung 840 EVO is available for a decent price.

 

I'd go for a good but less expensive cpu cooler. Something like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus.

 

The Fractal-Design Arc Midi R2 is an excellent and inexpensive case. Perhaps it would be an attractive alternative to the 300R.

[wolfe]

@JAKEBAB

That is what I thought. 

 

I am still going to tell her. For no other reason that she likes talking to people all over the globe. Bound to be one of the very few left that still has pen pals. 

 

@brob 

Keep saying that please. Add all the magic numbers together and it won't be long before y'all say that the SSD is more important than the PSU and GPU. It does not make that great of a difference, especially with the newer hard drives. (And i say that using a Samsung 830 for over a year, with a 5400RPM HDD in my daily use laptop. The difference is marginal at best, and unseen at worst.) 

If you all want one in there so bad, She can have my 830. It will be better off out of the system anyways (another port to throw a good HDD in and have more space). 

*That probably sounds confrontational, but I do not mean it like that. I am honestly saying that my experiences are not great with an SSD, and I am not about to waste more money on another one for the same marginal improvement.* Which is aside from the point that if all these experiences are true (Suspect at best) it would be better to put one on her laptop than her desktop, yes? But then again, that is a 500GB Minimum (Single 2,5" HDD cage, and no optical drive to replace with one), which is well over 1/2 her budget at last look. 

 

And this is confrontational. Not recommending or touching a hyper 212 series cooler as long as I breathe. The retention mechanism is junk on those coolers. Will give you the performance is okay, but it can easily be outclassed (in build quality, and likely performance) by the PH-TC12DX, which is $10 more. Quite literally the best investment that can be made just to get away from the lugnut retention install of the 212. (Have already been down that road, and will never go back to coolermaster, even if you pay me to). 

Sorry about that, but I have used that crap cooler, and can not believe how often it is recommended. I will give you that it is cheap, but so are much better built options. And the retention plate 2 sided screw mechanism takes a wizard's touch to get right. Too loose or too tight, and you are setting with an usuable system. The Phanteks and Noctua (likely others) retention plate hold downs are on a complete nother class of build. 

 

Noted on the case. I will add it to the list to show her when she gets home. 

[Akolyte]

If all else is funded, and there is room in the budget, then there will be one. It is not going to add frames, nor make that great of a difference to the computer experience overall, so it is the last thing to be added. (especially with the way that she uses her computer. The less complicated the drive system is, the better for now. But one step at a time). 

 

I hope you are joking. If not, She don't have a cell phone to talk to (she uses her iPod with wifi for everything she needs)

 

I am assuming you mean they don't look bad, not like bad. And I will pass those choices along, but she is the one that choose the 300r originally. One thing at a time though. 

And just to straiten my messed up way of writing out, what I was talking about in the OP is that it is easier for her to take a Laptop, Monitor and tower to college than it is for her to take several game systems (at least Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360) and a television as well as the 2 computers. I was not saying that she will be moving the desktop all the time (unless she moves it around the dorm room, and she is pretty strong as is, I don't foresee it being an issue. If not, UNCG is only 30 miles away, and I go to greensboro regularly anyway, so no waste in helping her move it.) 

 

May I ask why? I mean, I understand why to get more power, but there is little use to get that much more power for the games she wants to play. Without mods (which she herself has said she won't use) Skyrim will play @ or near maxxed on a 480, and the racing games/sims WILL be maxxed on a 480. The 7870 (r9 270x) is more powerful than the 480 (only using for comparison as that is what I am running and thus I know what it can do). I don't see there being more power needed any time soon, and if she does then she can upgrade when needed. 

I guess what I am saying is, that as long as all games run fine on the 7870, then there is nothing but wasted budget to get a more powerful card than she will need, and also requiring sacrifices elsewhere (processor clockspeed/cooling). 

 

I am not sold that the cooler you choose is worth more than the phanteks that is already choosen. When it is not on sale, it runs $99 vs $79 (iirc). That is $20 that could be used elsewhere. 

 

SSD, as said, it will be added farther down the line if the budget is there, and nothing else is sacrificed to be able to afford it. It is not like they are magic sauce (and I say that as a long time (1+ year) user of a Samsung 830 128GB. Really, there is not enough of a difference to justify the $100 I spent on it. 

 

Case I will pass along and see if it suits her fancy. 

 

GPU, no. For the simple reason of it is more than she needs and is more expensive than the r9 270x. Paying for power she does not need at this exact point (and she can upgrade in the future should it not be enough). 

 

CPU we can't get at Microcenter without taking a 400 mile (iirc) trip up to DC. It would be cheaper to just buy the CPU at stock price from newegg than to make the trip to microcenter to save $100. I hope you understand. 

 

The preferred store is Newegg, unless there is a 50% style savings going elsewhere. This is just a choice of who we have used before and the safety of knowing their shipping routes inside and out. Does that make sense? 

 

There is not really that much savings going with an unlocked processor as opposed to a locked one. maybe $20 or so last time I checked. I am not too worried about her messing it up, as there is nothing she will ever need to change in the BIOS/UEFI other than boot order, or maybe RAID mode. She is close enough that if she needs to change those settings, she can ask for help. Not to mention she is open to learning, and is not exactly a stupid kid. I mean, geez, she had most of the build done before she came to me for double checking. 

