First Build - PLEASE Help

[mlwhiteman]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to all of this and trying to build a computer for the first time. I'm looking for it to be more of an all-around computer that's capable of playing some of the more graphically-intense computer games. I won't be doing much movie or photo editing at all if that matters. So I was looking into what I wanted, and I came up with what I think is the build I want but I just wanted opinions. If something's not compatible, or there are better options out there for a little more, even a little less, that's fine. I'm open to anything. Anyways, here it is and thanks in advance:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rqYY

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

Get an i5 3570k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
get 2x4gb ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231308
get a 7950($300), which is about as powerful as the 670, especially with overclocking
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006
Or get a 7970 which is 5 more dollars and as strong or stronger than a 680
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202008
Get this

 

[bardacuda]

The Corsair closed loop liquid coolers aren't necessarily any better than a good air cooler and they tend to cost a bit more. Also if you really wanted to go that route the H100i is now available and it's an improvement over the H100 for the same price.

750W is more than you need for that build unless you were planning to add a second video card later. A quality 550W is enough for the components you've picked though.

I like the Sandy Bridge 2500Ks since they don't get nearly as hot and therefore they are easier and safer to overclock. Ivy Bridge 3570K is slightly better at the same clock rate as Sandy, but you will be able to clock Sandy higher and keep it cooler so a 2500K is not a bad choice at all.

The 670s are about on par with the 7970 non-GHz cards so good choice there. If you wanted to save money on the video card a 660 ti is on par with a 7950 for under $300.

All in all though it's a pretty good looking build.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

Bardacuda, you obviously are behind on current specs. The 7950 has always been slightly stronger than the 660ti. The 7870 has traded blows with the 660ti has been launched. Now on every website is pretty unanimously agreed upon that the 7870 is slightly stronger than the 660ti, the 7950 is about the same strength as a 670 or slightly weaker, and the 7970 NON ghz is about as strong as a 680. The 7970 ghz is only slightly stronger than the normal one, think about it, there isn't even a 10% boost over the normal one, so it really adds just enough power to put it up to the next tier with the 590 and 6990. This is the easiest thing to look at to compare overall power. You can also look at benchmarks from andandtech and techpowerup
This is the gpu hierarchy
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
The specs you are thinking about were from about 4 months ago. At that point I would completely agree with you.

 

[mlwhiteman]

I forgot to mention that I was planning on overclocking since the Extreme4 was a nice motherboard to do so. Is overclocking really worth it though? And that's why I picked the video card and cooling I did. I also plan on adding another video card in the future and the difference in the 650W and 750W was only $5 so I figured why not just get the 750W power supply.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

I would stick with it for so you could cross fire. Overclocking the gpu is worth it. Also, if you like the overclocking, then the 7970 is WAY better for doing so.