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Mac-User: Building My First Gaming PC

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DR525

Junior Member
Hi y'all--my brother and I are looking to switch over to Windows and build our first gaming PC from scratch. It will mainly be used for gaming (both light and more demanding games i.e. Bioshock Infinite, Guild Wars 2) but my brother may also use it for some photo/video editing at some point. We've mostly figured out what parts we'd like to use, but any feedback especially regarding compatibility would be greatly appreciated.

Our budget is ~$1200 (not including monitor, keyboard, mouse which we haven't picked out yet). I'd say a little wiggle room is there as long as we can try not to break $1300.

All parts will be bought and shipped within the US. We have no brand preferences, just looking to get the best bang-for-buck performance wise. We don't plan to overclock, so you'll notice we left out a dedicated CPU cooler and OC-version CPU. We probably intend to play at 1080p, unless it's possible to go higher within our budget. We plan to order the parts within the next week or two and build during this month (August). We will also need to purchase Windows 7 or 8.

I hope that gets all the basics out of the way! Here is our part list, and again, thank you for any suggestions and feedback. This is our first attempt at this so we just want to make sure all components will work with each other:

Case: NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower USB 3.0 Gaming Case - Black ($84.50)
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 6 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637I53570 ($213.98)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Intel Z77 LGA 1155 AMD CrossFireX/NVIDIA SLI W/ HDMI,DVI,DispayPort Dual UEFI BIOS ATX Motherboard GA-Z77X-UD3H ($149.99)
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL9 @1.5V UDIMM 240-Pin Memory BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00 ($64.18)
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 760 GDDR5-2GB 2xDVI/HDMI/DP OC WINDFORCE 3X Graphics Cards GV-N760OC-2GD REV2.0 ($259.99)
Power Supply: Corsair CX Series 600 Watt ATX/EPS Modular 80 PLUS Bronze ATX12V/EPS12V 552 Power Supply CX600M ($96.99)
Hard Drive: Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5-Inch HDD (Constellation ES) 1TB 7200RPM 6Gbps SAS 128 MB Cache Internal Bare Drive ST1000NM0023 ($123.74)
Solid State Drive: Samsung Electronics 840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch 128 SATA_6_0_gb Solid State Drive MZ-7PD128BW ($137.68)
Optical Drive: Samsung 24x SATA DVD¡ARW Internal Drive without Software, Black SH-224BB/BEBE ($21.73)
Operating System: Windows 7 or 8 ($90)

TOTAL: $1,242.78

P.S. Any suggestions for monitors in the $200-400 range would be very welcome as well. Thanks again!
 
Welcome to the forums! 😀 (Gosh, I've been wanting to do that for a while now 😛)

First of all, there's a nice sale going on for the i5-4670 (~5-10% better stock speed performance than the 3570) on newegg. It's $209.99 with promo code EMCXNTX59. There's also a combo going on with the 4670 and 1 TB Seagate Barracuda for $271.98. You save $65.74 by picking this combo. However, you'll have to change the motherboard since the one you picked isn't compatible with the i5 4670. A MSI Z87 will do for $109.99 and free shipping. Also, you can save more by getting a Seasonic 620w PSU for $64.99. Seasonic makes PSUs for Corsair and other companies, so you can't go wrong with them 😀. The RAM can also be switched for a very reliable G-SKILL Ripjaws X 8 GB RAM for $59.99 with promo code EMCXMXV22. In total, you save $141.93. With these extra funds, you can upgrade your GPU to a far more powerful GTX 770. There's one from MSI for $399.99 that comes overclocked to 1198 MHz, and has SC:BL bundled with it. In the end, you'll get far more performance for only a few bucks more 😀

Links:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127741
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151096
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231428
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130694
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1397418
 
Hello and welcome!

A few things jump out to me here, you're spending a lot of money on enterprise-class HDDs and pro-quality SSDs for a machine will be doing mostly gaming. As a general rule of thumb, the only people who need to buy enterprise-class hardware are people who KNOW that they need enterprise hardware. Moreover, you've picked an ivy-bridge CPU+MoBo, but there isn't much reason to go with last year's CPU model from intel if you aren't getting a steep discount as compared with the most recent (haswell, i5-4670) generation.

Have you looked at anything like mfenn's weekly mid-range build yet?

In your budget range, I would probably build exactly that, and add in a windows license. If you wanted to spend the full 1200, at that point you could push the GPU up to a GTX 770, but you're also looking at somewhat diminished returns at that point for 1080/1200p gaming. Maybe a second HDD for storing media assets for your brother's video/photo editing separate from games/general use stuff.

As far as monitors go, personally I am in love with IPS panels in general, and in particular, my dell u2412m but I've also heard good things about various 120Hz monitors 😛.
 
