$1250 or less, first time builder. Advice Please.

[hawkfira]

Looking for some advice on building my first pc using ibuypower. My main use for the PC will be gaming, and I want to go with a medium-high end build. The upper limit on my budget is $1250 (not counting monitor, keyboard and mouse which I already have). I wouldn't be opposed to going lower if I can achieve the same effect with lower cost. I will not be overclocking. Here's what I have going:

Apex EL 660 Gaming Case Black

Intel® Core™ i7-4770 Processor (4x 3.40GHz/8MB L3 Cache)

Corsair Hydro Series H60 Liquid CPU Cooling System ARC Dual Silent High Performance Fan Upgrade (Push-Pull Airflow)

8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module Corsair Vengeance

AMD Radeon HD 7770 - 1GB Single Card

ASUS Z87-PRO

650 Watt - Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2

2 TB HARD DRIVE -- 64M Cache, 7200rpm, 6.0Gb/s Single Drive

24x Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black

3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

Intel Pro 10/100/1000 Network Card


How does it look?

Also, will I be able to install and run Windows 7 OS on my build without any issues?

 

[bignastyid]

For $1250 you could build a much better system.

 

[bignastyid]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1eZfE
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1eZfE/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1eZfE/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus H87-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($124.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($403.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Core 3000 USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1222.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-09 20:22 EDT-0400)

You dont need hyper threading for gaming, or a big cooler if you are not overclocking. The GTX 770 will stomp the HD7770 into a mudhole without breaking a sweat. A much better overall gaming system

 

[TheBigTroll]

you can do so much better than the mis-matched parts that is originally assembled
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1f0cm

-double the performance in the GPU department
-no reason to get a locked chip with a overclocking motherboard and a cheapo liquid cooler
-no reason to get a i7 when you are gaming
-no reason to get a cheap case either

for my build, the ram can be price matched for 54.99 at us.ncix

 

[TheBigTroll]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1eZfE
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1eZfE/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1eZfE/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus H87-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($124.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($403.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Core 3000 USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1222.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-09 20:22 EDT-0400)

You dont need hyper threading for gaming, or a big cooler if you are not overclocking. The GTX 770 will stomp the HD7770 into a mudhole without breaking a sweat. A much better overall gaming system

just a heads up that the msi twin frozer card is cheaper and performs better from the slightly better cooler and better custom pcb

 

[hawkfira]

Okay, I've taken note of the tips and I'm going to make a couple changes:
-Drop the Radeon HD7770 card for a GTX770
-Pick up an ASRock Z87 Extreme4 instead ASUS Z87-PRO mobo since I won't be overclocking

Some questions I've thought of:
-Should I use a 750W Corsair PSU just in case since I am upgrading to the GTX770 or would that be overkill? I would rather have a little more than I need than cut it close and get 90%+ load unless having more is going to hurt me.
-Do I need the Intel Pro 10/100/1000 Network Card or will the onboard LAN work well enough?
-Is liquid cooler unnecessary if you aren't overclocking? Would the Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink provided be enough to not worry about overheating, even if my game's recommended specs are Intel i5 and GTX 660 or higher, or HD 7950 or higher?

 

[TheBigTroll]

if you are not overclocking, it would be stupid to even get z87

a single 770 will never need more than a 550w psu

no

a stock cooler is all you need