First Time Build $800 Gaming PC-Need Advice

[Twillard22]

Hey Guys, first post on the forum as well as first computer build. Let me start off by saying up until this point i have played every game i have owned (sims, civ5, and LOL excluded) on xbox or xbox360, as of right now i am really into LOL but would like to branch out to games like the Arma Mod, Dayz, BF3 or GTAV just to begin with. I am currently playing all my comp games on a samsung galaxy note pc with intel i5 and integrated graphics(haha). The very first thing i noticed was when playing in "world" mode in civ 5 after playing the game for a few day and owning half the world my computer stopped being able to handle the game, this was very annoying to say the least(not being able to play LOL on max is a little bit of a let down too, but hey its integrated graphics). Anyway i decided to build a pc as ive always wanted to build one and now i have the time/and money to do so. Anyway being able to play on max settings is not a big deal to me as long as i can get pretty good graphics and still maintain 60fps on games like the ones listed above, I will also probably be watching movies and tv shows via netflix on the computer as well. I have created a wish list with everything that i have chosen so far (case excluded).

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=21234932

Here are the Specs:

MOBO: Intel BOXDH77KC LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

GPU: XFX CORE Edition FX-777A-ZNF4 Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

Power Supply: COOLER MASTER GX Series RS650-ACAAD3-US 650W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

SSD: Intel 330 Series Maple Crest SSDSC2CT120A3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

CD-Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

As i stated above i haven't chosen a case yet, still looking for one i really like. Since this is my first build i was just curious and wanted to get some criticism on it, good, bad, what i did wrong, what i did right, the planned purchase date for most(maybe all) of the parts will be wednesday evening. Thank you for taking the time to look over the build if you do. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Will be looking back every hour or so to check for updates and critiques. Thanks Guys and Gals!

EDIT 1: Right now I am at $730 dollars. Also i am not including mouse, keyboard, or display in the pricing.

 

[cball1311]

If you got the extra $70 I would go with this on the GPU and it comes with 2 free games and $20 MIR on Newegg.

XFX Core Edition FX-785A-CNL4 Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

 

[Twillard22]

If you got the extra $70 I would go with this on the GPU and it comes with 2 free games and $20 MIR on Newegg.

XFX Core Edition FX-785A-CNL4 Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Hmm I looked at this card as well or maybe the one that was 20 dollars cheaper i have to say the Farcry 3 looks inviting. How does the build look with the original card though. If i did get this card how do you like the build with it?

 

[strife_ff7]

This is a better build http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t1nG
Way better gaming performance and costs less.

 

[cball1311]

Well, I would get an HDD to go with your SSD because 120 GB on an SSD isn't going to go very far as far as storage is concerned. The SSD would be great for your OS drive and some apps while having the HDD for storage.

As far as the card is concerned, take a look at the benchmarks from legitreviews.com for BF3
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1873/5/

Your looking at about a 14FPS average increase on Ultra @ 1920x1080. You could go with a crossfire setup with the 7770 but then your looking at higher rated PSU (at least 750W) and another 7770 and a different MOBO.
http://lanoc.org/review/video-cards/5708-hd-7770-crossfire-results

With a single card, you would probably get by with decent (medium-high) settings for comfortable gaming.

 

[Twillard22]

This is a better build http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t1nG
Way better gaming performance and costs less.

I noticed that the processor is slower but the gpu seems like it is a lot better. This will give better performance overall? Also why did you choose a Micro ATX? Also could you explain why this build is better, aside from the gpu? Thank you a lot!

Edit: Will this link still work tomorrow?

 

[Twillard22]

Well, I would get an HDD to go with your SSD because 120 GB on an SSD isn't going to go very far as far as storage is concerned. The SSD would be great for your OS drive and some apps while having the HDD for storage.

As far as the card is concerned, take a look at the benchmarks from legitreviews.com for BF3
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1873/5/

Your looking at about a 14FPS average increase on Ultra @ 1920x1080. You could go with a crossfire setup with the 7770 but then your looking at higher rated PSU (at least 750W) and another 7770 and a different MOBO.
http://lanoc.org/review/video-cards/5708-hd-7770-crossfire-results

With a single card, you would probably get by with decent (medium-high) settings for comfortable gaming.

How do you feel about strife_ff7's build?

 

[cball1311]

It's a good build for the price. I don't agree with the MicroATX board (eventhough the price is great!). I always like to have the chance of adding an additional GPU if I can. This can make or break your playing abilities in the months to come. With the card he chose, you could add another one in 6 months or so and continue to use the machine for the newest games at great settings. I have heard people complaining about SLI/Crossfire (microstuttering, power consumption) but when the time comes, I don't always have the 400 or 500 dollars to put out for a newer family GPU. It is much easier to afford a second card and just Crossfire them.

All in all, this depends on budet. We could go back and forth on the build but it really comes down to what's in your wallet and you said $800.

Here are the changes that I made to strife_ff7's build with a 1TB HDD in RAID 0. No SSD. RAID 0 not as fast as SSD but still looking at roughly 300MB/s and 2TB of storage space and a chance to add another 7870 GPU later.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t21d $821.89

 

[Twillard22]

It's a good build for the price. I don't agree with the MicroATX board (eventhough the price is great!). I always like to have the chance of adding an additional GPU if I can. This can make or break your playing abilities in the months to come. With the card he chose, you could add another one in 6 months or so and continue to use the machine for the newest games at great settings. I have heard people complaining about SLI/Crossfire (microstuttering, power consumption) but when the time comes, I don't always have the 400 or 500 dollars to put out for a newer family GPU. It is much easier to afford a second card and just Crossfire them.

All in all, this depends on budet. We could go back and forth on the build but it really comes down to what's in your wallet and you said $800.

Here are the changes that I made to strife_ff7's build with a 1TB HDD in RAID 0. No SSD. RAID 0 not as fast as SSD but still looking at roughly 300MB/s and 2TB of storage space and a chance to add another 7870 GPU later.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t21d $821.89

OK Great Thanks!

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t2f6

I merged the two together and got the price down to 730, 2 tb of space is was more than i need at the moment and it allowed me to free up 60 dollars two move up in the cpu. I like the build currently and i believe this will be the final product. I went with the larger mobo so that if i need to in the future i can add another. Thanks a lot for both of yall's help. I will post once it is complete! Thanks again!

 

[Twillard22]

Best answer selected by Twillard22.

 

[Twillard22]

Thanks guys i completed the build but can't figure out how to post with images, sorry! Thanks for all the help!