Seeking advice on build

[Yassine Elouri]

I've decided to make my first custom build. So far this is the list of parts I'm planning to buy:

After some updates

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($211.69)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($25.98)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($138.99l)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($189.99)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($64.73)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98)
Total: $791.90

Is there any room for me to save some money?
Is the power supply enough or too much for this build?

Purpose: Gaming
Budget: $800 Max
Monitor Res: 1920×1080 (already have one)
Over clocking: No
SSD: Yes
Future upgradability: Yes

Thank you,

 

[ksham]

Antec One or Antec Three Hundred Two.

As for your build, you may want a HDD and up the RAM to 8GB. A more modern H77 motherboard couldn't hurt either, but not a priority.

 

[icypyro]

Your power supply is definitely hurting the price of your build.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171031

The cooler master eXtreme 500w PSU will suit your needs for 40 USD less. This will give you around 54$ to spend on upping your ram to 8 gigs (there goes 25$). Grabbing an HDD instead of an SSD will also help.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

This seagate barracuda 1 TB hard drive will lower the cost of your build by 64$, finally giving you room to buy a better video card (With upgraded ram you'll have 93$ to spare, with a total budget of 268$ for a video card).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150605

This should suffice with your power supply. You'll have 33$ to spend on whatever you want, preferably the power supply and the processor, if possible.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182278 this one's on sale for 40$ actually. If you so desire, upping the cost of your power supply by a 10 dollars will buy you this since it's on sale.

Hopefully this helped a bit

 

[ksham]

Do not get a PSU from Cooler Master. The Antec one that OP has is far better.

 

[icypyro]

Do not get a PSU from Cooler Master. The Antec one that OP has is far better.

How so? Any facts to back up your statement?

 

[ksham]

@icypyro: Cooler Master does not make their own PSU. The OEMs for Cooler Master PSU are also not well known or reputed.

 

[icypyro]

@icypyro: Cooler Master does not make their own PSU. The OEMs for Cooler Master PSU are also not well known or reputed.

I don't understand your point. The freaking thing works. I think that's all that really matters. At least it isn't logysis or coolmax.

 

[ksham]

My point is that the build quality of the PSU is not as good. The PSU is the base foundation of the entire system. It is arguably the most important component in your entire computer. It provides power to everything and is connected to every component in your build. So if you have a bad PSU and it dies, you risk damaging your other components (since they're all connected). That is if you are lucky. If you're unlucky, you get a fire hazard in your house or office.

I've seen Apevia and Rosewill PSU work (when they want to). But would I ever recommend them? Not a chance.

 

[icypyro]

My point is that the build quality of the PSU is not as good. The PSU is the base foundation of the entire system. It is arguably the most important component in your entire computer. It provides power to everything and is connected to every component in your build. So if you have a bad PSU and it dies, you risk damaging your other components (since they're all connected). That is if you are lucky. If you're unlucky, you get a fire hazard in your house or office.

I've seen Apevia and Rosewill PSU work (when they want to). But would I ever recommend them? Not a chance.

Nonetheless, I recommended that he grab a rosewill stallion PSU. I use a rosewill PSU myself and I trust them enough to power my system. If it works well enough for me, I don't see any issue that OP might have unless he gets a faulty PSU.

 

[ksham]

I'd rather get a faulty quality PSU than a faulty crappy PSU. At least there's better protection to the rest of my components should it die. Nothing like replacing $1000 worth of equipment.

 

[Yassine Elouri]

I've made some modification (see OP). Thank you both for your recommendation, especially ksham for that case, the modern motherboard, and the stuff about PSU OEMs, really helpful. I ended up upgrading cpu, and chose a PSU with 500W instead of 550W, changed the case and motherboard, and chose a better GPU. For the hard drive, I'm going to stick with an SSD (I already have external storage and need system boot, app load to be fast). I also don't think I will need more than 4GB of RAM right now, and I always have the option to upgrade later.
I managed to stay in budget below $800.
I welcome any other feedback, my biggest concern is that I choose the right PSU. If I get your approval I'm going ahead an buying this stuff

 

[ksham]

A dual channel is faster so if you want 4GB, it's faster with 2x 2GB instead of 1x 4GB. I guess if you plan to upgrade soon, it may be worth holding on to one stick.

I did a few modifications. Let me know what you think of this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.94 @ NCIX US)
Storage: OCZ Agility 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($101.04 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($61.24 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $809.73
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

It's a tad more, but you can always drop the RAM down if you can't afford the extra $10. I mostly upgraded the GPU without taking away much. I chose a different case, but it does fit your original requirements for a case. The Antec One is also a really good case.

 

[scragnoff]

Hi Yassine Elouri!

Just dropped in to say that I agree with what ksham said. Always go with a power supply from a reputable manufacturer - SeaSonic, XFX, Antec, and Corsair are ones I would wholeheartedly recommend.

They might be a tad more expensive (quality more often than not charges a bit extra), but they'll pay big dividends later when they don't blow up, which is the case if you would have bought a cheaper, unreliable power supply.

For more about getting the right power supply, check out these tips.

Good luck!

 

[Yassine Elouri]

Awesome, thanks guys for the feedback, really appreciated.