Before I get into things, I'd like to introduce myself as an utter nubcake who found Tek Syndicate through Logan's youtube videos, and preemptively apologize for screwing up- the Hardware forum's little intro said not to post anything, but I see threads that were posted only days ago, and no other forum seems to deal with "Help me buy computer parts!" like this one seems to.
So then. I've never built my own computer before but I've been looking at components for a good gaming rig and wanted to ask for some input and potential improvements that could be made without changing the overall price of the rig very much. Here's what I've got:
CPU: Intel i5-3570K
Motherboard: Asus p8z77-v Pro
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 6870
RAM: Mushkin Redline 8GB 1600Mhz, that good stuff that Logan has mentioned.
PSU: Aurum Gold 650W
Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
SSD: Adata XPG SX900 128GB
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Optical: No strong feelings one way or the other. Blu-Ray burner preferred just for the sake of it.
Case: Bitfenix Raider
Setting aside a round $50 for the CD drive and $10 for thermal paste, it comes out to about $1185, bar shipping. I'm not adverse to overclocking and was sort of wondering whether it would be a better idea to go for a water-cooled 2500K or not. Any other suggestions or critiques would be welcomed too.
This is a nice build the only thing is the power supply seems to be overpriced to me there are better one in that price rang.
They both seem pretty good but the 850w is probably more my speed than the 1100.
This may be old news, but don't you waste more power if your PSU provides a lot more electricity than is needed for the system?
Looks good to me, but I wouldn't trust the PSU just because I've never heard of the company before. I would look for something from Seasonic, Corsair, or Silverstone.
And yeah, you would get better performance with an overclocked 2500K. If you can afford to go water cooling then go for it, but the 2500K is going to overclock higher than the 3570K no matter which cooler you use.
It was my understanding that the Aurum PSUs were reliable. But hey, that's 2 votes for Silverstone.
I am leaning towards the 2500K at this point. If I did go for water cooling, what's a good option there? I haven't looked into that much. Corsair's H60 looks alright...
Oh...I thought you were talking about a custom water loop. If you're looking for an all-in-one solution then there really isn't a good option because you can usually buy a better air cooler for less money. The only one that might be worth getting is the Corsair H100, but that's only a couple degrees cooler than the top of the line air coolers out there and it's a lot more expensive.
For the price of an H100, it would be better just to get an XSPC Rasa Kit, because the price is about the same and you would see dramatically better results.
I would also go with the Silverstone PSU. Also if you dont need the extra USB 3.0 header, fan header, and USB 3.0 bracket I would go with the p8z77-v instead of the pro and get perhaps this card if you are planning on playing in higher resolutions, or this card if you want something faster. And using a higher watt PSU might save you a bit of energy because PSU's are at their most effecient when at around 50% load. As for the cooling the hyper 212 evo is really good and might be good enough depending on how far you want to go with overclocking. I would go with the Water 2.0 Performer because it has dual fans but if you want the most out of water cooling an h100 might be better.If you have Amazon Prime you can save $5 on the h100 and on shipping as well. Closed loop systems are only really good for keeping your system a bit quieter and neater since they don't take up as much space and you only get a real advantage over air cooling if you go with a dual radiator like the h100.
This would be the best water cooling solution you could go with unless you're willing to spend more:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11743/ex-wat-159/XSPC_Rasa_750_RS240_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_-HOT.html
I think I'll forego the water cooling for now then. Too much added cost for the difference. Looking at the motherboard again getting the non-pro version and getting a better GPU seems like a good idea.
I would get a 650W bronze psu and put that money towards your gpu.
This is a cheaper option and it's modular as well. Seasonic has a 5 year warranty.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095
Are you getting an air cooler?
This is really good stuff guys. Has even given me some point in the right direction on that water cooling kit. Probably check that out in a year or so, I literally just bought an H100 about 3 days ago to replace my H80 (summer's a bitch).
The hhd may have to change, read the reviews on newegg.
Yep. the 212 from the initial post.
I think I forgot to account for a part for the original post. :P Don't know what it was, but it's in the cart now. So after switching to an i5-2500K and the non-pro motherboard, replacing the PSU with the $110 750w SilencerMk2, and sticking a $52 optical in there I'm at $1280.
So at this point I have two questions: Would adding a sound card (I'm thinking $20-$40) be worth it, and is there a significantly better GPU at or slightly above the price of the one I have picked out ($170)?
Also you guys are great and I appreciate your responses. Just putting that out there.