 

On the cooler, you are looking at loosing performance for the same noise levels. 2 fans, $5 difference, and higher peak temperatures as seen here 

*edit: Seems this image is not allowed here. http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/1458939/width/350/height/700/flags/LL is the image*

On the silence, I doubt that it will be an issue, as the cooler (The phanteks) is quiter than the PSU is already. To go quieter would not change the overall decibel level, and getting a quieter PSU would only net marginal differences with an air cooled GPU (assuming that the idle fans of the nonreference cards are quieter than the reference cards idle, then that may also not be an issue.)  On an investment front, the performance to decible and dollar value of the phanteks is right (Just to note, The cooler may not be new. I am thinking of going full loop water on my CPU and letting her use the cooler, but it is budgeted for now). 

 

 

Case, again, was her choice. the instructions I give for the case decision was "Whatever looks good to you and holds an ATX board" and she choose the Corsair. That is not to say it is set in stone, we will see what she says later (when she gets home I'll have her look at the suggestions). 

 

She is fine with the 7200RPM. She regularly uses my desktop for school work, and it is equipped with 3 7200RPM drives. Never really makes that much noise either. The choice of 2TB was made as it is only $20 more than a 1TB of the same drive for 2x the storage space. She absolutely needs somewhere in the area of 1TB minimum before the games though, as she has exactly 4GB free on her 750GB HDD in her laptop, and she wants to offload most of that onto the desktop for storage. Also accounting for 50GB for OS, and maybe 20GB for other programs (office, photoshop, etc.), then it will be pushing it close on 1TB. 

SSD, if there is money left, we will invest in one. The performance will not be harmed if she can not afford it, so no loss there. 

 

Any particular reason for the Asus over the Gigabyte? I am asking only because this is stepping completely out of my confort zone. I have never used anything but reference cards, and in that they are all the same sound be it a Zotac, Asus, or MSI. Nonreference coolers, I assumed would be different, but I don't know what to use for sure. Going to go look for some videos of them in use to listen too first. I would assume the quieter the better, but nothing a good set of headphones can not cure. lol. (joking there). 

 

 

 

Edit: 

Just in case I missed it, I am not too worried about her messing with the BIOS. She is a smart girl and I will teach her what to do to properly overclock it before she leaves for college. I am assuming that the CPU and Cooler (or one alike it) will allow for something like 4.5Ghz more or less at 70*C, and be fairly quiet. I ask nothing less of my own CPU and cooler. The only thing I am worried about her messing with is the BIOS version, as this board has been bricked doing that before, and it took forever to get a new BIOS chip from ASRock. I will be sure to instill the DON'T TOUCH factor with that. It is on the latest BIOS and the BIOS should not need to be upgraded again, unless there is a component not compatible, which there should not be. 

 

 

Wait: 1 more question: 

Is there a setting to change to get IvyBridge to output PCIe 3.0 to the GPU, or will it auto adjust? (may be newb, but I have no experience beyond GTX500 and HD6000 series). 

 

 

Again, thanks for the help, and sorry if I am less than diplomatic. I mean no anger by it, just the way I talk. 

Asus makes a cooler which cools the card down much better than SOME other coolers like Gigabyte's one.  Asus's cooler also makes the GPU last longer and whisper quiet.  As the Gigabyte one is not super quiet, not all that cool and doesn't improve life I don't think.

[wolfe]

Asus makes a cooler which cools the card down much better than SOME other coolers like Gigabyte's one.  Asus's cooler also makes the GPU last longer and whisper quiet.  As the Gigabyte one is not super quiet, not all that cool and doesn't improve life I don't think.

I understand cooling better, but I don't see how it would make the card last any longer than they already do. I mean geez, I am running a reference GTX480 that was baught close to launch day and it is still fully functional, and will likely outlast the PSU it is connected to. I mean I get that if the card gets too hot, or gets hot and then gets cold it could either melt or cause stress fracturing of the solder holding the chip to the PCB, so keeping it as close to room temp as possible will make it last longer, but we are already talking lifespans longer than the useful life of the card. 

Being quieter may be better for her, but what about the other cards, the Sapphire and MSI cards? They are the same price as the Gigabyte with a heatsink closer to the Asus. I think we are already talking about single digit decibel differences with maybe 5*C at most, so is it really going to make a large enough difference to really matter one way or the other? 

[Akolyte]

I understand cooling better, but I don't see how it would make the card last any longer than they already do. I mean geez, I am running a reference GTX480 that was baught close to launch day and it is still fully functional, and will likely outlast the PSU it is connected to. I mean I get that if the card gets too hot, or gets hot and then gets cold it could either melt or cause stress fracturing of the solder holding the chip to the PCB, so keeping it as close to room temp as possible will make it last longer, but we are already talking lifespans longer than the useful life of the card. 

Being quieter may be better for her, but what about the other cards, the Sapphire and MSI cards? They are the same price as the Gigabyte with a heatsink closer to the Asus. I think we are already talking about single digit decibel differences with maybe 5*C at most, so is it really going to make a large enough difference to really matter one way or the other? 

I think its something to do with reflecting dust and using DIGI+VRM

[wolfe]

So it is mainly for those either unaware or uninformed that they need to clean their cards? (Not trying to sound like a smartarse, just asking a serious question).  I get that it may be designed to reduce dust, but I don't think it will really make that much of an operational difference in this location. Can't say about elsewhere. 

 

Digi+VRM is also on their motherboards, but what does it do? I mean, I can infer that it is something to do with the mosfets, but aren't all mosfets digital now? Don't really know, will get back when I look up more about it, and seeing if it will do anything to justify the $10 over something like the MSI card, or the Sapphire.