First Time Builder, Sandy Bridge Gaming Rig

RockM_44

Distinguished
Feb 28, 2011
13
0
18,510
I have been waiting 8 months to either buy or build and finally decided to build. So I want to get going quick on this.

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP or within a week

Budget Range: <$2000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies and office programs

Parts Not Required: not including keyboard, mouse, monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: best price/service; newegg, etc.

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: Intel Sandy Bridge

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes in the future

Monitor Resolution:1920x1080


Additional Comments:I want to stay away from Liquid Cooling if possible as I am unsure of the benefit and install.
I am wondering 1) if this MoBo will do Ok with what I have put together as it is one of the few available atm, 2) if I need more cooling, 3) if the power is enough if I want to add another graphics card 4) any other comments on value, compatibility and quality of the build. Thanks for the comments! I can use the help. :eek:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127564
MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr II OC GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130574
MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001
XFX Black Edition XPS-850W-BES 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106150
Thermaltake Frio Overclocking-Ready Intel Core i7 (six-core ready) & i5 Compatible Five 8mm Heatpipes Dual 120mm Fans Intel ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106346
LITE-ON Black 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu-ray 3D feature SATA Model iHBS112 - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148357
Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

$1,668.90
 

CopaMundial

Distinguished
Feb 10, 2011
237
0
18,710
The general concensus is that gamers do not benefit enough to justify the jump to I7-2600k.
Let me suggest a build with a I5-2500k, and then we can work through some other options if you want to put that extra $100 back into the build.

Also, I don't see a real benefit from a 64GB SSD... aside from faster boot up.
That's just a difficult size because once you have Windows on it, and then consider that you need to maintain a decent amount of empty space for the drive to operate effectively... it doesn't leave that much room. So personally, I would either go bigger (120G) or drop it entirely.

CPU

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
**plus**
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler
$251 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.618217&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

(those monster tower coolers were nice for the last gen I7 extreme chips, but the SB CPU's don't need all that)

Mobo
MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$180 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130574

RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
$100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

Hard Drive
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$65 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Video Card+ PSU combo

ASUS ENGTX570/2DI/1280MD5 GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
**plus**
Antec TruePower New TP-750 Blue 750W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE ...
$400 (after rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.613137

Case
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
$180 (after rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

Power Supply (in video card combo)

Operating System (wasn't sure if you left this off intentionally or just forgot)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
$100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

Optical Drive 1

LITE-ON Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Internal Blu-ray Burner 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu-ray 3D feature Model iHBS112 - OEM
$110 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106346&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

(Do you really need a blue-ray burner? If not, two options below)

LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model UH10LS20 LightScribe Support - OEM
(plays blue ray, read/write DVD's)
$68 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136183

ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
(no blue-ray)
$19 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=


Total $1386 (with no SSD)

That leaves you a decent amount of room, about $600 if we take your $2000 limit literally... or about $640 if you don't need blue-ray burner.

You could pick one, several, or none of the following items depending on what combination would give you the best improvement. These are listed (roughly) in the order that I would consider them if I were in your shoes.

1) You could get an insane monitor, that's something you would definitely notice and this system would definitely drive dual monitors nicely.
2) Could up your RAM from 8G to say 16G for about $150.
3) Could grab a 120GB SSD for ~$230 for last generation and ~$300 for the newest generation.
4) Could upgrade from a GTX 570 to a 580 for about $170
5) Could go back up to 2600k, that's about $100 difference.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.616761 Combo Discount: -$20.00 Combo Price: $259.98
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.615073 Combo Discount: -$10.00 Combo Price: $366.98
Thermaltake Frio Overclocking-Ready Intel Core i7 (six-core ready) & i5 Compatible Five 8mm Heatpipes Dual 120mm Fans Intel ...
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K



 

RockM_44

Distinguished
Feb 28, 2011
13
0
18,510


:) Thanks alot for the replies! Yes, I had the OS on a combo and forgot to add it back.

Yea, I do not need a Blu Ray writer.
Thanks for the input on the SSD. I was not sure about doing that anyway.

And about what someone needs vs. wants? Does anyone really need a ferrari? :lol:

If it impacts ability to build it as a first timer that was my main concern, or provided no usefullness. I have swapped out HD's, power supplies, RAM, and drives before so hopefully this will go smoothly.

So the Noctua is better?
Cpu Cooler
Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler

If I took the SSD out and added a dual card later is 850w good?

Thanks again!
 

RockM_44

Distinguished
Feb 28, 2011
13
0
18,510



Thanks for the Combo info. I will definitely look for those once I go to purchase.
 

CopaMundial

Distinguished
Feb 10, 2011
237
0
18,710


It has more cooling capacity, yes.
It might be overkill for a Sandy Bridge I5 chip, but I guess if you're planning to go to extremes on overclocking then it could come in handy.



The 'Antec TruePower New TP-750 Blue 750W' power supply listed in the original combo would handle two GTX-570's.
But yes, if you see an 850W that you like that would work too.