Rate my $1400 build :D

[saytyn]

Case-Cooler Master HAF-X

GPU-EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2048 MB GDDR5

PSU-Cooler Master Silent Pro M - 850W 80 PLUS Bronze

CPU-Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155

RAM-Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB)

Mobo-AS Rock LGA1155 DDR3 SATA3 USB3.0 Quad CrossFireX and Quad SLI A GbE ATX Motherboard Z77 EXTREME4

HDD-Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler

Samsung DVD drive

Windows 7 Home Premium

 

[CheesyHotDogPuff]

notbad.jpg but you went WAYYY overkill on the psu. Heck, 750 watts is more than enough for crossfire/sli. Other than that it's fairly good.

 

[mocchan]

I would personally swap out your PSU for something like a Seasonic X650 If you're planning to SLI in the future, however, then your current configuration is fine.

Also, on a side note, why don't you consider swapping out the GTX670 and throwing in a Radeon HD7950? It'll perform just as good (once overclocked) and you could invest the $100 you save in an SSD

 

[JJ1217]

+1 on the 7950. Its true performance is yet to be had in my opinion, and it will be in next generations games when it really shines.

For your PSU, its not the wattage I'm concerned about, its the actual brand. Go ahead for a 850W, but I don't recommend a coolermaster one. I've heard stuff about their PSU fans breaking within a couple of months. You can always replace it, but then you might void the warranty.

Take this from me. You DON'T need a HAF X. Look at my build. I have the same board, pretty much the same CPU, and you can see how miniature my build is compared to my HAF X (My build is my picture by the way).

Save yourself $50 and go for a Corsair 500R, its one of the best budget cases in my opinion. Make sure your home premium is 64bit.

 

[mocchan]

+1 on the 7950. Its true performance is yet to be had in my opinion, and it will be in next generations games when it really shines.

For your PSU, its not the wattage I'm concerned about, its the actual brand. Go ahead for a 850W, but I don't recommend a coolermaster one. I've heard stuff about their PSU fans breaking within a couple of months. You can always replace it, but then you might void the warranty.

Take this from me. You DON'T need a HAF X. Look at my build. I have the same board, pretty much the same CPU, and you can see how miniature my build is compared to my HAF X (My build is my picture by the way).

Save yourself $50 and go for a Corsair 500R, its one of the best budget cases in my opinion. Make sure your home premium is 64bit.

http://i.imgur.com/YNFDT.jpg

+1 to 500R

I personally have the 550D which is based on the 500R chassis, so it basically has the exact same interior. Here are some pics of my rig.

PS: JJ, you need to work on your cable management bud 😉

 

[saytyn]

I have already purcased the HAF-X >_____<
JJ, Does everything work okay in yours? Did you run into any problems regarding the size?

 

[JJ1217]

No its great, however one major issue is you can see in my build.. the EPS and the 24 pin cables were actually too short to use the cable grommets effectively. It looks like I did a crappy job, trust me it was worse before I took this picture, this pic was taken just after I finished cleaning it up 😛. The HAF X was so big that my cables couldn't effectively reach their destinations, even without cable grommets, my EPS BARELY reached the connection..

 

[JJ1217]

Plus I really hate my HAF X's non window side panel. The design is one of the worst I have seen, especially in the heat, it causes it to expand slightly. If it expands even like 1/10 of a mm, it can't fit. The holes to put it in are too precise, I ended up having the side panel jut out a little bit. Its not a case I would recommend, I personally would give it around 5/10.

 

[mocchan]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/08/23/galaxy_gtx_660_ti_gc_oc_vs_670_hd_7950/3

There's a link of the GTX660 Ti vs GTX670 vs HD7950 (all OC'd to the max).

 

[JJ1217]

Yeah I seem to find that people only compare them in the old AMD drivers, 12.7 was something magical, and it really put the other nvidia cards in the firing range.

 

[phenom90]

the haf x and psu is wayy overkill unless you're going to use it for sli/cfx.. and i agreed that hd 7950 really a value buy right now... if i were you i don't even need $1200 after rebate for the build... take a look..

http://www.microcenter.com/product/354589/Core_i5_2500K_33GHz_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor
Core i5 2500K - $160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130646
MSI Z77A-G43 - $100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB - $42

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207022
XFX P1-650X-XXB9 650W - $95

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 - $20

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $85

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006
SAPPHIRE 100352-2L Radeon HD 7950 - $290

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139015
Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Military Green - $120

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136247
LG DVD Burner GH24NS90 - $17

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - $100


total: $1029 after rebate excluding shipping

 

[mocchan]

^ decent parts list, however, the CPU is HIGHLY dependent on the OP living near a Micro Center. This will bump up the CPU cost to around $200 (+/-). That will still bring him under-budget, however, so I don't think this is a big factor.

