First-Timer Needing a Couple Tips and Some Advice

[Milanor]

EDIT:

Yay, finally got it all built and up and running! I'll be installing software and testing it out and stuff tonight!

Thanks so much to everyone that helped!

- -

Hello, everyone!

I come from a pretty hardcore Mac family that (after some convincing) are allowing me to build a computer before I head off to college. After reading up on stuff over the past week or so, this is the build that I've sort of managed to come up with, and I would very much appreciate any advice!

Country: United States of America
Budget: $2500 (Worth noting that any money saved does not go back to me - but this doesn't mean it should be spent needlessly)
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Games / Settings Desired: Haha, well, being a Mac user for the past decade, my options in gaming have been fairly limited...I'm mostly interested in playing newer releases such as Guild Wars 2, Skyrim, and Tribes: Ascend at max or near-max settings, and hopefully getting decent-good settings on titles released in the future.
Any other intensive software or special things you do: Some light music and photo editing on the side, but nothing too intense.
Parts that can be reused: I have speakers...and that's about it. I need a new everything, pretty much.
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? Yes, see above.
Do you need an OS? Yes, some version of Windows 7.

Okay, with that out of the way...here's my proposed build!
(Prices do not include S&H, and are rounded up to the nearest whole dollar)

• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit + $140
• Case: Corsair Vengeance Series C70 + $140
• Power Supply: Corsair HX750 + $145
• CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 + $300 (-$20 from combo with Power Supply)
• Heatsink: Noctua NH-U12P SE2 - $68
• Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LGA + $190
• Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 + $54 (-$20 from combo with Case)
• Graphics Card: EVGA GTX 670 FTW + $408 (-$20 from combo with Operating System)
• Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB + $120
• Solid State Drive: Samsung 830 Series 256 GB + $230 (-$30 from combo with Motherboard)
• DVD Drive: Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW + $18
  

  ---

• Monitor: Asus VW246H 24" + $200
• Keyboard: Filco Majestouch 2 + $150
• Mouse: SteelSeries Sensei Raw + $60
• Mousepad: Steelseries 9HD + $35
• Headset: Steelseries Siberia V2 + $90

TOTAL: $2258 (before S&H)

Other notes: Before this week, I knew absolutely nothing about computers, so if there's some glaringly obvious fault here, please forgive me! I know "future-proofing" a computer is impossible, but I'd like to think that if I build a great computer now, it will last as a good and decent computer some years down the line. Hopefully I'll be learning a lot more about how computers work in both digital and physical aspects in the coming years such that I can figure some of this stuff out on my own and upgrade where necessary.

Thank you for your time!EDIT:

Yay, finally got it all built and up and running! I'll be installing software and testing it out and stuff tonight!

Thanks so much to everyone that helped!

[Lolkrayd]

I would spend a little more and grab the i7 3770k overclock features :] pretty sure there are people willing to assist you on this matter.
Reason why over the i5 3570k is due to the fact that you might dive into heavier editing and the i7 3770k is just better on that part.

change the CPU cooler to CM hyper 212+ or evo

Unless you plan on SLI I would buy a cheaper PSU

I want to say get a cheaper MoBoard but I don't know if you plan on adding on more or not so for now leave as be

also quick question do you care about case size? cause imo if you are going to spend over $70 on a case might as well grab a full tower like CM Haf 942 or NZXT Phantom

[Idrinkwhiterussians]

Here is an updated build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($75.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case ($157.95 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($156.98 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1526.84
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-05 10:13 EDT-0400)

Now, there are a few things I should note for you.
1. The 3820 does NOT fit in an 1155 socket. It is 2011. I switched the CPU to a 3570k because you will see no benefit in gaming with the 3820 nor the 3770k. (extra money just wasted)
2. The U12 is a decent cooler, but I switched to the D14 as it is a bit better.
3. Good choice on mobo, left alone. Though, it does have a lot of features that you might not need, and you could change it to a few others to save a bit if you wanted.
4. I switched your RAM to a nice low profile/low voltage set.
5. HDD/SSD choices are great, but you can save a bit and still get excellent performance by switching the SSD to a M4 like I did for you.
6. The EVGA FTW edition isn't bad, but the cooling will be better with the Gigabyte card I have for you.
7. Case is largely a preference thing, and I personally do not like the C70. I would check out some reviews for cases so you know what you are getting into. That being said, the change I made here is to a very highly regarded case.
8. With your budget, a fully modular power supply is in order. Hence the switch to the AX750. This does leave you room to SLi the GPU if you want.

I did leave out your peripherals out of the build, but you should be right about the same price.

