First build in years; need advice :)

[Jaer44]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Basic use, lots of gaming (BF3/SW:ToR/Diablo III etc), some photo editing/3d modeling, music editing/creation as well.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

1000-1250$ (estimate, but could go higher) tax/shipping not included in that figure, obviously, cheaper the better without sacrificing the quality.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

The U.S., NW Ohio, I'll be more than likely ordering everything online via newegg or other suggested/trusted sites.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

CPU-HSF-PSU, Mobo, Graphics Card, Case, Ram, HDD, Windows 7, any extra cooling needed beyond that.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Sound Blaster Audigy Platnium (if possible)
DVD-RW

6) Will you be overclocking?

Not necessarily, but it'd be nice to have the option.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

1920x1080 27" Samsung

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Soon, within the month.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.

Nothing specific, just solid performance and reliability

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

o, I would have to purchase the OS new.


As of right now, I have found a case I like (Corsair Carbide 500R) and I'm looking at the I-7 2600 and I prefer a Nvidia GPU (570?).

My old/current system has brands like: Asus, Gskill, Corsair PSU (500w), Western Digital, and I they've all served me well, but I'm open to suggestions for others as well.

 

[Dangman]

So far, your case, CPU, and GPU choices are fine if they can fit within your budget. But with the need for the HDD and OS, you may have to downgrade one or more of those parts.

Are you within a 30 to 40 minute drive of any of these Microcenter locations?:
http://www.microcenter.com/at_the_stores/columbus.html
http://www.microcenter.com/at_the_stores/mayfield_heights.html
http://www.microcenter.com/at_the_stores/sharonville.html

 

[Jaer44]

I'm in toledo, I've been to the sterling heights MC years ago when I lived in Royal Oak, but unfortunately, most of the MC stores are a bit out of distance.

As for budget, i'm flexible, bonus check is significantly higher than my proposed budget, I just don't wanna blow it all on a new system.

 

[Dangman]

Prelim build then:
$423 - Intel Core i7 2600K CPU MSI P67A-C43 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard
$40 - G.Skill Sniper F3-10666CL9D-8GBSR 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM ($10 off w/ promo code EMCJHKJ27, ends 12/7)
$295 - eVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW 1280MB PCI-E Video Card
$156 - Hitachi Desktar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$95 - Corsair 650TX V2 650W PSU
$100 - Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit OEM
$26 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
---
Total: $1135 plus shipping.

Notes:
- I went with that GTX 560 TI 448 Core card because it has like 97% of the performance of the GTX 570 but for only 86% of the cost. So definitely a solid choice IMO.
- I left out the case because the Corsair Carbide 500R, while a good case, is currently overpriced at the moment from both Newegg and Amazon.com. Once it exceeds that $120 to $130 shipped price, it's not worth it IMO considering that there are equal or better cases for equal or lower prices:
$61 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance nVidia Edition ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$120 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$133 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$150 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$164 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case

 

[Jaer44]

Thanks for the suggestions, so far, on my list this is what I have:

ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3
I7 2600
MSI N560GTX-Ti 448 Twin Frozr III PE/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti - 448
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W
HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.D
G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)
Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T

Turns out the HSF I'm currently using *should* be compatible with the 1155, the Noctua U12 (i'm currently using a 775 mobo/chipset)

I was reading up on the motherboard you posted, and several reports and a friend had issues with it and the 2600 (no explanation given really, just a few issues popping up). And I "splurged" on the case being higher priced than the original on my list.

With those items on that list I'm sitting at $1269, granted there's a few minor things to pick up (i.e. arctic silver paste, win7) but so far it seems good to me. Any thoughts?

edit regarding the HSF: I was also looking at one of the H series self contained systems by Corsair (like the h100), granted it's 120$ give or take, but I've heard a LOT of good things about them. I had a coolit system twice and they ran great, but developed airbubbles in the system which
caused some horrendous noise. Swapped to the Noctua and love how quiet it is and very cool..
edit 2: Also, for Windows 7; when I built my last system (ugh.. so long ago) you pretty much *Had* to go with xp pro to get the most out of the system, is it the same regarding win 7 prem/pro/ult? or is premium more than fine for non-server/encryption usage?

 

[Forceman]

I would not choose the 2600. Either get the 2600K, to allow overclocking, or drop down to the i5-2400 if you aren't overclocking (unless you have to have hyperthreading support). The 2600 is not a very good price fit as it is more than $100 more than the 2400 (more than 50% more) for only 300 Mhz plus hyperthreading.

Win 7 Home Premium has pretty much everything you could ever want - no reason to go higher unless you have to have something that only Pro offers.

If you are going to buy thermal paste, which isn't really necessary if you buy a new cooler - just use what comes with it, don't get Arctic Silver. Instead get one of the newer non-conductive/non-capacitive options, like MX-4.

 

[Jaer44]

I would not choose the 2600. Either get the 2600K, to allow overclocking, or drop down to the i5-2400 if you aren't overclocking (unless you have to have hyperthreading support). The 2600 is not a very good price fit as it is more than $100 more than the 2400 (more than 50% more) for only 300 Mhz plus hyperthreading.

