$1200-$1400 1st Timer PC Builder

[Apropo]

Ok I'm nervous about building my own system. There are way to many parts to choose all with mixed reviews. I do not know what is quality compared to price so please help.

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next 6 days

Budget Range: $1200-1400 before rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies)

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Complete system.

Do you need to buy OS: Can I still use Windows 8 for free until January?

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Amazon

Location:San Antonio Texas

Parts Preferences: I'd like Ivy Bridge, also was looking at 670 or 7970 GHz ed. but I don't know the pro's/con's for each

Overclocking: Yes but in the future

SLI or Crossfire: No, I want a single card solution high end solution.

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080p

Additional Comments: I'll be playing BF3, Black Ops 2, Guild Wars 2, Mechwarrior Online, Hawken.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My current system is 8 years old and I want to build a PC that will last me a while before I need to over clock or upgrade.


____~~~~**** Todays the day****~~~~_____

This is what I'm looking at currently purchasing ASAP http://pcpartpicker.com/p/iBgH
I just need help picking the right Motherboard.
Does anyone know the differences between these that would concern me; such as over clocking CPU and GPU?

ASrock Extreme4 $139.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157293

ASrock Extreme3 $119.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157330

ASrock Performance (Only Allows Single GPU) $119.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157298

If it matters I do not plan on SLI / CF. Only plan on a Single High end GPU and OC'ing GPU+CPU.

any other suggestions on a different mother board in the same price range is welcome.

 

[malbluff]

Deal with the easy ones:
For high quality, full ATX board, that is easy to overclock with, Asus P8Z77-V PRO. A bit pricey, but very good.
NXZT cases are quite good, if a little "Quirky". Cases are very subjective. Personally, I like Corsair Carbide. Good quality, but it's so subjective.
As to which graphics card ... ummhh. It really comes down to what games you want to play. Like for like (same price), Radeon have better average performance, over a wide range of games. Having said that, a lot of the most modern games are written with nVidia "in mind", and thus nVidia shine in certain games, like BF3, Portal 2, Shogun, the new Borderlands 2. Add to that nVidia tend to be more efficient, in terms of power, heat and noise, and it's a difficult choice.

 

[blazorthon]

Deal with the easy ones:
For high quality, full ATX board, that is easy to overclock with, Asus P8Z77-V PRO. A bit pricey, but very good.
NXZT cases are quite good, if a little "Quirky". Cases are very subjective. Personally, I like Corsair Carbide. Good quality, but it's so subjective.
As to which graphics card ... ummhh. It really comes down to what games you want to play. Like for like (same price), Radeon have better average performance, over a wide range of games. Having said that, a lot of the most modern games are written with nVidia "in mind", and thus nVidia shine in certain games, like BF3, Portal 2, Shogun, the new Borderlands 2. Add to that nVidia tend to be more efficient, in terms of power, heat and noise, and it's a difficult choice.

Nvidia tends to be less power efficient. The Kepler series is the first in a long time that is more power efficient and even then, that's only if you avoid heavy MSAA and heavy tessellation because in pretty much any game, AMD's affinity for them can turn the performance into AMD's favor even if they aren't winning at a given price point without them. AMD has huge tessellation and AA efficiency leads and even in very Nvidia-favoring games such as BatMan: AC and Borderlands 2, AMD can get the advantage depending on the settings. What is better depends on the game, but it depends more so on the settings than on the game.

Complaints about the Radeon cards are almost purely outdated because the driver issues have been fixed. Besides, Nvidia had driver issues too, they just weren't as vocalized.

As for the case, I'm generally not comfortable with spending more than the cost of a HAF 912, but as malbluff said, that's very subjective. I haven't heard bad things about that Phantom case, but I wouldn't spend that much on it either.

 

[blazorthon]

OP, how much do you want to overclock your CPU? What CPU model you should get and what cooler you should get depend on this.

