First time builder (n00b) Please help me! Thanks :)

J

Jayskill

n00b
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
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14
Thanks for looking my thread guys! My friends told me to come here and ask for your help, cause you guys know what you're talking about! Any help is appreciated. Thanks a bunch! :)

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
This computer will be strictly for hardcore gaming! Intensive games like Planetside 2 and Battlefield 4, and others like that to be released in the future. I want high FPS :)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Around $1000 Canadian + or - $200, taxes included

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

Central Canada

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.
This is where i need help! Don't know much about this process, so any help would be great! Feel free to change anything i list here, if there is better options out there! Thanks
I was using tigerdirect.ca to find everything, seems reasonable and easy for Canadians.

CPU - I want something FAST for gaming. Not sure whats best AMD or Intel Was looking at AMD FX-8350 4GHz - $199.97

GPU - Once again something fast and responsive for gaming. Was looking at EVGA GTX650 Ti Boost 2MB - $189.97

***With these two items I'm not sure if i got it right. Do i want a less powerful CPU and a more powerful GPU or vice versa??***

RAM- Looking at 16GB! don't know the best brand. Or best bang for the buck, so i was looking at, Kingston HyperX Blu DDR3, 1600MHz, 2x8GB $119.97

Motherboard - Know absolutely nothing about motherboards! Need lots of help here. Just grabbed something for starting point. Keep in mind not a hardcore OCer, but willing to try it out at low levels. Asus F2A85-V Pro $140

Hard drive - Don't need lots of space, cause the only thing ill have on here are 3-4 games at a time. Seagate ST500DM002 Barracuda 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - 500GB, SATA-6G, 7200, 16MB $60

Power supply - Don't know how much Watts i need for a system like this. Only using 1 monitor though. OCZ ModXStream Pro Power Supply - 600-Watt $75 Do i need less or more power?

OS - Windows 7 or 8 that is the question, haha. Whats better for gaming only?

Heatsink/Fans - Do i need a heatsink for the CPU or fans for the GPU with this system? and how many would i need? Whats the best deal? Only extra cooling i put into this build was Cooler Master Hyper N520 CPU Cooler $30 after rebate.

Case- Plain is fine with me, don't need anything flashly lights. Just something that will fit all components with room for fans and cooling. Ultra Gladiator Mid-Tower Case - $50 with discount

So this build totaled for everything around $1100 Canadian including shipping and taxes.

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

6) Will you be overclocking?
Never done it before, but I'm willing to try it out at a lower level, nothing extreme or something that requires intense cooling.

7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
2048x1152 its like a 22-24 inch if i remember correctly

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I want the plans completed and ordered before the 26th of April

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
No sure what any of that means :( Just one that can handle the ram and harddrive, along with future upgrades to the RAM and GPU if necessary. Minimal OC will be done.

Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Nope. Was wondering what you guys think would be better windows 7 or 8?

So once again thanks for reading this people, and any help would be greatly appreciated! :)
 
if you want to overclock get a z77 motherboard and a i5 3570k. grab 8gb of 1600mhz ram a 7850 or 7870. a antec 520 psu. or get there 700ish w psu if you plan to crossfire later on. wack in a 128gb ssd with any hard drive you like. chuck that all in a nice case like a bitfenix , corsair or antec. grab a copy of windows 8 and download the windows 7 shell.
and grab a cooler master 212 evo if you plan to overclock that cpu.:)
 
Is the i5 3570k, better than the AMD FX-8350? cause i can get the FX-8350 for $10 less and its 4.0 GHz 8 core, or am i missing something here? What is the 7850 or 7870 refering too? XFX or sapphire? those cards seem pretty expensive, are they a lot better than GTX650?

K so ill make it 700W than, thanks :)

What is the a ssd? is that instead of getting a harddrive? is it better than a hard drive?

Which z77 motherboard would you recommend?

Thanks again :)
 
Go for the Core i5 3570K. It is faster than the AMD FX-8350 in gaming. Yes you are missing something: Clock speed is not the sole metric of CPU performance. There's quite a variety of other factors that influences CPU performance such as CPU architecture, processes, IPC, etc.

