New PC instead of upgrades

[narzinor]

I've been thinking about making a new PC instead of upgrading my older one (LGA 775 E6750 and an old HD4870)

I've done only a little bit of research, but I've come up with this rig. I'm not seeing any glaring bottlenecks with the system, and it's future proofed by having the ability to add a 2nd GPU.

CPU: Core i5-3570
Motherboard: ASRock Z77
Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 13 CO
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
PSU: APEVIA ATX-CB700W 700W ATX
SSD: Kingston HyperX 3K SH103S3/120G 2.5" 120GB
GPU: EVGA 02G-P4-2660-KR GeForce GTX 660 2GB

Also thinking of upgrading my monitor to this: Samsung B350 Series S27B350H

I'm going to keep my storage drive, case (Mid tower ATX that's fairly roomy and still in good condition after building it back in 07') and my mouse and keybaord.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I've been a member of this site for years, and frequently browse this section, but I rarely post about this kind of stuff! I usually frequented a board that just recently closed down for computer related tech talk. XD

[Killora]

What's your budget? So i can start making suggestions based on that.

Also what are you intending the computer to do? Mostly gaming? lots of games? what games do you play?

[narzinor]

I play lots and lots of games. Basically anything from PC shooters to Rpgs and mmos.

On the budget, 1000-1500 should be fine. I think I hit 1100ish with the initial setup.

[vesseblah]

PSU: APEVIA ATX-CB700W 700W ATX

Would pass that. $40 for 700W is really cheap, and no efficiency certification of any kind smells.

[Deleted]

What case are you housing your stuff in?

[Killora]

I play lots and lots of games. Basically anything from PC shooters to Rpgs and mmos.

On the budget, 1000-1500 should be fine. I think I hit 1100ish with the initial setup.

PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($244.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.64 @ Newegg)
Total: $928.58
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Excluding monitor.

What case are you running? Incase you need a new case due to space issues.

[chazus]

1) Definitely pass on the 700w. It's manufactured by Deer/Wintech, one of the absolute worst manufacturers.
2) Not only that, but you really probably don't need more than a 500-550w PSU. Dual 660s will barely break 400w. Maybe. At full load.
3) Also, you have an OC board but no OC CPU.
Either get a i5-3570K, or if you don't plan to ever OC (theres not much of a reason not to, honestly, especially with your budget), get a B75 board and an i5-3470. You'll save about $40 with effectively no gaming performance loss.
4) Also, with a ~$1500 budget... You really ought to consider just getting a really nice GPU and calling it a day, instead of getting a middle tier card and expecting to go dual later.
5) I'm not sure why that ram is so expensive, but you can save $30 and just choose something else.
6) Do not get the EVGA. If you MUST have evga, get a Signature 2 model. Otherwise I'd recommend Gigabyte.

---------- Post added 2013-02-17 at 02:47 AM ----------

blah blah parts $928.58

This build pretty much sums up just about everything I pointed out. There's really no reason that this wouldn't be just dandy.

[Killora]

3) Also, you have an OC board but no OC CPU.
Either get a i5-3570K, or if you don't plan to ever OC (theres not much of a reason not to, honestly, especially with your budget), get a B75 board and an i5-3470. You'll save about $40 with effectively no gaming performance loss.

The link actually goes to a 3570k.

[chazus]

The link actually goes to a 3570k.

Oh. Derp. I didn't actually click on all of them individually.

[Killora]

On the topic of a monitor..

Asus PB238Q

Good monitor.

Cheaper alternative:

ViewSonic VX2370SMH

I don't know how these forums feels about ViewSonic but i've had nothing but good from them. No complaints here. I personally use that one.

[chazus]

I've been very happy with Viewsonic, even though some people lift their noses at it. I feel it's one of the better budget brands. I've gone through many, many viewsonics over the past decade, and have never been disappointed. Currently using dual VX2450WM-LED, and couldn't be happier.

[Deleted]

That Viewsonic looks like a great budget ips monitor and at around $60 cheaper than the Dell 2312hm, i could forgo the ergonomic features and faster response times for such a saving. Fantastic recommendation.

[narzinor]

I'm actually not able to find my case online anywhere anymore, seems the maker (ULTRA) discontinued it a while ago. Couldn't even find a picture of it's insides or couldn't find a model on the case itself to narrow down the search lol.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think I might just get another case as well. The one I have is just a shiny metallic black with nothing fancy. Might as well go pinkie out and get a fancy-looking one.

That Viewsonic monitor looks great, but I was thinking of getting a larger display than I've had. The Samsung I linked in my OP was a 27". I might look into the Viewsonic product line and see if there's a good deal on those.

