About To Order Build - What Do You Think? ($1200 Budget)

[Icaraeus]

http://www.pccasegear.com/sc/zdM

A couple days ago I finalized my build but changed the motherboard just today as the place where I wanted to order it all didn't have it in stock and the motherboard I wanted was more expensive.

What do you think of the new motherboard (ASRock Z77 Pro3, basically the same as the other one I wanted except it only has 2 USB3 as apposed to 4) as well as the entire build? Is this a good build to order (for the 31st January as the case isn't in stock until then)?

I already have the OS, RAM, a monitor and a keyboard, so therefore all of the parts in my order list are the other parts I need. Assuming I buy it all at that site it'll cost me $1250 with shipping and tax and stuff.

Another option I considered just today was waiting until the next computer fair, though the next one in my area is weeks away (22nd february as apposed to 31st January) so I don't really want to wait that long if I can just order it all from here.

 

[Specops125]

No RAM?

 

[Icaraeus]

G Skill (2x8GB) 16GB DDR3 RAM I already own.

 

[jimthenagual]

I'm a believer in, whenever possible (and within reason of course), getting the best possible graphics card you can afford in the budget. In this case, I'd go so far as to drop the SSD in order to upgrade to a 280x (or a gtx 770). The SSD is great for boot times, but for in game performance it does not affect FPS. I have an SSD and love it, but when building in a budget sacrifices have to be made, and personally I'd get the 280x.

If needed, I would even suggest going to a H87 chipset motherboard to save more as you are not overclocking.

 

[Specops125]

I'm a believer in, whenever possible (and within reason of course), getting the best possible graphics card you can afford in the budget. In this case, I'd go so far as to drop the SSD in order to upgrade to a 280x. The SSD is great for boot times, but for in game performance it does not affect FPS. I have an SSD and love it, but when building in a budget sacrifices have to be made, and personally I'd get the 280x.

If needed, I would even suggest going to a H87 chipset motherboard to save more as you are not overclocking.

I think this is a good suggestion. Otherwise looks good to me. Also, since you have a quiet case on there it's worth pointing out that the R9 GPUs run rather loud and if quiet is important, look at something like Nvidia's GTX 770.

 

[Tradesman1]

I'd go the extra $15 or whatever for the 3570K, may not want to OC now but 6 months a year from now, can OC and be like having a new rig all over again

 

[Icaraeus]

I don't intend to ever overclock (well, at least for the next 5 or so years).

 

[Icaraeus]

Does anyone know of a good >$150 LGA1155 motherboard (AUS price) that i could use and which is still supported by the manufacturer? The Pro3 is no longer supported and the Extreme4 isn't in stock.

Here's the updated link to my build: http://www.pccasegear.com/sc/kqa

 

[Tradesman1]

The Rocks EXtreme 6 is a good one

 

[Icaraeus]

That MOBO costs $200 where I am - the Extreme4 in Australia costs $145. Any other boards I could use?

 

[Tradesman1]

How about the ASRock Z77 Fatal1ty Performance at PCCaseGear - $149, very good mobo

 

[Icaraeus]

How about the ASRock Z77 Fatal1ty Performance at PCCaseGear - $149, very good mobo

Thanks for the recommendation, going with that one! Including the price of shipping to where I am it costs just under $1300. Is this build all good to be ordered on the 31st or is there anything I should change?

I already have the OS disc, the RAM, a monitor, keyboard and mouse which is why they aren't included.

 

[Specops125]

Only a wifi PCIe card or USB dongle if you need it as the mobo doesn't come with it.

 

[Tradesman1]

Must be ordered on the 30th only...recommendations change on the 31st..............LOL, sorry, just kidding, couldn't resist....Yes think you are good to go, let us know how the build goes

 

[Icaraeus]

I was reading up on mATX and I realized I'd be able to use it with all my other parts. Would the Extreme4-M be a good board to use instead ($115) along with my other parts? I want to keep the price around the $1250 range.

 

[Tradesman1]

That should work fine also

 

[Icaraeus]

Okay, these are the parts I'm going with for my first build. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Tradesman1]

No worries, drop us a line to let us know how it goes

 

[Icaraeus]

Passing by to ramble on about my computer. Yesterday morning I finished putting together everything in my PC (I found my already owned RAM the night befofe which I put somewhere) and spent 15 minutes trying to clean up the cables which were running between the PSU, the bottom HDD cage and around the motherboard.

After I put everything together I hooked it up to my 35-40in 1080p monitor and turned on the power to which it successfully started up to the BIOS where I spent 10 minutes figuring out all the settings. Then after some frustration I installed Windows 8 Pro 64-bit; I tried to install W7 Ultimate 64-bit first but my PC didn't recognize the disc so I tried Windows 8. I had a list of product keys I received a while back and after windows 8 took 30 minutes "installing the OS files" 3 times the 4th one worked.

I realized my R9 270X GPU didn't seem to be working so I tried a few things like rebooting the PC, installing the drivers that came in the box and then rebooting before I looked into my side-opened case closely and realized the GPU fans weren't spinning. Turns out I forgot to plug in the power connectors!

Anyway it's all seeming to go well. I installed MS Office 2013, Steam and CPUID HWMonitor so far - all temperatures are stable at 35-38 degrees while running Steam, CPUID and MS Office Excel. The noise coming from my case is barely audible sitting 30cm away. I'm currently downloading Planetside 2 which should be done this afternoon so I can start testing my PC's true power - unfortunately I couldn't find any of my disc games, whichni lasted played 3 yrs ago on my laptop.

Might update on game performance after installing PS2. Thanks for the help prior to buying the parts.

 

[Tradesman1]

No worries, glad all is well