New (and first) built computer, worth it?

[Nephilus]

Hello everyone,

I am going to build my first computer very soon. I have the parts i would need planned out however i am still an amateur with most hardware so i still have my doubts and i would like to see if any of you could give me advice with my concerns.

First off, I am a major gamer and i am trying to build a computer that could run any game i want very smooth. The main games i am/will be playing is battlefield 3, diablo 3, WoW, and guild wars 2. [There are many others but i think that gives you some idea of what i am trying to achieve here.] I have about 400-500 dollars to work with which i would be very happy with not reaching that max price.

I already have some parts for the computer which are:

-Corsair 650w gameseries PSU
- XFX Radeon HD 6790 GPU
- 750GB HDD
- Optical drive [ Its from my current computer, i dont have the specs right now but i am confident it is fine to use]
- SuperMulti 16X DVD(+/-)R/RW 12X RAM (+/-)R DL LightScribe SATA drive

This is what i have came up with so far with the build: http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/t...tbuildcomp.jpg

So what i am wondering is if the motherboard or processor are at a decent price? I really do not know what to really look for in a motherboard or processor, i simply found these through a recommendation. Would this set up allow me to run what i want? Would it last for a while? (before i would have to upgrade the parts)
Should i invest in a larger, higher quality case?

[haxs101]

Everything looks great. Do not go AMD right now, they are very far behind. The i5 2500k is the best for the buck, overclock it it 4.5ghz easily. Get a aftermarket cooler for it. For motherboards, I like Asus's, but go for anything you want. Look at how many pci-e slots you need, and just the regular specs of the motherboard. The i5 is very very very good. Also, case is pretty much up to you.

[Kevin38924]

The i5 2500k is one of the best gaming CPUs for it's cost. I also agree with your motherboard selection. My question to you is, if you are planning on overclocking it(which you most definitely could), Do you already have a non-stock CPU heatsink? If not, I would recommend adding a decent one such as the Cooler Master Hyper 212+. With this heatsink, you could probably overclock to around 4.5 ghz, which should run your games fairly smooth.

[Nephilus]

The i5 2500k is one of the best gaming CPUs for it's cost. I also agree with your motherboard selection. My question to you is, if you are planning on overclocking it(which you most definitely could), Do you already have a non-stock CPU heatsink? If not, I would recommend adding a decent one such as the Cooler Master Hyper 212+. With this heatsink, you could probably overclock to around 4.5 ghz, which should run your games fairly smooth.

Well I didn't really intend to overclock but I could. I never have done it before but I am curious, is it a major performance boost to do so? Like I said, amateur here hah
do you think I could get smooth performance for the games I stated?

[glo]

Well I didn't really intend to overclock but I could. I never have done it before but I am curious, is it a major performance boost to do so? Like I said, amateur here hah
do you think I could get smooth performance for the games I stated?

Well, since you bought an unlocked CPU + P67 motherboard, you could save a ton of money if you got the non overclockable counterparts.

[Deleted]

Well I didn't really intend to overclock but I could. I never have done it before but I am curious, is it a major performance boost to do so? Like I said, amateur here hah
do you think I could get smooth performance for the games I stated?

U'll get smooth performance with 2500k without overclocking. Just get components u placed on a picture in OP. Btw think about some other memory Cors Vengeance has needlessness big heat-sinks and might prove problematic if u wish to upgrade cpu cooling system in future.

[souka]

judging from my experience with PCs, your configuration should give you quite an experience when gaming, online or offline.

[Nephilus]

Well, since you bought an unlocked CPU + P67 motherboard, you could save a ton of money if you got the non overclockable counterparts.

Well i have not bought it yet, i simply put the build together online and saved it. I do however really like the option to overclock if i wanted to later on. Now if we are really talking about a huge difference in price it may sway me to get those counter parts though [even though i have no idea what they would be]

---------- Post added 2011-12-16 at 10:15 PM ----------

U'll get smooth performance with 2500k without overclocking. Just get components u placed on a picture in OP. Btw think about some other memory Cors Vengeance has needlessness big heat-sinks and might prove problematic if u wish to upgrade cpu cooling system in future.

