'lo all. I'm getting back into PC gaming (damn you, Middy!) and looking to do my own build. I haven't done a build since 2004 and holy shit how things have changed! The last video card I bought was pretty slick at 512mb and, damn, we're looking at Gb ranges now. Here's what I'm looking at building and I'd really appreciate you all ripping it to shreds and letting me know what you think. Where am I over-spending or underspending and such. My budget is between $1,000 - $1300.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1s7PX

 

See? That's what I'm talking about, thanks for the input, Oz! The last build I did needed a soundcard because integrated audio was pretty shitty back in the day and couldn't even run the 2.1 speakers I had. Not doing any sound production so, scrapped. Not really planning on doing any overclocking, and again, on my last build a huge fan was kind of necessary, scrapped. Not planning on doing any wireless stuff, so I'm not too worried about that networking card. Looked around and found a pretty well reviewed 800W power supply so swapped it out. Here's the current look: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1s929

 

If you're only using wired internet, then you don't need the network card. That's integrated on your motherboard.

For your SSD, I'd recommend this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147192

I've heard terrible things about the reliability of the SandForce controller used in the Corsair drive, and Samsung's SSDs are probably the best on the market right now.

If you're going to be using this primarily for gaming, the i7 really doesn't give you much of an advantage over the i5-3570k, which costs over $100 less. If you plan on doing lots of video editing and photoshop, then it might be worth keeping the i7.

Memory-wise, I've been told that it's best to populate at least two RAM slots if possible, so a dual 4GB kit might be a better option. I have no idea how true this is though, or what effects using a single RAM module would actually have.

I've always been a bit leery of Cooler Master's PSUs, though that one appears to be OK. Some brands that tend to be more consistent: Corsair, Silverstone, PC Power & Cooling, XFX, Seasonic, and Antec. 800W is pretty serious overkill unless you're considering throwing in a second graphics card down the line. I have a similar setup running on a 500W unit. I'd honestly recommend going back to your previous 650W Seasonic model. Your system probably isn't going to draw much more than 450W from the wall as is.

The graphics card you picked is a steal at $200, but unfortunately, the promo code that brought it down that low expired yesterday (the 14th). If you want to stick to the $200 pricepoint, your best bet is probably a 7870 GHz Edition. There are a few that have dropped down below $200. If you jump up to $250, I'd recommend a GTX 760. It's a clear step up from the 7870 (and 660 Ti).

Edit: just saw that you weren't planning on overclocking. If that's the case, pass on the K-series chips. That just means that they have an unlocked multiplier to make overclocking easier, and they cost more because of it.

 

Took The words right out of my mouth. i7 is really not necessary for high end gaming. i5 will suit you just fine, and you can always overclock later. I'm still on Sandy Bridge i5 and very happy with it. Same goes for memory, where I would also suggest a dual 4GB kit.

For a 660Ti, 650W is an overkill. But if you can find one for a cheaper price, go for it. I have a GTX570 and a 650W only because I found a fantastic deal on that PSU at the time. Its more than enough. Even if you decide to bump up to a GTX670 instead, it'll suit you just fine.

Also, do you really need a Blu-Ray drive?

 

If you have two RAM modules you can use them in dual channel which increases the bandwith (it doubles it theoretically). With that you can get performance gains up to 20-25% usually.

If you get a SSD, which you should, make sure to read up on how to maintain them correctly. There are some things you shouldn't do, like defragmentation, since that loweres the lifespan and doesn't improve performance.

 

Yeah, I second basically everything everyone else said here. I built my own rig just under a year ago now, and it's still working perfectly.

I also want to question the need of a disk drive in the first place. I didn't include one, you can easily install Windows 7 off a USB drive. I honestly can't remember the last time I used a CD or DVD. And $80 is quite a bit of your budget.

I also think it's worth paying the extra for a good graphics card. I have a Gigabyte Radeon HD7870 2GB OC edition, and it's doing pretty decently. The newest games, Crysis 3, Bioshock Infinite etc struggle a bit on ultra mode, so if you spent about $250-300 you could easily get something that can run anything out today.

If anything, just drop $100 of the CPU, and put it into the graphics card.

I'm also going to be one of those guys who says, get at least a 180gb SSD, if not a 256gb one. I have a 180gb one, and I'm constantly running out of space, you're going to want to keep any games you play regularly on it, and if thats anything new, it'd going to be in the 15-25gb range. Add in all your other commonly used programs (I have 15-20gb on music on it as well) and you don't really have that much.

I emphasise this, because once you go SSD, you'll never want to go back. My computer takes 9 seconds to start up. Games no longer have anything resembling a load time, and applications open instantly. My 3 year old Macbook Pro is incredibly sluggish in comparison.

Also, I've heard about having 2x4gb, instead of 1x8gb as well. Do it, can't hurt.

