First Gaming Rig Build

N

nertil1

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 11, 2003
Messages
371
Take a look guys and let me know what you think?

1) What will you be doing with this PC?
Gaming, Video and Surfing


2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1000, tax and shipping included

3) Which country do you live in?
USA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
CASE, MOBO, CPU, RAM, GPU, SSD, PSU, CPU Cooler. I would also like to find a nice monitor but that would be separate from the $1k budget. I was thinking around 24", 1080p of course.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
DVD Burner, mouse and keyboard

6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, but not right away thats why I would like to have a Cooler on the CPU just for the future.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
None right now but I would like at least 1920x1200, 24"

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next week or so.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
SATA 6GB/s, USB 3.0, HDMI, 4 memory slots, Crossfire or SLI support (depending on video card model).

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes.

I have a micro center near my house so I would prefer to purchase everything there.

CASE: $130 Fractal Design Define R4 with Window
CPU: $190 Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 Processor
CPU Cooler: $55 Corsair Hydro Series H55
GPU: $214 Sapphire Technology Radeon HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16
SSD: $90 SanDisk SDSSDP-128G-G25 128GB SATA 6.0Gb/s 2.5"
MOBO: $155 Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA
RAM: $54 Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1600 (2 x 4GB)
PSU: $88 Corsair CX Series CX750 750 WattSilver, CrossFire ready

Total: $ 976
 
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It sounds like a fantastic build for your purposes. It's a similar build I've done for a customer and It's worked for him with nary a hiccup!
 
What do you mean by "video"? Are you talking about viewing videos or editing them?

If you're editing videos, which program(s) are you using?
 
Since you're buying from Microcenter, don't forget to knock off $40 off the cost of the motherboard as that's the current MC deal when you buy any LGA 1155 mobo with the Core i5 3570K. Speaking of the motherboard, I'd go with the Asus P8Z77-V LK or the MSI Z77A-GD55 since they have a better UEFI than Gigabyte and a few less quirks.

SSD wise, I would go with the Samsung 840, 830, or 840 Pro or the Crucial M4 series.

PSU wise, that PSU isn't all that good for the money. The higher quality Antec High Current Gamer 750W should be available for $90 from Microcenter.
 
Sorry I meant just watching movie, no video editing. Thanks for the heads up on the discount. Any advice on a monitor?
 
I know you want to stick with MC but...

GPU: $214 Sapphire Technology Radeon HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16

If you keep an eye on NewEgg you can get the 7870 myst edition for $208 shipped. That's a whole lot more video card for $6 less.
 
1_legged_sheep said:
I know you want to stick with MC but...

GPU: $214 Sapphire Technology Radeon HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16

If you keep an eye on NewEgg you can get the 7870 myst edition for $208 shipped. That's a whole lot more video card for $6 less.
Click to expand...

Would you recommend this one? Link

Or is the sapphire a better card?
 
Decimus said:
What is your budget on the monitor?
Click to expand...

Around 250 but I was looking at this one. Seems pretty good.
Link

Edit: Do you guys think its worth upgrading to the 3770? I plan on eventually having two graphics cards and don't want the processor to be a bottleneck but I'm not sure.

I think I can also squeeze this in my budget but I'm not sure how much of an upgrade it would be from the 7850 and if it's worth it?
Thanks Guys
 
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If gaming at 1920x1080 is your goal, you need to consider a better video card. Look at either the GTX 660 Ti or the HD 7950 as your "entry level" high-end card.

As for the monitor itself, I'm torn. The IPS panel is good, but I personally don't believe that you should spend closer to $300 on a 27" panel if you're not going for a 2560x1440 resolution (but those monitors start upwards of $300 and are essentially "gray market"). If you're willing to compromise on the monitor a bit, you could grab a 23" IPS panel like the Asus VS239H-P for under $200.
 
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tiraides said:
If gaming at 1920x1080 is your goal, you need to consider a better video card. Look at either the GTX 660 Ti or the HD 7950 as your "entry level" high-end card.

