New build, need part suggestions.

[supahughman]

Hi everyone,

So basically I need some help from all you tech junkies out there on a gaming build for around $1250 AUD of which the I'm buying parts from http://www.umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=2

I've done a lot of research but I'm still new and un-experienced so any UN-BIASED help and knowledge would be great *cough* no AMD/nVidia fanboying.

This is what I've come up with so far:


CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston 8G(2x4G) DDR3 1600MHz CL9 HyperX
Storage: Seagate SATA3 1TB 7200RPM 64mb Cache
Video Card: Asus GF GTX660 TI DirectCU II OC Edition PCI-E 3.0, 2GB 192-bit DDR5, Base: 967 Boost: 1058/600
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower Case White
Power Supply: Corsair TX-650 V2 650W ATX Power
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)
Total: $1233

The price isn't relevant as of now because what I need help with is knowing if there are compatibility issues with any of my parts and SUGGESTIONS of components that will trump my current build for the same price range. Specifically, but no exclusively, the variations of the GTX 660 ti. I have tried to wrap my head around which one to buy. The MSI PE edition? Gigabyte WF OC Edition? Etc, etc, etc. Also I wouldn't mind sometime in the near future picking up another 660 and sticking it into SLI so if all my components are compatible for that, well that would be awsome!

TL;DR: Look at my components and suggest upgrades for same price range and if they are all compatible.

 

[AMD Radeon]

couldnt agree more, you get very good build so far

btw if you will SLI in the future, gtx 660 ti will not be a good choice because of 192 bit bus limitation

 

[sam_p_lay]

That actually looks really good already, except the SSD and optical drive are missing, unless you don't plan on using them? It's well worth stretching to a GTX670 if you can. If not though, GTX660 Ti can still deliver excellent results, including in SLI.

AMD Radeon - are you actually AMD, like Christian Wood's ('Official Intel representative') counterpart, or just a fan?

 

[supahughman]

couldnt agree more, you get very good build so far

btw if you will SLI in the future, gtx 660 ti will not be a good choice because of 192 bit bus limitation

Oh Ok I see, I will keep that in consideration.

 

[supahughman]

That actually looks really good already, except the SSD and optical drive are missing, unless you don't plan on using them? It's well worth stretching to a GTX670 if you can. If not though, GTX660 Ti can still deliver excellent results, including in SLI.

AMD Radeon - are you actually AMD, like Christian Wood's ('Official Intel representative') counterpart, or just a fan?

As for the SSD, it doesn't really bother me not having one. Unless it directly and significantly affects gaming performance then I won't be buying myself one currently, although I will some time in the future. Also I just didn't list the optical drive because it wasn't necessary to put in the list

 

[sam_p_lay]

You're right that SSD won't affect framerate. For gaming performance, it's purely load times.

 

[supahughman]

You're right that SSD won't affect framerate. For gaming performance, it's purely load times.

Ok cool cool. To be honest I would've liked to grab a GTX 670 but the performance v.s. my budget isn't worth it in my opinion.

 

[sam_p_lay]

It does vary by country (and of course by retailers within a country) so it's hard for me to say what offers the best value there. Best advice I can give though is to make sure you're not missing out on any really good Aussie retailers. The Americans and Indians on here all seem to use a single retailer, but in Britain, there's 5 or 6 really excellent online hardware retailers and you'll get much better deals on certain products from some than from others.

 

[supahughman]

It does vary by country (and of course by retailers within a country) so it's hard for me to say what offers the best value there. Best advice I can give though is to make sure you're not missing out on any really good Aussie retailers. The Americans and Indians on here all seem to use a single retailer, but in Britain, there's 5 or 6 really excellent online hardware retailers and you'll get much better deals on certain products from some than from others.

I have taken this into great consideration and Umart for Australia, especially Queensland is probably the best retailer there is. Best prices and according to friends who have bought and had their computers build for them there, fantastic fast responses and services. Anyway, thankyou for your input.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Cool If you want other options, just fire up a Google product search (for anything - a CPU, hard disk, whatever) and see which tech retailers come up with good reviews (say 4.5+ out of 5 from a hundred or more reviews). I can't remember how I originally found the retailers I use here, but I couldn't imagine getting everything from one place now and not shopping around for the best deals. If you've already done all that though and Umart is best for everything, then that will definitely make life simpler for you

 

[MasterMace]

I was scratching my head trying to figure how those parts totaled over $1200 until I saw AUD. It is a solid build, all the guts are compatible, although I didn't glance at the case to check that.

For gaming builds, I use 3 rules of thumb and this makes the builds great. First is to put double the budget into the graphics as is in the CPU, that's a 2:1 GPU:CPU. Second: 45%-60%. This is how much of your budget should be on the combined total of your Graphics and CPU. This leads to your CPU accounting for 15-20% and your graphics 30-40% of your budget. The performance of your games relies on these 2 parts, and thus these should receive a large part of the budget. My preference is 20/40, but some people don't like pushing that high, despite the benefits.

The third is actually looking at full load power draws of builds similar to the one I am about to make. A build with an i5-3570k and GTX 670 both overclocked will draw less than 350W. Naturally, you don't want the PSU at 100%, but many people will jump up and down screaming you need 500-600W. This simply isn't true. It is a left over feeling for when graphics cards would suck down 300-400W on their own. This is why I look at actual power draws and not recommendations.

 

[MasterMace]

I was scratching my head trying to figure how those parts totaled over $1200 until I saw AUD. It is a solid build, all the guts are compatible, although I didn't glance at the case to check that.

For gaming builds, I use 3 rules of thumb and this makes the builds great. First is to put double the budget into the graphics as is in the CPU, that's a 2:1 GPU:CPU. Second: 45%-60%. This is how much of your budget should be on the combined total of your Graphics and CPU. This leads to your CPU accounting for 15-20% and your graphics 30-40% of your budget. The performance of your games relies on these 2 parts, and thus these should receive a large part of the budget. My preference is 20/40, but some people don't like pushing that high, despite the benefits.

The third is actually looking at full load power draws of builds similar to the one I am about to make. A build with an i5-3570k and GTX 670 both overclocked will draw less than 350W. Naturally, you don't want the PSU at 100%, but many people will jump up and down screaming you need 500-600W. This simply isn't true. It is a left over feeling for when graphics cards would suck down 300-400W on their own. This is why I look at actual power draws and not recommendations.

 

[supahughman]

I was scratching my head trying to figure how those parts totaled over $1200 until I saw AUD. It is a solid build, all the guts are compatible, although I didn't glance at the case to check that.

For gaming builds, I use 3 rules of thumb and this makes the builds great. First is to put double the budget into the graphics as is in the CPU, that's a 2:1 GPU:CPU. Second: 45%-60%. This is how much of your budget should be on the combined total of your Graphics and CPU. This leads to your CPU accounting for 15-20% and your graphics 30-40% of your budget. The performance of your games relies on these 2 parts, and thus these should receive a large part of the budget. My preference is 20/40, but some people don't like pushing that high, despite the benefits.

The third is actually looking at full load power draws of builds similar to the one I am about to make. A build with an i5-3570k and GTX 670 both overclocked will draw less than 350W. Naturally, you don't want the PSU at 100%, but many people will jump up and down screaming you need 500-600W. This simply isn't true. It is a left over feeling for when graphics cards would suck down 300-400W on their own. This is why I look at actual power draws and not recommendations.

Thanks for your reply, I'll have a look at those % rules you've got. And yea, prices here suck total ass. Especially with the 10% GST tax on all goods -_-