As for power supply, this is what I have.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu650hx

I figure you may as well go with 650w, just in case you want to add a more power graphics card down the line, or a second one.

Otherwise, it all looks good. Cases are a matter of personal preference. This is the one I went with, and I love it.

 

Wow all, thanks for all the good input! First thing I did was, like Innomine said, rethink my need for an optical drive at all. The only real reason I was hanging on to one is because I'm still carrying over a lot of old ideas and notions from my last build, which was before flash/jump drives became economical so you HAD to have an optical drive. Made some changes, dropped the optical drive and stretched on the budget a bit looking into SLI on the GPU after dropping back to the i5 processor and switched to dual channeling the RAM. The only other thing I'm really thinking through right now is dropping the 4TB HDD and reinvesting it into a bigger SSD (which is a new concept to me because, again, at the time of my last build it cost an arm and leg to get even a 64gb SSD.)

Let me know what you all think, here's the link! http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1snBE

Link with the 4TB HDD gone and a 500GB SSD, puts me a little over budget, but I can pick up some overtime at work to swing it. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1snMi

 

That power supply looks very iffy. I honestly would pay more for a lesser wattage psu that's from a reliable company.

Corsair, antec, Silverstone, xfx, zippy, etc.

Also, as someone who has experience with sli and cf, I would not recommend dual graphics. Some nights you spend more time trying to fix sli or cross fire than actually playing the damn game. Plus the inherent bugs associated with multi graphic cards...

Since you're going to drop that much dough on two cards, go for the 780.

 

Like people have said earlier, you don't need 16GB of RAM for pure gaming. 8GB is good if you're don't do lots of multitasking or have tons of browser tabs open at once.

A 500GB SSD is overkill unless you play a LOT of single player games and play them often enough that you can't uninstall them. In a multiplayer game, you won't see as much of a benefit from an SSD, since you'll still be waiting on either the server or the other players to load. 256GB is great for most people, and even a 128GB can be fine if supplemented by a somewhat fast HDD for media and multiplayer games.

A 4TB HDD is also too much, especially since you can just supplement it with external drives as needed. Instead, you'll probably want a smaller 7200RPM drive like this.

If you're not planning to overclock your CPU, you can save a tiny bit of money by getting the non-K version, the 3570.

EDIT: terabyte, not gigabyte

 

This. SLI/CF can cause problems, since most games aren't optimised for it, so you should rather get a single powerful GPU. The 780 is a good choice, since it's almost as powerful as a Titan (the 780 has only about 10% less performance) but is far cheaper than the Titan.

 

To the drawing board! http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1swwT

Dropped the K edition processor, switched to 2x4GB on the RAM, switched to the 250GB SSD drive (forgot I've got a good 2TB external here, it was still in my Afghanistan box), priced the GTX 770 (am I really going to get that much more out of the 780 for $200-$250 more?) and switched power supplies to an Antex with a lower wattage (now that I'm not really doing the SLI thing since, having looked into it found Sacro is right and there aren't many games optimized for it). This build is much more comfortably in my budget and leaves me some left over to augment my Steam Santa for all you tech support folks.

 

Depends on your resolution. At higher resolutions the 770 can't keep up with the 780 (the 780 got about 67% more performance at 5760x1080). If you only plan on having 1920x1080, then the 780 has about 20% more performance. Here are some benchmarks (ignore the German text). If that's worth $200-$250 more is up to you.

 

Frankly, I'd get it. It'll keep you sorted for quite a while, if you have the money, I'd say it's worth it.

What kind screen do you have? Samsung have some really good 24" 1080p screens that look fantastic. Might be worth getting another one if yours is quite dated. About $200 IIRC.

Haven't checked the parts as I'm at work, but I'll check it when I get home.

 

Yeah, I'm definitely in need of a new screen. I honestly haven't had a desktop around in a long time, I've been on the go all over the planet the past 6 years and it was too inconvenient to even have one around. Case in point: The monitor I have laying around is an old Sceptre DCL20A. No. Just no. (It did come with a sweet multi-angle wall mount, though) Here's the monitor I'm looking at, but I'd need to order it tomorrow at the latest or the price goes up. On to some research!

 

I can't really find any reviews for it, and I would advice against buying it if you don't find any reviews since it's a 27" screen. Of course the question is if you need a 27" monitor. My suggestion would be a dual monitor setup with two 22" or two 24" monitors, since that's more useful in my opinion. Also, the 27" has only 1920x1080 (2.560x1.440 would be normal), so it may have less quality than a 22" or 24", since the pixels on the 27" are further apart.

 

Yeah, you could buy two 24in monitors for that price. I'd personally go for the 24in monitor, but 27in would be better for watching movies or tv. $140 24in: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116650