A build for the wife

[Acarlee]

Hello folks,

I posted before about a build I've been working on but my wife took an interest in wanting a build of her own, so she decided that she wanted me to make her one too. I want to give her a great build with a lot of performance, that just blows her old computer out of the water (She mostly got 8-12 fps on WoW). She mostly plays Wow, D3, and maybe a steam game on my account once in awhile. Her budget is staying around 750-850 dollars (tax return money).

I researched the forums here and looked online at reviews and came up with this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yxaH

She needs Windows 7. The case/optical drive and other peripherals are going to be a gift from me. So, any recommendations/advice would be appreciated.

[chaud]

H77 motherboards don't allow overclocking, you want Z77/Z75. Grab Windows 8 if you don't really need Windows 7, it is significantly cheaper. Grab a SSD when they are on sale, that M4 is a little expensive.

[chazus]

Looks good. I'd maybe get the Antec VP-450 PSU, simply because it's just as good (in my opinion), and about ten bucks cheaper. Use that ten bucks and a few to get a Z77 motherboard that supports overclocking. You've got the OC CPU, so either get the non-K, or a Z77 board. Personally, I'd say get the K and Z77, just to have the option there if you ever want.

Other than that, looks good. It'll kick the crap out of WoW.

[Acarlee]

chazus...Great advice, would the Asrock Z77 Pro3 work out pretty well, if she or I wanted to OC? I also changed the PSU to the Antec 450 and it balanced out the price pretty well (2 dollars more).

chaud...I agree, we will probably wait for a sale on the SSD, just wanted to throw one on to show that I was going to get her an SSD.

[chazus]

The Pro3 is a pretty popular budget Z77. I personally have an MSI Z77A-G41 which is a few bucks cheaper. A lot of people rag on the fact that it doesn't have big bulky VRMs, but with a 3 year warranty that doesn't seem to be worth the cost. I see motherboards these days from decent brands frying randomly very, very rarely. Usually it's from doing something stupid, a power surge, or a crappy brand.

[Acarlee]

The Pro3 is a pretty popular budget Z77. I personally have an MSI Z77A-G41 which is a few bucks cheaper.

Would you recommend that MSI Z77 board over the Asrock Z77 Pro3? Not trying to start a war between Asrock and MSI enthusiasts...just wanted a experienced opinion?

[chazus]

I really can't recommend one over the other. I have bought and sold MSI boards for almost ten years, so I'm very familiar with them. That also may make me quite biased, as well. They're certainly reliable, and are very easy to deal with when handling warranty. Asrock is quite popular as 'budget builder' boards of good quality. I have never owned one, or used one, so I can't speak from personal experience, but they are quite often the 'go to'. I wouldn't NOT recommend an Asrock. I just am the kind of person where shaving $5-10 here and there makes a difference.

[jholdaway]

changed a few things on the original and added an aftermarket cooler

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 TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.57 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Sandisk 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($92.98 @ Mac Mall)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($42.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $789.48
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-20 10:06 EST-0500)

[Acarlee]

I really can't recommend one over the other. I have bought and sold MSI boards for almost ten years, so I'm very familiar with them.

Thanks for the information and advice. Its appreciated.

As far as the build jholdaway posted. Is there any differences between the Sapphire 7850 and XFX 7850 (Other than brand/price)?

Also, a couple more questions since me and her talked this morning. I bought a case recently for my build (Rosewill Challenger U3) and she's really liking it, so I decided she could have it with her build and I'll buy a different case down the road when I buy my components. Will this build fit within the case, no problems? Moreover, if we did want to OC...Would the CoolerMaster Hyper TX3 Heatsink (as recommended) work within the build and how much more FPS/performance would she experience than not OC'ing?

[n0cturnal]

The Sapphire card has a slightly better cooler.
Everything should fit in that case.

[Deleted]

might want to invest a bit more in the aftermarket cpu cooler if oc'ing is very likely for the future. (performance gap between certain entry level coolers is huge)