Building a Computer for Little Sister.

[Kouki]

Hello all.

My Sister is turning 18, im getting her her first computer.

"Get yo mind out of the gutter"

This is the build, im open to suggestions.

Cooler Master HAF XM Mid Tower Case × 1 $119.99
Intel Core™ i7-3770 Processor, 3.40GHz w/ 8MB Cache × 1 $299.99
Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler × 1 $79.99
Asus Sabertooth Z77 w/ Dual DDR3, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, CrossFireX / SLI × 1 $244.99
G.SKILL ARES Series 16GB PC3-12800 Quad Channel DDR3 Kit, Orange (4 x 4GB) × 1 $89.99
Kingston HyperX 3K Series SATA III Solid State Drive, 120GB w/ 2.5" Adapter × 1 $109.99
Seagate 1TB Barracuda SATA III w/ 64MB Cache × 1 $74.99
Asus DRW-24B1ST 24x DVD-RW Drive, SATA, Black, OEM × 1 $16.99
Asus GTX660 Ti DirectCU II Geforce GTX 660 Ti 2GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort × 1 $304.99
Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 850W Modular Power Supply × 1 $139.99
LG E2242T-BN 21.5in Widescreen LED LCD × 1 $124.99
Razer Anansi MMO Gaming Keyboard × 1 $99.99
Razer Naga 2012 Expert Gaming Mouse × 1 $79.99
Razer Tiamat Expert 2.2 Gaming Headset × 1 $99.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium x64 (64-bit) SP1 DVD - OEM × 1 $119.99

Total price with a 2 year product replacement warranty at a local store brings it to 2200.

[BicycleMafioso]

• Does she really need an i7?
• Does she really need an ATX-case? Especially a noisy and mediocre one as a HAF-series?
• Why Z77 to a non-K cpu? Will she use Lucid Virtu or whatever its name is?
• Does she really need 16GiB of RAM?
• Sandforce SSDs are inferior in performance and reliability.
• The Power Supply is so far out there. You could run four of that GPU on that PSU, you'd want a 450w PSU tops.
• The HD7950 Boost is more performance for less money.
• An air cooler would generally save you money and noise while not give you much noticable less performance, especially since you can't overclock that CPU.
• The monitor is really sub-par and not good value.
• The headset, mouse and keyboard are sub-par and not good value.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

What kind of computer games does she like to play? You could easily shave a couple of hundred bucks off that price.

• Starting with the Motherboard. Yes, I have one. Yes, I love it. But with respect to gaming, there is no real difference to a P8Z77-V for 80 dollars less.
• You can save 50 bucks on the power supply. Something like a Seasonic M12ii 520 is plenty powerful enough for that system and will cost around 70 bucks.
• You can save 110 dollars on the CPU by getting an (overclockable!) i5 3570K. You can't overclock the 3770 (non-K) to any noticeable degree.
• The RAM is orange, you might want to choose some that matches the motherboard's colour scheme. Blue and Black are popular colours. But that is just aesthetics.
• I'm not a fan of the HAF cases, too much plastic for my taste. Something like a Fractal Design R4 would have better cable management and possibly be easier to build in/around. Ask your sister about what kind of case she likes, she is the one who will be sitting next to it for the next 3-5 years.

The Razer peripherals aren't the best on the market (that's my British tendency for understatements showing itself). You should have a look at the recommended keyboards, mice and headsets in Marest's "Sample Build" thread at the top of the forum.

[Kouki]

• Does she really need an i7?
• Does she really need an ATX-case? Especially a noisy and mediocre one as a HAF-series?
• Why Z77 to a non-K cpu? Will she use Lucid Virtu or whatever its name is?
• Does she really need 16GiB of RAM?
• Sandforce SSDs are inferior in performance and reliability.
• The Power Supply is so far out there. You could run four of that GPU on that PSU, you'd want a 450w PSU tops.
• The HD7950 Boost is more performance for less money.
• An air cooler would generally save you money and noise while not give you much noticable less performance, especially since you can't overclock that CPU.
• The monitor is really sub-par and not good value.
• The headset, mouse and keyboard are sub-par and not good value.

