First Time Building a Computer - Any Help is Appreciated

M

Maverick1337

Gawd
Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
580
Hello HardForum!

This is my first post and I hope I'm doing everything correctly. I've been directed to this page in hopes to get help with building my new custom gaming PC. I've researched a lot on all the parts and have come up with a list of everything I will need. Some things to point out are I would not like to spend more than what I have listed ($1500) but I would be even happier to spend less (~$1000). I want this machine to handle games really well. World of Warcraft, BC2, Crysis and really anything that can be thrown at it in the near future. Also another note is I probably won't build this baby until my next month's paycheck so hopefully the parts become cheaper. Anyways, here's my list and hopefully you guys can help. Thank you in advance for any advice/help; it is definitely appreciated!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Heavy PC Gaming, Some Photoshop, I am a Civil Engineer and will work with CAD, I want to be able to run many things at the same time.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
My budget is around $1500 but if I can get what I need for cheaper than that is an obvious plus
3) Where do you live?
San Luis Obispo, CA
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.
Motherboard, Processor, RAM, Hard Drive, CD-ROM Drive, Graphics Card, Heat Sync, Case, Monitor, Power Supply.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None. Starting from scratch.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, both the processor and video card.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
~23"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I can start buying the computer within the next month once I get my next paycheck.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
The motherboard is going to be the renewed Sandy Bridge LGA 1155, it goes hand-in-hand with the 2500k processor.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 64-bit free through school.


Mother Board

-Sandy Bridge Socket H2 LGA 1155 ~ $200
(Not available)

Processor

-Intel Core i5-2500k, 3.3GHz (I will Overclock it) ~ $216.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072&Tpk=2500k

Video Card

-EVGA NVIDIA GTX 570 (Fermi) (I will Overclock it) - $349.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...593&cm_re=evga_gtx_570-_-14-130-593-_-Product

RAM

-G Skill 1600 8GB (2x4GB) ~ $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428&cm_re=g_skill-_-20-231-428-_-Product

Hard Drive

-Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA ~ $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=sata_hard_drive-_-22-148-433-_-Product

Power Supply

-Antec True Power New 650W ~ $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371021&Tpk=antec true power new 650

Heat Sync

-Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ~ $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&Tpk=cooler master hyper 212 plus

Disk Drive

-Samsung BD/DVD/CD-ROM, DVD/CD-RW ~ $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=internal_cd_rom_drive-_-27-151-222-_-Product

Case

-NZXT Black Computer Case, Blue LED Side Fan ~ $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146025

Monitor

-ASUS 23" LED-Backlit Full-HD ~ $189.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236117

_________
Total: $1,370.92 (without tax)
Total: $1,484.03 (with tax)

*Unsure about: CD Drive Drive, Case, Graphics Card
 
Last edited:
Maverick1337 said:
Also another note is I probably won't build this baby until the summer so hopefully the parts become cheaper.
Click to expand...

Ok you're planning your build waay too early. Any parts recommendations that we make today will more than likely not be good buys in the summer time. That also applies to any of the hardware choices you made already: More than likely those won't be good buys in the summer. Your best bet for up-to-date advice and deals on hardware is to ask for advice 2-3 weeks before your actual build date.

So please wait until then and ask for hardware advice then. Otherwise, you're more or less wasting some time doing all this research that's quickly gonna be out of date.
 
Please fill this out Asking for Build Help?: ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST and reply to this thread the same month/week that you plan to make the purchase. A lot will change between now and this Summer, specifically with the prices since most of our recommendations are based on Newegg combo deals that change monthly.
 
Congrats on the new rig!
However, I'm concerned with the video card fitting in that case. The card is 10.5" long and it seems that the space in the case is questionable. Also, I'm not crazy about Seagate drives. Would you go for WD Black Edition? It is my contention that they are more reliable.

Here are some case suggestions;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156198

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112238
 
But would everything here work well if I wanted to get it now?

EDIT - Thank you wra18th, I'll look into the specs more. A WD hard drive sounds good as well, I'll look into both your suggestions.
 
I just researched a little and the Case can actually fit a GTX 570 (10.5in) because the case is 8800 GTX compatible which has the same dimensions. Thanks for pointing that out I should have been a little more careful.
 
Maverick1337 said:
But would everything here work well if I wanted to get it now?

EDIT - Thank you wra18th, I'll look into the specs more. A WD hard drive sounds good as well, I'll look into both your suggestions.
Click to expand...

