Final step - compatibility issues and bottleneck test(See my build-gaming PC under 1100-1200$)

[Bach0]

Hi guys, so i am at the final stage of actually buying and building my first PC thanks to the help of this Community...all parts have been chosen,now i need your help to confirm that they will work properly together.
Here is my build:
CPU Core i5 3570k Quad-Core 3.4Ghz http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i53570k
MOBO ASrock z77 extreme6 http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77extreme6
RAM Corsair Vengeance 8gb ddr3 1600 http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmz8gx3m2a1600c9
GPU Sapphire radeon HD 7950 3GB 850MHZ http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-11196-16-20G/dp/B0098HW1HG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367749673&sr=8-1&keywords=sapphire+radeon+hd+7950
HDD Western Digital Caviar Black 7200 rpm 64MB Cash http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd1002faex
Optical Drive http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24b1stblkbas
PSU Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu650txv2
Monitor Asus VS239H-P 23.0 http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-vs239hp

NoteI am not going to overclock anything...
1. I need to know if there are any compatibility or bottleneck issues with these hardware working together...
2. Is this power supple enough for this build? Corsair TX 650watt+80,if not tell me which one to take and if its more than enough - will it harm my PC or not if i take it anyway?

Also i will go with the cheap case, which can just fit everything inside 😛
Thanks for your help,nice regards...

EDIT: I have changed my mind about case,i will follow your advice,Budget is under 50-70$ i don't really care about designs as long as they are perfect for my needs (larger space,good cooling) NZXT Guardian Black http://www.amazon.com/Guardian-Black-Steel-Chassis-921RB-BL/dp/B004351H9G/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1367754432&sr=1-1&keywords=pc+case
Cooler Master Elite 430 http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Elite-430-RC-430-KWN1/dp/B003O8J11E/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1367754572&sr=1-3&keywords=pc+case
NZXT Source 210 http://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Technologies-Source-210-Black/dp/B005869A7K/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1367754603&sr=1-5&keywords=pc+case

 

[envy14tpe]

You could add a cooler. It is quieter and cools your CPU down much more than the stock Intel cooler.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

500W PSU is enough, so 650W is plenty.

There are no bottlenecks in your system. In the future, you could add a second 7950 with your system.

Don't go too cheap with a case. Make sure you have good cabling and space for proper air flow.

 

[Bach0]

You could add a cooler. It is quieter and cools your CPU down much more than the stock Intel cooler.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

500W PSU is enough, so 650W is plenty.

There are no bottlenecks in your system. In the future, you could add a second 7950 with your system.

Don't go too cheap with a case. Make sure you have good cabling and space for proper air flow.

Nice to hear you again,you are really helpful. I will go with the new cooler you mentioned and with a bigger case,also i will try to find 500 watt PSU which will be cheaper than 650,because i have no luck finding it yet.All the best !!!

 

[manofchalk]

1. I dont see any issues except for the lack of a case.
2. 650W is fine for that rig, though if you want to leave the option of dual Crossfire (which the mobo can support) open later on then I suggest you get a 750W supply.

Few things I would change.
- That WD HDD is way too expensive for what it offers, Seagate has an equivalent unit for about $20 less.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003
- You can save a few bucks on the motherboard by going for either of these, and basically getting the same features.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz77xd3h
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77extreme4
- If you want to overclock (everything is good for it) you will need an aftermarket cooler. The 212 EVO Envy recommended is a very good budget unit.
- Go for a low profile memory kit, will prevent issues with the CPU cooler.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cml8gx3m1a1600c9

EDIT: if you downgrade the PSU from 650W, look at 550W units. 500W isnt a common wattage, and there are few decent units.

 

[Bach0]

1. I dont see any issues except for the lack of a case.
2. 650W is fine for that rig, though if you want to leave the option of dual Crossfire (which the mobo can support) open later on then I suggest you get a 750W supply.

Few things I would change.
- That WD HDD is way too expensive for what it offers, Seagate has an equivalent unit for about $20 less.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003
- You can save a few bucks on the motherboard by going for either of these, and basically getting the same features.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz77xd3h
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77extreme4
- If you want to overclock (everything is good for it) you will need an aftermarket cooler. The 212 EVO Envy recommended is a very good budget unit.
- Go for a low profile memory kit, will prevent issues with the CPU cooler.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cml8gx3m1a1600c9

EDIT: if you downgrade the PSU from 650W, look at 550W units. 500W isnt a common wattage, and there are few decent units.

