would like to purchase a new system, any pointers

[hughthehugh]

I have built one on ibuypower, but everything i read here says build your own. i dont mind doing some digging on newegg/tigerdirect/amazon for parts. I am looking for some good advise on better parts and/or configs.

this build is at 1500 dollars.


1 x Case ( NZXT Guardian 921 RB Gaming Case - Red )

1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i7-3770 Processor (4x 3.40GHz/8MB L3 Cache) )

1 x Processor Cooling ( Asetek 550LC Liquid CPU Cooling System [SOCKET-1155] - ARC Dual Silent High Perfornamce Fan Upgrade (Push-Pull Airflow) )

1 x Memory ( 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-2133 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand )

2 x Video Card ( AMD Radeon HD 7850 - 2GB - CrossFire Mode (Dual Cards) )

1 x Motherboard ( ASUS P8Z77-V LX )

1 x Power Supply ( 750 Watt - Thermaltake TR2 TRX-750M - Free Upgrade to 850 Watt Thermaltake SP-850M

1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 120 GB ADATA S510 SSD - Single Drive )

1 x Data Hard Drive ( 2 TB HARD DRIVE -- 64M Cache, 7200rpm, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive )

1 x Optical Drive ( 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black )

1 x Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )

1 x Network Card ( Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) )

I do not need a mouse or a keyboard. I do not need a new monitor. I will get the OS in time. I will be using this system for gaming, heavy gaming. and some movie watching. but mostly gaming. my current system is around 5 years old and has been upgraded a few times already. I just feel its time for a fresh start.

thanks for any help

 

[smorizio]

If I was building it or having it built. I was use the mb there using. But I drop down to a i5-3570. Then take that savings and buy a 670 or a 7900 video card. In gaming now your better off using one main good gpu. For the case I use a r300 or standard black case. Also drop the liquid cooling and use a good nocturnal CPU cooler. I would spend my money on good silent case fans and a case with fan controller in it or buy one. Ssd go with intel..or the 840 line of Ssd. Some Ssd just rebranded drives..some do have any real support or newer firmware. Ssd if there bad firmware drive can brick itself or bsod on you. Also drop down to 1600 cl9 ram your not going to see in real life pc run any faster then in software tests. Use the savings for a good asus or creative labs sound card.

 

[songorocosongo]

Why 2 graphics cards? One great GPU is better that 2 mid-range ones almost 100% of the time.

 

[hughthehugh]

If I was building it or having it built. I was use the mb there using. But I drop down to a i5-3570. Then take that savings and buy a 670 or a 7900 video card. In gaming now your better off using one main good gpu. For the case I use a r300 or standard black case. Also drop the liquid cooling and use a good nocturnal CPU cooler. I would spend my money on good silent case fans and a case with fan controller in it or buy one. Ssd go with intel..or the 840 line of Ssd. Some Ssd just rebranded drives..some do have any real support or newer firmware. Ssd if there bad firmware drive can brick itself or bsod on you. Also drop down to 1600 cl9 ram your not going to see in real life pc run any faster then in software tests. Use the savings for a good asus or creative labs sound card.

1 x Case ( NZXT Tempest 410 Elite Gaming Case - Black )
1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i5-3570K Processor (4x 3.40GHz/6MB L3 Cache) - Intel Core i5-3570K )
1 x Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )
1 x Memory ( 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand )
1 x Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 - 2GB - EVGA FTW - Core: 1084MHz - Single Card )
1 x Video Card Brand ( Major Brand Powered by AMD or NVIDIA )
1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 120 GB Intel 520 SSD - Single Drive )
1 x Sound Card ( Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio )

hows that? Much better options? I only picked 2 because i assumed 2 would be stronger. As for picking just the 1 - 670 2gb better than the 7950 3gb? or go with amd on that? Also what are your suggestions on the fans since i dropped the liquid cool out of it?

thanks again

 

[hughthehugh]

Also if you have a suggestion for a case im game to listen, i picked the last cause it looked cool

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Why 2 graphics cards? One great GPU is better that 2 mid-range ones almost 100% of the time.

Two 560 Ti's ($200 x 2) toasted the 680 ($500) by 40% while costing $100 less

Even two budget cards .... 650 Ti Boosts ($175 x 2 = $350) beat the 680 ($450-500) or 7970 Ghz Edition ($450) for a lot less
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_650_Ti_Boost_SLI/21.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121728

The 7970 Ghz has 72% of the "Performance per Dollar" of the twin 650 Ti Boosts; 680 has 67%
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_650_Ti_Boost_SLI/22.html

 

[JackNaylorPE]

This build was $1,320 yesterday ($1,710 w/ 2nd GFX card).....as I recall, some of those combo deals and promos expired on 04/30.... Still, you should be under $1500..... check for similar deals .... for example newegg seems to trade back and forth w/ promos on the black versus white versions oif the case.