Honestly i picked those just because of the heatsinks, while i also think they aren't that needed, i was thinking it wouldn't hurt. I will probably look into different ram to see if i can find a better deal

[Idrinkwhiterussians]

There is low profile ram, that still has the heatsinks. I think that would be your best bet.

There is a model of the vengeance that has them, so you might want to look for that

[Blaze]

Definitely worth it, I built my first PC around a year ago now and it was the best decision I could've made.
It's an extremely fun experience and you don't need to be a hardware expert to do it, a decent knowledge of computers will suffice.

But make sure you put in the effort when it comes down to research and planning - you don't want to make mistakes. I spent around a month just planning and shopping around, making sure I was getting the best parts for my money.

In regards to the motherboard, some people overlook the importance of a good mobo - it is the foundation of your entire PC, so if you buy a substandard mobo and premium everything else, nothing will run the at optimal efficiency.
Processor, the K variant of the new i5 Sandybridges are phenomenal, just make sure it is the "K" version you buy.

Good luck and remember to enjoy it! (When I built mine, I took snaps on my phone and I look back at them from time to time, it really was a great experience!!)

[Nephilus]

There is low profile ram, that still has the heatsinks. I think that would be your best bet.

There is a model of the vengeance that has them, so you might want to look for that

I found these both:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233234
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233173

What is the difference between 'regular' ram and low profile ram?

---------- Post added 2011-12-16 at 10:41 PM ----------

Definitely worth it, I built my first PC around a year ago now and it was the best decision I could've made.
It's an extremely fun experience and you don't need to be a hardware expert to do it, a decent knowledge of computers will suffice.

But make sure you put in the effort when it comes down to research and planning - you don't want to make mistakes. I spent around a month just planning and shopping around, making sure I was getting the best parts for my money.

In regards to the motherboard, some people overlook the importance of a good mobo - it is the foundation of your entire PC, so if you buy a substandard mobo and premium everything else, nothing will run the at optimal efficiency.
Processor, the K variant of the new i5 Sandybridges are phenomenal, just make sure it is the "K" version you buy.

Good luck and remember to enjoy it! (When I built mine, I took snaps on my phone and I look back at them from time to time, it really was a great experience!!)

Yeah i am already enjoying just learning about different parts and figuring out what to get to build them. What really kicked this off was when i got a new PSU for my current computer and i had to connect all of the power cables, it was really interesting to learn about all of the wiring / hardware

Would the motherboard i have on the list be considered substandard? or does it qualify as 'good' ?

[Unserweveagen]

Exactly as you say.

[glo]

Well i have not bought it yet, i simply put the build together online and saved it. I do however really like the option to overclock if i wanted to later on. Now if we are really talking about a huge difference in price it may sway me to get those counter parts though [even though i have no idea what they would be]

---------- Post added 2011-12-16 at 10:15 PM ----------



Honestly i picked those just because of the heatsinks, while i also think they aren't that needed, i was thinking it wouldn't hurt. I will probably look into different ram to see if i can find a better deal

If you went with an H61/67 motherboard, a regular i5 2500 (without the k), and didn't buy the aftermarker cooler to overclock, you'd be looking at saving almost $200. You could then dump that money on a much better video card if you desired.

[Nephilus]

If you went with an H61/67 motherboard, a regular i5 2500 (without the k), and didn't buy the aftermarker cooler to overclock, you'd be looking at saving almost $200. You could then dump that money on a much better video card if you desired.

Sadly i probably wont get a new GPU for a while since i just bought the thing [ Got it to replace my old one in my current computer ] I will probably do that later on.