Its a 1155 i7 not a 2011, its cheap.
The case is very quiet compared to my Antec, And has filters, but mostly we need filters.
I musta forgot to put the k there my bad.
i tend to go with half the ram the board supports.
I said kingston not sandforce ssd
Eventually she will get more cards. so a bigger power and modular supply is good no?
Consumer tip sites suggest that i7 1155 and 2011 from the 3rd gen run much better on liquid.
Id like an Asus LED Backlight for her monitor, Or something close or better But LED Backlit.
How is it that you claim Razer products are sub par? Are there other MMO modify key keyboards, and 12 button mice?

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 05:56 PM ----------

What kind of computer games does she like to play? You could easily shave a couple of hundred bucks off that price.

• Starting with the Motherboard. Yes, I have one. Yes, I love it. But with respect to gaming, there is no real difference to a P8Z77-V for 80 dollars less.
• You can save 50 bucks on the power supply. Something like a Seasonic M12ii 520 is plenty powerful enough for that system and will cost around 70 bucks.
• You can save 110 dollars on the CPU by getting an (overclockable!) i5 3570K. You can't overclock the 3770 (non-K) to any noticeable degree.
• The RAM is orange, you might want to choose some that matches the motherboard's colour scheme. Blue and Black are popular colours. But that is just aesthetics.
• I'm not a fan of the HAF cases, too much plastic for my taste. Something like a Fractal Design R4 would have better cable management and possibly be easier to build in/around. Ask your sister about what kind of case she likes, she is the one who will be sitting next to it for the next 3-5 years.

The Razer peripherals aren't the best on the market (that's my British tendency for understatements showing itself). You should have a look at the recommended keyboards, mice and headsets in Marest's "Sample Build" thread at the top of the forum.

Can you recommend a Tower with Dust filters?

[Saithes]

Its a 1155 i7 not a 2011, its cheap.
The case is very quiet compared to my Antec, And has filters, but mostly we need filters.
I musta forgot to put the k there my bad.
i tend to go with half the ram the board supports.
I said kingston not sandforce ssd
Eventually she will get more cards. so a bigger power and modular supply is good no?
Consumer tip sites suggest that i7 1155 and 2011 from the 3rd gen run much better on liquid.
Id like an Asus LED Backlight for her monitor, Or something close or better But LED Backlit.
How is it that you claim Razer products are sub par? Are there other MMO modify key keyboards, and 12 button mice?[COLOR="red"]

The H80 isn't considered true liquid though since it really doesn't outperform high end air heatsinks. The i5 3570K is a better buy, then you could put the money saved into say a GTX 670 or a 7970. Furthermore, with that GTX 660 you can't run in Triple or Quadruple SLI so that 850w is kind of pointless. I would aim for about a 550-650w Seasonic, Corsair or Silverstone personally if you plan to run 2 GTX 660's eventually.

Sandforce is the type of CONTROLLER used on the SSD which that Kingstons happens to have.

For a new case I'd recommend a Corsair. Something like a 400R or 500R.

[Evildeffy]

Right, why don't we start off with the following question before throwing opinions-based-as-facts about shall we.

"What is it that you want your sister to be capable of doing with that system?"

There are plenty of answers to this question, but answering this 1 would be good to start off with.

[Skarsguard]

Its a 1155 i7 not a 2011, its cheap.
The case is very quiet compared to my Antec, And has filters, but mostly we need filters.
I musta forgot to put the k there my bad.
i tend to go with half the ram the board supports.
I said kingston not sandforce ssd
Eventually she will get more cards. so a bigger power and modular supply is good no?
Consumer tip sites suggest that i7 1155 and 2011 from the 3rd gen run much better on liquid.
Id like an Asus LED Backlight for her monitor, Or something close or better But LED Backlit.
How is it that you claim Razer products are sub par? Are there other MMO modify key keyboards, and 12 button mice?

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 05:56 PM ----------



Can you recommend a Tower with Dust filters?

