Gaming/School First Build, $1500 Budget

[mdifaz]

Hi Guys,

I'm in the process of finalizing the components in my first build for a gaming/school PC. I would really appreciate the once-over by a few sets of experienced eyes. I'm on a max budget of $1500.

Case:
Thermaltake Chaser MK-I (VN300M1W2N) Black SECC ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133191

CPU:
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

CPU Cooler:
ZALMAN CNPS9500A-LED 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223

Video Card:
GIGABYTE GV-N670WF2-2GD GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125438

RAM:
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

MoBo:
MSI Z77A-GD65 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130643

Power Supply:
CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

Optical Drive:
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

HDD:
Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=22-136-533

SSD:
ADATA S510 Series AS510S3-120GM-O 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211588

My questions:

1) Will I bottleneck anywhere?

2) Are any of my parts overkill? Could I save a few bucks w/o decreasing performance?

3) Anywhere I could jack up the specs w/o breaking the bank?

4) I checked the compatibilities, but a double check would be great. Especially with making sure all the case features match up with ports on the MB.

5) Aware if any of these parts ship defective frequently?

5) General tips? Anything to keep in mind during the build?

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it!

-mdifaz

 

[atclaeys]

A few questions that are typically preferred to have answered are below, if you could take the time to answer them all it will help us really be able to respond better:

• What are you planning to do with this compuer? Please be as specfic as possible.
• What is your budget?
• Does this include a copy of Windows?
• Does this include peripherals (a keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers, etc.)?
• Are you from the United States or a different country? Are you ordering from your own country or from across borders?
• Wherever you may be from, does the store that you are planning to order from have a website? It's okay if it isn't in English, we can manage.
• If you are from the United States, do you live nearby a Microcenter?
• Do you have any specific requests with the build?
• Do you plan on overclocking? If yes, do you have a specific goal in mind?
• Would you prefer the build to be particularly small?
• Would you prefer the build to be particularly quiet?
• In general, do you prefer this to be a computer that you can spend money on now and let it rest, or a box built for continuous upgrading?
• Do you ever plan on utilizing NVIDIA's SLI or AMD's CrossfireX technologies? These features, with a compatible motherboard, allow a user to link multiple identical graphic cards together for added performance. In real world terms, this lets you buy a second identical graphics card down the line as a relatively cheap and easy way to gain a fairly large boost in performance. However, this requires buying a SLI/CFX compatible motherboard and PSU now, which may result in slightly higher initial cost.

For $1500 you can build a heck of a computer, the more information we have the better as you also end up with a lot of options. My first thought is that I think that is a very old CPU cooler, I think that one was around on my last build several years ago (maybe even before that) or at least a very similar one.

 

[mdifaz]

The most demanding thing I plan to use the PC for is gaming. I want it to be capable of running at least 60 fps on max or close to max settings for games that are recent. I'd like it to remain viable for a few years as a gaming machine, without the expectation of max settings.

Budget = $1500 max, but 1300-1400 would be ideal.

I'll be running Windows 7 - already have my install disk.

Peripherals are outside of budget.

I'm from the US and will be ordering from here.

I do have a Microcenter near me. Well, relatively near.

Specific requests - This is a learning experience for me as much as an opportunity to put together a gaming machine. I'd really appreciate explanations for why you may recommend certain changes, and where I went wrong, as I have put a lot of thought into the parts I selected.

I'd like the option of overclocking in the future should I want to push for some extra performance - hence my selection of the "K" model i5. I don't plan on overclocking right away, though.

Small and quiet are of no concern to me. That said, I would prefer not to have a jet engine in my room.

SLI compatibility is something I would consider provided it doesn't add significantly to the cost.

 

[snowbrd]

With 1500, you can fit a 680 or a 7970 into that budget.
Although, would you get tax if you were to order off of newegg?

 

[atclaeys]

If you don't mind the drive to a Microcenter, you can get a good deal on a processor there.

$169.99 for the i5-3570K

Can also swap to the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 mobo for another $50 off, very solid board for OC as well. I did note however your mobo and RAM were nice and color coordinated, if you were going for that, power to you it's all about what you want!

