Switching from PS3 to PC, first build :)

Hey guys, I have decided that I'm going to move from my PS3 to a gaming computer by Christmas/ the new year, so I've been researching how to build my own desktop to save some cash. I have decided I will spend about 1000 euro on it (1400 dollars-ish), so this is what I've got my mind on so far.

CPU: Intel i5 2500k (not sure how to overclock yet, but I will try it!)
Motherboard: Asus P8P67
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8gb DDR3 1600Mhz
GPU: GTX 570 (Not sure what brand or type yet, but I want to upgrade to Sli eventually.)
PSU: 750/850watt (Depending on which will be cheaper and which one will support my Sli down the road)
Optical Drive: Sony 24x Dvd Rewriter
Harddrive: 1TB 7200rpm (possibly a 60gb SDD for the OS if funds allow it )

Now that is what I have decided so far, but of course I still need a case and a cooling system. If you can spare the time, let me know if this build will work and what additions would be good (like the case and cooler). I definitely will add another Gtx 570 eventually, so I will need a case that can support that!

Thanks,

Dan.

EDIT*

This is my revised build after looking more into it.

-Motherboard: Asus P8P67 Pro
-CPU: Intel i5 2500k/i7 2600k (Not sure if i7 is worth the extra cash)
-CPU Cooler: Hyper 212
-GPU: EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked
-Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8gb DDR3 1600Mhz
-Optical: DVD/CD
-Storage: 1 TB 7200rpm Black Caviar HDD
-PSU: Corsair 750/850w
-Case: CM Storm Enforcer

Any feedback?

Ninjavampire said:

CPU: Intel i5 2500k (You wont be disappointed)

Motherboard: Asus P8P67 (Good for your current needs)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8gb DDR3 1600Mhz (Perfect!)

GPU: GTX 570 (EVGA is a great brand, have a lifetime warranty. ASUS is not bad either)

PSU: 750/850watt (Corsair is a great brand)

Optical Drive: Sony 24x Dvd Rewriter (thats fine)

Harddrive: 1TB 7200rpm (Thats good WesternDigital and Seagate are brands i prefer)

Dan.

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I do not have much experience in air cooling... I pretty much jumped in to water cooling On the first build.

Good luck!

For ~30 dollars, you can get a coolermaster hyper 212+ and a second 120 mm fan. All the reviews I've read have shown very good results from the cooler, even if you decide to run it stock with only a single fan.

As far as cases go, both the Antec 900 and Cooler Master Centurion 5 are mid sized atx cases at around 110 dollars, and have very good reviews on newegg / feature see through side panels.

Antec 300 has monster cooling for the money, and basically has no other features. CM 690 II is a good case for less then $100.

For the HDD, Samsung Spinpoint F3 seems to be the best price/performance.

Thanks for the replies so far

What really confuses me about the cases is Sli/Crossfire. Can any case support them and if not, what do you need to look out for? And is cooling for the CPU the only other cooling needed besides the standard case fans?

This build will be a no go by Xmas as better SB-E 1155, 2011 as well as BD on AM3+ will be available. Good practice though. Good parts.

Parts look good, but there will be some new stuff out by then to consider.

I'd go with a SeaSonic or Corsair PSU. EVGA has the best warranty, but it's non-transferrable. So if you want to sell your GPU, the buyer won't have a warranty unless you help him with it.

Theocnoob said:

This build will be a no go by Xmas as better SB-E 1155, 2011 as well as BD on AM3+ will be available. Good practice though. Good parts.

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Ivy Bridge for 1155 and Bulldozer should be out, but I've heard SB-E LGA2011 was pushed back to 2012.

Theocnoob said:

This build will be a no go by Xmas as better SB-E 1155, 2011 as well as BD on AM3+ will be available. Good practice though. Good parts.

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MattNo5ss said:

Parts look good, but there will be some new stuff out by then to consider.

I'd go with a SeaSonic or Corsair PSU. EVGA has the best warranty, but it's non-transferrable. So if you want to sell your GPU, the buyer won't have a warranty unless you help him with it.



Ivy Bridge for 1155 and Bulldozer should be out, but I've heard SB-E LGA2011 was pushed back to 2012.

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Thanks for the feedback and I definitely agree about the new parts coming out by xmas. One of the biggest problems I've noticed about PC gaming is that you never will have the top of the range stuff, at least not for very long, so I reckon if I get a i5/i7 2nd processor it will do me for a long time and by the time I will buy it, the prices will have dropped considerably due to Bulldozer and Ivy Bridge. Who knows however, if by the time I have enough for a processor, IB might be the most cost effective product, but at the minute I'm not too bothered.

