New System Build - Suggestions on parts

[chazus]

I'm finally upgrading my slightly aging system, since I'm coming into a bit of money soon.

Emphasis on budget. I don't have a 'limited' budget per se (financial aid, so I have to pay it off eventually), but I would like to pinch pennies where I can. I mostly play just WoW and Diablo 3. I don't need Ultra settings, and I'd rather save $100 and go down a notch in performance.

I'll be getting Windows 7 64bit through school
I'll be getting whatever cheapest nVidia 660Ti available when they come out
I'll be getting an DVD/RW and Case. Nothing special there either of note.
I might use my old 500gb SATA as storage, or get a newer, larger one. Not really relevant to the build.

CPU: i5-3570K - Is there a slightly cheaper i5 that is comparable? I will not be overclocking, or if I do, not any more than the Retail intel cooler can handle. Would a 3450 be a better choice?

MoBo: Asrock B75 - Is there any huge difference to the B75, H77, and Z77?

SSD: Crucial M4 256gb - Decided on the SATA3. The $15 is worth the overhead. I may opt for a 128gb if I can determine that will be enough space for me. Is there a big difference between the Marvell and Phison controllers?

PSU: Seasonic 520w - 520w should be enough to run all this, yus?

RAM: 2x4gb Patriot 1600. - Nothing special.

My old system is running Core 2 Duo E7500, 3gb RAM, nVidia 460.

Also, I may be getting a laptop as well (in addition to). I'm looking for something as cheap as possible, but will still be able to play WoW (not diablo). Doesn't even have to run it well, just be able to run it. 20-30fps is perfectly fine, basically something to check auctions n whatnot while travelling.

[noteworthynerd]

Moved to the Build Help forum.

[n0cturnal]

I don't feel that the few bucks saved going for a 3450 over the 3570k is worth it, not with the added performance of a minor overclock added to it as well.

Z77 guarantees that you have Ivy Bridge support out of the box, you also get native PCI-E 3.0 for later upgrades.

With SATA3 you get the 500MB/s+ speeds that SSDs can deliver, with SATA2 you get around 270MB/s but you get the full benefit of access time at least. I would spend the extra $15 without a doubt since I feel it is such a small amount of money to save in.

You can cut down to a 550W or lower PSU if you feel like saving a bit of money.

[Drunkenvalley]

i5 2500k is pretty much identical to i5 3570k in performance, and usually about 10-20 bucks cheaper.
AsRock Z77 Extreme4 is basically the goto motherboard for budget-folks.
SSD linked seems like a good buy.
I'd consider the OCZ ZT powersupplies, which are fully modular. You'll be fine with 550w, but it's only 10 bucks more per additional 100w.
RAM is a nice deal.

[Martinussen]

Afaik the i5 2500k would be a better choice if you'd like a cheaper i5 that is comparable. The performance difference is quite small, and i5 2500k runs cooler from what i've heard (never owned one so i dont know)


But im no tech guru, so dont quote me on this.

[demonskies]

this PSU would be fine http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151094
you could drop down to a 128 gb crucial m4 and have more money to buy something like and Asrock z77 board possibly the pro3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157297

All in all you can look at marests builds and see from there how much you are willing to spend and just pick one of those. If you are pinching pennies you really dont need an SSD.

[chazus]

The more expensive I feel like the extra cost of the Z77 is really not worth it for the price, but I do see that the H67 may need a bios update. I'm okay with that, assuming I can get it to post. Would it just register as the wrong CPU until I get an update done?

However I see this Z75 for about the same price. What are the differences bertween Z75 and Z77? I really do prefer MSI or Intel if I can help it, but I can step outside my comfort zone for price/quality.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157314

[Deleted]

Switch the motherboard to one of these, just remember there is little to no overclocking on the H67/H77 boards, the turbo will work though. (Assuming you're only going to use NewEgg?)

ASRock H77M (mATX format, no overclocking)
ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP (ATX format, no overclocking)
ASRock Z77 Pro3 (ATX, overclocking possible)

You want the Crucial m4 not the v4 for sure.

Get one of these power supplies instead though you might have to act fast as it seems the deals end today.

SeaSonic M12II 520 (Semi-modular)
SeaSonic S12II 520 (Non-modular)

Save some money on the GPU and just pick one of the following, they'll both max your games no problem.

XFX Core Edition Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition - $250 (after $20 MIR)
XFX Core Edition Radeon HD 7850 - $210 (after $20 MIR)

Use the money you saved on the GPU and spend a little extra for better quality components like the ones I linked you.

[n0cturnal]

The more expensive I feel like the extra cost of the Z77 is really not worth it for the price, but I do see that the H67 may need a bios update. I'm okay with that, assuming I can get it to post. Would it just register as the wrong CPU until I get an update done?

However I see this Z75 for about the same price. What are the differences bertween Z75 and Z77? I really do prefer MSI or Intel if I can help it, but I can step outside my comfort zone for price/quality.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157314

Didn't actually see it was a h67, thought it was a p67, so the h67 doesn't support overclocking almost at all. Also it will not post so you need a compatible CPU to even be able to flash the BIOS.

[chazus]

Save some money on the GPU and just pick one of the following, they'll both max your games no problem.
XFX Core Edition Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition - $250 (after $20 MIR)
XFX Core Edition Radeon HD 7850 - $210 (after $20 MIR)

I really do try to avoid Radeon cards. I do a lot of testing work with Java games and applications, and Radeon cards just seem to hate that sometimes. I dont think there's anything WRONG with them, I have just found that I hassle a lot less with nVidia cards and drivers.

However, I won't by buying this system for probably about 3 weeks or so, so by that time I'll have seen some 660Ti benchmarks, and my opinion may change on that specific card. It's a non-issue, at this time.

---------- Post added 2012-08-13 at 01:35 PM ----------

I'm currently looking at these motherboards. I don't see a big difference between them, really, and if I can save $15 on something that isn't much different, I'd like to.

B75 $80 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157314
H77 $90 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157302
Z77 $95 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157297

All three have native 3570 support, PCIE3, SATA3, USB3, and 4 memory slots. Notably, these are all the cheapest boards that seem to have native 3570 support, that arent Biostar or ECS. So it's pretty much down to those three.