As for the monitor itself, I'm torn. The IPS panel is good, but I personally don't believe that you should spend closer to $300 on a 27" panel if you're not going for a 2560x1440 resolution (but those monitors start upwards of $300 and are essentially "gray market"). If you're willing to compromise on the monitor a bit, you could grab a 23" IPS panel like the Asus VS239H-P for under $200.
Click to expand...

Sorry I meant to link to a 7950. Why do you think I need the higher resolution im curious? Yeah I can compromise and get the 23" thanks. My other worry is what about the MOBO since I want to get the intel 3770 and the 7950? Will the current one that I have picked still work?
 
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I don't believe that you need a higher resolution monitor. I was saying that the HD 7850 wasn't good enough for 1080p gaming and if you're spending over $300 on a 27" monitor, you should (essentially, IMO) get one with a greater resolution. The part about the monitor is my opinion that's based, in part, by a few threads in the Displays forum about Korean monitors built using the same panels as some of the more expensive Dell and Apple displays (but aren't on the same quality or performance level).

The important part in what I said earlier is that you should grab the better video card instead of the larger monitor. The HP monitor you linked to earlier has the same resolution as the Asus that I recommended.

As for the motherboard, it's can handle both the i7-3770 processor and the HD 7950 video card.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. Here is my final build. Please take a look one last time before I order everything.

Fractal Design Define R4 with Window $119.99 (MC)
Intel Core i7 3770K LGA 1155 Processor $230.00 (MC)
SAPPHIRE 100352-2L Radeon HD 7950 $270.00 (Newegg)
Samsung 120GB Series MZ-7TD120BW $80.00 (MC)
ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA $105.00 (MC)
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1600 (2 x 4GB) $50.00 (MC)
Corsair Gaming Series GS700 2013 Edition 700 Watt $80.00 (MC)
ASUS VS239H-P 23-Inch Full-HD LED IPS Monitor $172.00 (Amazon)

Total: $1067

As far as overclocking goes, I know the CPU and Video are decent at doing this but what about the MOBO? I saw on another thread someone mentioning this one being better at OC'ing. Link

Is this true should I just stick with the one I got?
 
The Asus mobo is fine.

However the PSU is not a good choice considering its quality and the simple fact that you do not need that much power. Go for this higher quality and modulaar PSU instead:
$90 - Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU
 
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Sounds good but will this cover me if I through another 7950 in and overclock?
 
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Danny Bui's choice can handle overclocking, but not a dual 7950 CrossFire setup.

For that, you should look for a better 750 watt power supply than the Corsair CX750 you were considering earlier. Look for either the non-modular Corsair TX750 or the modular HX750. Do not pursue the modular TX750M as it's of a lower quality than the non-modular TX750.
 
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tiraides said:
Danny Bui's choice can handle overclocking, but not a dual 7950 CrossFire setup.

For that, you should look for a better 750 watt power supply than the Corsair CX750 you were considering earlier. Look for either the non-modular Corsair TX750 or the modular HX750. Do not pursue the modular TX750M as it's of a lower quality than the non-modular TX750.
Click to expand...

I'll go with the TX750, thanks
 
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ghm3 said:
Here's my Newegg build, I'm $14 over budget but I think it's worth it:

Case: Corsair Carbide 300R - $79
PSU: Seasonic 650W - $89
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LE Plus - $145
GPU: Sapphire 7870 GHz Edition : $239
CPU: Core i5-3570k - $219
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+ - $35
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB kit - $64
SSD: 120GB Samsung 840 Pro: $140

Total: $1,013.92

Here's a good 24" IPS panel for its price range, and it's 16:10 (1920x1200, not that 1080P rubbish):

Asus PA248Q
Click to expand...

I think you are right about 650W being enough for CF 7950's or 7870's. I don't think it will matter though. Within a year it almost always makes more sense to sell the first card and just buy a better single card. Either way, spending $110 for the TX750 seems like a waste. It is only about 130W/card maximum and then no more than 130W (almost certainly less for the CPU). A 650W PSU would then have 250 W for everything else, which should be way more than enough.

If he is going to get a 7870, he should really get a 7870 Tahiti (includes the powercolor 7870 MYST, powercolor 7870 PCS+, Sapphire XT, and Club 3D HD 7870 Joker). Especially if he is spending that much on it. The different 7870 Tahiti cards keep going in and out of stock, but they are worth looking for. Should be able to find one for between $209-$240, though it looks like they are all out of stock at NewEgg right now. Stock they are about 10% slower than a stock 7950 and OCed they are about 10% faster.