Case - $210 - Corsair 500R White http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1278902
PSU - inc w/ above - Corsair HX850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011
MoBo - $275 - ASUS P8Z77-V LK http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1270852
CPU - Included - Intel Core i5-3570k Ivy Bridge http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
Cooler - $80 - Phanteks PH-TC14PE http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709001
TIM - $5 - Shin Etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080
GFX - $390 - MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127685
GFX - later - MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC Same
SSD - $140 - Samsung 840 Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147192
HD - $160 - WD Caviar Black 5 yr warranty 2 TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136792
DVD Writer - $60 - Asus Blue Ray Burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135252

 

[hughthehugh]

Awesome. Still torn on the 2 vs 1 GFX but ill figure it out. Thanks again for all the ideas

 

[songorocosongo]

Why 2 graphics cards? One great GPU is better that 2 mid-range ones almost 100% of the time.

Two 560 Ti's ($200 x 2) toasted the 680 ($500) by 40% while costing $100 less

Even two budget cards .... 650 Ti Boosts ($175 x 2 = $350) beat the 680 ($450-500) or 7970 Ghz Edition ($450) for a lot less
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_650_Ti_Boost_SLI/21.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121728

The 7970 Ghz has 72% of the "Performance per Dollar" of the twin 650 Ti Boosts; 680 has 67%
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_650_Ti_Boost_SLI/22.html

Well that's good to know.

 

[BaldrGeek]

Until a week or two ago, I'd never built a system. I just jumped in, and it went very smooth. It's really not difficult at all, and it will save you money. Plus you'll be able to say "I put that together".

This site is helpful. It will solve a lot of that "digging on Newegg and Tigerdirect for parts" problem, among other things.

http://pcpartpicker.com

I'll throw out some advice on your build, but keep in mind that I'm new to this, and the main point in my post is to encourage you to build your own.

You probably don't need to add a network card for a local network - most motherboards have that built in, I think. The same with a sound card. And you can easily add those later if you decide you want better quality than the on-board stuff is giving you. So I'd suggest using the on-board at first, and add the others later if you still feel the need after seeing the on-board in action. I get my internet connection via wireless, so I added a good wireless card.

Water cooling is probably not necessary, and the pre-boxed water cooling kits probably do not beat a good air cooling system, but I did it anyway, because I wanted to say mine was water cooled.

For gaming, an i5 is supposed to be as good as an i7, so you can save some money there.

I would recommend a single graphics card instead of starting off with a crossfire or SLI setup. 1 high end card should pull less juice from the PSU than 2 lower end cards. Even if the 2 lower end cards give you similar performance for the money, that leaves you with no upgrade path, but if you start with one higher quality card, and decide later you want even more, you can add another once in crossfire/SLI mode and move up.

Put some research time into your case, make sure it's something you'll be happy with.

 

[hughthehugh]

Until a week or two ago, I'd never built a system. I just jumped in, and it went very smooth. It's really not difficult at all, and it will save you money. Plus you'll be able to say "I put that together".

This site is helpful. It will solve a lot of that "digging on Newegg and Tigerdirect for parts" problem, among other things.

http://pcpartpicker.com

I'll throw out some advice on your build, but keep in mind that I'm new to this, and the main point in my post is to encourage you to build your own.

You probably don't need to add a network card for a local network - most motherboards have that built in, I think. The same with a sound card. And you can easily add those later if you decide you want better quality than the on-board stuff is giving you. So I'd suggest using the on-board at first, and add the others later if you still feel the need after seeing the on-board in action. I get my internet connection via wireless, so I added a good wireless card.

Water cooling is probably not necessary, and the pre-boxed water cooling kits probably do not beat a good air cooling system, but I did it anyway, because I wanted to say mine was water cooled.

For gaming, an i5 is supposed to be as good as an i7, so you can save some money there.

I would recommend a single graphics card instead of starting off with a crossfire or SLI setup. 1 high end card should pull less juice from the PSU than 2 lower end cards. Even if the 2 lower end cards give you similar performance for the money, that leaves you with no upgrade path, but if you start with one higher quality card, and decide later you want even more, you can add another once in crossfire/SLI mode and move up.

Put some research time into your case, make sure it's something you'll be happy with.

I appreciate your feedback. i think i have found exactly what i want. thanks for the new link ill do some more digging in it

 

[hughthehugh]

That link is AWESOME. thanks again. Now I run into a snag when I am trying to pick my RAM. Im going with 8gb (2 x 4gb) per suggestion. but how do I know which sets to pick. I filtered down to those specs. What confuses me is the cas - thats the only filter left besides price. They range from 7-11. I dont truly know what that means.

 

[smorizio]

With ram the numbers after the speed is the delay between the chips and mb timing. Called refresh. A dimm with a 10-10-10-10 is slower then a one with lower numbers. Most newer lp and low power ram now is 1.5 v or less with a 9-9-9-9-24t timing. Anything lower just going to be a little faster in diag test modes.