First desktop pc, first ever build!

[stuSTIRfry]

Hi so by the title you should have seen I'm a complete novice but I did have a couple of pc mad friends help me with this so hoping the feedback will be quite good. Here are the parts I have ordered for my entry level gaming rig:

1 x Intel Core i3 3220 3.30GHz Socket 1155 3MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
1 x Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H Socket 1155 VGA DVI HDMI 7.1 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
1 x Seagate 1.5TB 3.5" SATA-III 6Gb/s Barracuda Hard Drive - 5900RPM 64MB Cache 248581
1 x Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz XMS3 Memory Kit CL9 1.65V
1 x CM Storm Scout Case
1 x Corsair TXM 650W Modular PSU
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 Socket 775, 1156, 1155, 1366, AM2, AM3 Heatpipe CPU Cooler
1 x CM Storm QuickFire Rapid Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
1 x Trust GXT 33 Laser Gaming Mouse
1 x LG BH10LS38 10x BD-RW with DVD±RW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA Blu-Ray Drive
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 OC Edition 2GB Dual DVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card

Ok so my questions are

1. What would be the best way to get full power/performance out of my rig once built
2. What would be the first component to upgrade once I have the money
3. Will it run games like starcraft 2 and arma2 with ease on a high graphics setting or will it have to be medium.

Thanks for reading and hope I didnt bore you.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

cut out the cooler and get a better hard drive. Don't get a z77 motherboard. Get b75.

 

[stuSTIRfry]

cut out the cooler and get a better hard drive. Don't get a z77 motherboard. Get b75.

stuff is already ordered and on the way, was looking for future improvements and answers in specific but thanks anyway. And a note on the hard drive, I thought of getting ssd but was going to wait for a while, maybe I should have come on here first xD

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

Yeah you should have come here first. The thing is, there are no improvements that would really make sense, maybe get an i5, or another 7850 at some point

 

[xFriarx]

1. Not really to much to tweak once you get it running. CPU is locked and GPU is already OC'ed. You can try to OC it some more if you want.

2. Upping to an i5 may be a worthwhile upgrade at some point. Also a 7,200 RPM HDD or a SSD would be a good upgrade as well. The cpu cooler is useless for now, with an non-k cpu, stock coolers are sufficient. But it could come in handy if you do upgrade to a i5 later on. And as always another 7850.

3. I think both of those titles are more CPU limited titles, not sure though. They may struggle a little on an i3 vs an i5, but should be very playable.

It is a decent beginners build though. Good base to build from, z77 mobo/larger psu to support crossfire if you want down the road.

 

[stuSTIRfry]

1. Not really to much to tweak once you get it running. CPU is locked and GPU is already OC'ed. You can try to OC it some more if you want.

2. Upping to an i5 may be a worthwhile upgrade at some point. Also a 7,200 RPM HDD or a SSD would be a good upgrade as well. The cpu cooler is useless for now, with an non-k cpu, stock coolers are sufficient. But it could come in handy if you do upgrade to a i5 later on. And as always another 7850.

3. I think both of those titles are more CPU limited titles, not sure though. They may struggle a little on an i3 vs an i5, but should be very playable.

It is a decent beginners build though. Good base to build from, z77 mobo/larger psu to support crossfire if you want down the road.

Thanks for the concise answer really was what I looking for! On the upgrade notes I was hoping to make this complete set up last 4-6 months and then upgrade the cpu to an i5 if it feels right. Just out of curiosity what i5 would be a good upgrade if I was going to get it today for about £150-£175? And then a decent well priced ssd hard drive.
Good to know I shall have to issues with the games, I was told pretty much the same thing about the cooling by my friend but I wanted to future proof as much as possible for a decent price and this was what we worked out.
Thanks again you were really helpful.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

Well, if you are gonna get a z77 motherboard, then it would be stupid to get anything other than a 3570k.

 

[xFriarx]

Not sure what the 3570k's go for in pounds/in the EU market. I know they go in the states for about 200-215 USD. I would definitely recommend doing it if/when you can afford it. It is really the best gaming CPU right now. But if you have to wait a few months, there is nothing wrong with that. It will just allow you to appreciate it that much more once you get it. LoL.

As far as the SSD, it will not help your FPS at all, but it will help boot/load times alot. You should see anywhere from half to a forth of your current boot/load times and you system will feel snappier overall when opening/closing programs. What you get total depends on your budget. You can do anything from a 60GB boot drive which will really just help boot times/system responsiveness, or do a 120GB SSD for boot and a couple games or go with a 250+GB drive that will hold most/all of your games/load intensive programs. But that cost ranges from $50-250+ USD (not sure of pounds/EU market). Personally I have a 120GB for boot and about 3-4 multiplayer games for load times. Any singleplayer games go on my HDD (unless I am playing them alot). But it does require some file management lol.