New build, high-end, Intel, need advice with mobo & some other compone

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Dec 31, 2012
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Hi,

I'm building my first PC and I would appreciate some advice.
I have most components which I want inside, but now I'm deciding about the motherboard, I have a few in mind:

ASUS:
P8Z77-V Pro/Thunderbolt - $250
P8Z77-V Deluxe - $300
P8Z77-V Premium - $500

I would take the Premium, but it's $500. So I'm wondering if its worth the extra money. I would like thunderbolt, but the pro with it doesn't have more PCIe, SATA and other things. And I think the others have a little better sound cards, WiFi... So should I take the pro with thunderbolt or the deluxe? I'm thinking thunderbolt is good but it won't be used with many devices for some time, am I right?
Or I just take the premium with everything and save money on something else? But what to save on... Maybe graphic card, GTX 670 rather then 680, I save $100 maybe.

I'll be using it for gaming with highest settings, Skype and internet at the same time. I'll also do music production and digital painting. I would like to go with multiple monitors later on and still play smoothly with awesome settings. Also in the next few years.

I don't want to risk with overclocking, just get a great PC and there's no need for that.

Here's what I found:

Case:
COOLER MASTER HAF-X
$200

CPU:
Intel Core i7-3770K
$400

Grapic Card:
EVGA GeForce GTX 680
$500

RAM:
G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600MHz
$60

PSU:
Corsair Enthusiast Series TX850M
850 Watt
$170

Hard Drive:
WD Black 2TB
$180

Optical Drive:
ASUS BC-12B1ST
Blue-Ray ROM
$70

SSD:
Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB
$190

CPU Cooler:
Corsair H60
$80

OS:
Windows 7 Ultimate
$300

I also need a monitor, mouse and keyboard. Suggestions?

I'm living in Slovenia, it is in the EU, so should I order from Amazon.de, some parts are cheaper there, or go to the shops in Graz in Austria. Is ordering on amazon reliable? Did you ever order over Amazon? Do you recommend it?

Any answers and suggestions will be appreciated, thank you.
This is my first build, I have no experience, so it's probably overkill for what i need.
Well, thanks again, hope I get some answers :)
 
That build looks really good but here's a couple of things I would suggest:

1. You don't need Windows 7 Ultimate. If you're using less than 16GB of RAM get Home Premium. If you're using more than 16GB of RAM get Pro. You don't need to pay $300 for Ultimate, get this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

2. Get this instead for your cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181032

3. With the money you save on the operating system you definitely want an SSD, get something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227916

4. This will be a slightly cheaper case but still good: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146088

5. Then for motherboard I'd suggest something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128558

6. You can cut down on the video card - the GTX 670 and 680 use the exact same processor and the 670 is $100 cheaper, try this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130843
 
First of all thank you for the reply.

I'll get 16 GB RAM then and win pro.

Cooler: the h100i, isn't it for extreme overclocking? I won't do OCing, so do I need that one? I don't want to spend money if I won't benefit from it much. I could get it, the price isn't so much bigger. I'll think.

I got an SSD, the Samsung 840 pro. And I read that people are having problems with the OCZ, windows not detecting it, stops working in a shorter time... But it's very fast. I'd rather get the Samsung, still very fast and very reliable.

Case: ah, the HAF X is great and I like the look of it, and the price difference isn't big. I put $200 because the prices are higher here than in the US, sometimes.

The motherboard is good and much cheaper. It'll save quite some money. I don't need the WiFi controller and other fun things that the deluxe and premium have, waste of money.

GPU: I'll get the gtx 670 then not a big difference and I'll save money. Only, what is the FTW edition? And Signature? What do they have?

Ok, that's solved. I still need a monitor, mouse & keyboard. Ill look for that, but suggestions are welcome.
what about the R.A.T. 7 for the mouse? It seems good.

Thanks for further replies, and Happy New Year!
 
Cooler: the h100i, isn't it for extreme overclocking? I won't do OCing, so do I need that one? I don't want to spend money if I won't benefit from it much. I could get it, the price isn't so much bigger. I'll think.
Click to expand...

If you're not going to overclock then you don't need the extra cooler or the unlocked CPU. You can just get the i7-3770 and run off the stock cooler.

I got an SSD, the Samsung 840 pro. And I read that people are having problems with the OCZ, windows not detecting it, stops working in a shorter time... But it's very fast. I'd rather get the Samsung, still very fast and very reliable.
Click to expand...

