My First Build

[entfy]

I am currently finalizing my first Custom Build. I already have the Mouse, Keyboard, Headphones/Speakers, and two Hanspree HF229H monitors.

I plan on spending between $1k-$1.5k. And I plan on building this in under 6 weeks.

I'm not including the cost of the Windows Ultimate as I just bought a copy about 3 weeks ago and decided to wait instead of updating my HP that I currently use.

I'm looking to cut by on whatever it takes to make it cheaper, but the price/performance must make sense as well.

The computer will be used evenly between basic use for school and high end competitive gaming. Mainly playing CS:S(GO), Diablo III, BF3, and SC2. Along with a bit of video and sound editing occasionally. I am working on level and model design for a friend in a game he is developing.

I tend to favor both intel and nVidia.

So with those tasks in mind how do you guys feel about this buy.

Build:

CASE : CoolerMaster HAF 932 Advanced
MOTHERBOARD : ASUS P8Z68-V LE
PSU : Corsair Gaming Series GS 700W
CPU : i5-2500k
GPU : GIGABYTE GV-N570OC-13I Rev2.0 GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB
SSD : SanDisk Ultra SDSSDH-120G-G25 2.5"
HDD : Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM
MEMORY : CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
HEATSINK : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2
OPTICAL DRIVE : ASUS Black 12X BD-ROM

TOTAL COST : $1362.89 (All on NewEgg)

PS: will the Memory fit under that heatsink?

 

[lehtv]

And I plan on building this in under 6 weeks.
...
I'm looking to cut by on whatever it takes to make it cheaper, but the price/performance must make sense as well.

Come back about 1 week before you plan to buy. Will be able to give you specific recommendations for components, as deals come and go.

Some comments:

Case - You won't need a full tower if you're sticking with a single GPU, and with that motherboard, you will. And you should, on a single 1080p monitor.
PSU - Corsair GS series is decent quality but there are always better choices; at the moment, that is the XFX 650W for $60 AR
GPU - In 6 weeks time, you will be able to choose from AMD's and NVIDIA's new 28nm GPUs, so GTX 570 is definitely out of the question
SSD - Don't buy some Sandisk. Buy Crucial M4 or Samsung 830, whichever happens to be cheaper at the time. Or maybe something even better will be out later.
HDD - Good if the price is right (<$100). At the moment, u can get 2TB 7200RPM for $120
Memory - I doubt you will need 16GB. 8GB should be fine, if you run out then buy more. Buy low profile RAM so you don't need to scratch your head about whether coolers will fit (212+ wouldn't). The tall fins only get in the way.
Sound - You'll want a sound card if you do sound editing. I'd prefer it for video editing too. I recommend the Asus Xonar series.

 

[Blain]

MEMORY : CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
HEATSINK : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2

PS: will the Memory fit under that heatsink?

There are different heighth Vengeance DDR3 heatspreaders.
Could you be more specific about which model you're considering?

 

[Charlie98]

There are different heighth Vengeance DDR3 heatspreaders.
Could you be more specific about which model you're considering?

On my Gigabyte board there is a clearance problem with the #4 slot and the 212+, you would have to scoot the fan up about 1/2-3/4" to get tall RAM under it. I would just stick with something low-profile and it becomes a non-issue.

And, along those lines, I would just stick with 2x 4GB for the initial build, you can always add more later if you determine you need it.

That HAF932 is a big case... unless you just want the room; the HAF922 will work fine and save about $40.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I agree. Smaller case. Maybe look at the source 210?

 

[entfy]

Come back about 1 week before you plan to buy. Will be able to give you specific recommendations for components, as deals come and go.

I'm buying over the next 6 weeks to try and get the lowest price possible.

That HAF932 is a big case... unless you just want the room; the HAF922 will work fine and save about $40.

Do you like that case and why?

 

[lehtv]

I'm buying over the next 6 weeks to try and get the lowest price possible.

Yep. For the time being, only grab the best of the best deals, don't lock your money onto something that may be superseded by a better deal closer to the time you're actually physically putting it together. And be very certain about the stuff you buy early on, as newegg has a 30-day return policy for refund/replacement. CPUs and other items where specifically mentioned can't be refunded, only replaced.

So it still applies - I will be able to make more specific parts recommendations closer to the building date. The only exception to this is if some insane deal pops up, and it doesn't apply to graphics cards. Wait for GTX600 series to be released.

 

[mfenn]

I would recommend against spreading purchases over a period as long as 6 weeks. If you get a bum part in week 1, you'll be SOL when you're ready to the PC at the end of week 6. Trust me, you want to RMA to Newegg rather than to the manufacturer.

Anyway, I agree with lehtv on his recommendations. Since you don't need the machine right now, you should see how the HD 7800 and GTX 600 availability shakes out.

 

[Charlie98]

Do you like that case and why?

It's very easy to build in, it's not so overly huge you are stringing cables like telephone lines. I like the big 200mm fans... low RPM = quiet while still moving some air. Well built case IMHO.

After I built in the HAF922, I decided I could have even gone down to the HAF912 and been OK. My biggest gripe is lack of filtration... I have a very dusty house and with the amount of air this thing moves I'm going to have to clean it about every 6 months. YMMV, depending on where it's going.

The finished product, minus a GPU... as you can see, there is gobs of room...

 

[entfy]

It's very easy to build in, it's not so overly huge you are stringing cables like telephone lines. I like the big 200mm fans... low RPM = quiet while still moving some air. Well built case IMHO.

After I built in the HAF922, I decided I could have even gone down to the HAF912 and been OK. My biggest gripe is lack of filtration... I have a very dusty house and with the amount of air this thing moves I'm going to have to clean it about every 6 months. YMMV, depending on where it's going.

The finished product, minus a GPU... as you can see, there is gobs of room...

After doing some research About it and as I think i will want to make the case really clean on the inside the HAFX as a better choice as it has a separate mounting board for the mobo and lost of room to route cables through the back.

 

[lehtv]

It's still not the size that is the important factor. I'd recommend considering Corsair 400R, it has excellent cable management.

You won't need to ever remove the motherboard tray for cleaning purposes.

 

[mfenn]

It's still not the size that is the important factor. I'd recommend considering Corsair 400R, it has excellent cable management.

You won't need to ever remove the motherboard tray for cleaning purposes.

:thumbsup: Exactly. A huge case like the HAF X can be just as hard to route cables in as a really small case, but for different reasons. Usually when you're routing cables, you have to take a somewhat circuitous route through the case. The distances involved in a big case mean that you don't have the extra cable length necessary to do this all the time, especially for things like the ATX12V cable.

 

[Charlie98]

After doing some research About it and as I think i will want to make the case really clean on the inside the HAFX as a better choice as it has a separate mounting board for the mobo and lost of room to route cables through the back.

OK... here is the back...

...and understand this isn't where I want it, either. I had just added an extra HDD and replaced the card reader, so that gaggle of wires in the middle will be gone when I remod it for the GPU. It's also with a non-modular PSU with enough wire to wrap around the planet... twice.

 

[Rvenger]

Corsair Carbide 300r. I did get the front panel issue fixed.


http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2227939

 

[entfy]

Okay well after much thought about the case I have decided to go with the Phantom 410. It looks to have a great airflow through the case with all the fans installed (Another 120mm and 140mm needed...

[youtube]XTY4fD6cHss[/youtube]

Found that I really like this case a lot and with my power supply and gtx 570 with a H80 push pull h2o cooling the i2500k I don't think that I will have many issues with the cooling as I currently have.

 

[lehtv]

Yeah, youtube linking isn't supported here. Just use a standard link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTY4fD6cHss