Thanks for your reply, i will definetely go with Seagate HDD and cooler,as for the motherboard i have read somewhere that it has some issues with my GPU (Sapphire radeon hd 7950 3gb ) detecting and running at GEN3 speeds,so i don't want to risk.Also about PSU - if watt is higher than needed what will happen? more energy consumption?will it harm PC in any way?

 

[manofchalk]

A PSU's wattage just indicates how much it can supply, not what its going to be supplying at any time. If your rig draws 200W, then a 1000W PSU will only supply 200W.
A good rule of thumb when picking a PSU wattage is under peak load, the system will draw about 70% of a PSU's rated wattage. Typically that's where a PSU is most efficient. For your rig, a 550-650W seems about right.

 

[Bach0]

A PSU's wattage just indicates how much it can supply, not what its going to be supplying at any time. If your rig draws 200W, then a 1000W PSU will only supply 200W.
A good rule of thumb when picking a PSU wattage is under peak load, the system will draw about 70% of a PSU's rated wattage. Typically that's where a PSU is most efficient. For your rig, a 550-650W seems about right.

Thank you for clarifying that , helped a lot

 

[envy14tpe]

I overclock my 2500k and 660ti, have 2 HDDS, 1 SSD, 3 fans, and CPU cooler...and 520W is enough.
If your on the fence, this is a XFX 550W:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9

If you go 2 x 4GB, then you can get any RAM. My RAM has heat spreaders and I have 0 problems with clearance with my CM Evo. My motherboard is an ASRock too so I know the dimensions, and the Extreme 6 is bigger than the Pro 3.

What cases are you looking at?

 

[envy14tpe]

A PSU's wattage just indicates how much it can supply, not what its going to be supplying at any time. If your rig draws 200W, then a 1000W PSU will only supply 200W.
A good rule of thumb when picking a PSU wattage is under peak load, the system will draw about 70% of a PSU's rated wattage. Typically that's where a PSU is most efficient. For your rig, a 550-650W seems about right.

Where did you get the 70% figure? I've never seen that published, but I do agree to add more wattage than you might need to be safe. But since OP isn't overclocking and just using a 7950..I don't see a reason to use more than 500W.

 

[manofchalk]

80+ Certification and its efficiency ratings state that the peak of the efficiency curve should be somewhere between 50 and 100% load, so it makes sense it would be ~70%.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus
Most PSU reviews I'v read seem to back that up.

And its better advice than saying get a PSU that's twice the wattage the system will draw, because you also have to factor in the other end of the efficiency curve, and the fact that 80+ ratings dont apply under 20% load. So you also want to make sure that your idle load is above 20%, or at the very least not far below it.

 

[Bach0]

I overclock my 2500k and 660ti, have 2 HDDS, 1 SSD, 3 fans, and CPU cooler...and 520W is enough.
If your on the fence, this is a XFX 550W:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9

If you go 2 x 4GB, then you can get any RAM. My RAM has heat spreaders and I have 0 problems with clearance with my CM Evo. My motherboard is an ASRock too so I know the dimensions, and the Extreme 6 is bigger than the Pro 3.

What cases are you looking at?

I have added links to some of them , i think they are big enough and have large free space inside for good cooling(maybe i am wrong IDK).I'm looking under 50-70$
And yes I am not going to overclock anything,Sapphire 7950 what i want to buy comes pre-overclocked to 850mhz i guess ,if this has some effect on PSU.Also i could not decide between radeon hd 7950 and Gigabyte geforce gtx 670 2gb (980mhz pre-overclocked),frankly speaking i am not sure 100% which one to take still, gtx 670 is about 60-70$ more and i can afford it ... I am going to use single 1920x1080 monitor and i know GTX670 is better at gaming but radeon is better at other stuff so i don;t know yet

 

[envy14tpe]

80+ Certification and its efficiency ratings state that the peak of the efficiency curve should be somewhere between 50 and 100% load, so it makes sense it would be ~70%.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus
Most PSU reviews I'v read seem to back that up.

And its better advice than saying get a PSU that's twice the wattage the system will draw, because you also have to factor in the other end of the efficiency curve, and the fact that 80+ ratings dont apply under 20% load. So you also want to make sure that your idle load is above 20%, or at the very least not far below it.

