First Build: Need Advice!

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froyman

froyman

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I'm planning on using my Samsung 32" LCD TV as a monitor via HDMI; I've heard of ghosting/lag issues, should I be worried?
I've never built a computer before so I'm looking for any and all advice on quality of these products, bang for my buck, compatibility, upgradability, etc.

DIAMOND Radeon HD 7970 7970PE53G Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814103201

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16827135204

CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817139010

AMD FX-8120 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ Eight-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819103961

Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822148767

Corsair Carbide Series 500R Black Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811139009

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231460

GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813128514

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16832116986

$1420.92

Thank you in advance for your help!
-G
 
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hellfire24
very well done brother!that case is awesome.your components will fit easily in it.if you want to save some money that we can bust you some buck ;)
otherwise it's really awesome.post pics after the build if possible.
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jsc

jsc

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Your video card indicates that you are building a gaming machine. In that case, an i5K is a better CPU than the Bulldozer chip.

Because this is your first build, look at the following threads while you are waiting for your parts.
Build it yourself:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/274745-13-step-step-guide-building

And although this primarily a troubleshooting thread, the first part contains a checklist that will catch most noob mistakes:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems

And I recommend breadboarding a new build:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262730-31-breadboarding
It doesn't take long, and it lets you test your parts before you install them in the case.
 
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Onus

Onus

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I agree with jsc and DelroyMonjo. Even at 1080p, from the review I read over at HardOCP, that card looks like overkill; a single HD6970 would be sufficient. Diamond is on my personal "Do not buy" list for numerous reasons (included driver issues, inaccessible and/or incompetent support, broken web site, product unrecognized by ATi/AMD drivers, etc; just a general aura of incompetence that leaves me with no reason to buy). I'd suggest any other brand.
Also, Bulldozer is not the way to go for games. If you are a die-hard AMD fan, get a Phenom II X4 970BE (although I'd still suggest Intel).
 
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froyman

froyman

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Thanks jsc, all those links were and will be very helpful. The breadboarding is a little over my head, I really have no experience AT ALL with this, but I will try and follow step by step.

So, would buying a nice monitor make the video card worthwhile? Can you guys suggest similarly performing Nvidia/Intel products at a similar price?
Will an i5K be compatible with all of the other parts?
 
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froyman

froyman

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Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
30$ more, will this CPU perform better, and work with my MOBO?

I chose the DIAMOND video card because Newegg is out of EVERY other brand that makes the Radeon HD 7970, that was literally my only choice. Is there a considerably cheaper video card you guys would recommend that I could pick up for a couple months and sell later when the new lines come out?
 
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froyman

froyman

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Great advice, thank you.
What brand name would you guys suggest if I went an Intel motherboard?
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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The i7 has a bunch of extra technologies that don't translate into gaming (like hyperthreading) and are mainly meant for high end design and graphics programs like CS5, and that's mainly because there's not a lot of games that support it yet.

You will need an Intel chipset mobo like a Z68, with socket 1155.

I'd suggest getting a single HD6970, or if you prefer nVidia, a GTX570.
Click to expand...

I'd second this. If you want brand recommendations - EVGA for NVIDIA, and XFX and Sapphire for Radeon.

Asus is my favorite but gigabyte,MSi,AsRock,are good too.for graphics card,MSi is best IMO(i am not a fanboy!)
Click to expand...

Personally I'm more of an EVGA fan than MSI for NVIDIA, at least.

If you want motherboard recommendations this is what I usually go with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506
 
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X

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Most of the time it's recommended, it's because the i5 is essentially the same as the i7 as far as gaming is concerned. The only real differences are Hyper-Threading and 2MB of L3 Cache. I disable Hyper-Threading on my i7 as it's really a rather gimmicky feature.

The Samsung TV is really a concern though. You'll have to consult he documentation and ensure that you switch the TV to it's "Game Mode" otherwise you'll have latency issues between your actions and what shows up on screen. You can also disable any extraneous features like smoothing, noise filter, etc to ensure the snappiest response time.
 
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froyman

froyman

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Okay I'm concerned about the TV. I have not found a game mode. When hooked up to my 7 year old dell XPS laptop through HDMI it performs perfectly; but I'm playing very graphic simplistic games. It's a Samsung 32" LCD 1080p Model #: LN32C530. I haven't had any success finding any forum posts about this TV being used for PC gaming.
Possible solution: I don't use this TV, it has sat on my bookcase for over a year collecting dust. Should I just sell it and buy a nice computer monitor? Do you guys have suggestions in the 200-275$ range?
-G
 
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froyman

froyman

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Build Number Two: Welcoming any and all suggestions!

SAPPHIRE 100311-3SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102957

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148767

Corsair Carbide Series 500R Black Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139009

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

Subtotal: $1,228.92

Thanks in advance!
-G
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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That is a *HUGE* improvement over the last build. And I'll second the recommendation of getting an aftermarket cooler. Other than that this is what I would go with.
 
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froyman

froyman

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Final Build (Hopefully): Comments and suggestions please!

SAPPHIRE 100311-3SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102954

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

Corsair Carbide Series 500R Black Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139009

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

Intel Ultimate N 633ANHMW Mini PCI Express Ultimate N 633ANHMW Wireless Adapter
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106062

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Subtotal: $1,363.89

The things I'm most uncomfortable with are the case (I can't be sure if everything will fit, and I've just noticed quite a few negative reviews on newegg but I'm not sure what's best and no one has said anything on here about it), the wireless adapter (they all seem the same to me, I just picked an expensive one with a good brand name), the aftermarket cooler (I just picked what was suggested, person who suggested it seemed knowledgeable), and the power supply (not sure if it's enough wattage for future additions of video cards).

Thanks to g-unit1111, jsc, hellfire24, Xenturion, and jtt283 for taking the time to look at my thread and provide your priceless insight, THANK YOU!
-G

P.S. Have I covered all my bases? Do I need to purchase ANYTHING else? Special tools, hardware, software? I have Norton already.
 
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