As for the motherboard, go for the Asus P8Z77-V LK Intel Z77 motherboard.

RAM wise, you do not need 16GB of RAM. You'll be fine with 8GB of RAM.

Video card wise, I'd look at HD 7870 or HD 7850 from Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, or XFX. And yes those cards are a lot better than the GTX 650.

Drive wise, yes a SSD is better than a hard drive but they are substantially more costlier and have less storage. Considering your budget, stick with the regular hard drive.

Power supply wise, I would not recommend OCZ since their customer support isn't all that good. I'd recommend the Antec High Current Gamer or Corsair TX/HX/AX PSUs or XFX PSUs in the 500W to 650W range.

HSF wise, go for the Coolermaster Hyper 212+.

OS wise, flip a coin.

Case wise, go for the NZXT Source 210 Elite or Corsair 200R case for a cheap budget case.
 
Thanks danny! I'll put this together right now and see how the price turns out, thanks for the help

Yea ill put more money into the graphics card now :)
 
basicly what he said. a 7850 will brutally destroy a 650 ti hehe. and very true about the ssd. *he could always add one in later same as more ram. grab a 8gb kit then grab another one later done the road if needed.
 
Jayskill said:
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
This computer will be strictly for hardcore gaming! Intensive games like Planetside 2 and Battlefield 4, and others like that to be released in the future. I want high FPS :)
Click to expand...
Jayskill said:
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
2048x1152 its like a 22-24 inch if i remember correctly
Click to expand...

Which monitor (brand/model) are you using?

Which games are you playing right now?
 
The monitor is samsung, not sure the model, as its about 4-5 years old.

I want this for Planetside 2 and for battlefield 4 when it comes out
 
Performance-wise, benchmarks show the GTX 660 Ti to be the better card. But the HD 7950 is the better value as it comes with two free $50-to-$60 games (Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite).

What does your total budget look like now?
 
Here's a good list using some suggested parts posted already, and all have extremely proven track records:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)
Total: $877.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-13 13:05 EDT-0400)
Click to expand...

That's just using Amazon (US) pricing, not sure how it will translate to Canada, eh.

I'd just get a standard hard drive ~500GB for now, or if you can stretch the budget another $150 will get you into a nice SSD if you think you can live with ~250GB of storage for now. Once you get better at setting up the OS and more computer savy, you can add a mechanical hard drive for bulk storage of movies, pictures and the like and still have the OS and games on the SSD for speed.

I just put Win8 on that list, you can flip a coin for 8 vs 7.
 
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Thanks guys, yea thats pretty much the build ive decided on, i was going to go with newegg cause it seems the best deal

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1279393


Thats what im thinking of buying. Just wondering will i need an after market heatsink? Cause both the GPU and CPU already come with cooling systems and that case is already filled with fans, 4x 120mm and a 200mm. Will my system run cool enough with just that?
 
Jayskill said:
Thanks guys, yea thats pretty much the build ive decided on, i was going to go with newegg cause it seems the best deal

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1279393
Click to expand...
Not that good of setup due to the case and motherboard. That case doesn't appear to be a good enough case to cool all of the parts in the PC since it's rather cramped. I recommend any of these other case:
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite Black ATX Case
$49 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
$60 - Corsair Carbide Series 200R ATX Case
$70 - Corsair Carbide Series 300R ATX Case
$98 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$92 - Antec 1100 ATX Case
$110 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Arctic White ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7HX Black Aluminum ATX Case
$110 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002GR Black Finish w/Green Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White ATX Case
$126 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Black Pearl ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Titanium Grey ATX Case
$136 - Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$165 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$168 - Silverstone TJ04B-EW ATX Case
$167 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case

As for the motherboard, unless you absoultely need eSATA, I recommend the more popular, reputable, reliable Asus P8Z77-V LK over that Asus P8Z77-V LE.

Jayskill said:
Thats what im thinking of buying. Just wondering will i need an after market heatsink? Cause both the GPU and CPU already come with cooling systems and that case is already filled with fans, 4x 120mm and a 200mm. Will my system run cool enough with just that?
Click to expand...
If your home or area is relatively hot/warm and/or you plan on overclocking, then yes you will need an aftermarket HSF.
 
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