If he can't find a 7870 Tahiti, than I think the 7950 is the right choice. The bang for the buck isn't quite as good as the 7870 Tahiti, but they are certainly faster. I think they can be found for $280 after MIR and he can sell the games to make up the difference.

If he already has a HD that he can use for a while, I would recommend spending the money to get the GPU he wants and buying an SSD later when he can afford it. The SSD's are still falling in price pretty fast and I believe that a lone 120GB drive is going to feel kind of cramped.

If he isn't going to have another HD, I would recommend looking at the 250GB 840, its write speeds are just a little lower but it is a lot lower $/GB. People will say the TLC memory won't last as long, but it will last long enough that you probably won't care. The warranty is 3 years so you can kind of figure it will likely last at least that long. For gaming, you probably won't notice that the write speeds are lower than the pro version. They are still really high compared to any spindle HD.

Another place to temporarily save some cash is to stick with the stock cooler until he decides to OC. Surely even at stock, the i5 will be plenty fast enough for a while.
 
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Time out! Why do you need the i7-3770 again? You're watching videos; you aren't using professional-grade video editing software.

Take advantage of the Micro Center in-store deal where you not only get the i5-3570K for under $200 but you also get an instant discount when you purchase any Socket 1155 board alongside the processor. You could easily save over $100 compared to buying the board and processor from either NewEgg or Amazon.

(The only significant difference between the i5-3570K and the i7-3770 is the latter's Hyper Threading support. Virtually no game benefits from Hyper Threading, so you're spending nearly $50 more on increased clock speed that you can easily "recover" by overclocking.)

ghm3 said:
Here's a good 24" IPS panel for its price range, and it's 16:10 (1920x1200, not that 1080P rubbish):

Asus PA248Q
Click to expand...

Nice monitor, but are you willing to pay $100 more for a 16:10 resolution (versus the 16:9 1080P resolution)?
 
aviphysics said:
I think you are right about 650W being enough for CF 7950's or 7870's. I don't think it will matter though. Within a year it almost always makes more sense to sell the first card and just buy a better single card. Either way, spending $110 for the TX750 seems like a waste. It is only about 130W/card maximum and then no more than 130W (almost certainly less for the CPU). A 650W PSU would then have 250 W for everything else, which should be way more than enough.

If he is going to get a 7870, he should really get a 7870 Tahiti (includes the powercolor 7870 MYST, powercolor 7870 PCS+, Sapphire XT, and Club 3D HD 7870 Joker). Especially if he is spending that much on it. The different 7870 Tahiti cards keep going in and out of stock, but they are worth looking for. Should be able to find one for between $209-$240, though it looks like they are all out of stock at NewEgg right now. Stock they are about 10% slower than a stock 7950 and OCed they are about 10% faster.

If he can't find a 7870 Tahiti, than I think the 7950 is the right choice. The bang for the buck isn't quite as good as the 7870 Tahiti, but they are certainly faster. I think they can be found for $280 after MIR and he can sell the games to make up the difference.

If he already has a HD that he can use for a while, I would recommend spending the money to get the GPU he wants and buying an SSD later when he can afford it. The SSD's are still falling in price pretty fast and I believe that a lone 120GB drive is going to feel kind of cramped.

If he isn't going to have another HD, I would recommend looking at the 250GB 840, its write speeds are just a little lower but it is a lot lower $/GB. People will say the TLC memory won't last as long, but it will last long enough that you probably won't care. The warranty is 3 years so you can kind of figure it will likely last at least that long. For gaming, you probably won't notice that the write speeds are lower than the pro version. They are still really high compared to any spindle HD.

Another place to temporarily save some cash is to stick with the stock cooler until he decides to OC. Surely even at stock, the i5 will be plenty fast enough for a while.
Click to expand...

I'm not that familiar with current ATI card generations, I knew the GHz edition was good but not really sure about how it compared tothe 7950. Either way the upgrade from 7850 definitely seems worthwhile.

