first time builder questions....maybe?

[anyaka21]

Ok, title says it. Currently thinking about building or buying a custom. Here's essentially what I'm looking at:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/v7Pj

here's my questions:

1) the case, HAF XB, seems like a good case, good style and easy to work with, but there have been issues with grounding and frying some hdd's. Thus, I'm not entirely sold on it, especially as a first time builder. Thus, are there any cases, mid tower max (don't have the extra room where my comp will go) that would be easy to work with, good fans, etc.. hopefully around $100, but it could be more if it's good.

2) also considering another monitor, currently have an old 24" 1080i that's still very nice, but I wouldn't mind a 1080p led and using the older one for surfing or movies, etc... while gaming. So the question, is the gtx660 ti good enough to handle both or should I be thinking about a better gpu or maybe adding a 2nd video card.

3) In light of the first time, does anyone have any experience with cyberpowerpc.com. There overall price seems reasonable, basically about $100ish to build it, or less if you are willing to wait a week or 2 longer. Are they good? Meaning, do they build a good pc or just throw it together and ship it? Do they have good customer service? What about ibuypower? Same questions. Or are their any others that I should be looking at.


edit: main use will be gaming, movies, etc... Guild Wars 2, SWTOR, Skyrim, Assassins Creed, and a few shooters.

[Lemmiwink]

If you aren't gonna run the game in very high resolutions (2 screens+) then the 660ti will do just fine with 2 screens. I have no experience with Haf XB but I have built about 300 HAF 932 and they are very very standard.... Build quality is ok, but everyone and their grandma has one, it's so unoriginal.

I'm not an american so I have never used cyberpowerpc but I still think 100 bucks for the assembly is a bit pricey since it's done in about 25 minutes.

[Musta Kyy]

1) I would recommend Fractal Design R3 or R4, did my first build on a R3 and it was easy, also that case has good fans and it has noise dampening material everywhere so it is really silent, still runs cool though.
2) 660 Ti can handle 2 screens without problems, pretty much any gpu can, as long as you got game on only one, and something lightweight like movie or web browser on another. However HD 7950 from AMD would be more powerful, cheaper and overclocks like a beast, it would be also somewhat better for multimonitor setups as it has wider memory bandwidth.
3) Havent got any experience, but have seen a quite a few people complaining about them. Annoying thing is that if your computer stops working for any reason (even really simple one that you can easily figure out) you have to send it to them or you will lose warranty. If you have some knowledge on computer parts etc, it would be better to just build it yourself, you will save money and any upgrading to your computer later will be easy, and if something breaks you can send that part only to the manufacturer for a replacement instead of needing to send whole computer to cyberpower or what ever.

[anyaka21]

thanks for the help, took the plunge after a couple of tweaks. Thanks for the recommendation on the r4.

here's the build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vdGx

[Noctua]

Heya,

I know you're going with the H60, but might wanna look at low profile vengeance ram instead of the large heat spreaders - for compatibility with large air coolers in the future - if you ever change your cooler, or maybe take the ram to a new build.

[Skarsguard]

thanks for the help, took the plunge after a couple of tweaks. Thanks for the recommendation on the r4.

here's the build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vdGx

I have the same Mobo I like it a lot.
Ram as Noctua said get the vengeance LP
Case: ehh Its a really good case actually its pretty great but ehh.

[Asurakai]

having 2 monitors shouldn't be a problem for graphic cards unless you combine the resolutions, having them separate for different tasks on the same comp should be fine.

As for the 660 ti, sure it is a good card, but right now it is completely overpriced. You could get a more powerful Radeon 7950 for a cheaper price than that at newegg. Also, 660's have a lower memory bus so if you did hook both monitors together for a higher resolution, you may have a dramatic FPS drop, that is, if your anti-aliasing settings are rather high, I'm not sure if regular high setting affect it tho. Quite honestly, I really don't like Geforce graphic cards when it comes to price-per-performance until you reach the Geforce 670 because all of those below the 670 aren't priced that well compared to Radeon.

The 7870 is also a good alternative to the 660 ti. It is about the same performance for almost $100 less. The 7950 is more powerful than both cards for about $30 less than your 660's $330. Then again, if you bought the 660 Ti at newegg, you could get one for $270 although that would still make the 7870 and 7950 better alternatives unless you are a hardcore Geforce fanboy.