Please Critique My first ever build!

[iTzHughie]

Closed

[DSF]

Regarding your questions:
1) 500W would be fine. You don't look like you're intending to go SLI.

2) Considering that you're putting nothing but the basics in the case, a full tower case might be unwieldy. If you're under the impression that you need something like that for airflow for overclocking, that's incorrect.

The H100 wouldn't be my choice. All-in-one water coolers do not fare much better than quality air coolers and cost about twice as much. I would just go with a high-performance air cooler.

If you really do not use much space then having a small SSD boot drive and a small platter storage drive really makes no sense to me. Just get one mid-sized SSD and be done with it. You have the money, and that way you'll get the loading times of an SSD for all your stuff, not just the OS.

3) There is always a bottleneck in a computer. I mean, something has to be the slowest part in any given operation. If your question is whether any part of your machine will be consistently and significantly holding another part back, the answer is no. The machine is pretty balanced. If you wanted to improve something I would improve the GPU before I would touch the CPU and RAM.

4) I would look into overclocking manually yourself. It's not as dangerous as you seem to think it is. I'm not sure whether your plan to push a button and get an automatic 4.2GHz overclock is going to work.

5) If I score your system against my personal ideal (understated, quiet, maximizing price/performance) I'd give it a 5 or 6. However, a lot of those are aesthetic preferences. If I just score it on how it will do performance wise and leave the subjective pieces out of it, I'd give it a 7 or 8. It's not a bad build, it just needs to be tightened up here and there.

[iTzHughie]

DSF, in all my life of fourming...You are the most intelligent and cognitively mature person that has ever given me the pleasure of a nice, well organized and constructive reply. As I read your post 7 times with saliva oozing down the side of my lips I thought to myself, your reply is the only one I need for this thread. Thank you.

If you read this. Give me your opinions on how I can make this a 9 out of 10 machine with $1500 and no water cooling, and no oversized aesthetic only case. (I don't like big car engine sized CPU fan heatsinks that's why I went h100)

Also, are you sure 500W is enough? I've seen videos on youtube where people use less intense machines than this running a 850w corsair religiously. Lets assume I had 2 MSI gtx 660ti's now.

That's about 3 more questions for ya.

[Toonation]

Case
Do you need a full size case that is $250 o-o??
NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower $95
24 x 11.8 x 23.5 inches
NZXT Phantom 820 ATX Full Tower $250
28.9 x 12.1 x 27.1 inches

I have a 410 and it fit my 7950 ssd, hdd motherboard and everything I could fit more GPUs in if I wanted too lol BUT i'm air cooled, still I don't seewhy get a $250 case


GPU
Uhh, I'd stay away from the 660 ti. If you are going to OC, the 7950 is great for it in fact I have one , its stock performance should be better than the 660ti. If you downgrade case maybe you should get a GTX 680

Just my 0.02


OS
My BIAS opinion I don't like win8 but you might know something I don't lol

[iTzHughie]

Toonation I did not know there was a female version of the nzxt 820. Thank you very much. I will reconsider and use the saved cash for a gtx 670 or 680. Or maybe SLI 660 ti's?

[poohbear]

Buy the cheapst corsair case u can get, i believe they released an even cheaper one than the 300R, u dont need something big like what ure contemplating. Unless silence is ultra important to u...then go for the cheapest silent series. I emphasize cheapest because the extra money needs to go to a better vid card & ssd. Those are the only 2 week links in ur system.

For "hardcore gaming" u might wanna consider a 7950 or 7970, for price to performance ratio they're untoucable, especially for some of the crazy sales we see these days.

Finally, u really should get an ssd, even a small 64gb one, for the OS & 1-2 of ur favorite games to improve load types & just make ur system snappy in general.

[Toonation]

Here ill post the build I did in May
sorry for copy and past in adv.
Case
NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower USB 3.0 Gaming Case - White

MotherBoard
Gigabyte Intel Z77 LGA1155 with Bluetooth 4.0/Wi-Fi Expansion Card GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB WiFi
Note
Idk about you but I like the motherboard I got because I don't have a wired connection in my room also I can play Wii games on my PC and use wireless controllers and stuff But i was too lazy to buy a wi-fi Bluetooth card thingy separate lol


CPU
same but OCed at 4ghz

GPU
Sapphire 7950 oc ed.
Note
I love it But like I said I'd recommend a GTX 680

Ram
Patriot Gamer 2 Series Division 2 Edition DDR3 8 GB PC3-12800 1600MHz
Note
DO NOT GET THIS RAM, I got it because it was cheap but GET ram 2400mhz

SSD/HDD
Crucial 128 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT128M4SSD2
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003
Note
Remember this was 6 months ago also I got 1tb because I use Sony Vegas and Photoshop a lot but im just listing what i got. SSD partioned for OS and long loading tasks

Drive
Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)
Note
This one and the sony one virtually same price IDK which is better

CPU Cooler

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Note
I'm paranoid of water cooling water + electronics don't match lol but Ik a friend that water cooled for a few years so It is better than air just put it together properly!


