New Build

mtl8

n00b
Joined
Apr 17, 2011
Messages
13
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Games of all kinds, web use, movies, photoshop and video editing. possible virtual machines.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1500 Shipping and tax will have to be included.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Upstate New York, United States.
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, CPU, Ram and Video Card, cpu cooler,power supply, case, hard drive,operating system.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
NONE
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
22 inch samsung 1680 x 1050
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
After I get my tax returns, end of april/early may of this year.
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.
Usb 3.0 and SATA 6Gbs for future proofing. I have no interest in crossfire or sli.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No.


This is what i have put together already.

SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply

ASUS Maximus V FORMULA LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K

Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW120A3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Pioneer Black 15X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA 15X Internal Blu-ray Burner BDR-208DBK

Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit - OEM

I have not decided on a Video Card

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+

Cooler Master RC-932-KKN5-GP HAF 932 Advance Full Tower Case - ATX, Black, SuperSpeed USB 3.0
 
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
After I get my tax returns, end of april/early may of this year.
After I get my tax returns, end of april/early may of this year.
In that case you're planning this build too early. Our hardware recommendations tends to change monthly and sometimes even weekly. In addition, Intel is supposedly planning on releasing their new Haswell CPUs in June/July 2013. So In other words, the setup we recommend to you today would be outdated by the time you buy if there's solid info about Haswell by then.

Not to mention that even if you were buying today, I wouldn't recommend about half of those parts. Hell I could make a case that about 2/3rds of those parts aren't good choices for you at all.

So please come back in June/July and ask for advice then. That way you'll get up-to-date build advice and get the latest hardware available.
 
After I get my tax returns, end of april/early may of this year.
In that case you're planning this build too early. Our hardware recommendations tends to change monthly and sometimes even weekly. In addition, Intel is supposedly planning on releasing their new Haswell CPUs in June/July 2013. So In other words, the setup we recommend to you today would be outdated by the time you buy if there's solid info about Haswell by then.

Not to mention that even if you were buying today, I wouldn't recommend about half of those parts. Hell I could make a case that about 2/3rds of those parts aren't good choices for you at all.

So please come back in June/July and ask for advice then. That way you'll get up-to-date build advice and get the latest hardware available.


I know you dont want to hear it, But its true. Come back with cash IN HAND.
 
So what about these parts that aren't good? You don't have any reasons of why they aren't any good. I'm looking for you to explain yourself. Seems to me there always a reason not to give any advise when one is asking for it. I wanted to know if this was a good build or not.
 
So what about these parts that aren't good? You don't have any reasons of why they aren't any good. I'm looking for you to explain yourself. Seems to me there always a reason not to give any advise when one is asking for it. I wanted to know if this was a good build or not.
Yes there is always a reason. But my reasons were very valid: My hardware recommendations can and do change monthly and sometimes even weekly. You're planning on build in May, which isn't that far off from Intel's new CPU releases. All of that combined begs the question, why would you want to plan a build so far in advance when your planned purchase period would mean an entirely different PC should be bought/recommended? Or are you doing this just for practice?

With that said, assuming that you were going to buy those parts today, here's why some of those parts are not good choices:

PSU: You have stated that you have no plans whatsoever for SLI or Crossfire. As such getting that 750W PSU is overkill considering that the general trend for GPUs these days is lower power usage, not greater. As such you would absolutely be fine with a solid and cheaper 550W PSU. i.e something like this Seasonic 550W:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00918MEZG/?tag=extension-kb-20

Motherboard: Again you have stated that you have no plans whatsoever for SLI or Crossfire. In addition, your answer to question 9 mentions nothing about needing any of the features specific/exclusive to the Asus Maxiums V Formula. In other words, you haven't said anything where that Asus Maximus V Formula would be a justifiable purchase for you. Judging from your answers alone, it sounds like you would be fine with the cheaper Asus P8Z77-V LK or the MSI Z77A-GD55.

RAM: The tall heatsinks on that RAM will interfere with most air-cooling HSF. As such you would have to go with those all-in-one liquid cooling kits if you want to use that RAM. However air-cooling HSF tend to be better bang for the buck than those liquid cooling kits.

Blu-Ray drive: Pioneer optical drive quality is pretty much the same, if not lower, than drives from Samsung, Sony, LG, or Asus. As such, I'd recommend blu-ray drives with a far far longer track record like these two:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZMG55I/?tag=extension-kb-20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106369

OS: You haven't said anything about needing the specific/exclusive features of Widnows 7 Ultimate. As such, Windows 7 Pro sounds like your best bet.

Case: The quality of that case does not justify the price IMO. There are significantly better quality cases that either cost the same or lower than that HAF 932 case. i.e the Corsair 650D, 550D,
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White 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
$167 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case

Now, I'm gonna repeat myself: I highly recommend that you wait until Intel's Haswell CPU release to get or plan a new build. You only have to wait a month or two and then you'll get the latest and greatest tech available.
 
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So what about these parts that aren't good? You don't have any reasons of why they aren't any good. I'm looking for you to explain yourself. Seems to me there always a reason not to give any advise when one is asking for it. I wanted to know if this was a good build or not.

Here are some of the reasons:

1) Whether or not you really need an i7 depends on what your primary use is, and which programs that you're going to be using for video editing. After all, if your primary use is gaming and you're using only a really cheapo $50 consumer video editing program that does not take anywhere near full advantage of even the slowest 10-year-old PC, then the i7 would be a waste of money.

2) Unless you're trying to break overclocking speed records, or if you really, really need the features on your selected motherboard that is not included at all on any less expensive motherboards, there is absolutely no need for that Maximum V Formula.

3) The Vengeance modules have extremely tall heatsinks that will interfere with the proper installation of your selected CPU heatsink. The memory modules require at least 2 inches of room underneath the CPU HSF just to even fit at all. And the way most LGA 1155 boards are configured, one or two of the DIMM slots get completely blocked by the CPU HSF. In the case of the Asus motherboard, you might not be able to run even one kit in dual-channel due to the compatibility issues between the RAM and HSF. You will need RAM with much lower profile heatsinks just to even fit the two DIM slots nearest the CPU socket at all. (For dual-channel operation, Asus requires one of the modules to be installed in the DIMM slot that's second-closest to the CPU socket. If you put in both of your memory modules into the two slots farthest from the CPU socket, The memory controller will default to single-channel-only operation, and you might not be able to run the RAM at its full DDR3-1600 advertised speed.)

4) Cooler Master's cases are, simply put, fairly overpriced for their quality. Especially their build quality: They are relatively flimsy (or more specifically, not assembled as well as they should have been), especially for such a high price.
 
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