$1000-$1350 build

rednal16

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Apr 7, 2012
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Hello, first off, let me say this is a repost since the first post didn't get much response. I have been thinking of purchasing a gaming PC for a very long time now and I think it's time to go through with it. Since January of this year, I have been planning to purchase a gaming PC on Black Friday. My build has changed a lot from then so I need your help in rating my proposed build and making changes to it. This would be my first build/computer ever so I do need a lot of help. Here's a brief overview of me. I'm a 14 and a freshman in high school. I enjoy computers and I think it would be an awesome experience building one. I plan to use the PC for gaming, schoolwork, surfing the web, and editing photos/videos. Since it's my first PC, I will need a new monitor, OS, keyboard and mouse. I think I need help on deciding the mobo, hdd, ram and psu.

Approx. Purchase Date: Black Friday

Budget Range: Less than $1350

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Preferred Websites/Places for Parts: 1) Actual MicroCenter Store 2) microcenter.com 3) newegg.com 4) amazon.com

Selected Parts:

CPU: i5 3750K - $170

GPU: GTX 660 Ti - $300

MoBo: GA-Z77X-D3H - $135 (after rebate)

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - $100

RAM: Corsair Vengenace 8GB DDR3-1600 (1.5v)- $43

PSU: SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W - $90

Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 - $100

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 or COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus - $30 each

SSD: Kingston HyperX 3K 120 GB - $92

Mouse: Logitech G9x - $65

How is the build overall? Feel free to make any recommendations/changes! I have a few more questions:
1) Is it better to have 1.65v or 1.5v RAM?
2) For those of you who have windows 8, what are your thoughts? Is it good for gaming? Should I buy it?
3) How is NCIX.com?

I really need recommendations for a good keyboard and monitor, all help is appreciated!
 

Despot96

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Sep 27, 2012
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First of all it was better to you write components and prices and not to post links... Because we will not gonna need to open 10 tabs in order to see your build. It is a lot easy to just write components and prices. And to answer your questions:
1) It is better to have 1.5v RAM
2) Stick with Windows 7 64-bit you wont gonna go wrong. Everyone say win 8 is bad. Windows 8 is more oriented to touch screens.
3) It is Solid.
I'm not very good with monitors and keyboards but just get keyboard you really like and for monitor just stick with Samsung with 60Hz. But if you want 3D go 120Hz. Build you made is pretty decent so don't worry.
 

malbluff

Honorable
Mostly very good, with a couple of observations.

Neither of those ram. You want low profile 1.5v. Suggest GSKill Ares, Crucial Ballistix Sport, or Corsair CML.
For SSD, Samsung 830, OCZ Vertex4, or Crucial M4 are better.
If you want nVidia GPU, that's not a bad choice. Something like MSI TwinFrozr HD7870 is probably better value, if you are not "wedded" to nVidia. Nothing wrong with the nVidia, just HD7870 better value.
Personally, at the moment, Windows 8 has "mixed" opinions, so I'd tend to say stick with 7, and let someone else sort the bugs, from 8. Upgrade later if it does turn out good.
I'm in the UK, but a lot of people like NCIX. I've heard a few moans, but I think mostly positive.
That's a very good deal, at Microcenter, for CPU. I don't know how long that's for!
For monitor, I'm not sure what you've got left, in your budget. For gaming, you want a fast response time. For photo/video work, you ideally want an IPS panel. Fast IPS panels tend to be fairly expensive. Something like a Dell U2410 is brilliant, but pricey. Your best bet is to decide on a minimum size, and budget, and look for a couple of IPS ones, with a speed around 5 or 6 ms, and read some reviews. Asus have a few decent ones, at reasonable prices.
For keyboard, if you want a gaming keyboard, and not sure exactly what you want, DON'T buy an expensive one. Get a cheap one, try it. If you're happy with it, fine. If it's "lacking", at least you will know WHAT you need, and you can get a better one, without having wasted a lot of money, on something expensive, that you just can't get on with.
 

rednal16

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Apr 7, 2012
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Thanks for the reply! Can you link to some good RAM, SSDs, monitors and keyboards? Also hows this for a monitor?
 

mrdowntownkiller

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Sep 14, 2012
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first of all you did good effort there but let me just customize it a lil bit.

1- msi lately has a problem with overvolting their cards so i don't recommend buying msi even if it is just a rumor , just go safe ( gigabyte or EVGA ) will be so great.

2- don't get the hyperX ram 1.6 is a bad voltage stick with vengeance i have it and it's quiet good , also i have the same mobo and relax it's so good.

3- if i were you i would switch this case with white or black nzxt phantom 410 much better.

4- cpu cooler stick with this http://bit.ly/pGSIam unless if your going mad with overclocking like higher than 4.2ghz you have to choose a better one like the noctua nh-14.

5- SSD a samsung 840 series or ocz vertex 4 will perform a lot better.

6- windows 7 is such a great os specially in gaming i wouldn't change it.

7- a razer deathadder or a gigabyte M800X will be also better.

8- keyboard ROCCAT Isku Illuminated.

- 120hz 1080p monitor.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-monitor-s23a700d

- 60hz 1080p monitor.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-ve247h

have a nice day :)
 

malbluff

Honorable

These are reasonable options.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($103.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $308.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-13 18:50 EST-0500)

Keyboards are very much personal preference. What I usually say is, if you want a gaming keyboard, but not sure what you want, DON'T get an expensive one. Get a cheap one, and try it. If you get on well with it, fine. If you find it's "lacking", at least you'll know WHAT'S lacking, and you can get a better one, without wasting a LOT of money on one, that you can't get on with.
 

malbluff

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Confess I originally mis-read original proposal as GTX 660, rather than the Ti. AMD "competition" would be HD7950.
 

malbluff

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In terms of average frame rates, in more games, probably HD7950. nVidia has other advantages. PhysX makes nVidia more realisic, in some game-play, more realistic explosions, and things like moving water. nVidia also works particularly well with some specific games.
Generally say, if you play lots of different games, AMD are better value. If you mostly play two or three games, it's definitely worth checking individual benchmarks, on a site like "anandtech".