Could I recieve help with building a PC?

[AstralKnight]

Hello. I've come across some temporary free cash that I've been wanting to spend on a high-end Gaming PC. I have been given many recommendations that I build it myself, although honestly I would very much prefer someone else build it for me, but there's not much I can do about that. Anyway, I've researched a lot on what parts I should get and can afford, and assembled a list here: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/IeaK


Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as possible, once I've confirmed the build I want.


Budget Range: ($1000-$1500) I have a little extra for things like mouse & keyboard, speakers, etc, but staying in this range would be best.


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming first and foremost


Are you buying a monitor: Yes


Do you need to buy OS: Yes. I will be getting Windows 7, as that runs best with gaming right now, and I dislike 8 greatly.


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg and Amazon seem the most reliable to me. I'd like to buy this parts in a local store though, if possible, for not risking UPS mishandling parts and no wait time and hassle if I have to return things.


Location: Henderson, Nevada, USA


Parts Preferences: Intel please, as I've been constantly told on the poor quality of AMD. I really would prefer good quality parts, as I'm paranoid of faulty parts.


Overclocking: Maybe, if it's easy/cheap to do, and doesn't risk damaging the computer.


SLI or Crossfire: Maybe, but I'm really not knowledgeable on this, or PC workings in general.


Your Monitor Resolution: The monitor I listed is 1920 x 1080. I could do better if I still have some money left over, but that's very iffy.


Additional Comments: I don't care about the looks of the PC itself. I want it to be a quiet, fast computer meant for gaming excellently. I want to be able to achieve a solid 60 frames per second minimum on maxed or high settings. Game examples that I intend to play are Dota 2, Starcraft 2 and the expansions, Far Cry 3, Crysis 3, etc. Future-proofing it a bit so I'm not screwed after a year or two would be great, since I won't be getting this amount of spare cash for a very long time. If I can get all this without any worries of the PC breaking down or something, I would be very happy.

I know I will likely have to build it myself, but I'm very nervous and fearful of screwing up slightly and waste important money. It's just how I am with these things, so I don't like taking risks. So, if by some chance there's a store or place that offers building it for you, please tell me. I would hugely appreciate it.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: The PC I'm posting on is nearly 10-12 years old and barely works. I've always wanted to play many PC exclusive games, but it is simply impossible with this porrly-specced dinosaur, so I want to replace it.

 

[TheBigTroll]

ill help. get this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/IftE

ram. out of stock but they should be stocked up in a week
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=74758&promoid=1321

hard drive
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=78093

-saved some money on the board. it has everything you need to get going and not much more than that. it should just work
-ram is a little cheaper
-SSD is cheaper. still performs well
-you need a hard drive. given the system you are typing on is that old, the old hard drives wont work with this one
-GPU performs better with crysis 3 included in the bundle. if you want to save 100 dollars, you can go with a 7950 and it should still perform within 5-10fps of a 7970. your call on that department of things
-case is 1/3 of the cost of the one that you picked out. it is built well, has good features, and is enough for what you are going to put inside.
-the xfx 550w is enough for the system. its essentially a smaller tx650v2.
-slightly cheaper optical drive.

you should be good now. if you want a good keyboard (worth investing in a good one like these), id suggest this. expensive vs the membrane ones that OEM pcs come with but will last much longer and will allow you to type faster. this one doesnt have a numpad though. if you dont use one like me, its fine, but if you do, i can suggest another one
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0068INSUM/?tag=pcpapi-20

id say ignore the reviews. my friend has a couple of these and the mini usb connector is fine
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201045&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[TheBigTroll]

oh and if any of these stores are located near you, you might want to go there and check them out. the i5 is much cheaper at 189.99 and you can get combo deals with motherboards

 

[sharkbyte5150]

I agree with BigTroll and like his build overall.
There are a few things I'd change (mostly for personal preference) but the final cost is almost exactly what his list came to.

There is a 3-part video series on building your own PC on NewEgg that may be helpful.
http://www.newegg.com/Computer-Hardware/Store

 

[TheBigTroll]

you can skip the first part. its the component selection process in which we have already done

 

[sharkbyte5150]

Yes, I forgot to mention that.

 

[AstralKnight]

Thank you BigTroll and Sharkbyte for your quick replies. I appreciate the build you gave, and it looks really great for the price! However, can I ask two questions?

1) About the Radeon video card, I've heard that they don't perform that well. Does it work better than the GeForce card I picked earlier, or is the only difference price?

2) Like I said, I'm very paranoid that a part will break or something after the building. Seeing many reviews from people reporting multiple DOA parts, and parts that seemingly stop working for no reason after installation, certainly don't help me out. Are the parts you picked good quality, if you can tell me from your experiences or knowledge? I don't mind paying a little bit more if that means I don't need to replace them in a couple months.


I really like the keyboard you picked, though, it looks great. As for building, I've actually watched the videos before recently. I'm still very unsure if I should build it myself, but if I decide to, I'll watch them over again. Thank you anyway.

