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Need Advice on Components: Building My PC

J

joleebindoo

Junior Member
Greetings!
With Black Friday around the corner, I have started looking for components at the best (read cheapest and most bang for the buck!) rates to build a good gaming rig. I have also added the prices I am getting currently and some prices are Black Friday deals. I will be highly grateful if all you cool members can take a look at my proposed parts and share your knowledge and advice.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
This is going to be my personal gaming rig. Plus I am an amateur photographer, so a lot of photo and some light video editing.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
My budget is around $1500 excluding Monitors, as I already have the monitors that I need.
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
I am in the US and will be buying all my parts in the US itself.
4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
I like AMD because they are comparatively always cheaper than Intel and give out very close features if not equal.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
The whole computer, I am building from ground up except for the Monitors (Two Acer 24 inch 1080p monitors).

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
For as long as I can run the latest games without the need to overclock, but may down the line overclock to keep up with the newer gaming titles.

8. What resolution will you be using?
2 displays at 1080p resolution.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Right now, to get the Black Friday deals.


X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
No, I have all the software I already need.


My Original System:

Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 AM3+ Motherboard - ATX, Socket AM3+, AMD 990FX/SB950, DDR3 1866 MHz, SATA III (6Gb/s), RAID, 8-CH Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, PCIe 2.0, CrossFireX Ready ($184.99)

CPU: AMD FD8350FRHKBOX FX-8350 Eight-Core 4GHz AM3+ Processor - AM3+, Eight-Core, 4GHz, 16MB, 125W, Unlocked ($199.99)

Graphics Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB DDR5 Video Card and SLEEPING DOGS/HITMAN/FAR CRY 3 and 20 % Off MEDAL OF HONOR COUPON Bundle ($349.99)

Case: Cooler Master RC-942-KKN1 HAF X ATX Full Tower Computer Case - ATX, 230mm Red LED Fan, USB 2.0/3.0, 9x Expansion Slots. ($139.99)

Power Supply: Cooler Master RS850-AMBAJ3-US Silent Pro M 850W Power Supply - ATX, Modular, 850 Watt, 80+ Bronze Certified, SLI, 135mm Ultra Silent Fan ($79.99)

RAM: <Brand Name> 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 SDRAM 1833MHz ($70)

Primary HDD: OCZ VTX3MI-25SAT3-240G Vertex 3 Max IOPS 2.5" Solid State Drive - 240GB, SATA III 6Gbps ($159.99)

Secondary HDD: 2TB Seagate Barracuda ($70)

Liquid CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 High Performance Liquid Cooler ($39.99)

Optical Drive &#8211; 1: LG BH14NS40 14x Blu-Ray Burner ($79.99)

Optical Drive &#8211; 2: Generic DVD/CD Burner ($20)

Monitors: I already have 2 Acer 24 inch 1080p monitors,so wont be buying or upgrading these at this time!


A Big Thank You in advance!

My Updated System:

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($104.99)

CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K 3.50GHz Quad Core Processor ($249.99)

Graphics Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB DDR5 Video Card and SLEEPING DOGS/HITMAN/FAR CRY 3 and 20 % Off MEDAL OF HONOR COUPON Bundle ($349.99)

Case: Cooler Master RC-942-KKN1 HAF X ATX Full Tower Computer Case - ATX, 230mm Red LED Fan, USB 2.0/3.0, 9x Expansion Slots. ($139.99)

Power Supply: Cooler Master RS850-AMBAJ3-US Silent Pro M 850W Power Supply - ATX, Modular, 850 Watt, 80+ Bronze Certified, SLI, 135mm Ultra Silent Fan ($79.99)

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL10D-16GBXL ($59.99)

Primary HDD: 256GB SSD (Samsung)

Secondary HDD: 3TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 Hard Drive (ST3000DM001) ($89.99)

Liquid CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 High Performance Liquid Cooler ($39.99)

Optical Drive &#8211; 1: LG BH14NS40 14x Blu-Ray Burner ($79.99)

Optical Drive &#8211; 2: Generic DVD/CD Burner ($20)

Monitors: I already have 2 Acer 24 inch 1080p monitors, so won&#8217;t be buying or upgrading these at this time!
 
Last edited:
If you're looking for bang for the buck, you're doing a few things wrong.

You're overspending on the motherboard by a factor of almost 2. With your budget (or what I can gather of it from the prices you listed) you should be going Intel. 16GB is not bang for the buck for a midrange gaming rig, and neither is an 850W power supply.

All of that said, you really need to answer the questions in the sticky at the top of the forum before you get more concrete advice.
 
DSF said:
If you're looking for bang for the buck, you're doing a few things wrong.

You're overspending on the motherboard by a factor of almost 2. With your budget (or what I can gather of it from the prices you listed) you should be going Intel. 16GB is not bang for the buck for a midrange gaming rig, and neither is an 850W power supply.

All of that said, you really need to answer the questions in the sticky at the top of the forum before you get more concrete advice.
Click to expand...

I agree, mobo + cpu + heatsink are terrible bang for the buck. If gaming is main purpose of your rig, then forget about AMD. Get highest clocked i5 instead, and a mid-range mobo.
 
