Yet another first build. Pictures inside. I have no idea what I'm doing.

[elgeeking]

Hello,

I need some help. If you'd review this build, do you think I'd be able to play more current games with ease? Do you see any incompatibility issues?

What would you change? What do I NEED to change? What should I add? Case fans? Thermal paste?

As a gaming rig that will likely be used occasionally for light school work, what would be the better OS, Windows 7 Home Premium or XP?

Finally, I need some suggestions for a case. I really don't care for anything too flashy, I'd just like this to be a powerful-enough gaming rig and everything to fit properly.

Thanks in advance for any help. I'm sure reading these must get annoying for the regulars here.

PS: This was also posted on the chans.

Myyyy picture didn't work so I'm making a list instead.

Spoiler

-AUSU P8Z68-V LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI Sata 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherbord
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729

-HIS H685F1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161348

-CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

-Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

-CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

-Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

-SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1681S-0B - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118031

 

[Gamer-girl]

Are you going to crossfire later? What about overclocking?

Get windows 7 and make sure it is the 64bit version because 32bit does not recognize more than 4GB ram. XP home edition only comes in 32bit.

You might want consider changing the hard drive: Samsung F3
Also if you are planing to get a big heatsink for your CPU then those fins on the vengeance might be in the way, they are tall.

Some good inexpensive cases are Antec Three Hundred, the same one with lights Antec Three Hundred Illusion and COOLER MASTER HAF 912

and what is chans...?

 

[elgeeking]

I was just saying to someone on another forum that I'd consider cfing in the future but for right now I'm not totally sure I'd want to do it. It's more likely that I'll be OCing, but I've never done that so I don't know where to begin.

Thank you for the recommendation there.

You're the fifth person to recommend that hard drive. I've seen it before and I forgot about it. I'll probably go for it.

It was recommended to me to drop down to 4GBs of ram with the Ripjaws cards. Would that be helpful in the size issue?

Thank you for the case recommendations, I haven't gotten any of those yet besides from you.

4chan.

Thank you again!

 

[gkay09]

^ Good suggestions,...

As for the build, here is a slightly different build,...
i5 + P67 ASUS PRO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.693877

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

CASE - LIAN LI Lancool First Knight Series PC-K59W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112322

Antec HCG 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049

DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118040

GPU - Get the one that would fit in the budget
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

HDD - The F3 that above person has linked would be my choice too,...

CPU Cooler - CM Hyper 212+ or Xig Gaia

 

[elgeeking]

I don't think I'll be able to thank you properly for all of that because I'm really tired right now, but thank you and I'm currently looking at the suggestions you've made. The PSU is something that I'm wondering about. In the other thread, they had a debate about whether getting a larger or smaller PSU would be the best way to go. I'm thinking that if I do decide to crossfire in the future it would be nice to not have to upgrade my psu when buying a new card, but is that 750 watts much? Thanks again

 

[gkay09]

^ PSU - The size would majorly depend on the GPU that you would be getting,...
For cards say upto HD 6870 Crossfire, a quality 650W+ should do,... If anything more powerful, then I would suggest the 750W as it will have some headroom left,... Also CASE & PSUs are the parts that you can reuse for more than 1 build, so going little bit overboard is fine,...

 

[Gamer-girl]

Well if your going to crossfire then you might want to consider your power requirements, you don't want to buy a Power supply now and find out in a year that it is not enough for your cf system. Then again you don't want to waste money on a big power supply when you will only be using 1 card and replacing it with a newer series.

the 650w is enough for crossfire but probably not enough for crossfire + overclocking.

If you want to overclock then you should consider a coolermaster Hyper 212 plus - sometimes the price for these on newegg.com will go up so check amazon when you buy.

Also when you change graphics card you change your power requirements <- applies to dual cards in your case because 650w is enough for any single card.

 

[elgeeking]

Yeah, that's all true. I'll keep that recommendation in mind.

This is a bit of a curveball, but someone made a recommendation that I was actually thinking of doing for the computer I'm currently using, which is saving money and getting an AM3 mobo and 955 BE CPU for the moment, then maybe upgrading to the AMD Bulldozer in the future when it does come out. I don't know how I feel about that though.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Id recommend a 750w PSU. Its always better to leave yourself some headroom for overclocking and PSU efficiency. Ideally a good 750w PSU with an 80+ rating of Bronze or greater will keep you covered for almost any upgrades/crossfire

 

[elgeeking]

Well if your going to crossfire then you might want to consider your power requirements, you don't want to buy a Power supply now and find out in a year that it is not enough for your cf system. Then again you don't want to waste money on a big power supply when you will only be using 1 card and replacing it with a newer series.

the 650w is enough for crossfire but probably not enough for crossfire + overclocking.

If you want to overclock then you should consider a coolermaster Hyper 212 plus - sometimes the price for these on newegg.com will go up so check amazon when you buy.

Also when you change graphics card you change your power requirements <- applies to dual cards in your case because 650w is enough for any single card.

That's true, but how should I feel about coolermaster PSUs? I've yet to hear praise or disapproval about them.