Let's see
If she is just playing games then the I7 is a waste of money is what they are saying the only advantage the I7 has is the fact that it has HT (Hyper Threading) and games don't support that or at least mainstream games. HT is good for encoding videos,or 3D rendering stuff like that. You can turn off the HT on a processor and see no loss in games.. If you are a gamer and don't Render or encore your pretty much getting the I7 for epeen reasons.

16 gigs is fine. I would go with the 4X4 corsair vengeance LP(Low Profile) 1600 1.5v ram.

SSD's. These are the ones I recommend OCZ vertex 4, Intel 520, Samsung 8 series, or Crucial M4.

PSU- Don't get a coolermaster please get a Seasonic,Corsair,XFX,Antec something of those lines if you plan on getting two cards then get something like the Seasonic X-750. I would thou instead of getting two cards get a 670 with the money you save on the I7.

Mouse- Naga is fine I have had mine for two years and it's still ticking.

[Kouki]

Right, why don't we start off with the following question before throwing opinions-based-as-facts about shall we.

"What is it that you want your sister to be capable of doing with that system?"

There are plenty of answers to this question, but answering this 1 would be good to start off with.

Thank you.

Well She wants to be able to keep up with me, Playing mostly New mmorpg's like Guild wars 2.
So the system has to be at least up to par with mine, not saying much lol.

Im using, Sabertooth x58 HiS 5870 6gigs DDR3 Tripple 1066, i7 950 500gig Momentus xt sata 2 and Seagate 1tb Baracuda sata 3, 850W psu

So For her System, After problems ive had, Id rather go Nvidia, With an SSD, And with a bit more Ram than I had, Since its so damn hard to find any Tripple now.

She is also an Artist, i want her to have the power to Animate 2d and 3d animations, and Create good art from Her Drawing tablet.

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 06:48 PM ----------

Let's see
If she is just playing games then the I7 is a waste of money is what they are saying the only advantage the I7 has is the fact that it has HT (Hyper Threading) and games don't support that or at least mainstream games. HT is good for encoding videos,or 3D rendering stuff like that. You can turn off the HT on a processor and see no loss in games.. If you are a gamer and don't Render or encore your pretty much getting the I7 for epeen reasons.

16 gigs is fine. I would go with the 4X4 corsair vengeance LP(Low Profile) 1600 1.5v ram.

SSD's. These are the ones I recommend OCZ vertex 4, Intel 520, Samsung 8 series, or Crucial M4.

PSU- Don't get a coolermaster please get a Seasonic,Corsair,XFX,Antec something of those lines if you plan on getting two cards then get something like the Seasonic X-750. I would thou instead of getting two cards get a 670 with the money you save on the I7.

Mouse- Naga is fine I have had mine for two years and it's still ticking.

Good things to consider before the acutal build.

The Last tower i built a pc into was the Haf-X it was easy to work inside due to its size but required an extension for cpu power.
Id like something nice to build in or something with removable motherboard tray.

The naga rocks, my last mouse was a Death adder black edition, meaning no led lol. and it broke twice in 2 months scrolling issues etc.

[Somebodyelse]

It's really overkill for a first computer...

[Evildeffy]

Thank you.

Well She wants to be able to keep up with me, Playing mostly New mmorpg's like Guild wars 2.
So the system has to be at least up to par with mine, not saying much lol.

Im using, Sabertooth x58 HiS 5870 6gigs DDR3 Tripple 1066, i7 950 500gig Momentus xt sata 2 and Seagate 1tb Baracuda sata 3, 850W psu

So For her System, After problems ive had, Id rather go Nvidia, With an SSD, And with a bit more Ram than I had, Since its so damn hard to find any Tripple now.

She is also an Artist, i want her to have the power to Animate 2d and 3d animations, and Create good art from Her Drawing tablet.

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 06:48 PM ----------



Good things to consider before the acutal build.

The Last tower i built a pc into was the Haf-X it was easy to work inside due to its size but required an extension for cpu power.
Id like something nice to build in or something with removable motherboard tray.

