New build - Tips and Feedback on Build 1000-1500 budget

[Sylas26]

Hello! This is gonna be my first homebuilt build.

I would like to build it as soon as possible.

Budget Range: My budget is around 1000-1500 CAD.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 3D programs (Maya, 3DS Max, MudBox, Photoshop etc.), Gaming, Movies.

Are you buying a monitor: No, I already own a monitor.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes, I intended to buy Windows 7 64-bit.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I have been watching prices on Directcanada, Newegg and amazon, but I am open to suggestions.

Location: Montréal, Québec, Canada.
I would like to assemble the computer at home.

Parts Preferences: I prefer Nvidia/intel to AMD parts, but will read any comment.

Overclocking: Maybe, not sure weither I am ready for that or not. Might wait for second build in a few years to do this.

SLI or Crossfire: No, too expensive and complicated at the moment, I would rather stay with something simple.

Your Monitor Resolution: 720HD preferably.

Here is the setup I figured out so far:

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821

Asus GTX670-DC2-2GD5
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/asus-video-card-gtx670dc22gd5

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Mushkin Silverline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/mushkin-memory-997074

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced Blue Edition RC-932-KKN3-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119213

ASUS Black 12X BD-ROM
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/asus-optical-drive-bc12b1stblkbas

Intel 335 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/intel-internal-hard-drive-ssdsc2ct240a4k5

Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx

I currently own none of the parts.

Thanks for your help and feedback in advance,

Sylas.

EDIT:
Changed/added Graphic Card, Memory, storage and updated links.

 

[geofelt]

Here are my thoughts:

1. The 3570K is as good as it gets for gaming.

2. For a gaming PC, the graphics card is all important. A GTX670 would be more appropriate.

3. The Sabretooth motherboard is overpriced, and will not do any better than a cheaper Z77 based motherboard.
Something like this perhaps: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837
Use the savings to upgrade the graphics card.

4. You bought a "K" cpu in order to overclock. I would buy a cm hyper212 for $30 or so. It will run cooler, quieter, and allow a easier and higher overclock.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

5. Intel and samsung tend to have better user satisfaction.
Here is a Intel 335 series 240gb ssd:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167128
330 series is ok too.
or a samsung 840 unit:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147189
830 series is good too.
They actually cost a bit less.
Ignore synthetic benchmarks, in actual use, You will see no difference in performance among all the current SSD offereings.

6. Corsair is a good brand. 750w is a bit of overkill, a GTX670 will happily run on a 500w unit.

 

[boulbox]

Here are my thoughts:

1. The 3570K is as good as it gets for gaming.

2. For a gaming PC, the graphics card is all important. A GTX670 would be more appropriate.

3. The Sabretooth motherboard is overpriced, and will not do any better than a cheaper Z77 based motherboard.
Something like this perhaps: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837
Use the savings to upgrade the graphics card.

4. You bought a "K" cpu in order to overclock. I would buy a cm hyper212 for $30 or so. It will run cooler, quieter, and allow a easier and higher overclock.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

5. Intel and samsung tend to have better user satisfaction.
Here is a Intel 335 series 240gb ssd:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167128
330 series is ok too.
or a samsung 840 unit:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147189
830 series is good too.
They actually cost a bit less.
Ignore synthetic benchmarks, in actual use, You will see no difference in performance among all the current SSD offereings.

6. Corsair is a good brand. 750w is a bit of overkill, a GTX670 will happily run on a 500w unit.

i think you should read his entire post before posting something like this

 

[boulbox]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($164.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.80 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Plextor M5S Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($229.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $1179.71
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-29 11:53 EST-0500)

if you will be doing a lot of gaming you can upgrade the GPU to something along the lines of a 670 or a 7970.

If you wish to SLI/CFX in the future you can upgrade the PSU to a 750W

16GB of ram is a lot already but you can add some more later if you need/want to

The SSD is great, uses a marvell which is very reliable drive and has a constant read and write for your editing needs.

If you think you will be using more space, i would go for a 2TB drive since they are cheaper per GB

Case is totally preference, i love the 500R, looks nice and sleek with a lot of room to build in.

 

[geofelt]

i think you should read his entire post before posting something like this

Good point. I missed the apps as being the most important.

Here are some amendments:

1. Ram is cheap, extra ram reduces the need for workfile use. A 16gb kit of 2 x 8gbg would be better.
Note, that if you wanted more than 16gb, you would need windows pro or ultimate.

2. I have my doubts about the value of hyperthreading on the 3770K.
Some programs are not hyperthread aware and will dispatch work on the hyperthreads which are much less effective than a full core.
To my mind, the extra $100 or so might be better used elsewhere.

