New Gaming Build

[ponyboy_nd]

Hello,

I am looking to upgrade my gaming PC (mostly MMO type games) on which I also do a little programming (Visual Studio 2010 & 2012). I'm wondering if the parts I have picked out below are good enough for a $1000 or less budget or are there areas where I can get a better bang for my buck? I have no plan to overclock at all.

I plan to re-use the following items from my existing PC in the new build in order to cut costs for better parts:
Case (Antec 300) - I like the case and don't really care to spend $ on another one
320GB Hard Drive
CD/DVD RW
Monitors (22" widescreen & 19" dual monitors)

Here are the new parts I currently have picked out. I'll also need a power supply but I have no idea of a good one:

GIGABYTE GV-R795WF3-3GD Radeon HD 7950
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414

Kingston HyperX Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104344

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

Intel Core i5-3570 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115233

SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD120BW 2.5" 120GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147188

I'm guessing I'll also need a mounting kit for the SSD since the Antec 300 does not have 2.5" bay? Anything else I am missing? Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Corsair or Seasonic PSU.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087

 

[Hazle]

Hello,

I am looking to upgrade my gaming PC (mostly MMO type games) on which I also do a little programming (Visual Studio 2010 & 2012). I'm wondering if the parts I have picked out below are good enough for a $1000 or less budget or are there areas where I can get a better bang for my buck? I have no plan to overclock at all.

I plan to re-use the following items from my existing PC in the new build in order to cut costs for better parts:
Case (Antec 300) - I like the case and don't really care to spend $ on another one
320GB Hard Drive
CD/DVD RW
Monitors (22" widescreen & 19" dual monitors)

Here are the new parts I currently have picked out. I'll also need a power supply but I have no idea of a good one:

GIGABYTE GV-R795WF3-3GD Radeon HD 7950
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414

Kingston HyperX Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104344

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

Intel Core i5-3570 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115233

SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD120BW 2.5" 120GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147188

I'm guessing I'll also need a mounting kit for the SSD since the Antec 300 does not have 2.5" bay? Anything else I am missing? Thanks for any help you can provide!

if you wanna lessen the cost

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($180.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($92.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $704.48
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-28 22:42 EST-0500)

if you wanna use up that $1000 budget though;

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($92.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($422.13 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $919.64
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-28 22:51 EST-0500)

only get a Z77 board if you plan to get another card to crossfire at 8x/8x

7870XT performs quite close to the 7950 at stock, for less. OC the 7870XT and it can outperform a stock 7950. if you're thinking on spending more for the GPU, consider the vanilla non-ghz 7970, and OC it yourself.

the CX600 will do fine for a single GPU PC. if you plan to crossfire though, i recommend an 80+ plus bronze 750-800W PSU at least from either Antec, Corsair, XFX, or Seasonic.

 

[blazorthon]

Rosewill and a few others have excellent PSUs too, granted you have to look at individual models since they vary a lot, but Corsair has some bad models too, so it's not like even the *top* companies are guilt-free in bad PSUs 😉

For example, Rosewill's Fortress, Tachyon, Capstone, and Hive models are pretty much all great PSUs.

Also, I recommend getting a 128GB Plextor M5S over a Samsung 840 120GB. The Plextor M5S 128GB is about the same price, but has much better endurance and, although less important for a gaming system, is also a higher performance SSD without sacrificing any reliability.

Also worth mentioning is that although an overclocked 7870 XT can best a stock, reference 7950, it won't keep up with an overclocked 7950 except maybe in a few rare situations.

 

[ponyboy_nd]

Thanks a lot for the help guys. I went with your suggestions Hazle and picked up a CX600 for the PSU. Can't wait to get my new build going!

 

[ponyboy_nd]

Best answer selected by ponyboy_nd.