New Build - Suggestions and Critique?

[tcastlejr]

Hey there. I'm looking at building a PC... I'll be using it for modern day gaming (I'd like it to be able to play all modern games at their ULTRA settings without issues), photo processing and editing via LR3 and general use and research.

How does this look? Any comments, suggestions or critiques are welcome.


CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek GAIA SD1283 56.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($86.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card ($488.94 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill THOR V2 ATX Full Tower Case ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($155.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (64-bit) ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1627.81

 

[andreas_vak]

dude looks just amazing...i my self would go for asus but the msi looks cool!!

 

[tcastlejr]

Thanks Andreas... Any other opinions?

 

[assasin32]

Looks good from a quick glance though just so you know the Win 7 OEM license is not transferable and is supposubly locked to that mobo once activated. If you want to get away from that cheaply have Win XP/Vista/7 installed and do the Win 8 upgrade for $40 I believe that will give you the retail Win 8 Pro.

Most people overblow the whole metro thing, and I bet by now there is a way to disable it. If not from my understanding it is 1 click and it's gone when you log in.

 

[tcastlejr]

I was reading around about the i7 being overkill for gaming. So I took a look again at my build... I selected the i5 3570k... So how does this look?

Which is better for high end games like Battlefield 3 or something like that? Would a 7970 be better than the 680?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/r8J4
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/r8J4/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/r8J4/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek GAIA SD1283 56.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card ($528.49 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill THOR V2 ATX Full Tower Case ($129.51 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($155.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.89 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1559.80
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-05 22:50 EST-0500)

 

[tcastlejr]

Anyone?

 

[JMer806]

Your second build looks good to me.

TomsHardware rankings put the 7970 ahead of the 680, FYI. But I doubt you'd actually notice any difference tbh. They're close to the same price, and you can always Xfire or SLI a second one next year to keep your system nice and juicy.

Oh, one other thing - it's not a big deal but if you want to trim some budget go with 8 GB RAM (2x4GB). You don't really need 16.