 

[TheBigTroll]

radeon cards are better values and perform better. just that a nvidia card is more consistent

if its DOA, a RMA isnt that bad

 

[Blue_Toaster]

There is no reason radeon cards don't work well, they are pretty good especially if your getting a 7970. If a part is DOA you just return it, it happens and it is unlikely. The parts are high quality and won't break down easily. And if they do i bet their customer support will assist well. In reviews some people are just plain ignorant and blame the product even though it was probably a mistake on their part or if it was just a dud since you can not make thousands of electronics and expect all of them to be flawless. Just thought i'd give my two cents on that because it really annoys me when people write reviews and don't know what they were doing. Unless there is a pattern, it's just bad luck for DOA parts.

 

[PaperOrPlastic]

The radeon card is fine, people who say it is less powerful then X are just expressing a personal opinion really. I have for example a gtx 680, which loses to the 7970 is some situations. I don't really care, but some people get all defensive and fanboyish.

Just ignore that, since you have a budget I would stick with the 7970 for a GPU, because it is a great card and an excellent value.

Also, DOA is a part of life for computer building, you have to accept that and understand that it can and will happen eventually.

And for a bit of my two cents. I'm not sure why they are recommending a 128gb SSD for someone who intends to play games. Unless you plan on constantly uninstalling and reinstalling games everytime you want to play something new, I would buy a HDD. If you can I would buy both the SSD and a HDD, and load the OS on the SSD. But it's up to you of course. However understand that while an SSD is very fast, they are far too expensive dollar for dollar, gigabyte wise, while a HDD is cheap and reliable.

 

[Blue_Toaster]

The radeon card is fine, people who say it is less powerful then X are just expressing a personal opinion really. I have for example a gtx 680, which loses to the 7970 is some situations. I don't really care, but some people get all defensive and fanboyish.

Just ignore that, since you have a budget I would stick with the 7970 for a GPU, because it is a great card and an excellent value.

Also, DOA is a part of life for computer building, you have to accept that and understand that it can and will happen eventually.

And for a bit of my two cents. I'm not sure why they are recommending a 128gb SSD for someone who intends to play games. Unless you plan on constantly uninstalling and reinstalling games everytime you want to play something new, I would buy a HDD. If you can I would buy both the SSD and a HDD, and load the OS on the SSD. But it's up to you of course. However understand that while an SSD is very fast, they are far too expensive dollar for dollar, gigabyte wise, while a HDD is cheap and reliable.

Good point.
Here's one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
Though if you want to spend less you could get a WD blue or a seagate.

 

[TheBigTroll]

1) SSDs are more reliable. there is a reason they have a higher MTBF (usually)
2) a SSD is what makes a system worthwhile using. the small SSD is enough for the OS, apps, and some games that you play a lot
3) SSDs cut loading times by a lot. sometimes 3x as fast in my rig

 

[Blue_Toaster]

1) SSDs are more reliable. there is a reason they have a higher MTBF (usually)
2) a SSD is what makes a system worthwhile using. the small SSD is enough for the OS, apps, and some games that you play a lot
3) SSDs cut loading times by a lot. sometimes 3x as fast in my rig

Getting both is not a bad thing though... It's not like it will slow it down.

 

[sharkbyte5150]

I'm pretty sure the reason BigTroll recommended a 128GB SSD (vs. larger) was to stay within budget. There is a significant benefit to using SSD's for the OS drive so if Astral can afford it, I'd definitely get both.

 

[AstralKnight]

Again, thank you everyone for your input and answering my questions. I think, in the end, I will go with the build BigTroll gave to me earlier. It looks very solid, and I'll be able to use the rest of my budget on other accessories and things I wanted for the PC as well. I can probably get a good mouse, speakers, and the keyboard also suggested to me, and meet the budget perfectly.

I don't really know too much about SSD vs HDD, but I went for SSD first because, like some have said, it can speed up loading dramatically. I will try to get both if I have leftover money, but I think I'll still be satisfied with just the SSD if I can't. If anyone else wants to give more suggestions, changes, or advice, I'd welcome it. Otherwise, thank you all very much.

 

[djangoringo]

I would recommend your initial ssd, the hyper 212 evo and the 670 gtx.
My suggestion : http://pcpartpicker.com/p/IlqJ
If you need to lower the price down, get the sandisk extreme, it's a good ssd too : http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sandisk-internal-hard-drive-sdssdx120gg25

See this for the a-data ssd : http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/03/05/adata_sx900_128gb_ssd_review/10#.UToKkRzwnQU

My reason to you to go with the hype 212 evo :
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-EVO-CPU-Cooler-Review/1407/8
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-Plus-CPU-Cooler-Review/956/9
^both reviews of the coolers.

You get a modular high quality psu with high efficiency with a silent and quality case like the fractal design define R4 : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/lian-li-pc-b12-nanoxia-deep-silence-1-silverstone-ft-02s-usb3,3378-17.html

The 670 gtx is a good card, the gigabyte windforce 3x has the 680 gtx pcb and a great cooling system.
See a recent game performance : http://www.techspot.com/articles-info/642/bench/VeryHigh_02.png