Wouldn't you know it: Another "is this build ok?" thread!

[Euchrid]

After scouring the depths of Tom's and other sites, i've come up with this rough draft of a build. Planning to buy within a month, i'm pretty sure eveyrthing's optimized as it should be. I'm stupid-new to building my own, but i have the confidence!

Not planning to overclock anything, but the i3570k and nonstock cpu cooler are there just in case.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rcps

Any advice is welcome!

 

[chugot9218]

Id recommend Caviar black over blue, or a Samsung Spinpoint I think is often rated better than the blue, and is still cheaper than the black. The Samsung 840 is kinda expensive, if you are trying to cut down on price you could go for a different one but it is a good SSD. Dump that PSU, get Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, or I believe XFX is okay as well. Not the greatest cooler I don't think, go for that coolermaster everyone gets, same price or cheaper.

 

[azathoth]

There is no reason not to overclock your processor, it takes just a few clicks to get 4.2Ghz or higher, and there is essentially ZERO negatives to doing this.

That said, if you are absolutely sure you don't wish to overclock, then get the i5 3470 and stick with the stock cooler, and switch the video card to a HD 7950 or GTX 660ti. Save yourself $200.

I would still highly recommend you overclock your processor, and considering saving $130 by getting a HD 7950/GTX 660ti is still something I would recommend as well.

 

[Euchrid]

Id recommend Caviar black over blue, or a Samsung Spinpoint I think is often rated better than the blue, and is still cheaper than the black. The Samsung 840 is kinda expensive, if you are trying to cut down on price you could go for a different one but it is a good SSD. Dump that PSU, get Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, or I believe XFX is okay as well. Not the greatest cooler I don't think, go for that coolermaster everyone gets, same price or cheaper.

I switched out the PSU for a 60 dollar antec, you're probably right about that one. I picked the caviar blue because the black is 30 bucks more for the same capacity and speed. That SSD is also a good price, 95 bucks or so for a 120 gb looks reasonable. The spinpoint is 80 bucks, still 20 more than the caviar blue... is the CB just not as reliable or something?

 

[Euchrid]

There is no reason not to overclock your processor, it takes just a few clicks to get 4.2Ghz or higher, and there is essentially ZERO negatives to doing this.

haha, well, if it really is that easy, i guess i'll look up another guide and give it a go.

 

[chugot9218]

Blue ain't necessarily bad, it is just basically their standard drive and will only come with a 1-2 year warranty, black is optimized for performance and they come with 5 year warranties. I got my Samsung 128gb 830 for 70 bucks flat on special just a few weeks ago, and although the 840 is one of the best SSD's out there, the performance of all SSD's is so fast that you will not find noticeable differences in general use.

 

[azathoth]

haha, well, if it really is that easy, i guess i'll look up another guide and give it a go.

There is basically two types of overclocking.

There is standard overclocking of just the CPU.

Then there is overclocking to get every tiny ounce of performance from it.


The first one is as simple as change multiplier, check if the system crashes or overheats when running Prime95. If it crashes, raise the Vcore by a smidge and repeat until the temperatures start getting too high.

Once the temperatures hit that line, and it doesn't crash your system is now stable, and much faster. (Operating temperatures even during HEAVY gaming will never reach the Stress Test temperatures.)

Hitting 4.2Ghz should only take about 2 minutes, because often it can be done at stock voltage. If it crashes you just set the Vcore to 1.2 and that will work for 99.9% of i5-3750k's. No work involved.

 

[Euchrid]

There is basically two types of overclocking.

There is standard overclocking of just the CPU.

Then there is overclocking to get every tiny ounce of performance from it.


The first one is as simple as change multiplier, check if the system crashes or overheats when running Prime95. If it crashes, raise the Vcore by a smidge and repeat until the temperatures start getting too high.

Once the temperatures hit that line, and it doesn't crash your system is now stable, and much faster. (Operating temperatures even during HEAVY gaming will never reach the Stress Test temperatures.)

Hitting 4.2Ghz should only take about 2 minutes, because often it can be done at stock voltage. If it crashes you just set the Vcore to 1.2 and that will work for 99.9% of i5-3750k's. No work involved.

Sounds easy enough. I guess i'll be doing that, then!

I'm also curious as to what version of Windows 8 i should get. I know, i know, W7 is still the way to go, but i can get used to something new and tweak it as i like. Would you guys go basic, full, pro full, or what?

Also, thanks for the hard drive recommendations, chugot; I think i'll stick with what i got for now, but i appreciate it!

 

[azathoth]

Just get the base Windows 8 version, there is no usable differences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8_editions

 

[Euchrid]

Nice, thanks. I added the 64-bit Windows 8 Full (what is the difference between full and oem?) to it, so here's the build-in-progress-

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/reng

 

[azathoth]

Nice, thanks. I added the 64-bit Windows 8 Full (what is the difference between full and oem?) to it, so here's the build-in-progress-

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/reng

OEM is locked to your motherboard upon installation, and if you end up with a new board, you will need a new OS with it.

 

[Euchrid]

OEM is locked to your motherboard upon installation, and if you end up with a new board, you will need a new OS with it.

gotcha

 

[Euchrid]

So here's my pretty-much-finalized build! Any comments are welcome

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/riv4