Advice on a Gaming PC Build

[Aeronys]

Hi there. I was originally planning on buying a pre-built gaming PC, but after doing a lot of looking around, it seemed that the only way to get the kind of PC I'm looking for at a reasonable price is to build it myself. I've never built a PC before, so I'd really appreciate some advice on the build I've come up with. I really don't want to do something that doesn't make sense due to my own ignorance and lack of experience.


Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as I'm confident in what parts to buy.
Budget Range: $1000-$1500 before rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming is the main priority
Parts Not Required: All peripherals. I only need the system itself.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca Open to other sites as long as they can ship to Canada.
Country: Canada
Overclocking: Maybe. Right now I don't really know how, but am interested in eventually learning.
SLI or Crossfire: Later. I only want one GPU for now, but expect to eventually get a 2nd when I feel it's necessary.
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
Additional Comments: I'd like to strike a good balance between power and cost efficiency.


Here's the build I've come up with. I'm very open to any tweaks or suggestions. For all I know, I may have done some things that don't make any sense at all.

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded USB 3.0

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52500 ($214.99)

GPU: EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ($349.99)

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($149.99)

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL ($46.99)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($119.99)

PSU: Rosewill Xtreme Series RX850-S-B 850W Continuous @40°C ,80 PLUS Certified, ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91, SLI Ready CrossFire Ready, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7, i5" Power Supply ($99.99)

Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM ($20.99)

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM ($114.99)

Cooling: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 ($34.99)

Other: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM ($12.99)

All told, this comes out to $1285.89, $1,407.10 after shipping and taxes. Does this PC make sense, and is the price reasonable for the parts? Am I missing anything I need?

The things I'm most concerned about right now are the motherboard, the case, and the power supply. I know very little about motherboards, and have no idea what I need. I just went with one that I had a good review, but I don't know if it's compatible with everything else. Same deal with the case. I think the PSU makes sense, but am not entirely sure. Is 850w good for eventually adding a second Geforce GTX 570 to run in SLI?

Thanks for your help.

 

[lehtv]

Case
I'd strongly recommend against Antec 900. There are so many better cases out there for that price. Also, shipping costs for cases from newegg.ca are sick, order from ncix or somewhere.
Antec 1100 $120
Corsair 400R $100
Fractal Design Arc Midi $100
Cooler Master Storm Enforcer $90
Fractal Design Core 3000 $70
Silverstone Raven RV02B-W $145 AR

CPU
i5-2500K $225 (K = unlocked multiplier = overclockable)

GPU
Can you wait a few weeks on this? I'd recommend the Radeon 7850. It's not out yet, but the reviews are and it is a $250 graphics card with 2GB VRAM, performs nearly as well as GTX570, overclocks very well and consumes only 110 watts (compared to 200W for GTX570). You'd only need a 650W unit to crossfire it and get same performance as GTX 570 SLI. But that will most likely never happen, 1080p is handled fine with a single GPU.

Mobo
Good, but for $150 this is better: Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 $150 AR

RAM
Good, but $10 shipping? Try this Mushkin Silverline 8GB $44 from canada computers

HDD
Good, but only $100 on direct canada.

PSU
Don't buy Rosewill PSUs, they are not as good as Antec, Corsair and others. For 7850 crossfire: XFX 650W $60 AR from NCIX. I would grab it ASAP. Made by Seasonic, it's highly reliable, quiet, capable of what it says (650w continous power).

Optical Good.

Cooling Good, but $31 on NCIX and reasonable shipping.

Thermal Compound Unneeded, Hyper 212+ comes with paste.

Your build is only missing an SSD. On your budget, the build would not be complete without one. Here: Crucial M4 128gb $160 (insane deal, i would grab ASAP)

 

[fralexandr]

ncix was already mentioned
tigerdirect usually has windows 7 for cheaper and the hyper 212+ is $20AMIR
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...932&CatId=4622
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...&sku=C283-2054

 

[T_Yamamoto]

ncix was already mentioned
tigerdirect usually has windows 7 for cheaper and the hyper 212+ is $20AMIR
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...932&CatId=4622
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...&sku=C283-2054

good find

 

[Aeronys]

Thanks so much for all the help. This is some great advice. Here's what I've changed so far:

CPU
i5-2500K $225 (K = unlocked multiplier = overclockable)

Good call. I actually had planned to do this, but must've clicked the wrong one by mistake.

GPU
Can you wait a few weeks on this? I'd recommend the Radeon 7850. It's not out yet, but the reviews are and it is a $250 graphics card with 2GB VRAM, performs nearly as well as GTX570, overclocks very well and consumes only 110 watts (compared to 200W for GTX570). You'd only need a 650W unit to crossfire it and get same performance as GTX 570 SLI. But that will most likely never happen, 1080p is handled fine with a single GPU.