 

[Apropo]

First, everyone thank you for the information and recommendations.
I don't know much about overclocking but I don't plan on going to seriously into it, just enough to improve performance down the road.
I was really looking at the i5-3570k and not going over 4.2 with the OC I read somewhere that once you go past that, its not really worth it and it starts over heating. - I like the look for the enclosed Corsair water coolers but I read they don't do much compared to lets say the Cooler Master 212 Evo.
Games - well I play everything that comes out and would like to do so with as much graphics turned up as high as it'll go.
I was planning to spend 100-150 on a case and keep looking between the Corsair vengeance case, Cooler Master Storm Trooper and NZXT Phantom 410 😛
Though I'm a total hardware junky and would like to have a window to look at my components so I donno 😀

I feel blind when comparing Asus boards such as the P8Z77-V PRO and the P8Z77-V, I honestly can't see what the difference is.

Aside from that is there a way I can link the cart from newegg to show what I'm looking at so far?

 

[blazorthon]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/i6Th

What do you think of this?
The Radeon 7950 is superior to any GTX 670 except maybe the Asus DCII TOP (this was discontinued and was over $100 more expensive anyway) when overclocking is intended.

This is one of the best cases available at this price point as far as I'm aware and it has a good window.

The PSU is plenty for this build.

The memory and motherboard should also be great.

Vertex 4 is easily the best SSD brand available for desktops.

There's not much else to say about it

 

[Apropo]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/i6Th

What do you think of this?
The Radeon 7950 is superior to any GTX 670 except maybe the Asus DCII TOP (this was discontinued and was over $100 more expensive anyway) when overclocking is intended.

This is one of the best cases available at this price point as far as I'm aware and it has a good window.

The PSU is plenty for this build.

The memory and motherboard should also be great.

Vertex 4 is easily the best SSD brand available for desktops.

There's not much else to say about it

Ok I had a couple questions about the GPU and PSU. So if dollar for dollar the 7950 can OC and give higher performance then any given GTX 670 what about the 7970? Wouldn't it put me in even better shape performance wise as well as OC ability? Also if I decided to spend more and get a 7970 what would be the equivalent in Nvidia a GTX 680? which is oh $50-$100 more then the 7970. Is the difference in the 7950 and 670 mainly price point and OC ability and is that the same between the 7950 and the 7970 because when I look at different gaming benchmarks I see the 670 and 7970 near the top. Do you have some links to show the benchmarks of the 7950 OC'ed and comapred to the other cards? I'm really curious about this now >_<

I don't plan on using an optical drive, download most of my games and or use a USB thumb drive to install OS.
With coolers Is there a huge difference between lets say Corsair H60 and Coolermaster 212 Evo Air cooler?? Aside from price.
I appreciate the recommendations and want to know if I'm on the right track with this build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/i6WQ

as you can tell I kind of like corsair 😀 but am willing to take suggestions into consideration. Please let me know if there is anything I can tweak with cost / performance. I have a storage server so I don't think I need anything bigger then 120 SSD and if I do I can easily throw in a 1TB drive for less then $100 bucks right?

 

[blazorthon]

Ok I had a couple questions about the GPU and PSU. So if dollar for dollar the 7950 can OC and give higher performance then any given GTX 670 what about the 7970? Wouldn't it put me in even better shape performance wise as well as OC ability? Also if I decided to spend more and get a 7970 what would be the equivalent in Nvidia a GTX 680? which is oh $50-$100 more then the 7970. Is the difference in the 7950 and 670 mainly price point and OC ability and is that the same between the 7950 and the 7970 because when I look at different gaming benchmarks I see the 670 and 7970 near the top. Do you have some links to show the benchmarks of the 7950 OC'ed and comapred to the other cards? I'm really curious about this now >_<

I don't plan on using an optical drive, download most of my games and or use a USB thumb drive to install OS.
With coolers Is there a huge difference between lets say Corsair H60 and Coolermaster 212 Evo Air cooler?? Aside from price.
I appreciate the recommendations and want to know if I'm on the right track with this build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/i6WQ

as you can tell I kind of like corsair 😀 but am willing to take suggestions into consideration. Please let me know if there is anything I can tweak with cost / performance. I have a storage server so I don't think I need anything bigger then 120 SSD and if I do I can easily throw in a 1TB drive for less then $100 bucks right?