If you're looking at primarily gaming, you may want to consider upgrading to a slightly more powerful GPU. Do you prefer nvidia to AMD, or open to either one? You could upgrade with the savings above to a 680 for example, or grab a 7970 for about the same cost with 3GB VRAM - both would give that little extra boost in gaming performance. With any gaming PC the GPU is going to be your biggest concern currently, and the 7970's are a great price relative to a 670/680 this gen.

I kept your parts excepting the two notes above (and I think the RAM may be a letter off, but for costing purposes it's the same thing basically): http://pcpartpicker.com/p/shwq

Two biggest things I would wait for more feedback on from more experienced builders than myself: The SSD and the cooler. You can see even here, your build will be about $1150 with those changes (and getting the i5 from microcenter for $45 off, up to you to look at gas and driving and if it's worth it still). You could probably get away with a bigger SSD (or I would look at a 256GB one with that much money left). The board here will also recommend overclocking too of course, so something like a CM212 I believe is a popular one as well. Though if you like the LED on the Zalman, it'll be fine for stock temps. Same goes with your mobo if you liked matching colors and everything.

Edit: Welcome to OCF as well

Edit2: Make sure you get a thermal paste too, with your first build it can be easy to overlook!

 

[mdifaz]

If you don't mind the drive to a Microcenter, you can get a good deal on a processor there.

$169.99 for the i5-3570K

Great spot! I'll definitely drive over there.

No tax on newegg.

I was going for color coordinated, but its not a be-all end-all for me. I'll definitely take a look at the Extreme4.

In terms of GPUs, I'm sort of partial to nVidia, actually. I'd had nVidia cards my whole life until my current PC and I'm not totally happy with the AMD's performance right now. Probably my fault for going with a weaker model, but, hey... Plus, (and I know this is a terrible reason to pick components) I want the free games nVidia cards ship with.

Already switched out my cooler for the CM 212. I've heard the same thing from everyone. And I convinced myself the extra LED and copper coil was pretty gaudy on the Zalman.

 

[mdifaz]

Edit2: Make sure you get a thermal paste too, with your first build it can be easy to overlook!

Is the paste included with the cooler no good? Something like Arctic Silver instead?

Also, considering dropping in a Seagate HDD for some savings provided its just as reliable.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697

 

[Mandrake4565]

Already switched out my cooler for the CM 212. I've heard the same thing from everyone. And I convinced myself the extra LED and copper coil was pretty gaudy on the Zalman.

The Zalman is a really old cooler, you'll be much better served buy the CM 212. In addition you may want to go with some G Skill Ripjaw X memory. They sit a little lower then the corsairs and you should have no problems fitting the fan on the CM 212 over them.

 

[mdifaz]

Good to know. Ripjaw X it is!

 

[Culbrelai]

All good choices, Corsair is a very reputable PSU brand, (and RAM brand, and closed-loop Water cooling brand...)

GTX 670 is the butter zone between not enough power at 1080p and ridiculously too much (680 and 690)

Except for the cooler, yeah, Hyper 212 + or EVO (I still don't know the difference, I have two EVOs) and with a 2nd fan it should really let you overclock or keep temps low.

 

[atclaeys]

Great spot! I'll definitely drive over there.
In terms of GPUs, I'm sort of partial to nVidia, actually. I'd had nVidia cards my whole life until my current PC and I'm not totally happy with the AMD's performance right now. Probably my fault for going with a weaker model, but, hey... Plus, (and I know this is a terrible reason to pick components) I want the free games nVidia cards ship with.

Well to be honest, it's not the most terrible way I've ever heard! You can look at it as saying that's $100 I will spend on those games if I get the AMD GPU that has games I would not buy, so if you grab the 680 with comparable performance and the net cost is the same? Not too bad. I would try to take some of that money and go for the 680 if with your budget for gaming at 1080, but that's just me personally. I know my brother runs a 680 in his and loves it. Getting a 680 would be a boost to your rig for gaming - and though the cost is somewhat prohibitive, it should still fit into your budget. Might want to get everything else, see where you stand on your budget and make the call on whether you want to use up the entire budget for the 680 to really tear through games, or go with the 670 and save a bit of cash.

I am not sure which paste comes with the CM, but if you want to overclock why not grab a higher end paste? Your budget has plenty of room is the main reason, but it's only going to be a 1-2C, so it's not a big deal eitiher way really unless you are really trying to push the CPU or are just paranoid about absolute best temps.

