Building a new Gaming rig, decent size budget

[dricen]

Hey guys, I'm building a gaming rig with a budget of about $1500. This will be the 2nd PC I build, and I plan on overclocking it to the best of my and its abilities. Here is what I have so far. I'm undecided if I want to get the 2500K or the 2600K, and maybe a better graphics card. Let me know what you guys think!
[Part list permalink](http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/ar/ocp) / [Part price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/ar/ocp/by_merchant)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80623i52500k) | $219.99 @ Newegg
**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair CAFA70 61.0 CFM CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-cpu-cooler-cafa70) | $31.24 @ Newegg
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz68ad3hb3) | $128.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** | [Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-khx1600c9d3k28gx) | $64.99 @ Newegg
**Hard Drive** | [Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd5002aalx) | $59.99 @ Newegg
**Hard Drive** | [Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ctfddac128mag1g1) | $228.94 @ Mac Connection
**Video Card** | [Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn560so1gi950) | $259.99 @ Amazon
**Case** | [Antec P183 V3 ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-case-p183v3) | $139.99 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu750txv2) | $94.99 @ Newegg
|| **Total**
| (Prices include shipping and discounts when available.) | $1229.11

 

[CharMz]

looks good, you have the budget to upgrade to the 2600k and a 570 GPU, why not

also...i never knew about this pcpartpicker...looks pretty nice

 

[Mikester70]

Everything looks pretty good.

+1 for 570 gpu

Also I would move up to the Corsair HX series of power supplies, the HX series is semi modular.

 

[CharMz]

yeah the corsair 750 HX will run you $25 more, but its semi modular and 80+ silver, if that means anything to you

if not the TX is fine

 

[Theocnoob]

As someone with a TX and HX, I wouldn't buy HX again. Fully modular or non modular. Partially modular looks messy on the outs for the unit as they are not all the same looking. Also, you don't really get a much cleaner system. You can always tuck extra cables away anyways. The big + is a better 80+ certification. Might help your power bill a little.

 

[dricen]

looks good, you have the budget to upgrade to the 2600k and a 570 GPU, why not

also...i never knew about this pcpartpicker...looks pretty nice

Ya I was thinking about upgrading to the 2600K and I think I will. The reason I didn't go with the 570 is because all the specs I seen on the 560TI was better than the 570. And I run 2 monitors so I thought the extra VRAM would be nice. I don't game on dual monitor, just one though.

 

[Theocnoob]

^
How do you figure?

550 550Ti/560 560Ti 570 580 590

570 is definitely better than 560. There are 2GB 560s available vs the 1280 on a 570 but more VRAM does not a better GPU make.

For example, the 768MB 460 > 1024MB 460SE

3 years ago 512MB 8800GTS > 640MB 8800GTS.

High levels of VRAM only come into play if you want to run insane resolution/multimonitor setups, or you want to fill up VRAM with 64 passes of AA/AF. Otherwise you should choose the more powerful GPU.

The only wall I've come up against with my 1500MB card is in Rise of Flight (flight sim) I can run 16/16 AA AF but not 32/32 because the world is huge and with all the extra passes it overruns the video card memory. I can't tell I'm running AA/AF past about 8X personally so I don't care. I think you'd need a top-tier screen to notice.

 

[dricen]

^
How do you figure?
550 550Ti/560 560Ti 570 580 590
570 is definitely better than 560. There are 2GB 560s available vs the 1280 on a 570 but more VRAM does not a better GPU make.
For example, the 768MB 460 > 1024MB 460SE
3 years ago 512MB 8800GTS > 640MB 8800GTS.
High levels of VRAM only come into play if you want to run insane resolution/multimonitor setups, or you want to fill up VRAM with 64 passes of AA/AF. Otherwise you should choose the more powerful GPU.
The only wall I've come up against with my 1500MB card is in Rise of Flight (flight sim) I can run 16/16 AA AF but not 32/32 because the world is huge and with all the extra passes it overruns the video card memory. I can't tell I'm running AA/AF past about 8X personally so I don't care. I think you'd need a top-tier screen to notice.

I compared the specs straight up with a 560TI and a 570 on newegg on various cards. The 560TI has every thing better except processor cores. So I don't understand how the 570 is that much better. If you can explain to me why it is better, I would be more than happy to buy them. I just want the best I can get for the right price =)

 

[fall]

1: Newegg reviews suck do not listen to them...

2: Google "GTX 560ti review" and look at a few they should all show where the 570 stands in games and where the 560 is and i have yet to see one review that shows the 560 beating the 570...

But in the end its your decision. Good Luck

 

[dricen]

Alright Guys, I took everyone's advice into consideration and ordered my PC! Here is everything I got!

[Part list permalink](http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/ar/p5H) / [Part price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/ar/p5H/by_merchant)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80623i72600k) | $314.99 @ Newegg
**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair CAFA70 61.0 CFM CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-cpu-cooler-cafa70) | $31.24 @ Newegg
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz68ad3hb3) | $128.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** | [Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-khx1600c9d3k28gx) | $64.99 @ Newegg
**Hard Drive** | [Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd5002aalx) | $59.99 @ Newegg
**Hard Drive** | [Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ctfddac128mag1g1) | $228.94 @ Mac Connection
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1.25GB Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-012p31573ar) | $322.55 @ Newegg
**Case** | [Antec P183 V3 ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-case-p183v3) | $139.99 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu750txv2) | $94.99 @ Newegg
|| **Total**
| (Prices include shipping and discounts when available.) | $1386.67

 

[Knufire]

The writes on that SSD suck...I would have gone with an Agility or Vertex 3.