The Evo won't compete with the H60, but there are better air coolers than the H60 that are also cheaper than it. High end air cooling meets or beats more expensive water cooling unless you build a good custom loop and those are usually pretty expensive.

The 7970 doesn't really beat the 7950s with the same cooler in overclocking. A 7950 has similar headroom to a 7970 that has the same cooler and some 7950s even have 7970 PCBs, so it's not really any better for overclockers to buy 7970s unless you go for a discounted 7970 GHz Edition that has better binning and can beat the 7950s even with the same coolers.

If you don't want an optical drive, then that can be removed from the build.

Corsair memory is excellent too and that kit is priced well enough to be recommended.

The PSU is more expensive than I'd recommend, but it's not bad, it's just a little overpriced. Corsair is a good brand for most components; I just don't recommend closed loop water coolers in general.

I don't doubt that the Corsair SSD is good, but it's not the best. However, it is priced well.

 

[Surgeking]

Did you mean 7970, Blaze?

$100 more for the 7970 ghz ed

 

[Apropo]

such as this Gigabyte ghz ed??:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr797to3gd

 

[blazorthon]

such as this Gigabyte ghz ed??:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr797to3gd

That is a very good example. The 7970 Windforce won't really beat the 7950 Windforce in overclocking, but the 7970 GHz Edition Windforce will beat the 7950 WindForce enough in overclocking performance to be worth the price hike.

 

[blazorthon]

Did you mean 7970, Blaze?

$100 more for the 7970 ghz ed

Basically, 7950s and 7970s that have the same cooler generally have nearly identical headroom for overclocking. 7970 GHz Editions have better-binned parts than both the 7950s and the 7970s generally by enough of a degree to get a considerably higher overclock, even with the same cooler.

This is because the 7970's minor hardware advantage is offset by the 7950's power consumption advantage whereas the 7970 GHz Edition has a real advantage in headroom.

 

[Apropo]

Ok so if I can afford the price jump to the Ghz ED it's worth it? That being said, and I feel like I'm being annoying asking this, is there a comparible Nvidia Card or would I have to go all the way up to the GTX 680 to compete with the 7970 Ghz ED Gigabyte card? >_< Thanks for hanging with me in this thread even though I might sound like a complete noob 😛

 

[blazorthon]

Ok so if I can afford the price jump to the Ghz ED it's worth it? That being said, and I feel like I'm being annoying asking this, is there a comparible Nvidia Card or would I have to go all the way up to the GTX 680 to compete with the 7970 Ghz ED Gigabyte card? >_< Thanks for hanging with me in this thread even though I might sound like a complete noob 😛

GTX 670 is really as good as it gets for the money from Nvidia. The 680 is maybe 3-8% faster, best case scenario. Nothing from Nvidia can quite catch the 7970 GHz Edition unless you go for an SLI setup that is bound to be more expensive, except maybe.. Just maybe... A GTX 660 SLI setup. Still, it'd be complex and each card would only have a 192 memory bus. It could be more problematic than it's worth 🙁

Well, unless you hate AA and tessellation, that is. Some games, without them, might let the 680 or 670 catch the 7970 GHz Edition, but that'd hurt graphics quality.

 

[Why_Me]

This XFX psu down below is manufactured by Seasonic as are all XFX psu's.

http://www.amazon.com/XFX-PRO750W-Semi-Modular-80Plus-Supply/dp/B005IUVYA2/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1347949610&sr=1-4 $111.71 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping | Price after rebate: $101.71
XFX PRO750W XXX Edition Semi-Modular 80Plus 750 Watt Power Supply (Silver)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1053944 $279.98 save: $18.00 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
Cooler Master TPC 812 RR-T812-24PK-R1 120mm Sleeve with Dual Vertical Vapor Chamber TPC 812 CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2654 <----- review of that CM cpu h/s @ Frosty Tech

