New Rig for Upcoming Games: Opinions, Advice, Feedback

Hi guys,

My friend's asked me to build a PC for him in preparation for the launch of D3. I've already picked out the components for him but I just wanted to run it by you guys and see what you guys think.

Motherboard: Asus Maximus V Gene
CPU: Ivy Bridge 3770K
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS 10X Quiet
RAM: G-Skill Rip Jaw X 2133MHz C9 (4g x 2)
GPU: MSI GTX680 Twin Fozr
PSU: Corsair AX850
SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB
Case: Thermaltake lvl10 GT Snow Edition
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

Question on the PSU: What's the difference between all the SKUs that Corsair offers? AX/HX/TX? I just picked AX because I wanted to include the individually sleeved modular cables that you can get into my friend's rig for aesthetics and tidiness. To be honest... I don't know much about PSUs other than looking for fully modular cables (preferably individually sleeved) and the wattage. For my other rig, people recommended the Seasonic x-1250 over the Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold because they said it's more stable and has a longer warranty. I'm just taking theirs advice at face value.

When I picked these parts, I had the following in mind.
1. Within budget (About US$2400)
2. Using Thermaltake lvl10 GT Snow Edition
3. Quiet
4. Option to overclock CPU & GPU
5. Option to SLI in future upgrade
6. 8gb RAM with option to double to 16gb for future upgrade
7. 128gb SSD for OS and use of Steam Mover
8. Low maintenance

Thoughts, opinions, feedback, critiques?

This is our link for the PSU buyers guide, it has some simple information and might answer some of your questions. http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=458204

As for the setup, that computer will knock the socks off of D3
Also, I dunno if you perfer OCZ SSD, but Intel and Crucial are considered the best right now.

Thanks for the link. Ya... Should've read that before asking. Got lazy when it come to researching the PSU lol.

Well I'm hoping D3 isn't the only thing it smokes . He's also concerned with how the PC would perform with more graphic intensive games like BF3, Crysis 2 and Skyrim.

I thought Samsung 830 was king of SSDs right now.

Anyways, Intel for it's reliability and Crucial for its best bang for the buck right?

I actually did consider those. The thing about the Intel 520s though, is that it wouldn't fit into his budget.

And the decision to choose the Vertex 4 over the M4 was because of OCZ's 5 years warranty over Crucial's 3 years for an extra US$30.

Mondrayish said:

Thanks for the link. Ya... Should've read that before asking. Got lazy when it come to researching the PSU lol.

Well I'm hoping D3 isn't the only thing it smokes . He's also concerned with how the PC would perform with more graphic intensive games like BF3, Crysis 2 and Skyrim.

I thought Samsung 830 was king of SSDs right now.

Anyways, Intel for it's reliability and Crucial for its best bang for the buck right?

I actually did consider those. The thing about the Intel 520s though, is that it wouldn't fit into his budget.

And the decision to choose the Vertex 4 over the M4 was because of OCZ's 5 years warranty over Crucial's 3 years for an extra US$30.

Click to expand...

Yea, that's accurate. The Intel's are overpriced, but I like the M4's so much I don't care about the warranty difference.

My friends' GTX 560 runs Skyrim at a solid 40-50~ FPS on Ultra settings. My 4890 runs DIII at a solid 60 FPS way easy (fan doesn't bump much). Just for reference points.

At what resolution was that?

I play at 1360x1024. I think he plays at similar. Sorry I forgot to say xD.

ditch the OCZ, I have one, has issues, get crucial M4 128gb

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=3077 you could go with that cooler in stead of yours also the mobo if you don't need it its going to be a waste of money unless your going to go frosty i would recommend you going with a asrock or a gigabyte some thing like these boards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157295
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128545
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131820

Also with the money that you save with the mobo you can go with a larger/better ssd a crucial m4 or a intel ssd as stated above is what you should shoot for.

Also the ram is going to be expensive. Ram speeds don't matter anymore (unless you are doing bench marking). Some thing like these will do you good.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...deValue=523:23986&PropertyCodeValue=524:29371