$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.

 

[Apropo]

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?

the issue being that the board does not line up to the ATX stand offs because its not a full size ATX board.
If that isn't a real issue, because I can't take reviews on Newegg seriously. Most are herp derps.

I guess if I support the board while installing things it wont be an issue. Will the Asrock board be capable of supporting sufficient OC for CPU and GPU?

with the OS I'm currently enjoying Win 8 the only thing I really hate is that it doesn't support DVD play back. Though with the rig I'm building I don't plan on using a Optical drive. Though I heard Win 7 gives good performance for gaming. Don't most colleges offer student discount on Windows OS? I might look into that as well.

 

[blazorthon]

the issue being that the board does not line up to the ATX stand offs because its not a full size ATX board.
If that isn't a real issue, because I can't take reviews on Newegg seriously. Most are herp derps.

I guess if I support the board while installing things it wont be an issue. Will the Asrock board be capable of supporting sufficient OC for CPU and GPU?

with the OS I'm currently enjoying Win 8 the only thing I really hate is that it doesn't support DVD play back. Though with the rig I'm building I don't plan on using a Optical drive. Though I heard Win 7 gives good performance for gaming. Don't most colleges offer student discount on Windows OS? I might look into that as well.

The ASRock board that I recommended should be fine, although if you want, I could look for a different board to recommend.

For DVD playback in Windows 8, you simply download VLC or a similar program. It's just Windows Media Player that doesn't support it anymore, not the entire OS. Yes, many colleges have student discounts on Windows.

 

[Apropo]

The ASRock board that I recommended should be fine, although if you want, I could look for a different board to recommend.

For DVD playback in Windows 8, you simply download VLC or a similar program. It's just Windows Media Player that doesn't support it anymore, not the entire OS. Yes, many colleges have student discounts on Windows.

Yes the board you recommended is full sized, I was more inquiring as to the Extreme 3 board that Why_Me suggested. The only issue I have with the Fat1lity board or what ever is my friend had one and that dudes face appeared every time he loaded his computer.... Eh.. noty aside from that I have no issues if its a great board. Unless you can recommend a different one possibly higher quality?

 

[blazorthon]

Yes the board you recommended is full sized, I was more inquiring as to the Extreme 3 board that Why_Me suggested. The only issue I have with the Fat1lity board or what ever is my friend had one and that dudes face appeared every time he loaded his computer.... Eh.. noty aside from that I have no issues if its a great board. Unless you can recommend a different one possibly higher quality?

Nothing comes to mind when you say higher quality except for more expensive models such as the Z77 Gigabyte UDH5 and Asus Formula boards, although I might be missing something.

 

[malbluff]

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 like Why_me's build. My first thought was, what's that mobo, but I see it's a new one. I still don't know what was wrong, numerous posts back, with Asus. Yes, they're a bit on the pricey side, but you can't argue with the quality, and back-up. Plus they're really user-friendly. It's just a question of picking one of numerous offerings tha best suits your needs. You can go round and round in circles, trying to find a cheap board, that's good. If you're struggling, with budget, ok.

 

[Apropo]

Ya I feel like I'm going around in circles chasing my tail "If I get this board I save but is the quality equal to that board or even the other board.... " Its nearly driving me insane which is why I came here for help >_<
I'm nearly more confused then when I started lol Though I feel I'm heading in the right direction now with all the help given here.
I'm currently reading up on the suggestions given by everyone and evaluating each piece.

Also a huge factor will be how easy the motherboard is to OC such as the UEFI and such. I really want stability and reliability, though I have to say I'm bias to Asus only because I know the name. I've only recently been researching this and have never heard of Asrock before this year as a contender with the big names.

Any links on building tips, OC tips and the such would be greatly appreciated. Once I've done some more further research on the parts suggested I'll come back and give best answer or further discuss options.

 

[Apropo]

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.

Oh my gad I just noticed you got the Coolermaster HAF XM with a side window!!!! where, and how much with the side window? The lack of a window was the only reason I didn't even consider that case. Aside from that I really liked it.

 

[malbluff]

Ya I feel like I'm going around in circles chasing my tail "If I get this board I save but is the quality equal to that board or even the other board.... " Its nearly driving me insane which is why I came here for help >_<
I'm nearly more confused then when I started lol Though I feel I'm heading in the right direction now with all the help given here.
I'm currently reading up on the suggestions given by everyone and evaluating each piece.

Also a huge factor will be how easy the motherboard is to OC such as the UEFI and such. I really want stability and reliability, though I have to say I'm bias to Asus only because I know the name. I've only recently been researching this and have never heard of Asrock before this year as a contender with the big names.