DSF said:
If you're looking for bang for the buck, you're doing a few things wrong.

You're overspending on the motherboard by a factor of almost 2. With your budget (or what I can gather of it from the prices you listed) you should be going Intel. 16GB is not bang for the buck for a midrange gaming rig, and neither is an 850W power supply.

All of that said, you really need to answer the questions in the sticky at the top of the forum before you get more concrete advice.
Click to expand...

Thanks DSF for your advice. I was wondering to sort of future-proof the system. I know there is no such thing as Future Proof. But I wanted a fast architecture, as in a few months, when I have more reserve of money, I will probably add an extra Cross-Fire card or two! Does this setup make sense then?
 
postmortemIA said:
I agree, mobo + cpu + heatsink are terrible bang for the buck. If gaming is main purpose of your rig, then forget about AMD. Get highest clocked i5 instead, and a mid-range mobo.
Click to expand...

Thanks PostmortemIA for your advice. So you mean a Intel i5-3570k @ 3.4 GHz? What about an i7 then?
 
joleebindoo said:
Thanks PostmortemIA for your advice. So you mean a Intel i5-3570k @ 3.4 GHz? What about an i7 then?
Click to expand...

If you do photo-/video-editing you should DEFINITELY get an i7 with HT. No excuses. HT provides up to 30% extra performance in video-encoding alone.

I would say i7-3770K(or non-K, the Z77 allows limited overclocking of the non-K to 3.8GHz + turbo) + Z77 board + fastest GFX that fits in your budget (forget Crossfire/SLI nothing but headaches, single GPU is much better). 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM should be fine, no reason to get faster RAM on an Intel platform.
 
Insert_Nickname said:
If you do photo-/video-editing you should DEFINITELY get an i7 with HT. No excuses. HT provides up to 30% extra performance in video-encoding alone.

I would say i7-3770K(or non-K, the Z77 allows limited overclocking of the non-K to 3.8GHz + turbo) + Z77 board + fastest GFX that fits in your budget (forget Crossfire/SLI nothing but headaches, single GPU is much better). 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM should be fine, no reason to get faster RAM on an Intel platform.
Click to expand...

Thanks Insert_Nickname for the sound advice. I will get started on looking up the prices and Black Friday deals for the configuration you just mentioned.
 
joleebindoo - the above posters are correct - your choices are not really ideal.

(1) Intel i5-3570k - $210
+
(2) AsRock z77 Extreme4 - $135

= less overall than you were spending on AMD with much higher gaming performance.

As for the PSU, go for an Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, or Rosewill PSU. For 7970 crossfire down the line (dual cards, not triple cards), you'll need at least 750w. This would work: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139030

Also, I don't think the Haf X is the best choice on cases. If you want full size, try something like the Antec 1200 - even the Antec 1100 should be big enough.

Oh, and as for RAM, now that 16GB is so cheap, buy it. Lots of people will say you don't need it, but I too am an amateur photographer, and when editing RAW files in my 64-bit photo editor, I use over 8GB of system RAM. I don't believe hyperthreading helps much with photo editing (5-10%), by the way, although it would be crucial for video editing. You can see all of that here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/701?vs=551

So, in your case and with your budget, I'd spring for the 3770k. If you happen to be anywhere near a Microcenter, you can get one for $230, otherwise it's closer to $300.
 
Last edited:
Termie said:
joleebindoo - the above posters are correct - your choices are not really ideal.

(1) Intel i5-3570k - $210
+
(2) AsRock z77 Extreme4 - $135

= less overall than you were spending on AMD with much higher gaming performance.

As for the PSU, go for an Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, or Rosewill PSU. For 7970 crossfire down the line (dual cards, not triple cards), you'll need at least 750w. This would work: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139030

Also, I don't think the Haf X is the best choice on cases. If you want full size, try something like the Antec 1200 - even the Antec 1100 should be big enough.

Oh, and as for RAM, now that 16GB is so cheap, buy it. Lots of people will say you don't need it, but I too am an amateur photographer, and when editing RAW files in my 64-bit photo editor, I use over 8GB of system RAM. I don't believe hyperthreading helps much with photo editing (5-10%), by the way, although it would be crucial for video editing. You can see all of that here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/701?vs=551

So, in your case and with your budget, I'd spring for the 3770k. If you happen to be anywhere near a Microcenter, you can get one for $230, otherwise it's closer to $300.
Click to expand...

Thanks Termie, for your wonderful and detailed information.
 
Termie said:
Oh, and as for RAM, now that 16GB is so cheap, buy it. Lots of people will say you don't need it, but I too am an amateur photographer, and when editing RAW files in my 64-bit photo editor, I use over 8GB of system RAM. I don't believe hyperthreading helps much with photo editing (5-10%), by the way, although it would be crucial for video editing. You can see all of that here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/701?vs=551
Click to expand...

Oh, yes, forgot. If you do RAW-editing, 16GB is recommended...
 
Yeah my 8GB of RAM suggestion was from before the OP was edited.

