~$1.5k USD Gaming Build

[Conumdrum]

EVO is proven to be very popular. But your choice should be fine, no biggie. You need better, upgrade later. You ain't gonna break it with your choice.

 

[Culbrelai]

You got a WD Black? I would go with Seagate if I had to build my system again, you can audibly hear the WD Blacks (at least the new ones) when they're writing. I can even hear mine over 12 case fans, one of which runs at ~3000+RPM all of the time...

But if its too late, its not that big of a deal.

 

[Bustos]

I thought I had made it a public list. It says it's shared. Just made a list with links.

Case

MoBo

GPU

PSU

CPU

Monitor

RAM

HDD

Keyboard

Mouse

OS

CPU Cooler

Haven't bought anything yet. Will be buying the parts within 12 hours or so. Currently at work.

 

[Knufire]

RAM, HDD, and Keyboard all link to a 3570K...

PSU also links to the GPU.

 

[Bustos]

Links should work properly now.

 

[Knufire]

Blue switches are very loud for the keyboard. Putting together an updated recommendation.

 

[Knufire]

Get this combo for the CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1174554
Definitely get the Hyper212 Evo over the AC7.
For the case, you can go to this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147163). Same case, one less fan, no LEDs. Or this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352023), a very high quality case built for silence.
Also consider these three for the PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82-084^17-182-084-TS,17-182-264^17-182-264-TS)

 

[Bustos]

Okay, made some additional changes and set in final build. One last question, is it worth the few bucks for an anti static wrist strap? Does anyone really use this? Looks more like a gimmick, like a tongue scraper when just brushing over your tongue with your toothbrush does the same job.

 

[wingman99]

I don't use them and I work at a PC shop. Just touch the case first after walking across the carpet.

 

[Bustos]

That's what I figured.

 

[Bustos]

Order Summary

------- Order 1 -------
Sales Order Number: 149473457
Sales Order Date: 1/16/2013 2:48:00 PM
Shipping Method: Newegg 3Day

1 x ($389.99) SAPPHIRE 100351SR Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card OC with Boost
$389.99

1 x ($229.99) Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
$229.99

1 x ($189.99) ASUS VS Series VS247H-P Black 23.6" 2ms LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 50000000:1 (ASCR)
$189.99

1 x ($134.99) ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$134.99

1 x ($119.99) Rosewill FORTRESS Series FORTRESS-750 750W Continuous@50°C,80 PLUS Platinum Certified,Single +12V Rail,ATX12V v2.31/EPS12V v2.92,SLI Ready,CrossFire Ready,Active- PFC Power Supply
$119.99

1 x ($99.99) Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit (Full Version) - OEM
$99.99

1 x ($84.99) Rosewill Mechanical Keyboard RK-9000BRI with Cherry MX Brown Switch
$84.99

1 x ($80.99) G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL
$80.99

1 x ($79.99) Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - OEM
$79.99

1 x ($49.99) Logitech G400 Black 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical 3600 dpi Gaming Mouse
$49.99

1 x ($34.99) COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+
$34.99

1 x ($0.00) Newegg Promotional Gift Card(The total amount of Gift Cards: $10.00)

1 x ($-14.00) DISCOUNT FOR COMBO #1174554
$-14.00

1 x ($-67.00) DISCOUNT FOR PROMOTION CODE
$-67.00

Subtotal: $1414.89
Tax: $0.00
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Total Amount: $1414.89



------- Order 2 -------
Sales Order Number: 149473477
Sales Order Date: 1/16/2013 2:48:00 PM
Shipping Method: Super Eggsaver (4-7 Days)

1 x ($49.99) Rosewill LINE ATX Mid Tower Computer Case,one USB 3.0,come with Three Fans,Support up to 7 Fans
$49.99

Subtotal: $49.99
Tax: $0.00
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Total Amount: $49.99


Total = $1464.88 USD Free Shipping on all items and under budget. Plus the MIRs and Promo Gift Card. YAY!

Many thanks to all who contributed their thoughts, especially Knufire.

 

[Bustos]

Update:

So the case arrived before the parts. Supposedly, the case was expected to arrive last according to supersaver newegg shipping taking at least 4-7 days. And everything else within 3 days. However, it along with my monitor were shipped from NJ and that's a lot closer than TN. They both arrived at my work today, while the rest of the parts are still sitting in Buffalo, NY. An hour drive from Rochester, NY (where I live), for those of you who are not familiar with the northwestern NY area.