Any links on building tips, OC tips and the such would be greatly appreciated. Once I've done some more further research on the parts suggested I'll come back and give best answer or further discuss options.

If you want easy, and are prepared to spend a little for that, and sheer quality, go Asus. End of story. There are so many tiny differences between motherboards, it's easy to overcomplicate things. It's not rocket science (quite) lol.

 

[Why_Me]

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.

There's five boards that I know of that support SLI (dual cards @ x8 & x8) that are a hair thinner and a hair shorter than your standard size ATX boards. That would be these boards down below. btw your going start seeing case manufactures making an extra set of standoffs seeing how these boards down below (size wise) are quite possibly the new standard.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128546
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837
ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130646
MSI Z77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157330
ASRock Z77 Extreme3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard


Now if a person doesn't plan on using their build as a soccer ball along with a 5lb cpu h/s then any of those boards up above will be fine as sunshine. The difference between the Asrock extreme3 and extreme4 is that the extreme3 uses an 8+3 power phase configuration and has two SATA 6G/b ports. The extreme4 uses a 8+4 power phase configuration, has four SATA 6G//b ports and it has that shiny piece of metal decor over the south bridge.

Your basic user is only going to need two SATA 6G/b ports...one for the SSD and one for the storage drive. A user that wants multiple hard drives (more than 2) is going to want a board that has more than two SATA 6B/b ports. That Asus board up there only has two of those ports also. No idea about those Gigabyte and MSI boards I posted.

 

[Apropo]

There's five boards that I know of that support SLI (dual cards @ x8 & x8) that are a hair thinner and a hair shorter than your standard size ATX boards. That would be these boards down below. btw your going start seeing case manufactures making an extra set of standoffs seeing how these boards down below (size wise) are quite possibly the new standard.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128546
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837
ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130646
MSI Z77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157330
ASRock Z77 Extreme3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard


Now if a person doesn't plan on using their build as a soccer ball along with a 5lb cpu h/s then any of those boards up above will be fine as sunshine. The difference between the Asrock extreme3 and extreme4 is that the extreme3 uses an 8+3 power phase configuration and has two SATA 6G/b ports. The extreme4 uses a 8+4 power phase configuration, has four SATA 6G//b ports and it has that shiny piece of metal decor over the south bridge.

Your basic user is only going to need two SATA 6G/b ports...one for the SSD and one for the storage drive. A user that wants multiple hard drives (more than 2) is going to want a board that has more than two SATA 6B/b ports. That Asus board up there only has two of those ports also. No idea about those Gigabyte and MSI boards I posted.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate not only your suggestions but the way you present the information. Thank you very much!!! appreciate the patients with helping me.

I don't plan on having more then 1 SDD and maybe later an extra HDD for more storage. So looks as if the Extreme 3 is a good choice for me.

 

[abablitz]

The HAF XM is an excellent case, it's much bigger than your standard mid tower, I would compare it in size to the NZXT Phantom Fulltower in terms of size, but much wider and easier to work with by far. I know because all my roommates either have a HAF XM or a NZXT Phantom.

Pros:
Space, extra bevel on the side panel to enable more room for cables
Layout, this system was built for air flow, HAF = High Air Flow
All the front panel I/O wires are black, including the fan wires
The PSU Box for easily hiding cable clutter
The Hot Swap Bays
The little area on top of the I/O for placing phones etc, very useful
All tool free installation
USB 3.0 built into the front I/O
I also like how the power button has this red glow surrounding it
200mm x2 + 140mm exhaust fans included with the case

The HAF XM window can be purchased directly via coolermaster store, it is so new that it's not available anywhere else.

You just missed the deal, HAF XM was on sale for 99$ free shipping no tax on newegg like a week ago. I bought mine for 130$ + 20$ for the side panel.

I might also recommend you the Corsair 600t Graphite series, the gunemetal or white is delicious. It looks terrible for water cooling set ups though.

 

[Apropo]

Ok first off thank you all I had a lot of reading to do once you all gave me your recommendations.
I have a desire to keep branding similar, I don't know why I just like the idea of sticking to one name brand as much as possible.
I took idea's from everyones suggestions and come up with this build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ichx
I'm trying to keep the cost around $1200 with mostly Corsair pieces, Window Case and would really like to fit a Corsair H100 and 2x Corsair Dominator 4gb 1600 ram. I can't justify the cost for the H100 or the Dominator ram even though it'd look really nice, unless I can find a really good deal on them.

As this build looks right now, are there any further suggestions or idea's? I'm not to sure on the PSU because if I get the Ghz 7970 or even the GTX 670 I most likely will never SLI / Crossfire. I really do want a modular or semi modular powersupply though.