Thank you again

Id recommend a 750w PSU. Its always better to leave yourself some headroom for overclocking and PSU efficiency. Ideally a good 750w PSU with an 80+ rating of Bronze or greater will keep you covered for almost any upgrades/crossfire

Alright, with all of that I'll probably go for a 650W+ psu.

 

[Gamer-girl]

The 1155 would also work with the next Intel cpus (ivy bridge) with a bios update as i recall. Bulldozer isn't out so I won't comment on it's performance.

Don't go for coolermaster PSU. Brands you should look for are seasonic, corsair, xfx, antec. IF you can afford them the Seasonic X series are nice.

 

[AdrianPerry]

CoolerMaster PSU's are generally avoided unless your going for the really top end GOLD rated ones.

Some brands to consider:
SeaSonic
XFX
Corsair
OCZ
Antec

And yes, GamerGirl is correct, SOCKET 1155 will be compatible with IvyBridge, however i dont remember if all boards are, i seem to remember somewhere saying z68 yes, p67 and h67 no. But again i cant remember the source or the reliability.

 

[gkay09]

EDIT: Dint refresh... this reply is for the post about the X4 955 ,...
^^ I feel that as a waste of time & money(To sell the 955, Bulldozers are the ~same price as the SBs, also no hard facts about their performance),... Stick with the i5 and get very good performance from now itself,...
Also dont think that I am an Intel fanboy actually I like AMD better, but it is that I go by the performance and not by brand name,...

 

[elgeeking]

GG, I didn't know about the compatibility, but I did feel the same way about the Bulldozer. I don't know it's specs and the i5 is a good processor so steering away from it for something unsure didn't seem smart. Also, like gkay said, it would be a more expensive option considering I'd be settling on a lower preforming processor for the time until.

Thank you for the recommendations AP.

 

[gkay09]

^ The i5 performs as good (actually better than) the LGA 1366 i7 CPUs when it comes to gaming,...so it would last pretty long say 3-4 years or more with a GPU upgrade later on or Crossfire,... Also overclocking would give a good boost,...

 

[jsc]

Avoid CoolerMaster PSU's. When the hardcore review sites test them, they end up being excessively mediocre at best, and junk at worst.

 

[monkeysweat]

i like antec psu's,,,

would you consider stretching your budget a tiny bit and picking up a 90-120 GB Vertex 2 class (or better) SSD? I think it will pay you in spades in the long run to have it. If not now, for sure in 6-12 months. I would stay with a green series 2TB drive otherwise for now for lots of storage, shouldn't really be that slow for you (just longer load times), gaming shouldn't really too bad other than level loading.

 

[elgeeking]

Hey, thanks for the other suggestions. I fell asleep last night. The PSU thing was me misinterpreting GG's suggestion actually, I read it as her suggesting a CoolerMaster PSU and not a processor cooler.

That's exactly what I plan to do GKay, and I do think that's the best way to go about things.

thank you JSC

MonkeySweat, I would be willing to do that, but I was told that upgrading to a SSD would mostly only show a difference on benchmarks. Also, the ones that I did see were rather pricey. I'd be willing to upgrade in the future though mostly because I like the idea of as few moving parts as possible.

Finally, would anyone suggest an alternative mobo? USB 3.0 isn't necessary, but maybe a cheaper one that preforms and handles ocing as well?

 

[elrui]

For PSU go with Corsair, I use a HX750 to run my SLI set-up and it works great.

XFX also makes a nice PSU, Seasonic too

 

[elgeeking]

Depending on what case you are using should dictate what type of psu you need.

For example, the Corsair Enthusiast series TX850W is not modular so no cables can be taken off. The cables are 800mm long.

So that psu would go perfect for a Full Tower with cable management behind the mobo.

the HX series Corsair psu's are modular I believe which would be better for mid towers.

Some food for thought

Thanks for that pothead, I didn't even take that into consideraiton.

So what about this PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Power+Supplies-_-Corsair-_-17139010
With this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
And for reference, this mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729

 

[elrui]

Very nice psu ^_^

The antec case is alright but for around the same price you can get a way nicer deal

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K58W - $69.99 (back to school special)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112238

That has a window which is always nice and it also comes with a better air flow design and to top it off you can make your cables almost invisible because it has cable management holes to go behind the mobo.

So once its all in place and you have the extra cables taken off and the cables that are left will be hidden behind the mobo to give you pretty much 100% airflow.

Talk about a cool pc :3

I second this, the Antec cases aren't terrible but the lack of cable management really limits them. For 80 bucks to also get Zalman Z9 Plus, another sweet case

 

[elgeeking]

ALRIGHT! Thank you all for your help. It'll probably take a while because I love torturing myself and now knowing everything that I WANT to do, I feel lost with myself. I'll probably continue looking a little bit, end up paying out everything, and eventually if I manage to finish this project without electrocuting myself to death, I'll be back with pictures of my complete first build. Thanks again!

PS: All of the advice given was fantastic, so out of fairness, I'm just giving BA to the first person who responded.

 

[elgeeking]

Best answer selected by elgeeking.