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm <----- that same CM cpu h/s on Frosty Tech's Top 5 list


http://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-7PC256B-WW/dp/B0077CR66A/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1348117460&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=samsung+256gb $192.75 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC256B/WW

http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-WINDFORCE-PCI-Express-Graphics-GV-N670WF2-2GD/dp/B008LZKLF0/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1348251585&sr=1-2&keywords=gigabyte+gtx+670 $399.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping | Price after rebate: $379.99
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 670 WINDFORCE 2X OC Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0 2x DVI/HDMI/DP SLI Ready Graphics Card GV-N670WF2-2GD

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Cache-Desktop-Drive/dp/B0088PUEPK/ref=sr_1_13?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1348251766&sr=1-13 $85.61 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Western Digital 1 TB WD Blue SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_bxgy_pc_text_y $90.63 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1060583 $187.98 save: $8.00 FREE SHIPPING
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLS2KIT4G3D1609DS1S00

 

[abablitz]

Wait for parts to go on sale, do your research and check out slickdeals.com and techbargains. I just finished mine yesterday after about a month of building, researching, buying etc. I spent 1025$.

Specs:
i7 2600k
Corsair Vengeance 16GB 1600mhz Ram
Corsair H60 Cooling System + Corsair Sp120 static pressure fans x2
Coolermaster Haf XM Case + Window Panel
Western Digital Black Caviar 1TB
Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold 800w PSU
Asus DVDRW+
Asrock P67 Extreme 4 Gen 3 Motherboard
XFX Radeon HD 6950 2GB x2 Xfire
Arctic Silver Thermal 5 Compound
200mm x3 Megaflow Fans

As far as AMD vs Nvidia goes, I have had both within the past year and have experienced others, I would say single card wise AMD is the more bang for buck, the driver issues are really not that bad. In terms of xfire vs nvidia, xfire again has the better value, they generally tend to be less power hungry, they scale better, but Nvidia has better drivers yet again. One of the major complaints about xfire were the driver issues, but honestly it's not that bad. Unless you are playing games that are not multi gpu supported you probably just need to tweak a game profile before you get a decent frame rate.

Heres my mark score, no I didn't optimize it or anything or OC, this is straight up stock performance.

The HD 6950 goes for like 250 on newegg, but I got it on sale for 207$ + a 30$ rebate + BF3 and Deusex which I sold the games for and in the end got each card for about 130$.

Below is my GTX 560 SLI mark score with a 5% OC, built that rig about 7 months ago or so

spent 180$ each card.

 

[blazorthon]

This XFX psu down below is manufactured by Seasonic as are all XFX psu's.

http://www.amazon.com/XFX-PRO750W-Semi-Modular-80Plus-Supply/dp/B005IUVYA2/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1347949610&sr=1-4 $111.71 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping | Price after rebate: $101.71
XFX PRO750W XXX Edition Semi-Modular 80Plus 750 Watt Power Supply (Silver)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1053944 $279.98 save: $18.00 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
Cooler Master TPC 812 RR-T812-24PK-R1 120mm Sleeve with Dual Vertical Vapor Chamber TPC 812 CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2654 <----- review of that CM cpu h/s @ Frosty Tech

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm <----- that same CM cpu h/s on Frosty Tech's Top 5 list


http://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-7PC256B-WW/dp/B0077CR66A/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1348117460&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=samsung+256gb $192.75 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC256B/WW

http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-WINDFORCE-PCI-Express-Graphics-GV-N670WF2-2GD/dp/B008LZKLF0/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1348251585&sr=1-2&keywords=gigabyte+gtx+670 $399.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping | Price after rebate: $379.99
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 670 WINDFORCE 2X OC Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0 2x DVI/HDMI/DP SLI Ready Graphics Card GV-N670WF2-2GD

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Cache-Desktop-Drive/dp/B0088PUEPK/ref=sr_1_13?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1348251766&sr=1-13 $85.61 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Western Digital 1 TB WD Blue SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_bxgy_pc_text_y $90.63 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

The PSU is more expensive than I'd go for, but that doesn't detract from how good it is.

I'm not very familiar with that CPU cooler, but it looks to be a prime competitor, so again, not major complaints there.

The Samsung 830 is easily one of the best SSDs, but the Vertex 4 edges it out in both performance and price with comparable reliability, so I can't recommend it over the Vertex 4s at the same capacity.