Win 7 Home Premium has pretty much everything you could ever want - no reason to go higher unless you have to have something that only Pro offers.

If you are going to buy thermal paste, which isn't really necessary if you buy a new cooler - just use what comes with it, don't get Arctic Silver. Instead get one of the newer non-conductive/non-capacitive options, like MX-4.

Yeah, sorry, the 2600 is the i7-2600k

I'll need new thermal paste as I plan on re-using my old one, thanks for the heads up on the type though, I'll look it up and note it.

edit (again): So according to my estimates total system build with w7 and shipping and all that i'm looking at 1503 all via newegg. Which is about my limit on what I wanted to spend. I ended up with win 7 retail (as I have 2 other systems that could use the OS upgrade).

 

[Dangman]

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)

Not worth it. The Sandy Bride platform doesn't see that much of a noticeable performance increase with higher speed RAM. You'll be fine with this RAM set:
$30 - G.Skill Ripjaws Series F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W
Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T

Get the case and PSU together from this combo link as it effectively gives you free shipping on that Corsair case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.776101

Turns out the HSF I'm currently using *should* be compatible with the 1155, the Noctua U12 (i'm currently using a 775 mobo/chipset)

Did it come with the LGA 1155 or LGA 1156 bracket though? If not, it's not compatible with LGA 1155 until you have that bracket (LGA 1155 and 1156 are cross compatible).

edit regarding the HSF: I was also looking at one of the H series self contained systems by Corsair (like the h100), granted it's 120$ give or take, but I've heard a LOT of good things about them.

They're good for what they are. But for the money, I don't think they're that cost-effective. You'll often get the same cooling performance from cheaper air coolers. With that said, if you want that extra "WOW" factor, then go ahead and grab the H80 or H100 if you have cash to burn. Otherwise, I'd say you're better off spending that cash on a SSD for the OS.

I ended up with win 7 retail (as I have 2 other systems that could use the OS upgrade).

You're talking about the Windows 7 family pack right? Because you can't use the actual retail key on three different PCs at once.

 

[Jaer44]

did some changes, changed out the ram to 1600 Gskill ripjaw low profile, changed to OEM 64bit win7 and the case/psu combo pack you linked.
I added a noctua HSF NH-D14 since I realized that all the other hardware I had from my old HSF must've been tossed when I moved.

I'm at 1453$ w/shipping, a tad better with the changed items.

Thanks for the help guys, I'm pretty sure I'm set, if not, I'll come crawling back with more questions.

 

[Dangman]

changed out the ram to 1600 Gskill ripjaw low profile,

What RAM are you talking about?

I added a noctua HSF NH-D14 since I realized that all the other hardware I had from my old HSF must've been tossed when I moved.

Rather than do that, why not just get the LGA 1155/1156 bracket for your current Noctua? You can actually get it for free:
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&setlng=en&products_id=30

Hell, the mounting kit itself is only $10:
http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NM-I3-Mounting-Kit-Coolers/dp/B002N38S6U

 

[Jaer44]

What RAM are you talking about?

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

I was looking around at ram with the mobo I chose along with the HSF and any issues that could pop up due to heat sinks getting in the way etc.. this set came up several times as a very solid performer and leaves enough room for any HSF out there in case I decide to expand to more ram down the road.

Rather than do that, why not just get the LGA 1155/1156 bracket for your current Noctua? You can actually get it for free:
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&setlng=en&products_id=30

Hell, the mounting kit itself is only $10:
http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NM-I3-Mounting-Kit-Coolers/dp/B002N38S6U

Well, after really sitting down, and realizing that I was going to continue using the older system as a backup/server/media system, I'd have to get a new HSF anyway. Plus I've had nothing but great experiences with Noctua so far, so I guess it's brand loyalty.

 

[Dangman]

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

I was looking around at ram with the mobo I chose along with the HSF and any issues that could pop up due to heat sinks getting in the way etc.. this set came up several times as a very solid performer and leaves enough room for any HSF out there in case I decide to expand to more ram down the road.

Ok is that the RAM I recommended to you earlier? I ask because there are five different G.Skill RAM with that same name. I'm trying to make sure that you selected the right RAM.

Well, after really sitting down, and realizing that I was going to continue using the older system as a backup/server/media system, I'd have to get a new HSF anyway. Plus I've had nothing but great experiences with Noctua so far, so I guess it's brand loyalty.

Fair enough.

 

[Jaer44]

Ok is that the RAM I recommended to you earlier? I ask because there are five different G.Skill RAM with that same name. I'm trying to make sure that you selected the right RAM.

Huh, i swore I posted a url with the ram.. anyway I don't think it's the original suggestions you posted. THe first was the sniper series (sold out when I looked), the second set was the ripjaw set for 30$ but at the time was also out of stock I went to the next (seemed to be pretty much the same other than the spreaders, and well, price)


Here's the link to the ram I got: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

 

[Dangman]

Check the RAM I linked to again: it's back in stock.

 

[Jaer44]

Yep, I saw that, ordered and already shipped (holy crap that's fast).. thanks for the help