Another PC build.. my first

[Cosy_1]

This is my first build… decided to spend between $1,000 and $1,400. Tell me what you think or if you might see something that won’t work with everything else. I've read a ton of reviews and such and this is what I've come up with. I do know about the BIOS issues with the mobo, but figured that the other reviews I’ve read have said that once flashed, it’s a pretty solid board. Thanks! And don’t be nice… I really need to know what’s going to happen when I plug this in and play EVE on full settings or work on CS5.5 etc…


Case - Corsair Graphite Series 600T CC600TM Mid-Tower Gaming Case @$159.99
Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard @$179.99
CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 @$219.99
Graphics Card - EVGA DS SuperClocked 01G-P3-1567-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support @$259.99
RAM - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory @$54.99
SSD - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) @$129.99
HDD - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive @$119.99
Power - COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series RS800-80GAD3-US 800W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS @$159.99
And some cheap DVD/CD burner cause honestly I’m just not concerned with it. I think it will be like $18…

 

[slh28]

You might as well get the 3570K if you're gettng a Z77 mobo, it's pretty much the same price as the 2500K.

That GPU is very overpriced when you can get a GTX 570 for less, although I think a $250 GPU for Eve is overkill.

I'd get the Samsung 830 over the Crucial m4 for the same price.

The PSU is overkill unless you're thinking of going SLI in the future, a decent 500-600W one will be fine.

 

[Cosy_1]

My main reason for getting a Z77 and not a 68 was for being able to upgrade in the future, same reason getting an over the top 800w PSU. But I may drop that down to a 600w, ya make a good point. As for the GTX570 vs the GTX560Ti, the only advantage I can see is the number of CUDA cores. Otherwise, the GTX560Ti has a faster core and memory clock by a pretty good bit. Do you have any idea where the 570 shader clock is at?

Appreciate your input! That's actually helped a ton and I'll be reading into the Samsung 830 and 3570k.

 

[slh28]

As for the GTX570 vs the GTX560Ti, the only advantage I can see is the number of CUDA cores. Otherwise, the GTX560Ti has a faster core and memory clock by a pretty good bit. Do you have any idea where the 570 shader clock is at?

Uh, the number of cores is the main factor in determining how good the GPU is... the 570 has 480 cores and the 560 Ti has 384 meaning the 570 will be ~25% faster at the same clocks. The 560Ti does have higher clocks but will never overtake a 570. The default core clock of the 570 is 732Mhz, but you should be able to get a 800-850Mhz overclock.

 

[LNCPapa]

I second everything slh said in his first post.

 

[xcylent]

^secon... uh, thirded.

 

[Cosy_1]

Can you tell this is my first? So I read some more about the 570 vs 560Ti and I agree there's no reason to get the 560Ti over the 570, thanks for the advise!
Question on the 2500k vs the 3570k. I’ve read mixed reviews on which is better since the 2500k seems to not get as hot as the 3570k when OC’d. I don’t plan on doing it yet, but would be something I might play around with later. Any big advantage between the two or just newer = better in this case… it’s a $10 difference so I’m pretty much deferring to the opinion of people who know a lot more about this stuff than me at this point.

 

[LNCPapa]

If you're going to get extreme on your overclocking, then yes the 2500k is probably better... but you need to take into account that the 3570k is already 10-17% faster by default so you probably wouldn't need to overclock it as far to get the same amount of performance out of it. For the occasional overclocker - say 4.2-4.5 GHz - you'd be better off going with the 3570k.

 

[slh28]

The 3570K runs cooler and uses less power up to about 4.4Ghz. If you're overclocking past that then it gets very hot very quickly. The 2500K can get about a 4.8Ghz OC without too much trouble.

As Papa said bear in mind that the 3570K is quicker than the 2500K clock for clock, although I wouldn't say 10-17%, maybe 5-10%.

 

[Cosy_1]

Updated build per suggestions and reading around… how’s it looking so far?
Case - Corsair Graphite Series 600T CC600TM Mid-Tower Gaming Case
Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU - Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
Graphics - MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr II GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
RAM - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
HDD - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
SSD - SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC128D/AM 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Desktop Upgrade Kit
PSU - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power ...

I can get that PSU for $79.99, so figured why not get a decent 750 now at that price. Overkill, but upgrade capable later right? This look like a solid build so far considering the small changes? What else are yall thinking… Entire package comes in at $1,310. Not to bad IMO, and that doesn't include another $40 in mail in's.

And I said EVE earlier, but I plan on starting to play Battle Field and there’s a chance of getting back into WoW (yea I said it…). Ready to be able to play the higher end games now… (I am NOT saying WoW is a higher end game, don’t put words in my mouth… we both knew you were thinking it for a second)

 

[LNCPapa]

I guess the 10-17% is my memory failing me. I am starting to feel like I'm getting older
Awesome rig - still don't see an HSF in there though.

 

[slh28]

The TX750V2 is a great deal for $80.
Build looks great but yeah, get an aftermarket HSF. If you want great value for money then get a COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO, if you want maximum performance then get the Noctua NH-D14 or Phanteks PH-TC14PE but beware those are very big so it's recommended you get some RAM without the huge (and mostly useless) heatsinks.

 

[Cosy_1]

What RAM would you recommend? And in terms of an HSF, if I'm not initially planning to OC the cpu is it really necessary? I'm not sure and don't know enough about that side of it, really appreciate the input!

 

[mailpup]

It's not absolutely necessary, IMHO. You can always add one later if you want. That said, FWIW, I usually add a moderately priced aftermarket heatsink/fan myself and I don't overclock either. The advantages are a cooler running CPU with a quieter fan.