If OP wants to go for Nvidia, then that is probably the best option, but the cheaper 7950 with a WindForce cooler has comparable overclocking performance (better with good AA and tessellation, two important things to consider at 1080p with these powerful cards) and the 7970 GHz Edition with a WindForce cooler is a superior card at a similar price, so I really can't recommend this card unless OP really wants to go Nvidia.

I have no complaints at all with that hard drive choice. If OP wants more than a 500GB model like what I recommended, then that is the 1TB model that I'd recommend.

That motherboard is more expensive than I'd recommend, but if one was to spend that much on a board, that'd be the board to get.

 

[Why_Me]

The PSU is more expensive than I'd go for, but that doesn't detract from how good it is.

I'm not very familiar with that CPU cooler, but it looks to be a prime competitor, so again, not major complaints there.

The Samsung 830 is easily one of the best SSDs, but the Vertex 4 edges it out in both performance and price with comparable reliability, so I can't recommend it over the Vertex 4s at the same capacity.

If OP wants to go for Nvidia, then that is probably the best option, but the cheaper 7950 with a WindForce cooler has comparable overclocking performance (better with good AA and tessellation, two important things to consider at 1080p with these powerful cards) and the 7970 GHz Edition with a WindForce cooler is a superior card at a similar price, so I really can't recommend this card unless OP really wants to go Nvidia.

I have no complaints at all with that hard drive choice. If OP wants more than a 500GB model like what I recommended, then that is the 1TB model that I'd recommend.

That motherboard is more expensive than I'd recommend, but if one was to spend that much on a board, that'd be the board to get.

That psu is cheap for a modular 750w although if the OP doesn't want the SLI option I would drop down to a cheaper board and a 520w - 550w psu.

As far as the SSD goes, I would rot in h*ll before I would ever recommend an OCZ SSD or OCZ anything else other than maybe their ZT series psu's. OCZ is a dirty rotten filthy company that has went out of their way to hose customers with their gimmick crap products and their bs rebates that they rarely honor. If OCZ was nuked tomorrow the world would be that much better off.

 

[blazorthon]

That psu is cheap for a modular 750w although if the OP doesn't want the SLI option I would drop down to a cheaper board and a 520w - 550w psu.

As far as the SSD goes, I would rot in h*ll before I would ever recommend an OCZ SSD or OCZ anything else other than maybe their ZT series psu's. OCZ is a dirty rotten filthy company that has went out of their way to hose customers with their gimmick crap products and their bs rebates that they rarely honor. If OCZ was nuked tomorrow the world would be that much better off.

Vertex 4 is pretty much the best primarily because it uses an excellent Marvell controller instead of OCZ's crappy SandForce implementation and OCZ actually managed to make it even better with some goof firmware rather than screw it up. They also have excellent customer support for Vertex 4 unlike their previous models. Otherwise, I agree on your view of the company.

EDIT: You'er right about the PSU; I missed that it was modular.

 

[Apropo]

This XFX psu down below is manufactured by Seasonic as are all XFX psu's.

http://www.amazon.com/XFX-PRO750W-Semi-Modular-80Plus-Supply/dp/B005IUVYA2/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1347949610&sr=1-4 $111.71 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping | Price after rebate: $101.71
XFX PRO750W XXX Edition Semi-Modular 80Plus 750 Watt Power Supply (Silver)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1053944 $279.98 save: $18.00 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
Cooler Master TPC 812 RR-T812-24PK-R1 120mm Sleeve with Dual Vertical Vapor Chamber TPC 812 CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2654 <----- review of that CM cpu h/s @ Frosty Tech

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm <----- that same CM cpu h/s on Frosty Tech's Top 5 list


http://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-7PC256B-WW/dp/B0077CR66A/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1348117460&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=samsung+256gb $192.75 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC256B/WW

http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-WINDFORCE-PCI-Express-Graphics-GV-N670WF2-2GD/dp/B008LZKLF0/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1348251585&sr=1-2&keywords=gigabyte+gtx+670 $399.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping | Price after rebate: $379.99
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 670 WINDFORCE 2X OC Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0 2x DVI/HDMI/DP SLI Ready Graphics Card GV-N670WF2-2GD

