Choosing a cpu...

[whgan]

Hey guys, so ive decided the specs for my first ever pc build but im currently stuck on picking a good CPU. Im on a budget so I cant go too high end, but at the same time I'd like one that has good performance. Currently ive got a core i5 3570k but I'm not going to be overclocking since I don't have a lot of cooling so what CPU offers good performance,compatibility and affordability for my build?
Also does this spec work? is it compatible?

Here are my specs:
Case: - Coolermaster Case 58$
CD Drive: Asus 22X DVD Drive - 21$
-CPU: Intel Core i5 3570k – 240$
-PSU: Antec VP550P – 60$
SSD: OCZ Agility 4 – 65$
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 500GB – 57$
-GPU: GTX 660 ti – 320$
-Motherboard: H77 Pro4/MVP– 95$
RAM: 8GB 1600mhz G.Skill Rip Jaw– 38$
Total Amount: 954$

Ive also got to get a monitor so if there no way to cut down the cost of this build, I'm going to remove the SSD.
Also appreciate any suggestions advice since this is my first build.

 

[psychoclown81]

That cpu seems to be the sweet spot right now, ivy bridge, good clock speed, cache etc and for a decent price. It looks like you'd have to push to around 300 to get an i7, and where are you getting these parts? on newegg the cpu is only $215, and the MB is $80, i haven't checked prices on the rest..

 

[flexxar]

I see a decent 660 ti on newegg for $280, but i would actually pick up a 7950 because of better performance and 3 free games.

 

[tirvon]

The i5-3570K (as stated in Tom's Best CPU for the $ several times http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-4.html) is IMO, the best gaming CPU currently for several reasons. If you take the money you saved from your budget by the current price drop from $240 to $215, and throw an extra few bucks at a good closed-loop liquid cpu cooler (I personally recommend the Corsair H70 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181019, it keeps my i5-3570K at a breezy 12C idle, and 30-35C load & OC'd to 4.6GHz), you can't beat this chip. With a good video card (running a EVGA GTX670FTW) this will handle any game I throw at it on max settings, and even takes BF3 on a 5760x1080 triple-display on ultra with stable framerates. I haven't had a single problem with it. My 2 pennies.

 

[dish_moose]

12C idle??? Where do you live - a meat locker?
-Bruce

 

[Derza10]

lol 12c, it would have to be UNDER 54 fahrenheit in your room to get those temps, unless you have your AC setup to blow threw your computer lol

 

[tirvon]

12C idle??? Where do you live - a meat locker?
-Bruce

Sadly, most of the time my room is very cold. And yes I verified it. between the 4 cores it floats between 9-12C per core idle. I will post a screen when I get home from work just to prove it.

 

[Derza10]

Sadly, most of the time my room is very cold. And yes I verified it. between the 4 cores it floats between 9-12C per core idle. I will post a screen when I get home from work just to prove it.

Sounds like your sensors are not accurate, either that or you have a room temperature around 40F.

 

[camohanna]

If you are getting a H77 mobo, no point in unlocked core as it does not support Overclocking. You need a Z77 if you want to overclock that core, plus decent watercooling. A Z77 Extreme4 is a decent Z77 motherboard, if you want to overclock. Otherwise, stick with that H77 and get the i5 3570 not 3570k as you will just be wasting money. The two are exactly the same apart from different integrated graphics and overclocking potential. I would probably get a better PSU, not sure about that Antec one.. Maybe one of these?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

 

[tirvon]

Sounds like your sensors are not accurate, either that or you have a room temperature around 40F.

Ok, so the program is wrong, but only by 10C
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc269/tirvonfire/Sigs/posting/temps.png
I think 22 is still pretty good.

 

[whgan]

If you are getting a H77 mobo, no point in unlocked core as it does not support Overclocking. You need a Z77 if you want to overclock that core, plus decent watercooling. A Z77 Extreme4 is a decent Z77 motherboard, if you want to overclock. Otherwise, stick with that H77 and get the i5 3570 not 3570k as you will just be wasting money. The two are exactly the same apart from different integrated graphics and overclocking potential. I would probably get a better PSU, not sure about that Antec one.. Maybe one of these?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

Yea, I'm going to stick with the H77 as I wont be overclocking and grab a i5 3570. Would the stock cooler be enough? and is a 550w PSU enough or should I get something higher?

 

[Derza10]

stock cooler is fine if you arn't overclocking and 550w is more than enough, just get a good brand of PSU.

 

[whgan]

thanks for you answers, one last quesetion, would a 450w PSU work with my build??? because I am currently over budget and need to cut down a bit. I am going to go for the Cooler Master GX450W PSU for 60$, if 450w is enough to power my build.
Final Specs:
Case: K380 Coolermaster Mid tower – 41$
CD Drive: Asus 22X DVD Drive - 21$
-CPU: Intel Core i5 3570 – 211$
-PSU: Cooler master GX450w maybe if 450w is enough? - 60$
SSD: OCZ Agility 4 64GB– 65$
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 500GB – 57$
-GPU: NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti or AMD HD 7950 – 320$
-Motherboard: H77 Pro4/MVP– 95$
RAM: 8GB 1600mhz G.Skill Rip Jaw– 38$
Total: 908$
Thanks again for all your help

 

[Wolfshadw]

The power supply is not the place to skimp on a budget. A bad power supply can make your $1000 investment worthless. It's an extreme scenario, but better safe than sorry. For the same price, I'd probably go with this Corsair Builder Series CX500 500W. If you need to drop further to meet a budget, look at the CPU and/or graphics card; never the power supply.