Just want to throw this out there. At anytime your resale value of a K chip will be better than a Non K. If you have a Micro Center nearby you can get the 4670K for 199$ in store pickup only.
 
Thank you guys very much for your advice and for welcoming me! A month ago we knew nothing about any of this, so I appreciate you bearing with our noob mistakes. The only reason we originally decided to go Ivy-Bridge was that Haswell apparently was more expensive (due to seemingly higher motherboard prices), but you guys have proven us wrong.

@Ray, congrats on your 100th post! thank you for the insight on how to be money-efficient, I had been trying to come up with a way to make the GPU upgrade possible.

@Essence, thanks for pointing me towards that weekly build, that's a great reference. It's interesting that you point out we used enterprise parts, it hadn't even occurred to me because my brother simply picked parts based on what got great reviews online (see? more noob mistakes).

@BTRY, we actually hadn't considered resale value--my brother will be going off to college in three years so I'm not sure how much upgrading we will have the chance (and money) to put in. Sounds like we should try to educate ourselves in the resale market in the meantime. Thanks for pointing that out!
 
I would focus on getting the parts you want at a price you can afford. Resale value is a nice bonus, but I wouldn't worry about it overly much.

Edit: One other point. There is nothing wrong with the power supply you chose, but you can probably get a significantly lower price if you look at other PSUs in the same class. There's this funky dynamic with power supplies where there's almost always at least one high quality unit on sale in every wattage range if you're willing to be flexible on brand and model. Exactly which unit(s) are getting the most aggressive pricing varies from week to week, so post right before you plan to order and the deal hounds on here can help you pick the best value.
 
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4gb GTX 760 will likely be more futureproof ($289-$320), if you intend to keep the system as is for a while.
 
DR525 said:
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower USB 3.0 Gaming Case - Black ($84.50)
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 6 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637I53570 ($213.98)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Intel Z77 LGA 1155 AMD CrossFireX/NVIDIA SLI W/ HDMI,DVI,DispayPort Dual UEFI BIOS ATX Motherboard GA-Z77X-UD3H ($149.99)
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL9 @1.5V UDIMM 240-Pin Memory BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00 ($64.18)
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 760 GDDR5-2GB 2xDVI/HDMI/DP OC WINDFORCE 3X Graphics Cards GV-N760OC-2GD REV2.0 ($259.99)
Power Supply: Corsair CX Series 600 Watt ATX/EPS Modular 80 PLUS Bronze ATX12V/EPS12V 552 Power Supply CX600M ($96.99)
Hard Drive: Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5-Inch HDD (Constellation ES) 1TB 7200RPM 6Gbps SAS 128 MB Cache Internal Bare Drive ST1000NM0023 ($123.74)
Solid State Drive: Samsung Electronics 840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch 128 SATA_6_0_gb Solid State Drive MZ-7PD128BW ($137.68)
Optical Drive: Samsung 24x SATA DVD¡ARW Internal Drive without Software, Black SH-224BB/BEBE ($21.73)
Operating System: Windows 7 or 8 ($90)

TOTAL: $1,242.78

P.S. Any suggestions for monitors in the $200-400 range would be very welcome as well. Thanks again!
Click to expand...

My thoughts:
- Case: Good
- CPU/Mobo: There are two issues here (1) you've got an expensive overclocker's mobo and an non-overclocking CPU and (2) you're paying Haswell prices for Ivy Bridge parts. I'd grab the i5 4670K + ASRock Z87 Pro3 combo which is overclockable Haswell for less than you're paying now (even before rebate).
- RAM: Good, but this Team 9-9-9-24 DDR3 1600 1.5V is functionally the same and less expensive.
- GPU: The GTX 760 is IMHO a bad deal at $260 when a 7950 3GB is $241 AR AP
- PSU: $97 is way too much to be paying for a CX600M. That's Seasonic M12II-platfor territory (XFX XXX 650W $90 AR). Though personally I'd ditch the modularity and get the Rosewill Hive 650W for $50 AR AP.
- HDD : That's a SAS drive and straight up will not work with your motherboard. Get a standard SATA drive like a WD Blue WD Blue 1TB for $6.
- SSD : The 840 Pro costs too much for what it is IMHO. For that money, I'd rather have the super-consistent Sandisk Extreme II 120GB.
- ODD : Fine, but the comparable LG costs a few dollars less.
 
I've been meaning to ask you mfenn: Are heat spreaders important? You always choose that same RAM, and it doesn't come with them.
 
RayTheKing said:
I've been meaning to ask you mfenn: Are heat spreaders important? You always choose that same RAM, and it doesn't come with them.
Click to expand...

The Team RAM does happen to have heatspreaders, they're just not super tall monstrosities. But no, they aren't necessary or important.
 
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