1) Definitely pass on the 700w. It's manufactured by Deer/Wintech, one of the absolute worst manufacturers.
2) Not only that, but you really probably don't need more than a 500-550w PSU. Dual 660s will barely break 400w. Maybe. At full load.

That was more of a rough estimate on that part, I put this together last night near bedtime, maths aren't my forte at that time of night lol. I thank you for pointing that out though. I'll look into better ones.

3) Also, you have an OC board but no OC CPU.

Sorry for confusion there. I thought I wrote it out correctly in the OP's description XD

4) Also, with a ~$1500 budget... You really ought to consider just getting a really nice GPU and calling it a day, instead of getting a middle tier card and expecting to go dual later.

I think I will just get a better GPU. I'm partial to ATI, but wanted to try out an Nvidia; however, it seems the 7870 outperforms in a lot of ways, so I might just get that instead.

5) I'm not sure why that ram is so expensive, but you can save $30 and just choose something else.

Yeah... I noticed I picked out the one with the 7 CAS latency on it instead of the 8. That was just a mistake. (They were both lined up side-by-side).



To Killora : Were there any particular reasons for going for the Samsung SSD and the other CPU cooler? Just wondering and would like to pick your brain a bit on those choices is all.

[chazus]

I think I will just get a better GPU. I'm partial to ATI, but wanted to try out an Nvidia; however, it seems the 7870 outperforms in a lot of ways, so I might just get that instead.

Personally, I'm partial to nVidia, however nVidia has been lagging lately in the price/performance department. ATI just keeps slashing prices, and it gets to a point that you can't ignore. That's how business works, though.

To Killora : Were there any particular reasons for going for the Samsung SSD and the other CPU cooler? Just wondering and would like to pick your brain a bit on those choices is all.

Just budging my nose in there.
What I hear about Kingston SSD: Nothing good, a lot of 'meh', but nothing bad.
What I hear about Samsung SSD: Only praise.

As for the CPU cooler... It may have been recommended simply because again, an unknown. I've never seen/heard of that Arctic freezer... But the Hyper 212 EVO is the standard 'go to' for the sub-$70 aftermarket cooler.

[Killora]

pretty much what Chazus said, although i use a HyperX SSD (not 3K) and my issue with it is the price/gb is rather high in comparison to some other SSD's, that don't sacrifice durability (the 3k has 3k program/erase cycles, the 840 and the normal hyperX has 5k.)

I can't complain about the hyperX, it's just not a good choice for price per gb.

The CPU cooler was like was said an unkown and the fan on the 212 evo is MUCH better, for cheaper. CFM on the arctic was rather low in comparison to the evo.

[narzinor]

Just budging my nose in there.
What I hear about Kingston SSD: Nothing good, a lot of 'meh', but nothing bad.
What I hear about Samsung SSD: Only praise.

As for the CPU cooler... It may have been recommended simply because again, an unknown. I've never seen/heard of that Arctic freezer... But the Hyper 212 EVO is the standard 'go to' for the sub-$70 aftermarket cooler.

Well, can't beat that argument. If it's the go-to, it's the go-to for a reason.

SSD's are fairly new to me when building a PC, so I'll have to take that for what it's worth, there's a lot of misinformation in the product labeling on most HDD's and SSD's (at least when they were first coming onto the market in a mainstream fashion), so most of the good information has to be picked around by word of mouth from reputable sources.

Thanks for the information and insight!

[Killora]

Well, can't beat that argument. If it's the go-to, it's the go-to for a reason. SSD's are fairly new to me when building a PC, so I'll have to take that for what it's worth, there's a lot of misinformation in the product labeling on most HDD's and SSD's (at least when they were first coming onto the market in a mainstream fashion), so most of the good information has to be picked around by word of mouth from reputable sources.

Thanks for the information and insight!

Few pieces of advice for the SSD if you get it:

Disable the Hibernate file
Disable the paging file
Put music, movies, videos, pictures, and other media like it on the harddrive
Don't Defrag (windows will auto detect it as an SSD and turn off auto defragging, but don't do it manually)
Games, programs, and the OS goes on the SSD.
Get Crystaldiskinfo to monitor SSD life .

[narzinor]

Don't Defrag (windows will auto detect it as an SSD and turn off auto defragging, but don't do it manually)

I actually had to look this up. Having never used one before, it would never have dawned on me to not defrag it. =p

[Killora]

I actually had to look this up. Having never used one before, it would never have dawned on me to not defrag it. =p

Yeah. SSD's are NAND flash so having fragmented files doesn't affect it whatsoever. And defragging it writes a lot of data to the drive, so you're basically wearing the SSD down faster for no good reason.