I have a Vertex 4 and it's a great drive. I would take store reviews with a huge grain of salt though - a good 90% of the problems that people report can easily be prevented. Here's a better review of the Vector: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6363/ocz-vector-review-256gb

Case: ah, the HAF X is great and I like the look of it, and the price difference isn't big. I put $200 because the prices are higher here than in the US, sometimes.
Click to expand...

That's fine - case is mostly a personal preference thing.

The motherboard is good and much cheaper. It'll save quite some money. I don't need the WiFi controller and other fun things that the deluxe and premium have, waste of money.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree that's a waste of money. You're better off putting that money in elsewhere.

GPU: I'll get the gtx 670 then not a big difference and I'll save money. Only, what is the FTW edition? And Signature? What do they have?
Click to expand...

That's just marketing terms - they don't really mean much.

Ok, that's solved. I still need a monitor, mouse & keyboard. Ill look for that, but suggestions are welcome.
Click to expand...

I kind of leave that out in the open as that's another thing that's entirely personal preference. I'd suggest going to a local computer or electronics shop and checking them out there. I just bought an Asus 23.6" monitor and it's great, I'd get another one in 1/2 a second.
 
If you need more than what the P8Z77-V Pro gives you it's time to switch to X79, nuff said. You can get the same features of the Premium in a 250 dollar motherboard(namely the GA-X79-UP4).

Instead of HAF-X I'd reccomend Corsair Obsidian 800D, great room for watercooling and airflow.

i7-3770k is not necessary for gaming, i5-3570k is more than adequate.

Good choice on the GPU/RAM

My H60 has given me nothing but trouble since I got it, a Thermaltake Frio or even a Hyper 212 Evo with Push/Pull fans will outperform it for a fraction of the cost.

For a monitor make sure you get one that has at most 5ms(preferably 2ms) response time, anything higher and in competitive games you will experience high amounts of input lag, meaning a disadvantage to you against your opponents.
 
Instead of HAF-X I'd reccomend Corsair Obsidian 800D, great room for watercooling and airflow.
Click to expand...

OP has stated no intention of overclocking so there's really no need for a watercooling setup.

i7-3770k is not necessary for gaming, i5-3570k is more than adequate.
Click to expand...

I agree here but again no overclocking has been made a point so you don't even need the i5-3570K. You could get the i5-3470 and be fine.
 

Ill take a Vertex 4 128 GB then

 
I won't use it only for gaming, also some music production. I've just begun with that, self tough, but later on when I get a lot of plugins the i7 3770 will come in handy.
Click to expand...

That's fine.

OS: Windows 7: Professional
- Upgrade to Ultimate later? Useless?
Click to expand...

Yeah you don't need to pay money for Ultimate unless you need the language packs or XP emulation mode. You probably don't need to waste money on that.

G.Skill is said to be the best for RAM. Is that true? People use the Corsair Vengeance a lot, G.Skill vs. Corsair?
Click to expand...

Those are two of the most trusted RAM brands but you can't go wrong with either. I also really like Mushkin RAM - they make some good products as well.

Is the h80 good? And would I get anything more out of water cooling then from fans if I'm not overclocking?
Click to expand...

I'm not the biggest fan of closed liquid loops. If you're not going to overclock you don't need to purchase one. The new H80i looks promising because of Corsair Link software (which allows you to control a number of temperature variables in your system among other things) but again if you're not overclocking it's not necessary to buy one. You can use the stock fan and be fine.
 
If you want an H80 a Noctua NH-D14 will provide you infinitely better performance for a lower price(25 bucks cheaper). Also Corsair Link is terribly broken and if you look at the Corsair forums even the i series coolers do not have their fan/noise issues fixed.

Just make sure your case will fit the massive Noctua, you may need to change it but considering you save 25 bucks that shouldn't be too hard.
 


Interesting - I've been seeing a lot of positive reviews for the H100i but if Corsair Link doesn't work as promised that's good to know.
 
The H100i in itself isn't a bad unit it's just outperformed by high end air cooling, namely the Noctua NH-D14 which provides quieter cooling and better cooling at that.

I used to have an H60 that was terrible, so yes I'm biased but I'm totally happy with my replacement NH-D14 SE2011.
 


I'm planning to get a U9B for my system in a couple of months. I like the EVGA cooler but it does have its' faults.
 
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