 

[abablitz]

I would personally opt for an MSI Twin Frozr Architecture, MSI>Gigabyte imo.

Invest more on your PSU and go for a Corsair HX 850 semi modular gold, I have had it, and it is easily one of the best PSUs out in the market at a good price. However, if you plan on sticking to only a single GPU configuration, you can go lower to like 650 HX. Either way, an 850 would make things more future proof in case you decide to get a dual gpu set up in the future, I would imagine they will become more efficient as time passes.

Overall Corsair is a great brand, their branding and packaging and the quality of their products is superb. If you are going for the H60 you will need a push pull configuration to bring out the most from it. I chose
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181027
They are alright, better than stock, less noisy, static pressure great for pushing air through a radiator. Newegg just had a deal on them last week for 19.99$, so I jumped on that.

Also you won't need thermal paste, because the H60 comes with it pre applied.

 

[blazorthon]

The air cooler that was recommended above is probably better thn an H60 even with those fans. Although going for a better PSU shouldn't hurt in this case, it's unlikely that it'll help too much. Even a 750W can handle two 670s or two 7950s, although maybe it'll be worth the extra money for better future-proofing.

 

[abablitz]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088&nm_mc=EMC-EXPRESS092212&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS092212-_-EMC-092212-Index-_-PowerSupplies-_-17151088-L08C
Seasonic is the king of the PSU world, although I would say it's arguable nowadays with everyone catching up.

 

[Apropo]

so if I replaced the corsair PSU with the XFX 750W PSU that Why_Me recommended it'd be good to go and keep me from having to upgrade the PSU later if I decided to do SLI / Crossfire?

Btw the H60 or H100 would be more or less for the look cause it IMO is just smexy as heck!!!

 

[abablitz]

I agree the H60 will not get you water cooled temps, but it still gives better performance than the Hyper 212 standard, although I cannot say it justifies the price hike. I purchased it solely for aesthetics, and it matched my set up.

 

[blazorthon]

so if I replaced the corsair PSU with the XFX 750W PSU that Why_Me recommended it'd be good to go and keep me from having to upgrade the PSU later if I decided to do SLI / Crossfire?

A PSU with around 50-70 or so amps on the 12V rails should be plenty for two 7950s or two 670s. If you want a Corsair PSU, then the one that Why_Me suggested is a good option:
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

 

[Apropo]

I agree the H60 will not get you water cooled temps, but it still gives better performance than the Hyper 212 standard, although I cannot say it justifies the price hike. I purchased it solely for aesthetics, and it matched my set up.

My desire for the H60 / H100 is for aesthetics with a corsair system I think it looks just awesome. Your system just emphasized that with me.

 

[abablitz]

I honestly think you can do a lot better with your budget. Wait a month and collect parts as they go on sale. If you want a system that will last you, and if you can wait 8 years for a new build, 1 month won't kill you. Invest for the future.

http://pcpartpicker.com/b/xW5
^ says retail, but I got mine at 1050$ after a month of patience.

Also do you have a primary HD? A 120GB SSD most likely will not be enough. If getting an SSD is an absolute must, than I would have gotten a 120 GB kingston hyper x for 60 (was on sale 2 days ago) + a 500 gb black caviar as a secondary. 120gb as a capacity is really small, I helped a friend build on his 120 gb ssd, and that thing filled up near full, just after finishing installing drivers, and a few games, if you plan on storing movies on your PC, I suggest a larger HD.

I honestly think an SSD as of this time is a luxury that should only be sought after your core components are of quality. I believe it is not in your best interest to purchase a high priced, low capacity SSD, and settle for a mediocre PSU. I think for your case, a 1TB black caviar with a HX 750, would be the better choice.

The HX 750 will be about 135$, it is a better quality PSU and more future proof than the XFX.
The 1TB Black Caviar is 91$ at meritline
The speed of a black caviar is perfect for your needs, sure it won't give you a 15 second boot time, but it can still go under 50 seconds. Plus, if you plan on using your build for movies, storing movies would be a logical possibility, and high quality movies tend to go for 3-6gb in file size.

The money you save from not buying that SSD can be applied to getting a better psu. Keep in mind that the PSU is the *** that is powering all your components, you want something of quality.

PROS:
Larger Capacity
Better PSU
Same cost essentially give or take a few dollars

Anyone feel free to correct me, I haven't slept in the past 24 hours so my reasoning might be off.

 

[Apropo]

I honestly think you can do a lot better with your budget. Wait a month and collect parts as they go on sale. If you want a system that will last you, and if you can wait 8 years for a new build, 1 month won't kill you. Invest for the future.

http://pcpartpicker.com/b/xW5
^ says retail, but I got mine at 1050$ after a month of patience.

