Advice/help my first build!

[Jag809]

Budget Range: $1000-$1300
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming and Some ''noob'',rendering,video editing,CAD, and use of some Adobe products like CS5 etc etc
Parts Not Required: All peripherals..Im also planning to keep my 2 current HDD (160GB,ATA133,3.5",7200rpm,8MB Cahe and 250GB, ATA 100,3.5",7200rpm,8MB Cahe) plus another External 100+ HDD)
Country: USA
Overclocking: Probably.. but not too exaggerate that I'll then need water cooling...
SLI or Crossfire: Not sure... If buying a 2GB GPU or 2 sli/crossfire GPUs
Monitor Resolution: 1600x1200
WHEN do you plan to build it: 2 to 3 weeks...Not sure if it's worth to wait for the release of the Ivy Bridge CPUs so the price of the Sandy Bridge CPUs drops..
Additional Comments:I wanna be able to play games like (BF3 and Dirt) in High setting and get 50 to 60+ FPS,
''More info: I've never built a PC before so im not a PC genius.. I basically learned everything i know about PC hardwares in the last 2 weeks...So if i make a mistake ''Sorry"

Right now what i got in mind is:

CPU:Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz
GPU: Any Good NVIDIA or AMD (Also im not sure about the all PCI 2.0 and 3.0)
RAM:8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz (Corsair Vengeance)
HDD:Keeping Old ones.... Unless you guys think a new one is better
PSU:700 Watts - Standard Power Supply - SLI/CrossFireX Ready (this would do the job just fine) (i guess)
MOBO: Undecided!!..Depending on the GPU...(but still gotta be good to O/C)

P.D I've been cheeking out some wedsides where you can customize some Pre-build PC, And i was wondering if it was better Make my pc online and save me the hassle of building it or Buying the parts online and build it my self ?

 

[Greg S]

I believe that you have a pretty solid build right now in terms of the parts listed. You will also need a case though, you can't have all those parts sitting on a table or desk Anyway, I would say that you should build your own computer and not get one of the prebuilt ones. Most of those are not that great and end up with poor build quality and they are more expensive.

As for the GPU, it seems that AMD is about to release more of their 7xxx series graphics cards, so waiting a few weeks wouldn't be a bad idea in that regard. You should be looking for the 7780 if they keep the names the same (previously the 6780). If you want nvidia, the gtx550 ti is a little under the performance of a 6780 and a gtx560 is a bit over the performance of a 6780. Ivy bridge probably won't be widely available until late may or early june.

 

[baN893]

I believe that you have a pretty solid build right now in terms of the parts listed. You will also need a case though, you can't have all those parts sitting on a table or desk Anyway, I would say that you should build your own computer and not get one of the prebuilt ones. Most of those are not that great and end up with poor build quality and they are more expensive.

As for the GPU, it seems that AMD is about to release more of their 7xxx series graphics cards, so waiting a few weeks wouldn't be a bad idea in that regard. You should be looking for the 7780 if they keep the names the same (previously the 6780). If you want nvidia, the gtx550 ti is a little under the performance of a 6780 and a gtx560 is a bit over the performance of a 6780. Ivy bridge probably won't be widely available until late may or early june.

I agree about the case, but there is no 7780, so I imagine you mean the 7770. If you want 50+ frames at that resolution, forget the 77xx series. For a more detailed view you should refer to the great performance benchmark TechSpot has put out: https://www.techspot.com/review/458-battlefield-3-performance/page4.html
You'll want at least a Nvidia GTX 570 or 580 or AMD 6970 or a card that is equivalent. I imagine you'd want a 7870 to get the bang for the buck. Since 1600*1200 is like 200,000 pixels more than 1680*1050 that is being used for the benchmark you will need some headroom.

Personally, I would wait until Kepler comes out, within the next 5-6 weeks, and if the rumours are true about performance, which I pray they are not since I jumped on the 7970 train, there will be a shift in prices for AMD 7xxx cards if they want to remain a competition.

Right now what i got in mind is:

CPU:Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz
GPU: Any Good NVIDIA or AMD (Also im not sure about the all PCI 2.0 and 3.0)
RAM:8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz (Corsair Vengeance)
HDD:Keeping Old ones.... Unless you guys think a new one is better
PSU:700 Watts - Standard Power Supply - SLI/CrossFireX Ready (this would do the job just fine) (i guess)
MOBO: Undecided!!..Depending on the GPU...(but still gotta be good to O/C)

P.D I've been cheeking out some wedsides where you can customize some Pre-build PC, And i was wondering if it was better Make my pc online and save me the hassle of building it or Buying the parts online and build it my self ?

The 2600k sounds like it will suit your needs, just beware that it will be "outdated" in a few months, just so you won't be bummed out when it happens.
Graphics card I addressed above.
Good RAM, have them myself.
PSU, if you go with a Crossfire/SLI setup, I suggest investing in a quality PSU.
Bang for the buck motherboards are made by ASRock. I'm satisfied with my Extreme3 Gen3 and have no issues overclocking.

If you aren't gonna get an Ivy Bridge CPU, PCI-express 2.0 or 3.0 won't have any effect on performance, but if you plan on upgrading, maybe in a year or two, I'd suggest getting a PCI-E 3.0 board because 3.0 will only run at 3.0 speeds when there is a 3.0-capable CPU, like Ivy Bridge. Otherwise the CPU will just run the card at 2.0

baN