Rate my first home built rig

[Jackharrer]

So this is my first home built gaming rig. Tried to keep it within a certain budget and not go overboard, though I found this extremely difficult - like walking into a candy shop.

* LG Electronics GH22NS50 22X SATA Super Multi DVD+/-RW Internal Drive - Bulk with Software (Black) +25$

* Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD platforms - CMPSU-650TXV2 +85$

* MSI Radeon HD 6950 2 GB GDDR5 2DVI/HDMI/2xMini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card R6950 TWIN FROZR III PE OC +280$

* Gigabyte Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2133 LGA 1155 Motherboards GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 +160$

* G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600MHz 240-Pin PC3-12800 Desktop Memory F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL +65$

* Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1 +27$

* Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX +80$

* Intel Core i5-2500K Processor 3.3GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155 +220$

* HAF 932 case +120$


Total: 1062$

Let me know what you guys think. Main use is for work applications at day and Battlefield 3 at night

 

[Novuake]

Loved this build!

Would only have change the case.

Have you OC'd? Are you planning to?

 

[AbdullahG]

That's a really nice build. I would change a few things to save a bit of money without sacrifice:

MoBo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

GPU (same GPU, but better customer reviews and a few bucks less): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102945

 

[boiler1990]

+1 to the ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 above.

I'd also pick a Samsung F3 over the WD Black - it's faster and cheaper.

 

[chesteracorgi]

Nice build, nothing to criticize about it, but is it finished? Are you planning to add an SSD in the future?

 

[Jackharrer]

@Novuake - Thanks, the shipment is on its way. I already have the case and its enormous, which for me is a good thing. I'm not an extremely experienced Overclocker however I've been informed by friends that not overclocking an i5 2500K is considered a crime in certain circles, So I probably will juice it up to 3.8ghz or 4 ghz.

Not going to OC the GPU though. If in the future I'll feel that I need more power i'll get another 6950 and run them in Crossfire.

@Abdullahg - Nice input. The only reason I went with MSI is because I got to witness first hand how it worked with crysis, arma and battlefield over at a collegue's house and he highly recommended it.

I was really on the fence between the Gigabyte and Asrock motherboards. I chose the Gigabyte in the end simply because it got really good reviews on one hand, and the Asrock would take 2-3 weeks just to ship and I didn't want to wait that period out.

@boiler1990 - I wish I asked this a week ago, as I didn't know the Samsung was faster. I was under the impression the WD was a good choice and liked the fact that it offered a 64MB cache.

@Chesteracorgi - It is still on its way here, only the case has arrived as I got it from the local store near by, so the rig is far from finished. When the parts arrive I intend on photographing my construction process and uploading - sort of like a documentary for hardware fans like me.

I actually really wanted to get an SSD inside. Atleast a 60GB one but figured that if I'm going to invest in one, it might as well be slightly larger than 60GB, and those are priced high at the moment, so I figured I'd get all other parts and have it running, and then look for the SSD in a month or two to distribute my expenses more evenly. Also I hope that the prices will drop a little more before I get one.

From what I heard, when it comes to gaming the SSD's only contribution is decreasing map loading times by around 10 seconds. For now I can wait the extra 10 seconds and this is not worth to me a few hundred dollars.

Thanks for your feedback guys. I did homework first but it seems there's always more to learn. Also didnt want to fall into the trap of buying items that are priced too high just for being the newest products on the market. I was convinced research was required when I saw a 1000 dollar PC mop the floor (performance wise) with a 1800 dollar PC. That was an eye opener for me.

 

[boiler1990]

The parts we recommended aren't going to make big differences; they were just more along the lines of maximizing what you get for your money. The WD Black will still be a good drive, so no worries.

Adding an SSD also makes your system feel snappier. Went from 1+ minute boot times to 30 seconds on my desktop, and from 1 min to 7 seconds (no exaggeration) on my laptop. They load Office and several other programs significantly faster as well. My games are all on a separate HDD on my desktop, but they still load faster than if the games and OS were on the same drive.

 

[Jackharrer]

I deffinitely intend on getting an SSD. I heard rumors that there's a new generation about to be released sometime soon, and that this should bring a drop in the price of local generation SSDs.

Not entirely certain if there is any truth to this, however I made the SSD second priority to prove to myself that I don't need to dish out well over 1K just to get a good gaming rig that most importantly has alot of potential and room for upgrading.

Gone are my days of sawing case parts off a mid tower just to fit a GPU in. From here on out for me it's full tower all the way.

Besides SSD, can you think of any other upgrades you would include in the next purchase? I mean should I at all invest in a sound card when the motherboard already has an onboard feature provided? Would you upgrade to more than 8 GB ram? or to RAM faster than 1600 mhz?

I know I don't yet want to go into water cooling just yet, but i'm trying to consider possible near future upgrades besides adding a second GPU.

Thanks again for the feedback. Trying to learn the ropes as I go and this is very helpful.

 

[boiler1990]

I deffinitely intend on getting an SSD. I heard rumors that there's a new generation about to be released sometime soon, and that this should bring a drop in the price of local generation SSDs.

Idk how truthful those would be, since the 3rd gen drives (OCZ 3-series, M4, Intel 510) only just came out a few months ago. Not saying it wouldn't be true necessarily, but I'd be skeptical.

Not entirely certain if there is any truth to this, however I made the SSD second priority to prove to myself that I don't need to dish out well over 1K just to get a good gaming rig that most importantly has alot of potential and room for upgrading.

SSDs are one of those "extras" that will improve your overall computing experience, just like spending an extra $100 on a GPU or something. It's just where you feel your money is best allocated that is important.

Besides SSD, can you think of any other upgrades you would include in the next purchase? I mean should I at all invest in a sound card when the motherboard already has an onboard feature provided? Would you upgrade to more than 8 GB ram? or to RAM faster than 1600 mhz?

Sound cards don't make much of a difference unless you're using a good set of surround sound speakers or high quality surround sound headphones.
I use 16GB RAM but only for work. Really, you only need 4GB for games, but 8 is now the most cost-effective. 1866MHz is the real limit in terms of performance you'll see from your RAM. The difference from 1600MHz to 1866 is negligible for regular desktop/gaming use.

I know I don't yet want to go into water cooling just yet, but i'm trying to consider possible near future upgrades besides adding a second GPU.

Really, your options are the SSD, a second GPU, better cooling, and a bunch of bling for your case.

 

[Jackharrer]

Best answer selected by JackHarrer.