Great advice. I'll probably go with the Radeon 7870 over the 7850 though. Will a 650W PSU still work with the 7870 or should I go up to 750 or 850?

Mobo
Good, but for $150 this is better: Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 $150 AR

Switching to Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 as advised. Trusting you on this, as I still don't know anything about motherboards

RAM
Good, but $10 shipping? Try this Mushkin Silverline 8GB $44 from canada computers

The RAM I've chosen doesn't actually add anything to the shipping cost, since I'm ordering it with a lot of other items. So the shipping is essential free on the RAM. I'll be sticking with the RAM I originally selected unless there's another reason for me to switch.

HDD
Good, but only $100 on direct canada.

Ordering this from direct canada now. Good find.

Thermal Compound Unneeded, Hyper 212+ comes with paste.

Thermal compound dropped.

tigerdirect usually has windows 7 for cheaper and the hyper 212+ is $20AMIR
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...932&CatId=4622
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...&sku=C283-2054

Ordering these from tigerdirect now, as advised.

Your build is only missing an SSD. On your budget, the build would not be complete without one. Here: Crucial M4 128gb $160 (insane deal, i would grab ASAP)

I was hesitant about getting an SSD at first, due to the cost, but a few people have strongly recommended it, and I've been convinced. Ordering this from NCIX. That does look like a great deal.





Those are the changes I've made and feel good about so far. I still have a couple of questions about the PSU and the case though.

PSU
Don't buy Rosewill PSUs, they are not as good as Antec, Corsair and others. For 7850 crossfire: XFX 650W $60 AR from NCIX. I would grab it ASAP. Made by Seasonic, it's highly reliable, quiet, capable of what it says (650w continous power).

This looks good, and I'll definitely be moving away from Rosewill, but if I want to run 2 7870s in crossfire instead of 7850s, is 650w still enough?

Case
I'd strongly recommend against Antec 900. There are so many better cases out there for that price. Also, shipping costs for cases from newegg.ca are sick, order from ncix or somewhere.
Antec 1100 $120
Corsair 400R $100
Fractal Design Arc Midi $100
Cooler Master Storm Enforcer $90
Fractal Design Core 3000 $70
Silverstone Raven RV02B-W $145 AR

I definitely will not get the Antec 900. A couple other people have recommended against it as well. I'm learning towards the Antec 1100 right now, but I'm really not sure why. I think it's just because it looks nicer than the others to me, but I don't want to get the 2nd-most expensive one listed just for aesthetics. Do I gain anything significant over the cheaper cases? Do I lose anything significant by not getting the Silverstone?

Thanks so much for all the help and advice guys. I really appreciate it

 

[lehtv]

if I want to run 2 7870s in crossfire instead of 7850s, is 650w still enough?

Yes, it'll be enough. 7870 does require two PCIe connectors though, even with its low power consumption of 130W. Luckily the XFX unit has four PCIe connectors. Other PSUs would also work two but they'd need adapters.

650W is enough for 2x 7870. 130W (GPU1) + 130W (GPU2) + 90W (CPU @ stock) +50W (the rest) = 400W is roughly your peak power consumption (which practically never happens). Plenty of room for overclocking.

Do I gain anything significant over the cheaper cases? Do I lose anything significant by not getting the Silverstone?

The differences between the cases are mostly in stock cooling and looks/design. They are all well built and they all have decent connectivity and cable management. Core 3000 and Raven lack USB3.0 on the front panel which is a shame as the Gigabyte board supports it. But that may not be a problem at all.

Core 3000 is easily the best value. It comes with good stock cooling (2x 140mm + 120mm, with a fan controller). It looks a bit tight for dual GPU setups but with such low TDP GPUs and the option to add a side panel fan, it'd work fine. Antec 1100 and Raven are much more spacious, while Enforcer, 400R and Arc Midi are in between. I'd probably pick Fractal Design Arc Midi as I'm very happy with my Define R3; and I wasn't so happy with the original Antec 900. The 1100 is probably a different beast though and it does look amazing.

 

[mkmitch]

Might add that Newegg has the CM 690 advanced II on sale right now for $69 and its a great case too.

 

[Dasda]

Where do you live? If you have any of the these vendors near your house, just take your parts list with the lowest prices from authorized dealers and price match it.