The naga rocks, my last mouse was a Death adder black edition, meaning no led lol. and it broke twice in 2 months scrolling issues etc.

I can do that, the following question:

Are we referring to professional 3D programmes that are proper multi-threaded or just some random OpenSource freeware programmes?
And do you want to OC? Aswell as FPS games and the like aswell?

[Nab]

This will by far beat your system in gaming. Note that no OS or Monitor is included.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.95 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($437.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($101.60 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($40.99 @ Newegg)
Mouse: Logitech G700 Wireless Laser Mouse ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1275.44
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-30 14:28 EST-0500)

[Kouki]

I can do that, the following question:

Are we referring to professional 3D programmes that are proper multi-threaded or just some random OpenSource freeware programmes?
And do you want to OC? Aswell as FPS games and the like aswell?

High End 3d Animation, Or the availability to work her way up the ladder of programs out there, things with cloth physx etc.

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 07:40 PM ----------

This will by far beat your system in gaming. Note that no OS or Monitor is included.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.95 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($437.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($101.60 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($40.99 @ Newegg)
Mouse: Logitech G700 Wireless Laser Mouse ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1275.44
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-30 14:28 EST-0500)

Ok Well i get the feeling your trying to save money.

Can you tell me per part why you pick it over the other parts listed?

Im Prepared to spend $2800CAN, I would not skimp.

The computer needs Power Reliability, Solid brands, Upgrade longevity.

Id like to Avoid Asrock Gigabyte and Microsoft Generic or Intel Generic And logitec.

Ty.

[Nab]

There is a thing called "bang for the buck" when you hit this limit you won't be getting any higher performance from spending more cash. If she's going to be playing games on a 1080p screen the build I posted won't dissapoint. If you insist on going on a totally overkill system, be my guest.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($429.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($305.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($171.00 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($394.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($394.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case ($149.93 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Gold 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($179.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K90 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($105.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2322.83
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-30 14:52 EST-0500)

[BicycleMafioso]

There is a thing called "bang for the buck" when you hit this limit you won't be getting any higher performance from spending more cash.

No, it's about value in performance per money.

Either way. My first post still stands. It's a very mismatched intention and I'm confused what kind of computer "she" wants.

[Kouki]

There is a thing called "bang for the buck" when you hit this limit you won't be getting any higher performance from spending more cash. If she's going to be playing games on a 1080p screen the build I posted won't dissapoint. If you insist on going on a totally overkill system, be my guest.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($429.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($305.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($171.00 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($394.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($394.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case ($149.93 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Gold 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($179.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K90 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($105.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2322.83
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-30 14:52 EST-0500)

Ok Well, If i could sway you to use memoryexpress.com For the build, that would make me really love you.

They are local, and have the best service ive ever seen.

Say your video card breaks, and none of it are in stock, they upgrade you and if your tower or board cant fit the upgrade those parts get an upgrade 2 and they take less than a week to fix it, 3 days during the first month.

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 07:59 PM ----------

No, it's about value in performance per money.

Either way. My first post still stands. It's a very mismatched intention and I'm confused what kind of computer "she" wants.

She Wants to play Games like GW2 With me, But watch Movies at the Same time like I do.

She is also an Artist, She has a tablet, She draws and animates, and soon i forsee her moving into 3d so id like the power of an I7.

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 08:04 PM ----------

I Want you all to know that your parts are being Reviewed and will be considered as side or upgrades.

The computer is long away from being built, Something like 2 months before ill be doing the build.

And there will no doubt be other price changes or better parts in that time.

What would help me is if beside each part you list, you list reasons why that part over another.

[chazus]

I really don't have much to add that hasn't already been said.

If you REALLY think she'll do 3D rendering, then an i7 is useful. The question is, does SHE think she will.
The same goes for RAM. RAM is so cheap, it doesn't matter anyway.

Don't bother with overclocking. Seriously. She doesn't need it.

Also, 660 ti? She isn't going to 'get more cards'. Get a smaller PSU.

Just because you have money to throw around, doesn't mean you HAVE TO. Save some money on things that don't help, and... do something else with it. Get her a bigger hard drive. Some nice speakers. A bigger monitor.