One other thing I would like to point out; the lack of an SSD. Any modern rig today with a budget of at least $1000 should include an SSD.

 

[stormweaver1983]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jsiG

just my thoughts

 

[mocchan]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jsiG

just my thoughts

Swap out the PSU for the Seasonic X650. It'll cost a little bit more money but you gain 80+ GOLD efficiency along with a fully modular interface.

 

[phenom90]

^ decent parts list, however, the CPU is HIGHLY dependent on the OP living near a Micro Center. This will bump up the CPU cost to around $200 (+/-). That will still bring him under-budget, however, so I don't think this is a big factor.

One other thing I would like to point out; the lack of an SSD. Any modern rig today with a budget of at least $1000 should include an SSD.

you're right... if op choose an ssd... i would recommend the samsung 830 series 256gb ssd... because to me 128 gb just ain't gonna cut it..

 

[mocchan]

you're right... if op choose an ssd... i would recommend the samsung 830 series 256gb ssd... because to me 128 gb just ain't gonna cut it..

Yes, I would agree if OP's budget were to allow. 256GB SSD's are coming down in price (around $180 if I remember correctly) so it's certainly a very nice price now

 

[evilqueens]

Yes, I would agree if OP's budget were to allow. 256GB SSD's are coming down in price (around $180 if I remember correctly) so it's certainly a very nice price now

+1 for Samsung SSDs. I just put a 256GB drive into my build. Amazing performance. And yep, I snagged it at $189.99 which was the best deal I could find 2 weeks ago. Check Amazon - I think they had it around $200 for the full desktop upgrade kit.

 

[phenom90]

Yes, I would agree if OP's budget were to allow. 256GB SSD's are coming down in price (around $180 if I remember correctly) so it's certainly a very nice price now

yeah.. considering how much space can a game takes now...

 

[mocchan]

yeah.. considering how much space can a game takes now...

Well that's why we have the 1TB+ mechanical drives, right?

I don't notice too much of a difference in load times with the games installed on my HDD apposed to my SSD. The only games I keep on my SSD are MMO's; where I actually NEED the lightning fast access times.

 

[JJ1217]

Really? When I play Battlefield 3 on an SSD, I often am in the game right before it starts, however on my HDD, by the time I am in the game has already been going for a minute.

 

[phenom90]

Really? When I play Battlefield 3 on an SSD, I often am in the game right before it starts, however on my HDD, by the time I am in the game has already been going for a minute.

yes that's the point... in certain games loading times quite long...

 

[mocchan]

Really? When I play Battlefield 3 on an SSD, I often am in the game right before it starts, however on my HDD, by the time I am in the game has already been going for a minute.

Obviously loading times will certainly be much faster on an SSD. They don't bother me as much which is why I keep my Steam folder on my HDD. What I am talking about is not loading times, rather, the experience in-game and whether or not you'll have stuttering

I find in most MMO's I've played in the past, I would stutter like crazy while my HDD loaded other peoples character data (often hundreds of characters at a time).

 

[evilqueens]

You can always move certain games onto and off the SSD when you want to play them. As long as you have enough storage space on your SSD for a few games, and a large enough HDD for other storage, you'll be fine.

128GB drives combined with a HDD of 500GB or more are adequate, I'd say. Unless you have a 2TB media collection like me 😛

 

[saytyn]

Hey guys, would it be alright touse this mobo instead:

Gigabyte Intel Z77 LGA 1155 Dual UEFI BIOS ATX Motherboard GA-Z77-DS3H


I am not going to ever be overclocking, so that is not a concern.

 

[evilqueens]

Hey guys, would it be alright touse this mobo instead:

Gigabyte Intel Z77 LGA 1155 Dual UEFI BIOS ATX Motherboard GA-Z77-DS3H


I am not going to ever be overclocking, so that is not a concern.

If this is the case, then you could always go with the i5-3750 (non -K version - so no overclocking) and an H77 motherboard. This would save you some coin and you wouldn't lose any functionality that you weren't going to use anyway.