Hi. First time I am going to be attempting something like this. I just wanted some reassurance that my parts are all going to work with each other. I have slowly acquired them over the past month and would like a little feedback.
So here are the list of items I have at the moment:
CASE: Zalman Z11 plus
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570k
MOBO: Asrock Z77 Extreme 4
COOLER: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4) DDR3 PC-3-12800 CL9 1.5V
PSU: Pc Power & Cooling Silencer MK III 600W
Opitcal Drive: Asus DRW-24B3ST 24x Sata Drive
SSD: Samsung 830 Sata 6Gb/s 128GB
OS: Windows Home Premium 7 SP 1 64bit OEM System Builder Pack (Eventually want to try using Linux. Its not an OS I have ever used but heard great things about it. Would like to try it)
Logitech Desktop MK 120 Keyboard & Mouse Combo
I still have to pick up a video card. I would like a decent card, but I am not willing to go ultra high in terms of budget. About $400 is the range I had in mind. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears.
At that price point, the only single GPU you can't afford is the GTX 680, so your choice is between HD7970 or the GTX 670, look up some benchmarks and choose the one that supports the games you play more, so for example, Crysis and Dirt favor the 7970, Batman AA and BF 3 favor 670. They are about $330.
Haha, your'e hilarious! $400 but still not consider it ultra high? And decent? Are you a CEO or something? Your standards sure are high. For that price, I'd consider a 7970 with a decent aftermarket cooling solution. It's performs competetively with the higer priced 680 in some cases and beats the 670 in a lot, though NVidia based games are not it's turf. Plus you can BitCoin mine with this. PLUS it has 3GB of ram compared to the 2GB of a 670.
What's with the PSU, though? You shoud have gone Antec or SeaSonic. And I don't see a hard drive listed.
Ha ha CEO I wish. I meant $400 was the top very most if pushed I would spend. My ideal target range is 200-300. I am just concerned that if I decide to use this machine not only to play some games, but edit video as well.
I went with the Silencer III because it got very high marks from JonnyGuru and was a bit less expensive with the rebate I am getting, cost me about $80.
I was going to get a hard drive around Christmas. A 1TB either Seagate or WD.
MSI Twin Frozr GTX 670 OverClocked Power Edition: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127685
Better than a 680, for under the $400 price tag. This thing has arguably some of the best non-reference cooling out there. This is the card I'm springing for, even though the price tag is a bit high for a student. It's got it all, and SLI is the way to go when you're upgrading. Make sure your MOBO is SLI compatible, with plenty of room because these guys will take up 2 slots each (4 in total if you SLI two Twin Frozrs MSI 670s).