I agree about the cooler, I forgot about it initially. However, it would also be a pain to go install that at a later time, and the 212+ is very well priced, I think it's worth just getting and installing in the initial build process.


tiraides said:
Time out! Why do you need the i7-3770 again? You're watching videos; you aren't using professional-grade video editing software.

Take advantage of the Micro Center in-store deal where you not only get the i5-3570K for under $200 but you also get an instant discount when you purchase any Socket 1155 board alongside the processor. You could easily save over $100 compared to buying the board and processor from either NewEgg or Amazon.

(The only significant difference between the i5-3570K and the i7-3770 is the latter's Hyper Threading support. Virtually no game benefits from Hyper Threading, so you're spending nearly $50 more on increased clock speed that you can easily "recover" by overclocking.)



Nice monitor, but are you willing to pay $100 more for a 16:10 resolution (versus the 16:9 1080P resolution)?
Click to expand...

Yeah it would certainly make sense to at least get the CPU/Mobo combo at MIcrocenter if they still have that nice instant combo rebate.

As far as the monitor goes, it's not just a resolution difference. I'd definitely pay an extra $100 to go from a cheap 16:9 TN panel to that 16:10 sRGB IPS panel. Factor in the Display Port & HDMI connectors, swivel base and the integrated USB 3.0 hub and I think it easily justifies the price premium over a cheap TN display.
 
ghm3 said:
As far as the monitor goes, it's not just a resolution difference. I'd definitely pay an extra $100 to go from a cheap 16:9 TN panel to that 16:10 sRGB IPS panel. Factor in the Display Port & HDMI connectors, swivel base and the integrated USB 3.0 hub and I think it easily justifies the price premium over a cheap TN display.
Click to expand...

Both the Asus monitor I chose and the HP monitor the OP was considering use IPS panels. I don't know which panels (E-IPS or H-IPS) are being used where but they aren't TN.

Only the OP can determine whether or not the swivel/tilt base and the integrated USB 3.0 hub are worth the added cost.
 
tiraides said:
Both the Asus monitor I chose and the HP monitor the OP was considering use IPS panels. I don't know which panels (E-IPS or H-IPS) are being used where but they aren't TN.

Only the OP can determine whether or not the swivel/tilt base and the integrated USB 3.0 hub are worth the added cost.
Click to expand...

Ah sorry, I didn't know you were comparing to a specific monitor, I thought you just meant a general cost difference between it and most TN panels. Last I knew 24" TN panels were still $200ish, but it looks like things are a bit different now because damn, you can actually get an Asus IPS display that inexpensively.

That Asus you linked is definitely more inexpensive consumer-grade vs. the higher end one I linked, but an extra ~$100+ is certainly a tough sell. I'd say the higher end one is worth it if he plans to use it for as long as possible, but if temptations of larger higher resolution displays are in the foreseeable future, get the cheapie.
 
tiraides said:
Time out! Why do you need the i7-3770 again? You're watching videos; you aren't using professional-grade video editing software.

Take advantage of the Micro Center in-store deal where you not only get the i5-3570K for under $200 but you also get an instant discount when you purchase any Socket 1155 board alongside the processor. You could easily save over $100 compared to buying the board and processor from either NewEgg or Amazon.

(The only significant difference between the i5-3570K and the i7-3770 is the latter's Hyper Threading support. Virtually no game benefits from Hyper Threading, so you're spending nearly $50 more on increased clock speed that you can easily "recover" by overclocking.)



Nice monitor, but are you willing to pay $100 more for a 16:10 resolution (versus the 16:9 1080P resolution)?
Click to expand...

Sorry guys, I was locked out of my account for some reason.

You were right, I ended up getting the 3570k with the mobo deal at MC. As for the graphics card, I got the Sapphire 7950-2L right before newegg jacked up the price like $40 bucks so that was lucky. Link

I ended up buying the HP27xi. The monitor is amazing Going from a 15" laptop to a 27" screen was huge jump for me.

I also got the hyper 212 + and will install right away. Then when I decide to overclock I don't have to bother with removing the stock heat sink.
 
if ure going for a 3570k cpu I would pair it to a better GPU - like a 7970
 
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