Also do you have a primary HD? A 120GB SSD most likely will not be enough. If getting an SSD is an absolute must, than I would have gotten a 120 GB kingston hyper x for 60 (was on sale 2 days ago) + a 500 gb black caviar as a secondary. 120gb as a capacity is really small, I helped a friend build on his 120 gb ssd, and that thing filled up near full, just after finishing installing drivers, and a few games, if you plan on storing movies on your PC, I suggest a larger HD.

I honestly think an SSD as of this time is a luxury that should only be sought after your core components are of quality. I believe it is not in your best interest to purchase a high priced, low capacity SSD, and settle for a mediocre PSU. I think for your case, a 1TB black caviar with a HX 750, would be the better choice.

The HX 750 will be about 135$, it is a better quality PSU and more future proof than the XFX.
The 1TB Black Caviar is 91$ at meritline
The speed of a black caviar is perfect for your needs, sure it won't give you a 15 second boot time, but it can still go under 50 seconds. Plus, if you plan on using your build for movies, storing movies would be a logical possibility, and high quality movies tend to go for 3-6gb in file size.

The money you save from not buying that SSD can be applied to getting a better psu. Keep in mind that the PSU is the *** that is powering all your components, you want something of quality.

PROS:
Larger Capacity
Better PSU
Same cost essentially give or take a few dollars

Anyone feel free to correct me, I haven't slept in the past 24 hours so my reasoning might be off.

Awesome suggestions thank you.

Here was my plan, Get the 120gb now - put GW2, MWO and maybe 1 or 2 other games on it and then come January if I need more space and my storage PC is out of room I'll grab a good 1TB - 2TB drive then. The games I'm currently playing don't even fill half of my current 140gb drive. I also have a PC for storage which is why I'm going with a small capacity SSD for this machine. This machine will be my pure gaming machine and the Storage PC will hold my movies and all that jazz.
GuildWars 2 has a lot of loading zones and I want that to be minimal, I figured a SSD would improve that. I figured I can store, Guild Wars 2, Diablo 3, League of Legends, Mechwarrior Online on my current 140gb, it doesn't even take up half the drive and I don't even play 2 of them.
I have been tossing and turning between the HX650 and the HX750 Gold certified just because I've read so many positive things about the HX750 specifically. I really want to keep the PSU modular as possible since my system is minimal in need of cables, I really don't want a big bundle of cables I need to hide. Also I saw a 240gb drive for $160 or so which isn't bad either but I don't think I'll need it.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/id8B
I changed out the PSU to the Corsair HX750 Gold Cert. PSU -
Throw in an additional $20-40 for fans and I'm near the $1200 mark and if like you said I patiently look for deals here and there I can get it lower as the next couple weeks go on. I'm deeply impressed at how much you saved on your system. As I've been looking around I feel some what lost and disoriented when looking for deals like you suggested. 😛

 

[abablitz]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339
Sale going on for this HD, 75$.
EMCYTZT2236 promo code.

Western digital is the best for mechanical hard drives, never go seagate.

Green Caviar: Mostly used for external hard drives, slow
Blue Caviar: Meant for your everyday user, movies etc, moderate speed
Black Caviar: Slightly faster than the blue, loud, meant for gamers and performance.

Although there is not much of a performance gain between the black and blue.

 

[Apropo]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339
Sale going on for this HD, 75$.
EMCYTZT2236 promo code.

Western digital is the best for mechanical hard drives, never go seagate.

Green Caviar: Mostly used for external hard drives, slow
Blue Caviar: Meant for your everyday user, movies etc, moderate speed
Black Caviar: Slightly faster than the blue, loud, meant for gamers and performance.

Although there is not much of a performance gain between the black and blue.

Took your advice on that hard drive and picked that up so now this looks like what I'm going to aim for with my build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/if5J
If I can push myself to spend more then $1200 I'll reach for the HX750 but other wise unless someone says something else I'm golden?
over the next week or so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for further deals and hoping that NCIX gets some of those cards in stock.

 

[malbluff]

Took your advice on that hard drive and picked that up so now this looks like what I'm going to aim for with my build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/if5J
If I can push myself to spend more then $1200 I'll reach for the HX750 but other wise unless someone says something else I'm golden?
over the next week or so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for further deals and hoping that NCIX gets some of those cards in stock.

I wouldn't disagree with anything much, there, except personally, I'd prefer Samsung 830, for SSD.

 

[blazorthon]

I wouldn't disagree with anything much, there, except personally, I'd prefer Samsung 830, for SSD.

I'd prefer Vertex 4, but OP wants to go with a Corsair theme.