3. The OP included a Blu ray reader, presumably for bluray movies. I would not change that.

4. Some editing apps can use the CUDA capabilities of Nvidia graphics cards. I think I would stick with them vs. amd.

 

[boulbox]

Oh yea i also forgot that going AMD FX 8350 is also a solid choice for multithread. about the same price as an i5 3570k and runs multithread apps almost as good as an i7 3770k.

Also yes on the Nvidia Cuda. i just choose 7870 just because it is good price to performance in terms of gaming. I left him enough room to upgrade parts if he had wanted to though so getting a 670 inside would be easy with his budget.

And as a blu ray dive, it is all preference, if he needs it then he can upgrade it. i personally don't even use the optical drive and just do everything by USB or download

 

[Sylas26]

Hello, thanks for your comments and feedback!

I updated the post with some of your suggestions.

I forgot to mention, but I would like to upgrade the graphic card (maybe go into SLI/CFX) in 1-2 years. So I figured the PSU/Motherboard were fine with that in consideration.

I was wondering about two things:
Do I need a CPU cooler if I go for a Full Tower?

Is the CPU too weak?
Boulbox's recommending a CPU that is much more expensive than the one I had in mind, and I am not sure how to tell what I really need, CPU-wise.

Also, about the Optical Drive, I need one that can read blu-ray.

Thanks again for your concern!

EDIT:
Grammar mistakes.

 

[boulbox]

You should have a aftermarket cooler even if you do get a full tower. It performs much more quiet than stock and does a much better job of cooling.

If you are doing programming most of the time, you will notice a huge difference in performance i5 3570k vs i7 3770k. If you are gaming most the time, you won't even notice the slightest difference between the 2.

No the CPU is not weak, in terms of price range CPU i5 3570k is the best bang for the buck but the i7 3770k just gives you much more performance for programming.

Going with an i5 3570k to save money for less performance is also an option too.

for the PSU get this one
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/xfx-power-supply-p1750bnlg9
XFX PSUs are OEMs of Seasonic who makes one of the best PSUs.

for the blu-ray drive, if it is just reading, stick with your drive if you also use it to write get this one
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/lg-optical-drive-wh14ns40

 

[geofelt]

Hello, thanks for your comments and feedback!

I updated the post with some of your suggestions.

I forgot to mention, but I would like to upgrade the graphic card (maybe go into SLI/CFX) in 1-2 years. So I figured the PSU/Motherboard were fine with that in consideration.

I was wondering about two things:
Do I need a CPU cooler if I go for a Full Tower?

Is the CPU too weak?
Boulbox's recommending a CPU that is much more expensive than the one I had in mind, and I am not sure how to tell what I really need, CPU-wise.

Also, about the Optical Drive, I need one that can read blu-ray.

Thanks again for your concern!

EDIT:
Grammar mistakes.

You do not NEED a cpu cooler. But I recommend one up front.
They are not expensive, perform better, and are quieter than the stock intel cooler.
And... the cm cooler is much easier for the novice to install compared to the Intel pushpin mount.

Your 3570K is as good as it gets in the $200 budget range.
The very best might be the i7-3930K 6 core which is a $570 part, but I see little need for that.

I am not much in favor of planning for sli/cf when gaming on a single monitor.
Here is my canned rant on that:
-----------------------------Start of rant----------------------------------------------------
Dual graphics cards vs. a good single card.

a) How good do you really need to be?
A single GTX650/ti or 7770 can give you good performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.

A single GTX660 or 7850 will give you excellent performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.
Even 2560 x 1600 will be good with lowered detail.
A single gtx690 is about as good as it gets.

Only if you are looking at triple monitor gaming, then sli/cf will be needed.
Even that is now changing with triple monitor support on top end cards.

b) The costs for a single card are lower.
You require a less expensive motherboard; no need for sli/cf or multiple pci-e slots.
Even a ITX motherboard will do.

Your psu costs are less.
A GTX660 needs a 430w psu, even a GTX680 only needs a 550w psu.
When you add another card to the mix, plan on adding 150-200w to your psu requirements.

Even the strongest GTX690 only needs 620w.

Case cooling becomes more of an issue with dual cards.
That means a more expensive case with more and stronger fans.
You will also look at more noise.

c) Dual cards do not always render their half of the display in sync, causing microstuttering. It is an annoying effect.
The benefit of higher benchmark fps can be offset, particularly with lower tier cards.
Read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

d) dual card support is dependent on the driver. Not all games can benefit from dual cards.

e) cf/sli up front reduces your option to get another card for an upgrade. Not that I suggest you plan for that.
It will often be the case that replacing your current card with a newer gen card will offer a better upgrade path.
The GTX780 and amd 8000 series are not that far off.
-------------------------------End of rant-----------------------------------------------------------