When he said "cheapest and most bang for the buck" I thought that's what he meant.

Anyway, I can't imagine a need for such a huge case. You're not putting anything outlandish in there. It's personal preference of course, but understand that all of those cases (HAF X, 1100, 1200) are big.
 
DSF said:
Yeah my 8GB of RAM suggestion was from before the OP was edited.

When he said "cheapest and most bang for the buck" I thought that's what he meant.

Anyway, I can't imagine a need for such a huge case. You're not putting anything outlandish in there. It's personal preference of course, but understand that all of those cases (HAF X, 1100, 1200) are big.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the updated information definitely helped focus this build a bit.

I agree that all of those cases are very big - the OP should think about why he's interested in that type of case. I much prefer smaller cases, and there's a very nice Fractal Design Arc Midi on sale right now at Newegg for $60AR: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2283989

Insane deal.

One other thing I'll just mention here - the Vertex 3 Max IOPS has some pretty negative reviews. While it was top dog a year ago, I'd avoid it now. If you can find a Samsung 830 256GB still available, that would be a great choice. Avoid the 840 for now. The Vertex 4 seems to be good so far, so I guess that would be my second choice.
 
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joleebindoo said:
Thanks DSF for your advice. I was wondering to sort of future-proof the system. I know there is no such thing as Future Proof. But I wanted a fast architecture, as in a few months, when I have more reserve of money, I will probably add an extra Cross-Fire card or two! Does this setup make sense then?
Click to expand...

I've heard this a million times before, and 95% of people never go through with it. Additionally, there is very little point in doing so when you're only running at 1080P, that just isn't a very stressful resolution these days. I'd recommend that you get the build from my midrange builders guide and perhaps double the RAM and SSD.
 
So here is my updated system with changes from the great advice given by the senior members (a few of the things I am sticking to, as these are the BF deals that I can get at a single place and bundle and get financed/shipping benefits, etc.):

My Updated System:

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($104.99)

CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K 3.50GHz Quad Core Processor ($249.99)

Graphics Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB DDR5 Video Card and SLEEPING DOGS/HITMAN/FAR CRY 3 and 20 % Off MEDAL OF HONOR COUPON Bundle ($349.99)

Case: Cooler Master RC-942-KKN1 HAF X ATX Full Tower Computer Case - ATX, 230mm Red LED Fan, USB 2.0/3.0, 9x Expansion Slots. ($139.99)

Power Supply: Cooler Master RS850-AMBAJ3-US Silent Pro M 850W Power Supply - ATX, Modular, 850 Watt, 80+ Bronze Certified, SLI, 135mm Ultra Silent Fan ($79.99)

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL10D-16GBXL ($59.99)

Primary HDD: 256GB SSD (Samsung) ($175)


Secondary HDD: 3TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 Hard Drive (ST3000DM001) ($89.99)

Liquid CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 High Performance Liquid Cooler ($39.99)

Optical Drive &#8211; 1: LG BH14NS40 14x Blu-Ray Burner ($79.99)

Optical Drive &#8211; 2: Generic DVD/CD Burner ($20)

Monitors: I already have 2 Acer 24 inch 1080p monitors, so won&#8217;t be buying or upgrading these at this time!
 
That is a very good build and would work fine, but I'll just reiterate two points, although I know you've stated you are getting good deals on some of the parts you've chosen and would like to stick with them.

(1) The Corsair H60 is on sale because it's not very good. It underperforms air coolers even in the $40 price range while being much louder: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1581/1/. It's on closeout for a reason. In fact, Corsair's own $20 air cooler killed the H60 in performance - a huge black eye for Corsair, given the original $80 asking price of the H60.

(2) There is nothing wrong with the case you've chosen, and my hunch is that you're looking at some type of CoolerMaster bundle deal with the case and power supply. I assume you're getting $40 off the $180 price of that case by buying the PSU, but the problem is that the PSU isn't worth $80. It's totally wrong for your build, and in my opinion, the case isn't optimal either, but that's more subjective. Unless you really, really want the HAF X, do not buy it because you're getting a "deal" - you're not.

Just trying to get you the best values, not trying to criticize.
 
Thanks Termie, you always have the best advice! I will look into those as what is the best I can do about it. As you can see all the changes I have made thus far are your suggestions.
I will be near a CompUSA (Tigerdirect) in Delaware (no tax) on Black Friday, so wanted to get these items in one go and get some sort of 6-12 month financing (Bill Me Later). I can always get individual components from all different retailers but then I lose that advantage and may have some shipping costs.
I really appreciate all you guys helping and I will work on finding the best deals to customize it better to your suggestions.
 
Happy to help.

Are you able to use Bill Me Later on all products sold by TigerDirect? There are some really good choices on this page: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...s-_-Spot%2004#

The Corsair 500R and Azza Solano 1000 in particular seem like they might appeal to you.

As for power supplies, how about the Corsair TX750 V2 listed on this page for $90AR: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...ts-_-Spot%2013

Just be aware that TigerDirect sells a lot of very bad PSUs (the worst in the business, actually), but if you stick to Corsair or XFX and you will be OK.
 
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