PSU

All this runs on a
Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD platforms - CMPSU-650TXV2
Note
So think about PSU

I also bought a Razor keyboard + razor naga and a ASUS VS248H-P 24-Inch Monitor
Total was a few 4100 under $1,500


Heres more $0.02
Now use that $0.04 on your PC

[Ken g6]

Originally Posted by Toonation

GET ram 2400mhz

No, don't. Really, if all you want to do is gaming, don't. RAM faster than 1600MHz has very little effect on gaming performance on recent Intel processors. There are two exceptions: if you're using the onboard graphics, or doing high-performance scientific-type computing, faster RAM might be better. But you probably don't want any 2400MHz RAM you find anyway because it's all (or almost all) 1.65V. Last I heard, exceeding 1.55V can damage Sandy Bridge processors, so this is probably true for Ivy as well.

Another thing you want to avoid in RAM are big fins if your CPU also has a big air cooler. Ian shows us why at the bottom of that page. Water coolers get around this (literally), but you pay a premium for them.

[Durvelle27]

Originally Posted by Toonation

Here ill post the build I did in May
sorry for copy and past in adv.
Case
NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower USB 3.0 Gaming Case - White

MotherBoard
Gigabyte Intel Z77 LGA1155 with Bluetooth 4.0/Wi-Fi Expansion Card GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB WiFi
Note
Idk about you but I like the motherboard I got because I don't have a wired connection in my room also I can play Wii games on my PC and use wireless controllers and stuff But i was too lazy to buy a wi-fi Bluetooth card thingy separate lol


CPU
same but OCed at 4ghz

GPU
Sapphire 7950 oc ed.
Note
I love it But like I said I'd recommend a GTX 680

Ram
Patriot Gamer 2 Series Division 2 Edition DDR3 8 GB PC3-12800 1600MHz
Note
DO NOT GET THIS RAM, I got it because it was cheap but GET ram 2400mhz

SSD/HDD
Crucial 128 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT128M4SSD2
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003
Note
Remember this was 6 months ago also I got 1tb because I use Sony Vegas and Photoshop a lot but im just listing what i got. SSD partioned for OS and long loading tasks

Drive
Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)
Note
This one and the sony one virtually same price IDK which is better

CPU Cooler

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Note
I'm paranoid of water cooling water + electronics don't match lol but Ik a friend that water cooled for a few years so It is better than air just put it together properly!


PSU

All this runs on a
Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD platforms - CMPSU-650TXV2
Note
So think about PSU

I also bought a Razor keyboard + razor naga and a ASUS VS248H-P 24-Inch Monitor
Total was a few 4100 under $1,500


Heres more $0.02
Now use that $0.04 on your PC

I wouldn't recommend a GTX 680 over a GTX 670 as its only 5% faster and cost $100 more. I recommend a HD 7950 or HD 7970.


RIG Recommendation:

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz $219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116504

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 $124.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157293

Scythe SCMG-3100 120mm Mugen 3 Rev. B CPU Cooler $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185175

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231428

SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC128B/WW 2.5" 128GB SSD $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147163

Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136533

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139020

MSI R7950 Twin Frozr 3GD5/OC Radeon HD 7950 3GB $319.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127667

Corsair Carbide Series 300R $74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811139011

Acer GD235HZbid 23.6" Widescreen 1080p LCD 120Hz 3D Monitor $249.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009222

Total: $1,340

[DSF]

Durvelle's build is pretty good, but I wouldn't buy RAM with those fancy (and unnecessary) heatspreaders when you're getting a big cooler.

You sounded interested in my aesthetic preferences in your reply, so I will also say that my choice for the case would be something like the Fractal Design Define R4 or Antec P280 that's designed with silence in mind.

[Blain]

Originally Posted by iTzHughie

What I want YOU to do
1. Tell me what wattage PSU I need
2. Tell me what I'm doing wrong. Do not tell me what you like and dislike...Please provide constructive criticism with actual legitimate reasoning behind it, unbiased. And base them on PERFORMANCE rather than PRICE.
3. Will I suffer from any bottlenecks
4. Whatever else I need to know.
5. Rate this current setup on a scale 1-10 AS IS

You're quite a demanding little sativa user.