-Wolf sends

 

[whgan]

Thanks for such a fast reply, after researching around I've decided to just go over budget a little and get your suggestion Corsair CX500. Im not sure now if I should get the SSD drive... I would like a 64gb ssd to increase boot speed and also some game speed but it is pretty expensive(more than my 500gb HDD). Do you guys think its worth it or cut it out? if i cut it out i would be back under budget

 

[nitroexplosion]

Thanks for such a fast reply, after researching around I've decided to just go over budget a little and get your suggestion Corsair CX500. Im not sure now if I should get the SSD drive... I would like a 64gb ssd to increase boot speed and also some game speed but it is pretty expensive(more than my 500gb HDD). Do you guys think its worth it or cut it out? if i cut it out i would be back under budget

Whats is your budget, I found this SSD drive on newegg that should help to cut down the price of your final build, its a 32GB drive tho, But you did say its just for the OS which i think would be windows, Windows is like about 10 gb so for a boot drive should be fine plus updates and priced at $50


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227510

 

[tirvon]

The power supply is not the place to skimp on a budget. A bad power supply can make your $1000 investment worthless. It's an extreme scenario, but better safe than sorry. For the same price, I'd probably go with this Corsair Builder Series CX500 500W. If you need to drop further to meet a budget, look at the CPU and/or graphics card; never the power supply.

Agreed. PSU is one of the most critical components, and you usually want to get one that is a bit BIGGER than your requirements as they lose (and don't quote this number, I'm approximating from memory) around 8-10% of their total wattage over a few years. So if you expect to build your system and not worry about it for at least a few years, get 50-100W more than your calculated total for your components.
Hope that helps.

 

[Derza10]

You can always get an SSD later if you are worried about your budget. Maybe wait a month or more and pick up a bigger one that will allow you to use it for more things.

 

[tirvon]

You can always get an SSD later if you are worried about your budget. Maybe wait a month or more and pick up a bigger one that will allow you to use it for more things.

I think this is actually a really good idea as SSD prices are constantly coming down and performance is constantly going up as of late also. Maybe use an old Hdd for your C: drive for now, and then when you save up for the SSD just copy your C: drive over to avoid reinstalling from scratch.

 

[Derza10]

I think this is actually a really good idea as SSD prices are constantly coming down and performance is constantly going up as of late also. Maybe use an old Hdd for your C: drive for now, and then when you save up for the SSD just copy your C: drive over to avoid reinstalling from scratch.

I would recommend doing a fresh windows install on the SSD when you get it, I wouldn't copy it over from another drive. Installing windows on an SSD really does not take very long anyhow.

 

[whgan]

Agreed. PSU is one of the most critical components, and you usually want to get one that is a bit BIGGER than your requirements as they lose (and don't quote this number, I'm approximating from memory) around 8-10% of their total wattage over a few years. So if you expect to build your system and not worry about it for at least a few years, get 50-100W more than your calculated total for your components.
Hope that helps.

Im not really sure how to calculate the required total W for my components as I am a first time builder. My build is around mid range and Im having second thoughts of my PSU which is currently a CX500w from Corsair.

Current Final PC Build:
Case: K380 Coolermaster Mid tower – 41$
CD Drive: Asus 22X DVD Drive - 21$
-CPU: Intel Core i5 3570 – 211$
-PSU: Corsair CX500w- 70$
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM – 57$
-GPU: NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti or AMD HD 7950(if price is same) – 320$
-Motherboard: H77 Pro4/MVP– 95$
RAM: 8GB 1600mhz G.Skill Rip Jaw– 38$

 

[Derza10]

Here use this, remember it will give you the very lowest PSU, i would add 50-100w to whatever it says.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

The 500w corsair should be perfect.

 

[whgan]

Here use this, remember it will give you the very lowest PSU, i would add 50-100w to whatever it says.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

The 500w corsair should be perfect.

Thank you so much, your reply was very helpful to someone like me

 

[whgan]

waiit guys if i wait a while and get a GTX 670 instead would this PSU still be sufficient?

 

[eshepard]

dude, check this out, at $170 get the 3570k

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/374338-31-3750k-great-deal

you have to pounce on that or it will be gone, this give you the ability to overclock down the road, by a new cooler in a year and step up things.

you can save some money on the motherboard, i recently built with a 3570k and a msi g41, the g41 is a z77 chipset that can be found for less than $75.

Don't get rid of the SSD, the ssd is the single most important component in day to day tasks, in terms of the perception of speed.
Once you go SSD you will never go back, makes everything snappier.

to save money, get a 7850 or 7870 instead of a 660 ti, the 7870 can be easily had for around 230, i got one for $200 2 months ago, but thats not around now.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548?vs=647

Personally I prefer nvidia over radeon graphics, but the price for performance is better with amd right now.