TigerDirect, NCIX, Canada Computers, and most businesses today have price match policies. Order everything from one place that makes the most sense to you logistically. I prefer driving to a local store and walking out with the stuff in my hand. I live in a area where I have Canada Computers, NCIX, and TigerDirect all within 15 minute drive. Newegg warehouse is same but they don't allow you to pickup so I take my business elsewhere. But if that isn't a option for you, order from a site that isn't going to kill you on shipping. There are many like directcanada and bestdirect that will not charge you for shipping for orders over $50.

That build looks really good btw. Good luck and please post pics after you are done

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Try to go for a 7870 if you can, it is a lot faster, ESP at stock, it is like comparing a 6950 to 580

 

[Dave3000]

Have you thought about getting the i5 2550k instead. It does not cost much more than the i5 2500 and is slightly faster than the 2500.

 

[Aeronys]

I've almost decided everything now, and will post up my finalized build soon. I just have one more question first.

I was looking on Newegg's daily deals, and today they have a Mushkin 120GB SSD for $134.99. Should I switch to this for SSD or is there a good reason for me to stick with the Crucial M4 128g at $159.99? I've already made an order with NCIX so I won't lose my chance, but I've put it on hold, so I can still change it if I want.

Where do you live? If you have any of the these vendors near your house, just take your parts list with the lowest prices from authorized dealers and price match it.

TigerDirect, NCIX, Canada Computers, and most businesses today have price match policies. Order everything from one place that makes the most sense to you logistically. I prefer driving to a local store and walking out with the stuff in my hand. I live in a area where I have Canada Computers, NCIX, and TigerDirect all within 15 minute drive. Newegg warehouse is same but they don't allow you to pickup so I take my business elsewhere. But if that isn't a option for you, order from a site that isn't going to kill you on shipping. There are many like directcanada and bestdirect that will not charge you for shipping for orders over $50.

That build looks really good btw. Good luck and please post pics after you are done

Unfortunately, I live in Montreal and there aren't really any good PC stores around here. On top of that, anything I save on shipping I'd lose on PST, so online is really the way to go for me. Thanks for the tip about directcanada, I've switched most of my part orders to them now.

 

[Aeronys]

Oops, missed my chance for the Mushkin 120 GB SSD. All sold out now. Ah well.

Here's my final build:

Case: Antec Eleven Hundred Performance Gaming Case XL-ATX 3X5.25 2X2.5 6X3.5IN 2XUSB3 INT No PSU ($99.69)

CPU: Intel Core I5 2500K Quad Core Unlocked Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB ($219.69)

GPU: Radeon 7870 (Estimated $349.99)

Motherboard: [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 Z68 DDR3 1PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI HDMI SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] ($149.99)[/FONT]

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory ($44.69)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gbps 3.5IN Internal Hard Drive - OEM ($99.99)

PSU: Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($79.99)

Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black ($19.24)

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT SP1 Dvd Oem ($111.17)

Cooling: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366/1155/1156/2011 120MM ($29.69)

SSD : [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Crucial M4 SSD Micron C400 128GB 2.5IN Solid State Disk Flash Drive SATA3 6Gbps[/FONT] ($159.99)

In some cases it might look like my cost of items went up, but this is because I actually end up saving on shipping and/or taxes by buying from these vendors. This totals to 1364.12, $1466.86 after taxes and shipping. You guys have done a great job of improving my system while adding just under $100 to my cost. Especially impressive considering this includes the addition of SSD.

I've already ordered the items from NCIX to take advantage of the deal on the SDD. I'm going to wait a bit before ordering the directcanada items in case any deals pop up, since I have to wait on the Radeon 7870 being released anyway.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. You've really helped me out and I appreciate it. I will update with pics when the system is built

 

[lehtv]

Looks great. That's a lot of PC for $1500 CAD. However I just realize that the XFX PSU may not have a long enough CPU cable to route it behind the motherboard. 55cm long cable, 52cm tall case, and here you can see how a 70cm cable is routed. It would be easier to manage in a smaller case, however if it turns out not to be long enough, I'd buy an extension instead of changing the PSU or the case.

While you wait for the 7870 to be released you can of course use the PC with integrated graphics for everything but gaming.

 

[Aeronys]

Ah, thanks, good to know. Now I won't panic if the cable doesn't reach Good point about being able to use the PC without the Radeon too, I hadn't thought about that. I'll go ahead and order the rest of the parts today. That'll also give me a head-start for when I do get the Radeon 7870.

 

[mfenn]

Ah, thanks, good to know. Now I won't panic if the cable doesn't reach Good point about being able to use the PC without the Radeon too, I hadn't thought about that. I'll go ahead and order the rest of the parts today. That'll also give me a head-start for when I do get the Radeon 7870.