Mainly, I want to buy a case soon because they aren't updated very regularly, and it will be my starting point of building my computer. What really confuses me about the cases is Sli/Crossfire. Can any case support them and if not, what do you need to look out for? And is cooling for the CPU the only other cooling needed besides the standard case fans?

Most mid sized cases will support SLI/Xfire, and certainly the same is for full sized towers, if not even more of them. Sometimes you'll find that hard drive bays in a case will interfere with the very long video cards, which is about the only sli/xfire issue I can think of that is related to case layout. You can avoid this by having a look at the dimensions of parts you intend to use, and looking for potential conflicts.

Cooling is quite simple: cool your cpu, cool your video card, and make sure there is proper airflow in the case. For most people, buying a case with a few in / out fans will take care of the airflow issue. Some buy aftermarket coolers for cpu and video card, and this typically is only necessary when you intend to overclock.

Knufire said:

Antec 300 has monster cooling for the money, and basically has no other features. CM 690 II is a good case for less then $100.

For the HDD, Samsung Spinpoint F3 seems to be the best price/performance.

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you can change the fans to better ones on the antec. just what features are missing? you can get an antec 300 shipped for under 50.

Thanks again for all the replies guys.

It seems though that the motherboard I have chosen doesn't work allow Sli, I would need the Asus P8P67 Pro for that instead. These are the kind of things I am worried about in my build, so if there are other clashes, please let me know

As for the case, I think I'll be going for the CM Storm Enforcer, as from what I've read in reviews, it's under 100, got USB 3.0 and a window

This is my revised build as it stands:

-Motherboard: Asus P8P67 Pro
-CPU: Intel i5 2500k/i7 2600k (Not sure if i7 is worth the extra cash)
-CPU Cooler: Hyper 212
-GPU: GTX 570 Twin Frozr
-Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8gb DDR3 1600Mhz
-Optical: DVD/CD
-Storage: 1 TB 7200rpm HDD
-PSU: Corsair 750/850w
-Case: CM Storm Enforcer

Let me know what you think and thanks

marketpantry said:

you can change the fans to better ones on the antec. just what features are missing? you can get an antec 300 shipped for under 50.

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Missing on what?
There's nothing wrong with the 300. It has no cable management and is made of cheap metal and is flimsy but in terms of being a case that works and has good air flow and is affordable it is very good. I sort of miss mine. Functionally, it was just as good as my 650D, although the 650D is better for cabling and accessibility as it is bigger.

To be clear.

Ivy Bridge is slated for a late Q1 to early Q2 (march/april) 2012 release.

http://www.fudzilla.com/processors/item/22814-ivy-bridge-to-launch-in-march-/-april-2012

Where as LGA 2011 with x79 chipset is slated for Q4 2011 according to this leak



http://www.guru3d.com/news/intel-x79-enthusiast-chipset-specs-leak/

Here's a more recent article about LGA2011 being pushed back to Jan 2012...

http://vr-zone.com/articles/sandy-bridge-e-delayed-until-january-2012/12816.html

I seriously hope it's not the case because I've skipped SB to wait on the high-end platform...

MattNo5ss said:

Here's a more recent article about LGA2011 being pushed back to Jan 2012...

http://vr-zone.com/articles/sandy-bridge-e-delayed-until-january-2012/12816.html

I seriously hope it's not the case because I've skipped SB to wait on the high-end platform...

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Same here. I have my mountain mods build on complete hold waiting on LGA 2011. With the AMD/ATI 7000 series and the Nvidia 600 series looking at a mid 2012 release then it would work out good for me.

MM case is currently sitting with an 1156 I7 860 and 2x 5870 in cf.

Loved the Antec 300 case...as far as cooling the Cpu, get one of the highend coolers like a prolimatech megahalems and never have to worry.

There is no reasons to go with a p67 chipset motherboard anymore. Z68 is going to tqke over and the cost difference is tiny. The z68 has more features. Look into it.

Not exactly. P67 has a higher OC potential due to the omission of dedicated VTT phases on Z68.

Also, for those who do not need SSD caching or the use of the igpu, they can save on their thermal profile (igpu adds about 7 degrees celsius) as well as a few $.

Theocnoob said:

Not exactly. P67 has a higher OC potential due to the omission of dedicated VTT phases on Z68.

Also, for those who do not need SSD caching or the use of the igpu, they can save on their thermal profile (igpu adds about 7 degrees celsius) as well as a few $.

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Well I won't be bothering with SSD cashing and what do mean use of the igpu? Personally I hate the integrated graphics on my laptop because a lot of the time games ignore the Nvidia Optimus and decide I only have an igpu. Can you explain it to me?

Use of the igpu. There's a gpu on die in sandybridge cpus. It's not terrible. Good for regular desktop stuff. Z68 lets you use your video card and the integrated GPU interchangeably, or together, such as to do video transcode on 1 while gaming on the other.