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Cache-Desktop-Drive/dp/B0088PUEPK/ref=sr_1_13?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1348251766&sr=1-13 $85.61 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Western Digital 1 TB WD Blue SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_bxgy_pc_text_y $90.63 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1060583 $187.98 save: $8.00 FREE SHIPPING
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLS2KIT4G3D1609DS1S00

Thanks for the suggestion!! Now would there be any significant reason I'd go with the GTX 670 you are suggesting over the Gigabyte 7970 Ghz ED that I linked earlier? http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr797to3gd
I keep running back and forth in my mind if I want to SLI / Crossfire in the future and I like the idea of the XFX sicne its pretty much a seasonic and its modular.

Thank you for supplying links about cooling options I like to read up as much as I can. Any links you can offer for GPU comparison in my situation?


@abablitz
Looks like you have a decent setup there thanks for sharing. Is there a reason you didn't go with IB and or Z77 system and went with an older system? Though I guess if the price is right I don't see anyone complaining including myself 😛 but if I could spend a few dollars more for the newer tech I might be inclined to do that over older tech.

 

[blazorthon]

Thanks for the suggestion!! Now would there be any significant reason I'd go with the GTX 670 you are suggesting over the Gigabyte 7970 Ghz ED that I linked earlier?
I keep running back and forth in my mind if I want to SLI / Crossfire in the future and I like the idea of the XFX sicne its pretty much a seasonic and its modular.

Thank you for supplying links about cooling options I like to read up as much as I can. Any links you can offer for GPU comparison in my situation?


@abablitz
Looks like you have a decent setup there thanks for sharing. Is there a reason you didn't go with IB and or Z77 system and went with an older system? Though I guess if the price is right I don't see anyone complaining including myself 😛 but if I could spend a few dollars more for the newer tech I might be inclined to do that over older tech.

Graphics comparisons can have wildly different results depending on the settings that you play at. For example, AMD has no trouble with 8x MSAA*, but Nvidia can struggle with 4x MSAA*, so any comparison involving these two settings can paint Nvidia in a poor light. Any comparisons with heavy tessellation* can do the same, but generally to a lesser extent. Any comparison with both generally does not go well at all for Nvidia*. Comparisons with light AA and tessellation or no AA or tessellation can have the opposite effect, although the 7970 GHz Edition's high overclocking headroom generally let it stay ahead even in such situations, just not to as great of an extent.

* Going by Radeon 7xxx against GTX 6xx. Different generations with different GPUs and such can have different results.

 

[Why_Me]

This build allows you to add a second card later in SLI. There isn't any reviews on that board down below for the fact it was just released less than a week ago. Just add a case to this build.


http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-80PLUS-Certified-Modular-CP-9020015-NA/dp/B008RJZQSW/ref=sr_1_24?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1346646210&sr=1-24 $86.00 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair CX 750 Watts 80PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply CP-9020015-NA

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1066148 $336.98 save: $13.00
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
ASRock Z77 Extreme3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O65JXI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A2EUTVCJXLAJ4K $33.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186 $38.99 FREE SHIPPING
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SH-222BB-BEBE-Internal-Software/dp/B006B7R9PU/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1348081271&sr=1-2 $16.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE 22X SATA DVDRW Internal Drive (Black), Bulk without Software

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-2-5-Inch-Solid-SDSSDX-240G-G25/dp/B006EKJ8UI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1348358430&sr=1-1&keywords=sandisk+240gb+ssd $185.88 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
SanDisk Extreme SSD 240 GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SDSSDX-240G-G25

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Cache-Desktop-Drive/dp/B0088PUEPK/ref=sr_1_13?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1348251766&sr=1-13 $85.61 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Western Digital 1 TB WD Blue SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive

http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-WINDFORCE-PCI-Express-Graphics-GV-N670WF2-2GD/dp/B008LZKLF0/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1348251585&sr=1-2&keywords=gigabyte+gtx+670 $399.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping | Price after rebate: $379.99
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 670 WINDFORCE 2X OC Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0 2x DVI/HDMI/DP SLI Ready Graphics Card GV-N670WF2-2GD

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_bxgy_pc_text_y $90.63 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

Total $1,228.44 *not including shipping & rebates


http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Extreme3/ <----- another look at that board

 

[abablitz]

The current Ivy's are the tick, you have to wait for the tocks. From what I hear, they have decent temperatures and OC ability up to 4.5, but stray off at higher frequencies. They cannot OC as efficiently as a sandy as of this time, and run hotter. However, I would imagine that to change on the tock version of the Ivy's.

