My First Home Build

[pabzOr]

Approximate Purchase Date: Parts are in the mail


Budget Range: ~1500


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming(SC2 primarily), surfing the web


Parts Not Required: Everything


Country of Origin: Canada


Parts Preferences: Intel Gaming Machine


Overclocking: Yes


SLI or Crossfire: Maybe


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200


Additional Comments: Hi all. I have been gaming on my old pre built HP computer which I bought back in 2006 or 2007. I have never built my own computer before but I have been researching my parts over the past week and here is what I picked out. I bought everything locally except the motherboard, SSD and heatsink. I'm kind of worried my video card is not powerful enough. I bought it locally so returning it will be no problem.

I'm extremely excited! I think I might even go as far sleeving all the cables.

Motherboard ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

Heatsink ZALMAN CNPS11X Extreme V-Shaped Dual Heatpipe Design w/120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler Compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge

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

GPU ASUS EAH6870 DC/2DI2S/1GD5 Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

SSD Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
*I literally only play SC2 and web browse. For now all I need is this. I may add a regular ol' 1TB HD in the future if I need to.

Optical Drive SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner

PSU CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX750 (CMPSU-750AX) 750W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Case Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1) Black Steel structure with black brushed aluminum faceplate ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

I left out all the aftermarket fans and stuff cuz they are irrelevant.

 

[warhead0]

Looks like a very solid system, Enjoy

I like assembling my own PC, it gives a sense of "this is mine, and I made it"

 

[AdrianPerry]

Very nice overall build indeed. Depending on your budget, upping your graphics card will always be worthwhile.

6950/GTX560Ti are both solid performers and are the next jump up from the 6870. The GTX560Ti especially, at 1920x1080 gives great FPS in all games with maxed out settings and has so much overclock potential. 750w PSU that you have is plenty to run SLI/Crossfire with 560ti/6950 as well if you ever wanted to go that route in the future.

In short - Great build, if you can afford it I would recommend a GTX 560Ti If not, be happy with what you have, its a solid PC.

 

[pabzOr]

Thanks guys. That makes me feel confident this machine will be good to go for some time. Seeing that SC2 isn't a very graphic intensive game I think I might just stick with the 6870 for now, and possibly upgrade when the ivy bridge processors come out.

Is 2 lower end graphics cards better then a single high end? LIke 2 6870's or 1 6970?

 

[AdrianPerry]

It depends on the cards really. Often, yes, 2 lesser cards can be more powerful.

x2 6870s would be better than a single 6970 in terms of overall FPS output.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/292?vs=301

 

[bucknutty]

the 6870 will run any game you can think of at very high settings, and it will do it with good temps and low power usage. That is a very nice card.
I would rock that card for years.

 

[pabzOr]

@AdrianPerry Thanks for the link! That GPU11 Product Benchmarks Comparison Tool is amazing! It sure answers most any question I have and will have on the issue.

@bucknutty Thats great news. Do you think the 750w power supply be enough for this system if I decide to crossfire 2 6870's in the future? Or will that need to be upgraded to 850+?

 

[bucknutty]

Quick and dirty estimate, the i5 with a mild over clock could pull 125w. The board is around 50w, ram is around 10w, sata devices around 10w The HD 6870 has a max draw of 150 watts. So 2 card would draw 300 watts. That still leaves 450 for the rest of the computer.
i5 125
board 50
ram 10
hd 10
dvd 10
gpu 160
total 365

A 750 watt PSU should work fine.

 

[AdrianPerry]

750w is about right