According to reviews. The 7950 peaks at around 145W. The 3570k is around 110. That's 255W, which is over 90% of the power consumed. So even if the system needed an extra 150W total, then we are at 400W. So, a 550W XFX sounds more than perfect for this system. (mind you I overclock and only use 520W) I only say this cuz I wouldn't want to have someone buy less than quality and buy more power than needed. I recommend what a quality PSU and enough power.

 

[envy14tpe]

Stick with the 7950 for 1920x1080. It will play nearly all games (except Crysis 3) on Ultra with 4xMSAA or higher. In other words, a 7950 is awesome.

 

[manofchalk]

I agree that a 550W supply is all that's needed for this rig.
The 3570k only draws 77W at stock speeds, its only when you overclock does the power draw increase.

Speaking of Bach0, if you dont intend to overclock then why are you getting a "K" series chip, Z77 board and 212 EVO? Thats a good setup for an easy 4.2Ghz overclock.

The Nvidia counterpart to the HD7950 is the GTX660Ti, not the 670.
Of the two, would go for the 7950 personally. That extra VRAM and the 660Ti's crippled memory bus lead me to believe that the 7950 is a better long term option (not that it fails to perform now), never mind that it comes with free games and overclocks like a beast.
If your looking to go up a tier, then you want to be looking between the GTX670 and HD7970. The fact that the 7970 is in my sig should tell you which one I think is best 😛.

 

[envy14tpe]

People love this one, clearly looks aren't everything:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

This one is cool:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139018

I also like the NZXT model you chose. NZXT is great for cooling.

Another cool one by Corsair:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-300r

 

[Bach0]

People love this one, clearly looks aren't everything:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

This one is cool:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139018

I also like the NZXT model you chose. NZXT is great for cooling.

Another cool one by Corsair:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-300r

Thanks,i will stick with 7950 and get XFX ATX 550 PSU

 

[Bach0]

I agree that a 550W supply is all that's needed for this rig.
The 3570k only draws 77W at stock speeds, its only when you overclock does the power draw increase.

Speaking of Bach0, if you dont intend to overclock then why are you getting a "K" series chip, Z77 board and 212 EVO? Thats a good setup for an easy 4.2Ghz overclock.

The Nvidia counterpart to the HD7950 is the GTX660Ti, not the 670.
Of the two, would go for the 7950 personally. That extra VRAM and the 660Ti's crippled memory bus lead me to believe that the 7950 is a better long term option (not that it fails to perform now), never mind that it comes with free games and overclocks like a beast.
If your looking to go up a tier, then you want to be looking between the GTX670 and HD7970. The fact that the 7970 is in my sig should tell you which one I think is best 😛.

Thanks again for helping me out, well i said i'm not going to overclock anything in near future like 2-3 years (if its near) but i may need to or i may want to so this build will give me that opportunity

 

[Bach0]

Really guys ,Thank u very much for everything!!! For newbie like me it really means a lot.I found this community very helpful . I really do appreciate your help...

 

[manofchalk]

All good man, we were all at some point like you and so we know how hard it is to initially learn everything. I myself came to this forum asking for advice on my build, and they very quickly showed me how shoddy what I had pulled together was. Looking back to my initial build, it was pretty horrible .

If you have any more questions, dont hesitate to ask. Thats what were here for, unpaid technical support 😛.

 

[envy14tpe]

I too put my build together due to tomshardware. I don't regret my choices and the performance I get is phenomenal. Only wish I would have heard good advice before wasting money on laptops that just sat on my desk and never moved.

7950 competes with 660ti, but you can't go wrong with either. And XFX PSUs are made by Seasonic, which is top two in the game (Antec).

How's the cost looking?

 

[Bach0]

I too put my build together due to tomshardware. I don't regret my choices and the performance I get is phenomenal. Only wish I would have heard good advice before wasting money on laptops that just sat on my desk and never moved.

7950 competes with 660ti, but you can't go wrong with either. And XFX PSUs are made by Seasonic, which is top two in the game (Antec).

How's the cost looking?

Good for me, in total its under 1200$ or even lower including monitor.
I could easily go to local computer shops and build there my PC , but maximum what i could get is -2x perfomance PC for +2x money spent.Everything is too expensive here comparing to others and i'm sure i would get useless technical support just to CON me and pay more money.BTW I'm from Georgia and i have to spend + 18% on every product bought on internet if its value higher than about 180$.Even so ,i can buy my PC cheaper on internet than buying it at local shop.This configuration would have cost me around 2300-2800$ if not more at my local computer shops...