First build, Gaming PC, $1300

[MyAlphabetSong]

Hey guys, just wanted to get some approvals/suggestions before I checkout on newegg. This will be my first attempt at building a PC with the most being i've ever done was replacing a GPU. I've done a fair amount of research and i'm about ready to give it a shot.

Just some things to note: I don't plan on upgrading this rig in the next 5 years. This is why I went with a basic MOBO with few features and little room to upgrade. What I am aware of about going this route is, I won't be able to upgrade to USB 3.0, no SLI, and no room for extra RAM.

MOBO: ASRock H61M-VS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $60

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K $220

CASE: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $60

PSU: Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $65

GPU: EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $240

MONITOR: ASUS VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers $190

HD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $60

SSD: Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $115

HEATSINK: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 $29

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM $95

CD/DVD: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM $21

THERMAL COMPOUND: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM $13

TOTAL - $1218

Any advice would be great. Thanks guys.

 

[Why_Me]

You have a cpu meant for over clocking, but a board that doesn't over clock.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice <---- Please copy and paste this on here and fill it out.

 

[MyAlphabetSong]

Thanks for responding. It seems like I have most of that information in my post besides the overclocking part. Sorry for not specifying. I have never over clocked before. It seems the alternatives for MOBOs with this socket type are double and tripled the price. My question now is, is over clocking the 2500k to a moderate over clock worth spending around $100 for a different MOBO?

Also, if there is anything else you need to know please let me know.

 

[Why_Me]

Well not if you don't feel like messing with it. I would make these changes though.

SATA 3 and USB 3.0

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236 $74.99 FREE SHIPPING
ASRock H61M/U3S3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

No need for a "K" chip...so save a few bucks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073 $209.99 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500

 

[MyAlphabetSong]

Well not if you don't feel like messing with it. I would make these changes though.

SATA 3 and USB 3.0

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236 $74.99 FREE SHIPPING
ASRock H61M/U3S3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

No need for a "K" chip...so save a few bucks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073 $209.99 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500

I would like to OC if possible to make most of the aftermarket heatsink. I'm reading the reviews on the MOBO I posted and it has a couple people saying they over clocked it.

From the manufacturing website: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=H61M-VS

ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU) is an all-in-one software to fine-tune different features in an user-friendly interface, which includes Hardware Monitor, Fan Control, Overclocking, OC DNA and IES. In Hardware Monitor, it shows the major readings of your system. In Fan Control, it shows the fan speed and temperature for you to adjust. In Overclocking, you are allowed to overclock the GT frequency which helps to boost up the graphics performance and some voltage settings for optimal system performance. In OC DNA, you can save your OC settings as a profile and share with your friends. Your friends then can load the OC profile to their own system to get the same OC settings. In IES (Intelligent Energy Saver), the voltage regulator can reduce the number of output phases to improve efficiency when the CPU cores are idle without sacrificing computing performance.

Am I overlooking something? Just curious why you say it can't be OCed.

 

[Why_Me]

I would like to OC if possible to make most of the aftermarket heatsink. I'm reading the reviews on the MOBO I posted and it has a couple people saying they over clocked it.

From the manufacturing website: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=H61M-VS

ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU) is an all-in-one software to fine-tune different features in an user-friendly interface, which includes Hardware Monitor, Fan Control, Overclocking, OC DNA and IES. In Hardware Monitor, it shows the major readings of your system. In Fan Control, it shows the fan speed and temperature for you to adjust. In Overclocking, you are allowed to overclock the GT frequency which helps to boost up the graphics performance and some voltage settings for optimal system performance. In OC DNA, you can save your OC settings as a profile and share with your friends. Your friends then can load the OC profile to their own system to get the same OC settings. In IES (Intelligent Energy Saver), the voltage regulator can reduce the number of output phases to improve efficiency when the CPU cores are idle without sacrificing computing performance.

Am I overlooking something? Just curious why you say it can't be OCed.

That's in regards to over clocking the integrated graphics that's on the cpu. For a board that over clocks the cpu, you would want either a P67 board or a Z68 board. A board like this one down below.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157230 $109.99 FREE SHIPPING
ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=P67%20Pro3 <----- more on that board

http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/mainboard/asrock-p67-pro3-i67p-p1.html <----- another look at that board

http://pro-clockers.com/motherboards/1803-asrock-p67-pro3-socket-1155-motherboard.html <----- review of that board

 

[MyAlphabetSong]

Awesome, thanks for clarifying that. Let me ask you what you think of this MOBO: BIOSTAR TZ68A+RCH LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

The more I think of it, I want to take advantage of OCing the 2500k and the possibility of adding another 560ti in the future. If I added the TZ68A and upgraded the PSU I could still be under budget.

Also, i'm pretty ignorant about the USB 3.0 craze. Would I have to buy a case that's compatible with it and do I really need it?

 

[Why_Me]

Awesome, thanks for clarifying that. Let me ask you what you think of this MOBO: BIOSTAR TZ68A+RCH LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

The more I think of it, I want to take advantage of OCing the 2500k and the possibility of adding another 560ti in the future. If I added the TZ68A and upgraded the PSU I could still be under budget.

Also, i'm pretty ignorant about the USB 3.0 craze. Would I have to buy a case that's compatible with it and do I really need it?

Nothing that I know of uses USB 3.0 atm. And they have front panels that fit right onto your case for under $10 for those USB 3.0 ...if and when they ever come up with something that uses them. Also forget about that Arctic Cooling thermal compound. That Cooler Master h/s comes with a small tube of excellent thermal paste...so no need to order any.

That Biostar board is meant for a single card...it runs dual cards @ x4, and for a dual card set up you want a board that runs dual cards @ x8...like this one down below.

combo it with Windows and save $15

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.719166 $194.98 FREE SHIPPING
GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

A power supply to push two of those cards and leave you room to o/c, etc...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049 $94.99 - $69.99 after mail-in rebate FREE SHIPPING
Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

combo the cpu with the ram...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.694804 $261.98 - $15.00 Mail In Rebates FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory with heatshield Model PSD38G1600KH

A larger case for after market h/s, dual cards, etc...

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-Case-RC-912-KKN1/dp/B003ZM7YTA $59.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower ATX Case (RC-912-KKN1)

A optical drive just as good as that Asus you have up there, but this one is free shipping atm...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118039 $19.99 FREE SHIPPING
Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811996037 <---- example of a USB 3.0 panel...but no need to get one until there's an actual use for it.

 

[greenrider02]

^+1 to everything he said

 

[MyAlphabetSong]

Best answer selected by MyAlphabetSong.

 

[MyAlphabetSong]

Thanks a lot for your help why_me. I'm gonna go with those combos. I just hope the MOBO works out. I was actually thinking about going with the HAF 922 but never edited my post. It seems a lot of people say the air flow is a lot better compared to the 912. It will only put me $15 over budget and the room I have my PC in generally gets very hot so it's worth it. Thanks again.