What do you think of my first build?

LambofGod

Posts: 35   +2
Please don't troll me and give me "it's sh*t" or, "garbage" if you don't like it or it doesn't stand up to yours just give me some constructive criticism.

*(MAJ.)Bottlenecks ?.
*Non-compatable hardware/sofware ?
*Strong points/weakpoints

CPU - i5-3570k ivy bridge HD-4000
CPU Cooler - "``Still doing Decision making``"
GPU - MSI Twin Frozr GTX 660 ti 2gb
MoBo - ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 3.0 ATX
RAM - G.SKILL Ares series 8GB 2x 4GB 240 pin DDR3 SD RAM 1866
PSU - Corsair Enthusiast Series V2 650w 80+ bronze
HDD - Samsung Spinpoint 1TB 7200 rpm SATA 3.0Gb/s3.5
Case - HAF 912
O.S - Windows 7 Home Premium O.E.M.

The other stuff I.e optical drive is there just not that important as what I have given you.

Do you think this thing throws a punch or what ?.
 
This looks like a nice little monster :) you should have no trouble bossing up most modern games at a 1080p res.
for the cooler, take a look at the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO. it's around $30 and performs god-like for the price, and if you add a second 120mm then you can get some impressive cooling performance.
One thing I'm a bit iffy about is the RAM.
overclocked RAM is usually more often than not just a waste of money. you'll hardly notice a difference between 1600MHz and 1866MHz. in that hindsight, go for a nice solid 8GB of 1600MHz or 1333MHz RAM, since you'll hardly notice a difference unless you use some really RAM-intensive applications. 8GB is a great amount though. However if I were you, I'd go for some nice solid corsair or kingston RAM. G.skill is good too, but I'm gonna be a bit of a fanboy here and say corsair since they tend to have the best/most positive reviews.
I'm sure some other TS members will contribute their knowledge though, keep us posted on your decisions! :D
 
Awesome ! :cool: Yeah for me this is a bank buster,and been rubber necking getting it here,and running. Been wanting to trash the console (more like neglect) for several years now,and can't wait till this is complete.

thanks for the uplifiting comment. I can breath a little easier.

Please feel free to gove more opinions TS :)

Yeah the RAM also gave me a wierd feeling. That was the one thing I kind of just "threw in the cart" I don't know too much about computer hardware,and remember searching videos on "how to choose good RAM" some how got me choosing those.

Here is the thing... they are already here... lol 75 % posted is in cardboard boxes collecting dust :D the other 25 % will be bought and soon to come. (percentages don't reflect major componants) I.e - GPU

I guess I could ship them back to Newegg but I will be bitting my nails... If they fry I guess they werent a money pit of the build.

I will keep it in mind,and will definantly check out the Hyper212 EVO
 
Hey man, don't lose any sleep about the RAM. G.skill do make great stuff, so you technically shouldn't have any issues. of course If something bad happens, make sure to RMA is straight away (Newegg are great for returns!).
Good luck with your build and if you have any further issues make sure to shoot us a post!
 
Looks good to me. :)

As for the G.Skill RAM, I have a G.Skill RipjawsZ kit installed in my machine. I have not had problems thus far. I must confess, though, that like xcylent, I'm a big Corsair fan. I've always used Corsair and I just love their RAM kits.

I had initially planned on buying a Corsair Venegance kit for my present machine. But I was offered an excellent discount on the Ripjaws so I went ahead and bought them. I did do some research first and, according to the reviews I read -- my G.Skill kit's performance is exactly at par with its counterpart in the Vengeance series. Sure feels that way now. My RAM kit has worked rather well for me. G.Skill RAM kits are underrated, but are good nevertheless -- at least that's my opinion.

I'd suggest you do some research on the Ares to further your peace of mind. I hear they're nice and solid, as well.

Good luck and have fun with your rig!
 
Very nice choices. However, I'll agree with xcylent and recommend that you look at RAM clocked at 1600 MHz. As for GSkill, they're a excellent brand. I'm using the Ripjaws with the same Extreme 4 board that you have picked and they work great.

As for the cooler, you could also look at the Corsair H80 if you're up for water cooling. An SSD in the near future would be a fantastic addition to the rig. Enjoy the build! :)
 
Great minds think alike, and we're doing just fine. I think your RAM choice is great, they have 8 GB kits up to 2133 MHz for $50 to $60, so why not go for the extra bandwidth. You can clock it slower and tighten the timings (1600 MHz 8-8-8-21, for example) and enjoy lower latency, or do like I do and overclock it as far as possible with reasonable timings and voltage (I set my $40 Kingston HyperX 1600 CL9 to 1866 CL10 and it sustains a 10% boost in overall performance (even with the higher latency) with no stability issues. As for the CPU cooler, I went with a Hyper 212+ at first, but after playing around with OC settings, I realized I wanted to keep my temps at a maximum of 60c under full load, so I bought a Corsair H100. I also didn't like the size and weight of the big air cooler, it flexes your mobo every time you bump it plugging in fans or cleaning them or when moving the case to your workbench, and didn't like the way it covered the first DIMM slot. Luckily I had already bought a $100 Corsair Carbide 400R which is designed to fit the H100, and it runs cool and quiet now. So while your choice of cases is excellent for the $50-$60 range, upgrading to the $100 level opens up a lot more choices, especially for liquid cooling, and they are a lot more substantial and solid (if your local computer store has cases on display, go there and pick up a $50 case and then pick up a $100 case and feel the difference. The $50 case feels like you could crumple it like a beer can and throw it in the trash).
 
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