I have a lot of experience with computers and know how to program decently well, and after the past few days of researching, I'd like to think I know at least a little about hardware. However, I've never built my own computer before, so I'd like to get some opinions on my build. Hopefully you guys can vouch for the various parts I've picked. Like I said, I've done pretty thorough research on every item, so I'm hoping I've done a good job and everything is high quality, reliable, and compatible with one another. I'll be using my rig mostly for gaming and Photoshop, possibly 3D rendering and the like (hence the i7). The names and prices were copied from pcpartpicker.com, much more convenient for posting it all... My budget is around $2000 for this build.
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.90 @ Outlet PC)
After seeing virtually every post say Intel has better architecture (or something along those lines...) than AMD, therefore 3GHz from Intel is far more effective than the same from AMD, I picked Intel hands down. Went with this specific one for high performance and HT for 3D rendering. Would've gone with Haswell, but when you factor in a good mobo that supports it, it's price goes up significantly. Besides, the whole deal with it running even hotter than ivy is a bit unsettling; I don't want any heat problems (will also be overclocking). Though my decision might not be the best, which is why I'm here
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Saw lots of recommendations, had great reviews. Best I could find for air cooling.
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.20 @ Outlet PC)
Again good reviews, hear about it frequently, seems to be the best.
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.98 @ Outlet PC)
As far as I know, is compatible with CPU and everything else, seems to be a reliable board, and recommended by many people.
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Low profile because of possible conflict with the Noctua CPU cooler (it's quite large). I know 16gb might be a bit overkill, but I figure, why not? If I'm going to build myself a nice, new computer, it might as well be as good as possible. Besides, I've had firefox using up nearly 3gb of memory before, if you add a few games in and some other programs, maybe hosting some sort of server, it might come in handy. 😛
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($209.99 @ NCIX US)
Samsung 840 Pro seems to be the best out there, considering all the recommendations I've seen from people on this site and others. Went with the 256gb because the 128 had lower speeds listed. Besides, I've heard that the more you fill up an SSD, the slower it gets/the faster it wears out, figure I should get as much room as possible without overkilling it.
Storage 2: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.98 @ Outlet PC)
Standard hard drive, need a place to keep large files such as videos and the like.
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($639.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Stryker (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
This is one of the things where I'm not completely sure if everything will fit correctly. From what I've seen, this is actually a great case. It would be much appreciated if someone could offer input on the possible compatibility with the other items listed. Really liked this one because of the looks.
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
This one I'm wondering if it's wattage is high enough to accommodate everything. According to eXtreme PSU calculator, I would have a good bit of overhead room with the 750. Though I may want to get another GFX card down the line, so I was thinking I might wanna go a bit higher; especially considering I'm also wanting to overclock the CPU, although I'm not sure how many extra watts that would require.
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.49 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor ($147.58 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2109.04
And that's my build. I would highly appreciate opinions on how good of a build this is, anything that should be swapped out for something different and why, any compatibility issues I may have overlooked, etc.
Thanks.
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.90 @ Outlet PC)
After seeing virtually every post say Intel has better architecture (or something along those lines...) than AMD, therefore 3GHz from Intel is far more effective than the same from AMD, I picked Intel hands down. Went with this specific one for high performance and HT for 3D rendering. Would've gone with Haswell, but when you factor in a good mobo that supports it, it's price goes up significantly. Besides, the whole deal with it running even hotter than ivy is a bit unsettling; I don't want any heat problems (will also be overclocking). Though my decision might not be the best, which is why I'm here
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Saw lots of recommendations, had great reviews. Best I could find for air cooling.
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.20 @ Outlet PC)
Again good reviews, hear about it frequently, seems to be the best.
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.98 @ Outlet PC)
As far as I know, is compatible with CPU and everything else, seems to be a reliable board, and recommended by many people.
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Low profile because of possible conflict with the Noctua CPU cooler (it's quite large). I know 16gb might be a bit overkill, but I figure, why not? If I'm going to build myself a nice, new computer, it might as well be as good as possible. Besides, I've had firefox using up nearly 3gb of memory before, if you add a few games in and some other programs, maybe hosting some sort of server, it might come in handy. 😛
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($209.99 @ NCIX US)
Samsung 840 Pro seems to be the best out there, considering all the recommendations I've seen from people on this site and others. Went with the 256gb because the 128 had lower speeds listed. Besides, I've heard that the more you fill up an SSD, the slower it gets/the faster it wears out, figure I should get as much room as possible without overkilling it.
Storage 2: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.98 @ Outlet PC)
Standard hard drive, need a place to keep large files such as videos and the like.
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($639.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Stryker (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
This is one of the things where I'm not completely sure if everything will fit correctly. From what I've seen, this is actually a great case. It would be much appreciated if someone could offer input on the possible compatibility with the other items listed. Really liked this one because of the looks.
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
This one I'm wondering if it's wattage is high enough to accommodate everything. According to eXtreme PSU calculator, I would have a good bit of overhead room with the 750. Though I may want to get another GFX card down the line, so I was thinking I might wanna go a bit higher; especially considering I'm also wanting to overclock the CPU, although I'm not sure how many extra watts that would require.
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.49 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor ($147.58 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2109.04
And that's my build. I would highly appreciate opinions on how good of a build this is, anything that should be swapped out for something different and why, any compatibility issues I may have overlooked, etc.
Thanks.
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