I assume you mean 7870 instead of 7970 in your list above? You can save $10 on the RAM by going with some normal DDR3 1333 instead of the Ripjaws. There is essentially no measurable performance difference.

Also, the 1100 is pretty damn big physically. That's not (necessarily) a bad thing, but don't expect it to fit in all the same places that your typical Dell or HP tower would.

 

[Aeronys]

Yeah, I mean the 7870, thanks. Fixed it in my list. Good advice with the RAM, but my order has already been processed. Ah well. The size of the Antec 1100 shouldn't be a problem. It's going to go either on top of or next to my desk, so I won't be trying to squeeze it into any tight places.

 

[lehtv]

There is a measurable difference between 1333 and 1600, but you need to actually test it to notice. And the difference on average 1 or 2 percent, roughly in proportion to the percentage difference in the cost of the core components, the performance of which the faster RAM adds to, so it's not money wasted going with ripjaws.

 

[Aeronys]

Made a couple of slight changes. Found my case for significantly cheaper at directcanada.com, and changed my old PSU choice to this. I know technically I was fine with the other PSU, but this one seems to be higher quality, more reliable, and on sale for a great price ($60 off). I've updated my prices to reflect the changes.

 

[Dasda]

Made a couple of slight changes. Found my case for significantly cheaper at directcanada.com, and changed my old PSU choice to this. I know technically I was fine with the other PSU, but this one seems to be higher quality, more reliable, and on sale for a great price ($60 off). I've updated my prices to reflect the changes.

In that price range, you might want to look at Antec TP New-550 and Corsair HX650. Corsair is fully modular and Antec is a hybird that only has main wires already attached. This really helps when doing cable management. I personally would not buy a PSU today unless it was modular.

Otherwise that XFX PSU lehtv suggested is very good as it is actually made by Seasonic.

 

[lehtv]

What makes you think it is higher quality or more reliable? HCG-750, unlike it's little brothers, is a Delta manufactured unit, while XFX is a Seasonic. I'd say the XFX is more reliable, however it's not a significant difference, both are reliable enough to the point of it not mattering. If you want 750W, XFX has one for $90 / $70 AR. Won't really matter, either is fine.

 

[Aeronys]

What makes you think it is higher quality or more reliable? HCG-750, unlike it's little brothers, is a Delta manufactured unit, while XFX is a Seasonic. I'd say the XFX is more reliable, however it's not a significant difference, both are reliable enough to the point of it not mattering. If you want 750W, XFX has one for $90 / $70 AR. Won't really matter, either is fine.

Mainly from reading a bunch of user reviews from different sites. Far more users seemed to have problems with the XFX Pro650 dying after a couple months than they did with the Antec HCG750. Looking at professional reviews though, the test results seem to be near-identical, so maybe I'm wrong. I'm no expert.

 

[Dasda]

Mainly from reading a bunch of user reviews from different sites. Far more users seemed to have problems with the XFX Pro650 dying after a couple months than they did with the Antec HCG750. Looking at professional reviews though, the test results seem to be near-identical, so maybe I'm wrong. I'm no expert.

Take a look at corsair hx 650. Usually can be had for $90-$100 when on sale. Currently $110 at NCIX and DirectCanada. You have the room to fit it in your budget.

At the end of the day, get the parts that will make you feel safe/happy. I can tell you that lehtv's recommendation is good and many here have built their systems with it.

But if you are not comfortable, just get something you are happy with so you can enjoy your system to the fullest. You don't want to spend more than $1000 and not feel happy trying to save a few bucks here and there.

 

[lehtv]

Here's another Seasonic design: NZXT Hale82 650W for $70 AR. Semi-modular, as opposed to XFX 650w - but it retains the four PCIe connectors needed for 7870 crossfire. A nice bonus is that the CPU power cable is sickeningly long, 70cm in fact. The 750W model was used in techpowerup's review of the Antec 1100, I posted a picture of it earlier. I think the modularity and long CPU cable make this easily a better choice than XFX or Antec.

 

[Aeronys]

That's a nice rebate on the Hale82, and the modularity would be nice. Unforutnately, the last of the parts I was waiting on, including the PSU, shipped earlier today, so it's too late for me to change it now.

On the bright side, the Antec 1100 has a good cable management system, so that should deal well with the non-modularity of the HCG750, and the CPU power cable on this PSU is 65cm, so I should be good there too.

 

[lehtv]

the last of the parts I was waiting on, including the PSU, shipped earlier today, so it's too late for me to change it now.

No it's not, you can still order the Hale and return the Antec if you want.

However do as you please. Let us know if u run into problems putting it together (and post here once it's ready - with pics! )