First PC build opinions?

[Shatto]

Hey guys, I decided about a month ago that I wanted to save up for a new, preferably game capable computer so instead of wasting $500 on a cheap laptop from Walmart just cause it was newer than my 5 year old PC and the little netbook I'm using right now, I decided to try my hand at building my own PC. I have the parts picked out and have a budget of about $2k

Put it this way I can barely run Minecraft on the computers I own now so I'd like this thing to have some kick if I can afford it. It will be for gaming mostly, hopefully MMOs, Skyrim, maybe Battlefield 3 if possible. I will also be doing some 3D rendering, programing and video editing.

I'd appreciate any feedback on the build, thank you.

P.S. I know some parts will be overkill

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)

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

Thermal Compound: Arctic Cooling MX-2 4g Thermal Paste ($4.98 @ Outlet PC)

Motherboard: MSI Z77 MPOWER ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($198.49 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($115.06 @ NCIX US)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($124.99 @ NCIX US)

Storage: OCZ Vector Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($264.67 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 6GB Video Card ($586.13 @ Newegg)

Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)

Case Fan: Enermax UCTB12N-R 53.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($9.98 @ Outlet PC)

Case Fan: Cooler Master Megaflow 110.0 CFM 200mm Fan ($11.93 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply: Corsair Professional Gold 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($159.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Lite-On IHBS312-98 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($89.97 @ Outlet PC)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Professional Full (64-bit) ($124.99 @ Newegg)

Monitor: Acer H236HL bid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($179.99 @ Amazon)

Mouse: Cooler Master SGM-2000-MLON1 Wired Optical Mouse ($37.04 @ Amazon)

Total: $2228.17

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-03 00:50 EDT-0400)

[Wats]

Looks great. Welcome to the forum.

It could be made cheaper if you want....

Like instead of a 850W PSU, a 500-650W would be more than enough.

There's already thermal paste on the 212, which is fine. NVM Buy the paste anyway, you'll need that in the future.

Could hold off on buying case fans. You most likely won't need them at first. Add more case fans when you upgrade from the 212.

Maybe a smaller SSD.

[Spite]

Okay, first off; why do you need 6GB of VRAM? If you are only running one monitor then the 3GB version of the 7970 will be more than enough and you can save yourself money. Hell, even if you were running three 1080p monitors the 3GB of VRAM would still be capable.

Why are you getting the old Corsair HX silver certified PSU? You can get the newer one for $170 on newegg.

If you will be using Adobe products such as After Effects, then it may be worth you going the NVIDIA route as you may benefit from CUDA cores.

The MPower is a nice board and I would say it's worth it if you will use the features. However, you can tone it down and save some money by grabbing an ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 (~$130) or an MSI Z77A-G45 (~$120) - both boards have very similar specs and will do the job you want it to do.

There isn't a noticeable difference between 1600MHz and 1866MHz, if you can find a 1600MHz kit and it's cheaper than the 1866MHz, then I'd recommend saying some cash and going with 1600MHz.

Lastly, do you need a Blu-Ray drive? If you do need a DVD drive, you can easily go with a $20 or even a external one if you will be rarely using discs.

[bradscoolio]

Prolimatech pk-1 is the best thermal compound available on that list, I'd go with that ;)

[bradscoolio]

I'd also change out the CPU fan for a scythe gt or noctua nf-f12.

I'd change the SSD to a samsung 840 pro.

The blue ray drive only needs to be the Asus $50 combo one, they're both the same only yours coast more :P

Change the graphics card out for the GHz edition, msi lightning looks good because you don't need the 6gb vram.

I'd swap out the PSU for a gold rating 650w from seasonic.

I'd switch to windows 7 64bit oem because it's a more reliable gaming platform that doesn't need wizardry for shizz to even work :P

I'd have a look at an IPS monitor like the h236hl bid from acer, really cool monitor for the price :)

Last but not least look into steel series mice, they're fantastic, especially look into the sensei!

[Glenwing]

Looks great. Welcome to the forum.

It could be made cheaper if you want....

Like instead of a 850W PSU, a 500-650W would be more than enough.

There's already thermal paste on the 212, which is fine. NVM Buy the paste anyway, you'll need that in the future.

Could hold off on buying case fans. You most likely won't need them at first. Add more case fans when you upgrade from the 212.

Maybe a smaller SSD.

The Hyper 212 comes with a tube, not prepasted, so he'll still have some when he's done.

[Glenwing]

Hyper 212 will be fine unless you're going nuts with the overclocking. I think the ADATA XPG SX900 is a better value SSD. For the PSU I'd agree, the SeaSonic SSR-550RM or the X650 would both be more than enough power. Also you should be aware that stock Windows software does not have blu-ray capability, so you'll have to buy blu-ray software as well to use that function, like PowerDVD or something.

[Shatto]

Why are you getting the old Corsair HX silver certified PSU? You can get the newer one for $170 on newegg.

​Would that be the AX series?

I'd change the SSD to a samsung 840 pro.

According to This the vector is better than the 840 pro

[Glenwing]

He means the newer HX series. It's out of stock at this exact moment but it will probably come back in within a few days.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

The performance of the 840 Pro and the Vector is impossible to notice by a human. Any "speed difference" in benchmarks will just give you a nice placebo. I'd go with the Samsung as their reputation for reliability is a little better than OCZ's.

[Shatto]

I'd also change out the CPU fan for a scythe gt. I'd have a look at an IPS monitor like the h236hl bid from acer' date=' really cool monitor for the price :) Last but not least look into steel series mice, they're fantastic, especially look into the sensei![/quote']

The scythe gt seems to be discontinued, at least on Newegg, I saw it available on amazon though. Thanks for the recommendation on the monitor :) and I will check out the mice, thank you again.

He means the newer HX series. It's out of stock at this exact moment but it will probably come back in within a few days. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011 The performance of the 840 Pro and the Vector is impossible to notice by a human. Any "speed difference" in benchmarks will just give you a nice placebo. I'd go with the Samsung as their reputation for reliability is a little better than OCZ's.

Okay thank you, I'll have newegg notify me when it's back in stock and I'll consider the samsung SSD