So I am expecting to get the remainder of my parts on Wednesday since they'll have to ship from B-lo to Roch on Tuesday, then deliver on Wednesday. Today being MLK Jr day, I guess cross city shipping isn't happening today as the parts have been sitting in B-lo since Saturday.

 

[Bustos]

CHECK MY SIG!!

Many thanks!!

I ended up buying an optical drive. I tried a couple ISO makers for the Win8 CD but all created corrupt or incomplete ISOs, getting the installer asking for a media driver from my USB stick, after using YUMI. Tried to trouble shoot it for a night and then gave up.

But alas, as I am DLing a few programs and installing them, I speak before all on my new rig, HQ.

Again, many many thanks!!!

 

[Bustos]

Just wanted to say Thanks again for all the advice and help. Tested out a Delta fan (lulz, sent that back), added a 2nd monitor, and the upgrades from win 8 to Win 10 since this original build.

3+ years later, HQ still kicks *** and handles every game I've bought at max settings. I've tried quite a few times to break 8GB RAM usage and the closest so far was 7.4GB out of my 16GB.

The only issues I've had were the original mouse failing, the 'I" key not working properly, and and a couple of fans that stopped spinning (admittedly, I don't dust out my case as often as I should). So of course, I came here and read a few threads on these issues and problems were solved. The mouse was on Logitech's part, RMA'd and got a better mouse. The 'I' key just needed to be popped and cleaned out. The case fans just needed to be cleaned and re-oiled.

I don't post much but I am always lurking.

Thanks Overclockers!

 

[trents]

Take it from me

SSD's = waste of money WASTE I sold my samsungs ssd's not even using them for a full year. i went with a raptor 600gb. the difference? non, boot times are the same in windows 8. if not faster.

I recently put a 240gb Adata SSD in a client's computer, an older socket 775 machine. The storage bus did not have true SATA so had to use "IDE emulation" mode. The SSD was severely bottlenecked by that ide mode and was only slightly faster than the spinner it replaced. A raptor would have probably given about the same level of performance. But other than that scenario, any SSD should be way faster than any spinner.

 

[wingman99]

This is a old thread SSD's do work well especially when you are loading the OS.

I did it with a stopwatch and each test I did 4 times.

All test were from system bootup.

HDD Raptor AHCI
PC startup push button 50 seconds to active.

crysis 3 startup 1:07 minute.

crysis 3 loading multiplayer map 41 seconds.

BF3 loading origin and web browser 44 seconds.

BF3 loading multiplayer map 1:40 minute.

Battlefield: Bad Company loading multiplayer map 19 seconds.

Samsung 840 EVO SSD AHCI
PC startup push button 30 seconds to active.

crysis 3 startup 46 seconds.

crysis 3 loading multiplayer map 25 seconds.

BF3 loading origin and web browser 14 seconds.

BF3 loading multiplayer map 37 seconds.

Battlefield: Bad Company loading multiplayer map 16 seconds.

 

[Hardin]

Ivy Bridge works so well so even today, I expect them to last a few more years still.

 

[EarthDog]

I recently put a 240gb Adata SSD in a client's computer, an older socket 775 machine. The storage bus did not have true SATA so had to use "IDE emulation" mode. The SSD was severely bottlenecked by that ide mode and was only slightly faster than the spinner it replaced. A raptor would have probably given about the same level of performance. But other than that scenario, any SSD should be way faster than any spinner.

IDE does put a glass ceiling on SSDs, no doubt, but, it was always WAY faster than a spinner...
http://archive.benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=505&Itemid=38

 

[SPL Tech]

More powerful GPU,

View attachment 121153
View attachment 121154
View attachment 121155

x2. $380 for a GTX 670 is absolutely ridiculous. I would barely pay half that. I just bought a GTX 970 for under $300 including shipping. I would look at getting a GTX 970, it's more powerful and it costs less. Just buy the cheapest GTX 970 on Newegg as the more expensive versions only tend to offer stuff that's mostly pointless like stock OC boosts, more complex fans, ect.

 

[Kenrou]

You got a WD Black? I would go with Seagate if I had to build my system again, you can audibly hear the WD Blacks (at least the new ones) when they're writing. I can even hear mine over 12 case fans, one of which runs at ~3000+RPM all of the time...

I cant hear mine and its ~6 months old ?