Seagate vs WD - Someone will correct me if I'm mistaken, but I believe the WD Black has slightly better performance, and WD normally comes with a 5 year warranty as opposed to Seagate's 2 year. In general I would recommend the WD over the Seagate, but I have used both in the past. That being said, I actually have had my Seagates fail first, but I backup and it was never a major issue, and I usually was able to upgrade to a bigger drive with the failure for a decent price

 

[fornoob]

If you're looking at primarily gaming, you may want to consider upgrading to a slightly more powerful GPU.

No need to go for a more powerful GPU, the GTX 670 will run every game at max settings without any kind of problem. GTX680 is definitely overkill (and the difference in performance with a 670 is really thin...). Better not to spent more money here

I guess what you wanted to say was more like "the HD 7970 is more powerful and at the same price than a GTX670" which is true
But if Nvidia is preferred, stay with a GTX670!

A CM Hyper 212+ is great. The Thermalright HR02 macho is a little more expansive but remains a reference in air cooling.

Basically, RAM is RAM... You can go corsair or gskill or patriot or whatsoever, doesn't really matter

Yes, it is better to go with an other thermal paste than the default one (although the CM one is not the worst I've seen!). Artic cooling is great, MX 4 too.

The main difference between seagate and WD is the warranty: you won't feel any difference in performance (if there is any). You can go for whatever you want (7200 rpm and SATA 3 at least ^^')

EDIT:

For the PSU, I would pay 10$ more and grab a Seasonic X650 or even the platinum version. They are definitely the best units on the market

Seasonic X 650

For the GPU, I would rather go for an ASUS Top model or the reference design and change the cooler myself. But the gigabyte is already fine! (Just a personnal choice ).

 

[atclaeys]

There you go - my original thought was go to a 7970, but if you prefer nVidia just go with 670. I'm not as up to date with nVidia because price/performance doesn't quite keep up at the moment (quick check online for Crysis 2 I'm seeing only ~5fps difference at 1080, both running over 60fps however, so there you go. 680 is just if you're feeling like you need to spend all the budget for some reason.) Hopefully we've answered most of your questions here, best of luck with the build!

 

[Knufire]

Brand loyalty/bias is never a good thing.

Which Microcenter do you live nearby? They all carry slightly different parts.

 

[mdifaz]

Brand loyalty/bias is never a good thing.

Which Microcenter do you live nearby? They all carry slightly different parts.

The westbury, NY one.

 

[mdifaz]

Based on recommendations here and elsewhere, this is the updated build:

Case:
Thermaltake Chaser MK-I (VN300M1W2N) Black SECC ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811133191

CPU:
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
http://www.microcenter.com/product [...] _Processor

CPU Cooler:
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+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103099

Video Card:
MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127685

RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231445

MoBo:
MSI Z77A-GD65 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130643

Power Supply:
SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold ((SS-650KM Active PFC F3)) 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 755d0312a1

Optical Drive:
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135204

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148697

SSD:
ADATA S510 Series AS510S3-120GM-O 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820211588

Thermal Paste:
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100007

 

[Mandrake4565]

mdifaz
If you want to save a little money, go with this motherboard and it comes with 8 gig or ddr3 1600 ram.

 

[Conumdrum]

Is the paste included with the cooler no good? Something like Arctic Silver instead?

AS5 is pretty outdated by newer pastes (up to 5C). Still works but there are better choices. Look around. MX-4 sems to be an all around good performer, but it also can be beat by 1-2 C by other pastes.

 

[m715]

AS5 is pretty outdated by newer pastes (up to 5C). Still works but there are better choices. Look around. MX-4 sems to be an all around good performer, but it also can be beat by 1-2 C by other pastes.

The MX-4 is on sale with newegg right now...$14.99 with a $14.99 rebate & free shipping making it FREE
ARCTIC MX4 Thermal Paste - 4gram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186038

Hyper 212+ or EVO are both good coolers, the 212+ you can find frequently on sale for $15.

 

[mdifaz]

mdifaz
If you want to save a little money, go with this motherboard and it comes with 8 gig or ddr3 1600 ram.

Loving this! Will switch out mobo, possibly get a second 8 gig RAM package with the savings.

Also switched out the paste for MX-4 and the Cooler for the 212+