One last thing: If there is a Microcenter near by, you should consider getting the CPU/Mobo there as you will get ~$50 off (even after tax)

[Milanor]

Thanks for the quick replies! Just spent a little bit of time reading up on some of that stuff...

@Idrinkwhiterussians: (nice name! Although Black Russians are my simple drink of choice...)

1. CPU: Ah...oops. The reason I chose any i7 over the i5-3570K was in case I did get involved in some more computer-intensive stuff later on, and in the hopes that it would last a while. But grabbing the 3570k now and upgrading later if I need to would probably be a better idea, huh?
2. Heatsink: Okey-doke.
3. Motherboard: I opted for that mobo over some of the cheaper ones (like the LK, I think...?) for similar reasons as number one - it seemed a solid choice with plenty of options left open for future messing around.
4. RAM: Understood.
5. SSD: I chose the Samsung SSD over cheaper ones because the combo (and it has quite a bunch of combos) made the difference between cheaper ones pretty small and the Samsung just seemed to be better quality and longer lasting.
6. GPU: Got it.
7. Case: It was up in the air for me between the 650D and the C70, I just liked the C70's looks and slightly lesser price a little better. May I ask why you don't like the C70?
8. PSU: Awesome. SLI sounded like a good option going forward if I ever hooked up additional monitors and got into some more graphically-intense stuff.

Unfortunately, buying stuff at a physical store isn't much of an option as I'm currently at my parent's house in Italy, and won't have much more than a day to put everything together when I get back to the US.

Thanks so much for your help!


@Insideme:

Yeah, the i7-3770K does sound rad if I get much more into computers as a hobby...I'm just not sure if I'll actually utilize it when I could be rolling with the i5. Doing a setup with SLI in the future is a bit more likely, though, so I'm leaning towards Idrinkwhiterussians' suggestions.

Do you recommend a full tower over a mid tower? Space isn't an issue, but I do really like Corsair's stuff (a friend of mine builds with Corsair cases) most especially because their cases avoid LEDs and plastic and just look fantastic. May I ask why you recommend the different cooler? Do I just need a bigger/better one for a setup like this?

Thanks!

[Senistian]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=nvidia%20670 ASUS GTX 670 DirectCU II is the fastest 670 there is right now. faster then a 680 and 70$ cheaper.

[Idrinkwhiterussians]

Well, somehow my answers just got scrubbed so here I am trying to answer you again:

The real difference between the 3570k and 3770k will only be realized in very heavy video editing, rendering and etc. That being said, the 3570 is no slouch, and is actually fairly close to the 3770.

I again did not knock your choice of the Samsung SSD. It is a great drive. The reason I went Crucial over it is because of the drives being quite close in performance and reliability, along with the Crucial being substantially cheaper.

As for the case, I just don't care for the C70's styling and very military feel. That along with not excellent cooling makes me shy away from it. Here is a C70 Review so you can see what I mean. anandtech being a quite reputable source.

My personal take on the full tower vs mid tower is more the fact of what you need vs performance. You can certainly get a full tower chassis if you want, but a mid chassis that is a very high quality (650D in this case) will do just as well as long as you are not going for a crazy setup like EATX or whatnot.

Good luck though


Edit: No reason to go for the DCII from Asus this time around. The Gigabyte WF3 actually cools the 670 better and is a bit cheaper. (CBA to look for a source on this atm, but they are out there)

[n0cturnal]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=nvidia%20670 ASUS GTX 670 DirectCU II is the fastest 670 there is right now. faster then a 680 and 70$ cheaper.

That model isn't even factory overclocked so no, it is not the fastest 670. Also with overclocking the fastest is really down to card to card and not brand or model.

[Milanor]

Well, somehow my answers just got scrubbed so here I am trying to answer you again:

...

Oh, I see. I think I may stick with the Samsung SSD (as i know that's a component I'll be using quite a bunch for some time to come), but follow the rest of your recommendations as everything is spot-on. Thanks again for your help!

And thanks to everyone else who replied!

[Idrinkwhiterussians]

I am glad we could help!

Please post pics when you get it together

[Milanor]

It's like early christmas!

[Milanor]

And here's the final photo, with a skeptical grandfather in the background!

[n0cturnal]

And here's the final photo, with a skeptical grandfather in the background!

Looks good but why aren't you using the proper connections to your GPU?

[Milanor]

Looks good but why aren't you using the proper connections to your GPU?

I was curious about what things would look like if the Graphics Card ever failed. It's not nice at all. :P

My only remaining problems are the "MEMORY_MANAGEMENT" BSODs I get every once in a while...I really need to get a blank disk or something so I can run Memtest, but I'll unscrew everything and mess around with stuff when I have more time later this week.