First PC Build - Advice Needed

[Slick82]

I'm looking for advice in my first PC build, specifically how it will run in upcoming titles including Battlefield 3. I will be using a 1680x1050 monitor @ 60Hz refresh rate, and am interested in a build capable of running BF3 maxed @ 4xAA and 8xAF (I may only use 2xAA and 4xAF depending on how the monitor displays it)

My basis for the build originates from striker410's suggestion: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/313046-31-combo-advice

The changes I made are that I randomly chose a Gigabyte Z68 Motherboard off Newegg, since the hyperlinked offer had ended and I had no way of knowing which type he suggested, along with swapping the XFX 6870 for a GTX 560Ti from Nvidia, to countervent the soft shadowing issues that come up in some games.



Current build

Case: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128512

Processor: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136216

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148701

Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125369

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044

Memory: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

Total: $864.92 CAN



I'm basically unsure of how well this pc will perform overall, specifically how well the mid-size tower will cool the parts and if the motherboard I randomly selected is more than I needed. I'm also unsure of whether the Overclocked GPU is overkill and whether the power supply will supply enough power or not

Thanks for your assistance

 

[jmsellars1]

All looks good to me, i think you would benefit from 8GB RAM but you can always upgrade in future. i5-2500k/GTX 560Ti should easily handle BF3 at 1680x1050, easily in a good way though. I wouldn't call it overkill.

One other thing, with overclocking and SLI i personally would be more comfortable with 750W. Maybe i'm captain overkill because 650W would probably be fine, i'm just saying that's what i would do.

 

[mortonww]

Yeah, you can get 8 GBs of 1600 MHz, CAS 8, 1.5 Volt RAM for $70. You might as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445

Also, I want to second jmsellars; If you plan to SLI in the future, go for a 750 Watt power supply.

The 560 Ti should handle BF3 at 1680x1050. This demo was run on a single 580.

 

[boiler1990]

^Agree to both of the above.

The HAF 912 is a great case and will cool very well.

Also, check out the ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3. It's a good board and is only $130 in the US.

 

[Slick82]

Lol, I didn't notice I had only 4GB ram until it was mentioned

I swapped the 4GB ripjaws for this model: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

Along with replacing the Gigabyte board with the ASRock suggested by boiler1990: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

 

[Slick82]

Edit: I figured out that the motherboard Striker410 was referencing to was this one: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502&Tpk=Gigabyte%20GA-Z68A-D3H-B3

I read some Newegg reviews on the Gigabyte parts and apparantly the motherboard and overclocked GPU both have reliability and quality issues. Can anyone enlighten me on this?

 

[jmsellars1]

I think Gigabyte are pretty reputable, i wouldn't worry too much about the problems of just a few guys. I cannot speak from experience though, i usually go with ASRock.

 

[boiler1990]

My gigabyte board is pretty good. I haven't bothered to OC yet, but I've had no problems with it, and the expansion slot layout is rather efficient (I have acquired a decent number of expansion cards).

I like ASRock's pricing on the Extreme3 Gen3 board, because it can do SLI and has a good look, but it's only $130 for the Z68 model

There chances of finding stability/quality issues increases when you OC anything. Not every board is guaranteed to be stable at X GHz or whatnot.

 

[Slick82]

Alright, so the current build changes consists of the ASRock board suggested by boiler1990 and the 8GB RAM, along with the following:

Processor: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073

HD: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

GPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130623

The hard drive was changed due to quality issues with Seagate, and the CPU and GPU were downgraded since I decided against overclocking, along with dozens of reports of the SOC GPU's having a high failure rate.