You can't really buy anything now as Intel hasn't allowed vendors to resell the Sandy Bridge processors with the "fixed" LGA1155 boards yet. Listen to Danny and revisit this thread when you are ready to buy the parts. (If nothing else, please answer the questions.)

As an aside, Seagate has long since fixed its reliability (firmware) issues, but its 7200.12 series drives aren't as fast as Western Digitial or Samsung's good drives. It will be fine if it's used as a storage drive (along with an SSD serving as the primary/OS drive), but better options are available.
 
I'm a little lost on why I have to answer the questions. I don't need you guys to go find me all the parts since that's what I have done. The purpose of my post was to showcase if what I have chosen would be a good setup and if not any little side advice is much appreciated.
 
Maverick1337 said:
I'm a little lost on why I have to answer the questions. I don't need you guys to go find me all the parts since that's what I have done. The purpose of my post was to showcase if what I have chosen would be a good setup and if not any little side advice is much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Those questions will help us determine if the parts you chose are actually good parts that fits your needs and requirements. We've seen hundreds of times with people who come in with their own build lists but those parts don't meet that persons' own requirements at all. Either they're not spending enough on a certain part or they're overspending on a part. Or even just chose the wrong part. Odd but we've seen it happen hundreds of times. Hence why we need those questions answered: To determine if the parts you chose is actually a good setup for YOU.

Maverick1337 said:
But would everything here work well if I wanted to get it now?
Click to expand...
The parts themselves should work together fine. But we don't know if that's an actually good build for the money or whether or not it actually meets your requirements.
 
All right then:
- Since you're in CA, I highly recommend that you buy/select your parts from Amazon.com as they do not charge taxes to CA residents whereas Newegg does. We've been able to shave off $100 to $300 off a CA build just by buying from Amazon.

- The answer to question 9 does not help us that much. Please read it again and think about what features you really want the motherboard to have.

- Ditch the DDR3 1600 RAM: You do not need it AT ALL for overclocking with the Core i5-2500K CPU. And no you won't notice the difference at all between DDR3 1333 RAM and DDR3 1600 RAM at all.

- Find out if your specific CAD programs work better with Nvidia or AMD cards. Also, which version of Photoshop are you using?
 
Wow Amazon not charging tax that's good news! I will definitely do that.

Question #9 isn't really needed because the 2500k only works with the new Sandy Bridge 1155, the two go hand-in-hand.

Alright 1333 Ram is good enough but for 10 extra bucks is it not worth it to get the 1600?

AutoCAD doesn't need a good graphics card but I want a pretty decent one for good games. I'm leaning towards nvidia as you can see.

Thanks again for all the help btw, I really appreciate you taking the time.
 
The i5-2500k and i7-2600k will only overclock with boards using the P67 northbridge. Boards using the H67 northbridge allow you to utilize the processors' onboard GPU, but they disable overclocking.

Because you have an unlocked CPU multiplier, you don't need anything more than DDR3 1333 RAM for best results. However, ensure that the RAM you choose runs at 1.5V. (You may need to go to NewEgg for the RAM, if nothing else.)

Does AutoCAD benefit from Nvidia's CUDA technology? If not, you'd be better served with the Radeon HD 6950, which is just as good as the GTX 570 for less.
 
Stupid question but, why would I want to use my processors onboard GPU?

I'll make sure it operates at 1.5v. I believe the G skill does.

AutoCAD does benefit from it.
 
Maverick1337 said:
Question #9 isn't really needed because the 2500k only works with the new Sandy Bridge 1155, the two go hand-in-hand.
Click to expand...
Yeah that only means that SATA 6.0gb/s and USB 3.0 will come by default. But I still need to know whether you need/want Crossfire/SLI capability, Firewire, and any other specific features since not all LGA 1155 mobos have those features. That will determine which socket LGA 1155 mobo you should be getting. Otherwise, just pissing in the dark here.
Maverick1337 said:
Stupid question but, why would I want to use my processors onboard GPU?
Click to expand...

As a backup just in case.
 
Firewire is definitely not needed.

SLI is not important so if it's cheaper without, then I'll do it. However, if it's not that much money extra for SLI support, I would probably get it just in case.
 
Maverick1337 said:
Firewire is definitely not needed.

SLI is not important so if it's cheaper without, then I'll do it. However, if it's not that much money extra for SLI support, I would probably get it just in case.
Click to expand...

All right then. Now we have to wait and see which P67 motherboards will be enough in a month or two.
 
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