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Newbie building pc.. could use advice

S

solarissf

Member
Hello Forum, apologies for anything on this as this is my first post here and have found the info extremely helpful. I am looking to build a pc for gaming purposes and have put together the following. I could really use some advice or suggestions.

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz $224.99
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 PRO $189.99
Graphics: EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit $249.99
*** Do I need to buy a separate fan to cool this?
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS $89.99
***Is this decent enough?
Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800 $104.99 *** I Don't understand what 1600 is, is it good enough?
OS: Windows 7 - HomePremium 64bit $99.99
CPU Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $29.99
Harddrive SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb $49.99
500mb is fine for me but should I get a faster speed? Is that the SATA spec? what is diff between 3.0 & 6.0
Casing: I have no idea how to choose one, does it have to be a specific type, I would prefer something mid-size.
Or do I choose whatever I like based on style?

My total without casing is $1,039.92 and I would like to keep it around there.

I would be planning on overclocking soon as I learn a bit more about it.

very much appreciate all of your time
 
Looks like a perfect build...decent MOBO, CPU, GPU, PSU, even the CPU cooler is a fine option.

8GB RAM is perfectly fine, and I have nothing against GSkill (Theres lots of fanboys for other brands...Corsair Kingston ect. They all make good stuff) but you could possibly save money by going with a lower speed memory like 1066/1333MHz. That number is what those chips are rated at, in this case 1600MHz. Since these new Sandy Bridge chips only overclock via multiplier, theres is less need for fast RAM. It was important when overclocking was done via FSB which the RAM was tied to...but Intel just changed all that. Having higher speed memory isnt a bad thing...but it costs more and now has less advantage to the user.

You shouldnt need any extra cooling for the video card...even the stock cooler design is good.

Only minor change might be a bigger harddrive...Samsung is just fine, but you can get double the storage for not much more (actually I got a new 1TB drive for 25$ on sale). Standard HDDs are relatively slow though (which is why we have RAM, its kind of like a buffer between the HDD and the rest of the system), no where near fast enough to take advantage of higher SATA speeds...so save your money on that.

As far as cases go, it pretty much is whatever you like. There are standards for motherboards, most are micro ATX or standard ATX and most any case will fit these. There are some differences in more expensive cases, like the number of fans or tool-less options that make it easier to work on, but for the most part a case is a case. Finding "the right case" is really only important when you have more exotic requirements like a giant high end video card and/or watercooling or want to build a mini PC etc.
 
thanks guys... could you clarify something a bit more for me?

Regarding HDD. I'm still not quite clear on the different between these, I see some for more MB, like 32/64, and I see things labeled SATA6.0 as opposed to the one below.
16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb
What's the difference in MB size and SATA GB size, is a bigger number faster? Is it worth buying or is the difference neglible?

dac7nco, looks good enough for me. Quick question on it though, I saw a youtube video on the chip cooler and its HUGE... will it fit in the case okay?

thanks guys!!!
 
There's a problem with the Intel chipset for Sandy Bridge just announced today. If I were you I would NOT buy the motherboard until this is straightened out in a few months.
 
sunuvA.... I was about to purchase this... does this mean they will send a replacement for those who purchase or your just S out of luck?
 
Not clear yet. It appears so far to be a matter left up to MB manufacturers. I guess a best-case scenario is that it could be fixed with just a BIOS update, but Intel seems to be convinced this is a hardware issue.
 
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