EDIT: Razer has, honestly, proven to be a Brand, and little more. Their products are often range from 'good' to 'meh' with a price tag of 'wow'. If I were you, I would just not buy the accessories, and let HER pick those parts out. The things she sees and uses, the stuff not inside the computer, should be the things she wants to see, and use every day.

[Lemmiwink]

Only problem I have with Razer is the price and the "feel". Sure they look cool, but I find many of their products plastic-y (as in cheap build quality) and they don't do it for me ergonomically. I usually buy Logitech as build quality is good and the "feel" is right for me.

I do 3D on my computer without breaking a sweat. An X79 system would probably be, as many pointed out already, quite overkill. Stick to premium parts though. I cannot emphazise it enough, premium parts are in a different league than "bang for bucks" products. I would however never choose premium parts for someone who can't afford it as I would want them to have almost the same experience at a lower cost.

I can tell you this however: Girls don't like gamer cases in general. Go for something more subtle like Fractal Design instead.

[chazus]

Only problem I have with Razer is the price and the "feel". Sure they look cool, but I find many of their products plastic-y (as in cheap build quality) and they don't do it for me ergonomically. I usually buy Logitech as build quality is good and the "feel" is right for me.

This is what I think when I think Razer: It's a mouse!
I rather like logitech as well. They aren't OMGBEST but for their price, they're ergonomic, effective, and work well.

EDIT: I actually just looked at the benefits of an i7 (specifically hyperthreading) for things like photoshop, and rendering. There are benefits, but they're around the range of 3-5%. I guess that's worth $100? But I imagine that she's upgrading from the 'family computer', some 2004 E-machine, so... She really won't notice. This computer, even if it were stripped down to half the thing it is, will blow her mind regardless.

[Deleted]

OP, you've got the wrong idea of the parts needed for your sister's gaming.

Seconding tetrisGOAT's post, i7 is completely overkill, no matter if it's 1155. In some games the i7 ivy can even lack behind the i5 ivy, simply because of horrible utilization of Hyperthreading. Avoid i7's where professional work is not done.
Amateur animation/filmcutting is not professional work, as much as you want it to be. It's just wasted money for a placebo.

Also, your bias towards brands is really misguided. ASRock is not a horrible brand anymore, standards in the industry made them change their game and they are on par with everyone else. Overclocking support is where the motherboards seperate themselves, and as chazus said, overclocking is futile. If you really want to get an overclock done, it'll be the ever-so noobfriendly OC of 4.3GHz.

And for the love of god don't buy the Tiamat for her, she will be utterly disappointed when she finds out none of her friends can hear the mic. It's absurdly bad.

Again, agreed with tetrisGOAT on the SSD, Samsung 830/840 or OCZ Vector are the best choices at the moment.
So far I've got great experiences with the 830, the 840 is a beefier version of it, and the OCZ Vector is a newcomer with nothing but excellent reviews, rated for 5 years warranty aswell. With proper usage it'll keep up double or triple of that warranty.

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 10:25 PM ----------

This is what I think when I think Razer: It's a mouse!
I rather like logitech as well. They aren't OMGBEST but for their price, they're ergonomic, effective, and work well.

Naga is imo the best MMO mouse out there, simply because of the fact that Razer still cares for the product line.
-And yet, every single mouse of the Naga line has some wearing problems of one sort or another. First Naga began doubleclicking and sticking left click in, and second Naga (using right now) is starting to to the same with the middle mouse button.

Razer Nagas have rock solid lives, until they at one point starts developing parkinsons.
Don't get it if you want a mouse that can last.

Corsair M90 and Logitech G600 are 2 alternatives I can name on the spot.

[Lemmiwink]

A high end MB from Asus, Gigabyte or MSI will beat the living daylights out of the ASRock any day of the week. Not by much, and totally not worth the extra cost, but it will. ASRock makes fantastic products though, I cannot say that they don't deserve to be the number 1 MB choice for gamers. They have really picked up their act the last 3-4 years.