Now if i went with this option, would i really be sacrificing a lot of performance? As mentioned above id like to run those games VERY smoothly, now if i could save a ton by getting something that is just a notch under what i listed that would be great.

[glo]

Sadly i probably wont get a new GPU for a while since i just bought the thing [ Got it to replace my old one in my current computer ] I will probably do that later on.

Now if i went with this option, would i really be sacrificing a lot of performance? As mentioned above id like to run those games VERY smoothly, now if i could save a ton by getting something that is just a notch under what i listed that would be great.

The bottleneck in your build currently is the video card. Not that it can't handle most games on high settings, but it simply can't put out enough to bring the i5 2500(k) to it's max potential. That said, most modern games can't come close to maxing that processor in the first place, regardless of which video card you have. The exception being CPU intensive games such as WoW, SWTOR, and source engine games.

So in short, yes, the i5 2500 for all intents and purposes will perform smoothly at stock speeds. Not sure if you're aware or not, but the only difference between the two is simply whether or not you can overclock it. They're identical otherwise.

[Nephilus]

The bottleneck in your build currently is the video card. Not that it can't handle most games on high settings, but it simply can't put out enough to bring the i5 2500(k) to it's max potential. That said, most modern games can't come close to maxing that processor in the first place, regardless of which video card you have. The exception being CPU intensive games such as WoW, SWTOR, and source engine games.

So in short, yes, the i5 2500 for all intents and purposes will perform smoothly at stock speeds. Not sure if you're aware or not, but the only difference between the two is simply whether or not you can overclock it. They're identical otherwise.

No i was not aware. Again i really know nothing about motherboards/CPU's

I looked up the regular 2500 and found that its only a $10 difference: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115073
If thats really basically the same thing but without overclocking, at that small difference of a price ill take the option to over clock. (Unless i am looking at the wrong one which could be it )

Would those motherboards be noticeably lesser performance from the one i have listed?

[Idrinkwhiterussians]

In all honesty, you will not save $200 by getting the lower mobo and chip. Maybe $60 at most since you seem to be getting a good deal on the mobo.

And I found the low pro Vengeance kit I would suggest for you. The difference between the low pro and the regular is the height of the heat spreader. Vengeance 2x4GB (8GB) should be just as good for heat and will allow you to put a nice air cooler on the processor.

[haxs101]

Why are you getting a UNLOCKED CPU when you're not even going to overclock it..? Also, you get a MAJOR improvement if you do, and its very simple.

[glo]

No i was not aware. Again i really know nothing about motherboards/CPU's

I looked up the regular 2500 and found that its only a $10 difference: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115073
If thats really basically the same thing but without overclocking, at that small difference of a price ill take the option to over clock. (Unless i am looking at the wrong one which could be it )

Would those motherboards be noticeably lesser performance from the one i have listed?

Then you could save $100~ on a motherboard, and save whatever amount you'd be spending on an aftermarket cooler to overclock with.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...E&PageSize=100

H61/67 doesn't perform lower than the other chipsets. You just lose the ability to overclock and use Intel SRT (using a SSD as glorified cache).

---------- Post added 2011-12-17 at 04:56 AM ----------

Why are you getting a UNLOCKED CPU when you're not even going to overclock it..? Also, you get a MAJOR improvement if you do, and its very simple.

He wont see any improvement overclocking it if he's running a 6790. Even if he wasn't bottlenecked by that, the only place he would see improvement at is specifically in WoW / SWTOR during 25m raiding. The improvement wouldn't be dramatic, maybe 5-8 FPS max.

[Nephilus]

Why are you getting a UNLOCKED CPU when you're not even going to overclock it..? Also, you get a MAJOR improvement if you do, and its very simple.

Well i probably will later on, i wont when i first get it though [due to money]. Which getting an aftermarket fan will not take long to get the money for afterward, thats the only reason really


Edit: I would also like to add that i will most likely upgrade the video card in the future, it just will not be anytime soon.