Is this $1200 gaming rig balanced ?

[Grosser611]

I'm buying a prebuilt PC off eBay as its cheaper than buying the individual parts from all around Australia once shipping is factored in (I'm SO envious of all you Americans, you have the BEST range and pricing !!)

CPU: i5 3570k
HDD - 2TB WD Caviar Black
Mobo: ASRock Z77
DVDRW - Generic
GPU: GeForce GTX660 (NON Ti version)
PSU: Generic 850w
RAM: G.Skill RipJaws X 2x4GB DDR3 1600 - P2150
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (white) or Coolermaster HAF 922 (still undecided)
OS - Windows 7 64 Bit
Keyboard - Windows Sidewinder X4
Mouse - Logitech G500 or Razer Deathadder (still undecided)

= $1200 including postage

I know a lot of you can source this build for cheaper or higher spec but this is honestly the best I can get in the country, I've been looking the past 2 weeks (University holidays and back living with the parents so no work woo !!), what I'm more concerned with is is this the best balance of parts? I plan (like everyone building a gaming rig seems to want) to play BF:3 on Ultra as well as Diablo 3 and a handful of other Steam games I currently play.

 

[manofchalk]

Big issue I can see is the generic PSU, I would ask for more info on that before you buy. A generic PSU is never good.
Otherwise the build is fairly balanced.

Also I'm Australian, just buy the parts local. Unless you live on top of Uluru or in Tasmania there should be a computer store somewhere nearby.

 

[ddemon]

try pccasegear.com ....i've built 2 gaming PC's with parts from them. There not the cheapest on everything but there fair and ship Australia wide
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=wish_lists&wlcId=118567&action=wish_lists
thats most of it there ...this is a company from Melbourne that i first had recommended to me on the oz overclockers forum ... i reckon there the dudes that need to buy parts often ...lol

I would recommend the HAF 922 as i have use one in one of my builds and it is awesome ...much bigger than i expected .. but it's not available at pccasegear anymore.
I also don't think you need such a big PSU but you can do a calculation online if ya google it ...that CPU and a latest generation ( 7000 series) GPU from ATI and i'm pretty sure you wont need it.
Last but not least ... get yourself a cheap 120GB SSD and a 1TB hard drive for the same money as the Cav Black 2TB, you can always get another HDD later. SSD performance is the ***! ...lol ... don't miss out on the awesome speed ...lol

 

[-Jackson]

eBay is a terrible place to go for computer parts, for us Australians, PCCG and your local ARC Computers store is the way to go.

 

[djscribbles]

That isn't a very balanced build either, to speak to your original question. You'll need that CPU for BF3 ultra, but the GPU wouldn't be sufficient. Do you intend to overclock the CPU, if not the k edition and z77 board are a waste.

While BF3 is very CPU hungry in multi-player, it's one of the few games that are. If you don't OC, your better off with a non-k i5, an H77 mobo, and a more powerful GPU.

You don't need a 850w PSU, and a generic PSU is never a good idea. A solid 550W psu (seasonic, xfx, PC Power & Cooling, or Corsair) will be a much better choice for single GPU. If you want to keep the option for SLI in the future, go 750w instead. Lookup reviews on jonnyguru/hardwareSecrets (or similar sites) before you buy a PSU.

Storage depends on your needs, but I would much rather have an SSD and a 1TB hard drive than a 2tb drive.

I would go for the HAF922, I've used it in the past and loved it. Have not used the other, so it's a 1 sided comparison, but I had no complaints about the 922 (and I usually find things to hate about cases).


I second the "no ebay" opinion, you don't know what you are going to get, and yo won't have a warranty to back you up if something goes wrong.

 

[Grosser611]

That isn't a very balanced build either, to speak to your original question. You'll need that CPU for BF3 ultra, but the GPU wouldn't be sufficient. Do you intend to overclock the CPU, if not the k edition and z77 board are a waste.

While BF3 is very CPU hungry in multi-player, it's one of the few games that are. If you don't OC, your better off with a non-k i5, an H77 mobo, and a more powerful GPU.

You don't need a 850w PSU, and a generic PSU is never a good idea. A solid 550W psu (seasonic, xfx, PC Power & Cooling, or Corsair) will be a much better choice for single GPU. If you want to keep the option for SLI in the future, go 750w instead. Lookup reviews on jonnyguru/hardwareSecrets (or similar sites) before you buy a PSU.

Storage depends on your needs, but I would much rather have an SSD and a 1TB hard drive than a 2tb drive.

I would go for the HAF922, I've used it in the past and loved it. Have not used the other, so it's a 1 sided comparison, but I had no complaints about the 922 (and I usually find things to hate about cases).


I second the "no ebay" opinion, you don't know what you are going to get, and yo won't have a warranty to back you up if something goes wrong.

Ok I got in contact with one my my more computer literate mates and he steered me toward centrecom dot com dot au where I made this build - http://i45.tinypic.com/v8n3w4.jpg I'll buy a 120gb Samsung SSD off my brother for real cheap as he is upgrading and its only 2 months old. How does this version of it look? The GTX 670 is considerably more powerful thatn the GTX 660 right? (the price jumps up crazily high anyway).
And yeah I want the ability to overclock just to squeeze out extra performance and to future proof the rig a bit.

Thanks everyone for their replies so far

 

[djscribbles]

So, your CPU cooler isn't one I know anything about. In the US, a hyper212 Evo will be your best budget choice, goes for 35$us and performs very well (I'm told).

I wouldn't trust any PSU bundled with a case, they are almost always junk, as are most thermaltake PSUs in general. Go with a branded PSU from Seasonic, XFX, PC Power & Cooling, or Corsair. 600w should be fine for your system, and leave plenty of overclocking headroom. You don't want to cheap out on your PSU, a bad PSU can damage your other components, or cause a multitude of strange issues that are difficult to troubleshoot. Sites like jonnyguru and hardware secrets are great resources, try to find a review from them (or similar sites) of the PSU you want to buy; a helpful shopping resource: http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx (good for shopping around, but you'll want to find reviews before a final purchase).

I'm not a big fan of Thermaltake in general after my last case purchase from them (just a badly designed case). A Cooler Master HAF 912 would be a case I've used and could recommend, though I'm sure there are others worth looking at as well.

Regarding your RAM, you should go for low profile ram (the kind without giant heatsinks) so that it doesn't interfere with your CPU cooler.

While USB wifi adapter seems like a convenient option, in my experience they don't work very well if you don't have great signal, they tend to get very hot. A PCI wifi card would be a much better choice, since they have a full sized antenna, plenty of airflow, and a more reliable power source.

edit: The 670 is a big step up from the 660, and is a very powerful card that should run games smoothly at high settings for a long time to come.

 

[manofchalk]

Make sure to check out PC Case Gear, MSY and Umart. Some other Australian stores and I'v had no issues dealing with any of them, can vouch for PC Case Gears customer service being fairly good.

 

[Grosser611]

This is what the final build ended up being, minus the DVD drive which i accidentally didn't remove until after (they have since refunded as I immediately emailed them) and the second case which I have no clue how got there and was also refunded for.