As far as old tech vs new tech, honestly hardware is evolving at a much faster rate than software, "old tech" is a gimmick, a flag ship from the 3 eras ago can still run BF3 on moderate FPS.

In terms of how I choose my components, I have criteria:

It has to be color coordinated
It has to be priced right
It has to be well reviewed and be future proof
It has to have at least 68-75% ratings on new egg (although obviously it's not an approximate statement for the quality of a product, it still gives a great ballpark, wisdom in numbers).

I also got the Asrock p67 on sale for 85$, which greatly swayed my decision as opposed to the Asus sabertooth I was originally looking into. Obviously I'm not a professional builder or anything, but I just use the above as a rule of thumb, it gives favorable results.

 

[Apropo]

This build allows you to add a second card later in SLI. There isn't any reviews on that board down below for the fact it was just released less than a week ago. Just add a case to this build.


http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-80PLUS-Certified-Modular-CP-9020015-NA/dp/B008RJZQSW/ref=sr_1_24?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1346646210&sr=1-24 $86.00 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair CX 750 Watts 80PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply CP-9020015-NA

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1066148 $336.98 save: $13.00
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
ASRock Z77 Extreme3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O65JXI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A2EUTVCJXLAJ4K $33.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186 $38.99 FREE SHIPPING
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SH-222BB-BEBE-Internal-Software/dp/B006B7R9PU/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1348081271&sr=1-2 $16.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE 22X SATA DVDRW Internal Drive (Black), Bulk without Software

http://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-7PC256B-WW/dp/B0077CR66A/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1348117460&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=samsung+256gb $192.75 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC256B/WW

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Cache-Desktop-Drive/dp/B0088PUEPK/ref=sr_1_13?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1348251766&sr=1-13 $85.61 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Western Digital 1 TB WD Blue SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive

http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-WINDFORCE-PCI-Express-Graphics-GV-N670WF2-2GD/dp/B008LZKLF0/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1348251585&sr=1-2&keywords=gigabyte+gtx+670 $399.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping | Price after rebate: $379.99
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 670 WINDFORCE 2X OC Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0 2x DVI/HDMI/DP SLI Ready Graphics Card GV-N670WF2-2GD

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_bxgy_pc_text_y $90.63 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

Total $1,235.31 *not including shipping & rebates


http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Extreme3/ <----- another look at that board

I really like the looks of this build the only thing that concerns me is if this is the same size motherboard as the Extreme 4 which isn't a full motherboard and doesn't line up with full ATX stand offs causing it to have flexing on the edges.
Aside from that if there isn't known issues with Asrock I'm totally inclined to go with them as they are cheaper then the Asus boards by quite a bit.
With an OS I figured if its possible I'd still use Windows 8 until January then if I don't like it down/ upgrade back to Windows 7? So unless I don't need it right now I will save the cost of an OS and put it into something else. Otherwise great build thank you for the links.

 

[blazorthon]

I really like the looks of this build the only thing that concerns me is if this is the same size motherboard as the Extreme 4 which isn't a full motherboard and doesn't line up with full ATX stand offs causing it to have flexing on the edges.
Aside from that if there isn't known issues with Asrock I'm totally inclined to go with them as they are cheaper then the Asus boards by quite a bit.
With an OS I figured if its possible I'd still use Windows 8 until January then if I don't like it down/ upgrade back to Windows 7? So unless I don't need it right now I will save the cost of an OS and put it into something else. Otherwise great build thank you for the links.

I just use free eval copies of Windows that MS offers as free, legal downloads once my previews/betas expire 😉 Also, what issues are you talking about with ASRock?