Building first gaming computer! Help needed

[Ballzach]

Building my first custom gaming rig on Ibuypower.com and need some help revising before i actually purchase the computer.

Case- NZXT Phantom Full Tower

Motherboard- Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H -- 1x PCI-E 3.0 x16, 4x USB 3.0

Processor- Intel Core i5-3570K (4x 3.40Ghz/ 6MB L3 Cache)

Cooling- Liquid CPU Cooling System [SOCKET-1155] ARC Dual Silent High Performance Fan Upgrade (Push-Pull Airflow)

Ram-16GB[4 GB X4] DDR3-1600 Corsair or Major Brand

Video Card-AMD Radeon HD 7770-1GB

Power Supply- 650 Watt- Casegears ECO-Element/ 80+

Hard Drive- 1 TB Hard Drive -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s

Fan Control- AeroCool Touch 1000 Touch Screen Fan Controller and Temp display

Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound

Professional wiring for all cables
Power Package(Individually Sleeved 24-pin ATX, 8-pin CPU, and SATA Drive Power Cabling)

Any suggestions would be great whether it be cheaper performance parts or to not get certain un-needed upgrades

 

[Knufire]

Why don't you build it yourself? You're probably paying several hundred more for that machine than it's worth.
------------------------------------------
Hey, welcome to OCF!

When trying to recommend a build to you, there's some information that's extremely helpful for us to know. If you could answer these few short questions, we'd be happy to help!

• What are you planning to do with this compuer? Please be as specfic as possible.

• What is your budget?
  
  1. Does this include a copy of Windows?
  2. Does this include peripheals (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?
  
  1. 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.

• Do you have any specific requests with the build?
  
  1. Do you plan on overclocking? If yes, do you have a specific goal in mind?
  2. Would you prefer the build to be particularly small?
  3. Would you prefer the build to be particularly quiet?
  4. 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?
  5. 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

• (OPTIONAL) Have you already looked at or considered any parts (it's okay if you haven't)? If so, please list your top 1-2 choices for each category. If you've only picked out a few of the below, just list those.
  
  • CPU
  • Motherboard
  • RAM
  • Graphics Card
  • Power Supply
  • Case
  • Hard Drive
  • Solid State Drive (optional)
  • Mouse (if necessary)
  • Keyboard (if necessary)
  • Monitor (if necessary)
  • Speakers/Headset (if necessary)

Once again, thank you in advannce for taking the time to answer these, and I hope you enjoy your stay at OCF!

 

[bigben6]

tough to say without links wether we can save you money... also, WHAT games, what other programs do you intend to use, what will you be doing with this rig, whats its intended purpose outside of gaming

First thoughts....

Get 8GB ram max
7770 is a meh gaming card
specifics on HDD
What liquid cooling for cpu and why liquid?
PSU should be a legit brand, get a corsair
Do you really need a fan controller, get a better case with built in controls like my antec 902

 

[Ballzach]

I don't know much about building computers, was hoping to buy this one and build my next.

 

[Knufire]

It's relatively simple, there's tons of guides on YouTube and a stickied guide in this forum. You'll end up saving yourself a lot of money if you do it that way. Not to mention that if it ever breaks, you can fix it yourself only for the cost of parts, no more.

 

[Ballzach]

Looking to run Starcraft 2, Diablo 3 and Max Payne 3 without much difficulty. The total for the PC is $1170. I cant link the built computer, i can only link the base that it started as and then whoever is looking at it would have to build the computer like i had posted, thats why i didnt put links.

 

[Knufire]

Wow. That's like a $900 dollar machine, not almost $1200.

Let me put something together in the $1200 range, can be less if you prefer though.

 

[Ballzach]

I'm not interested in building from scratch... had a few buddies who ordered from this website and have had success. Just am interested in any ways to decrease price for the same performance or any changes i should make to parts in order to increase performance cheaply.

 

[bigben6]

I'm not interested in building from scratch...

Then your on the wrong forum my friend, thats like going on a car forum and asking what accessory package would be good on your leased suzuki sx4..... your we dont do store bough low end systems typically... your on a performance computer forum, your gonna get high end performance based advice...

 

[Knufire]

I'll vouch that iBuyPower's a good place to buy from. But yeah, pretty much everyone here is going to tell you to build your own, as we see anything else as a waste of money, since you can get better for the same price.

Drop to 8GB of RAM, get a better video card.

For that much from scratch, you can get a better motherboard, a better video card, and a solid state drive for the same amount of money.

$1200 even, it'll play any modern game at high at 1080P.

 

[Ballzach]

Was unaware of that ^^^ sorry to bother you guys. Really appreciate the help though.

 

[MongGrel]

Learning to build your own is a good thing but good luck there, it sounds like they are at least a reputable company.

 

[silveryhat]

This $800 / $900 Pure Gaming PC Build might be a better configuration if that is your price range. In my opinion the Phantom case, Liquidcooling and Fan Controller from the first post are not meant to be for a gaming system.
The Phantom case does not provide good ventilation like other mesh-design gaming chassis. It could be the reason they put Liquid cooling for the CPU, but if you are not going to overclock the 3570K then it is not necessary to. The case will be the heat trap for the single fan HD 7770, therefore there will be performance drop during high load.
The fan controller is another expensive insignificant add-on. The Phantom case itself already has fan controller. I don't think a gamer will pay attention to adjusting the fan speed during an intense gaming session xD it might be cool at first but it gets bored very quickly.

 

[Knufire]

The Phantom has plenty of ventilation... case airflow is made to be a much bigger factor than it really is. One or two intakes and one or two exhausts is plenty.

 

[Ballzach]

Ended up getting the NZXT Phantom full tower, i5 3570k processor, AMD radeon 7850 graphics card, 8 gigs ram and liquid cooling. I appreciate all the replies

 

[Knufire]

This $800 / $900 Pure Gaming PC Build might be a better configuration if that is your price range.

Sorry...that just isn't a good "pure gaming" build...seems to be outdated for the new series of GPUs/Ivy Bridge.

 

[silveryhat]

Sorry...that just isn't a good "pure gaming" build...seems to be outdated for the new series of GPUs/Ivy Bridge.

You are right, it isn't 100% but it comes close to the budget and I think that's what matters. The 3570K gives greater advantages for its better integrated graphics chipset and more efficient QuickSync tech, but those play a small role for a gaming system.
There is no app that the i5 2500k can't challenge and the combo with z68 is much cheaper than dishing out too much for the latest. Thus you will have more budget for maybe a SSD or liquid cooling kit (4.8GHz for 2500k ^^) or fund toward graphics card. Two HD 7770 is right on par with 6970 and 580 for just $280.

Anyhow, I don't know why the 3rd Gen is so much hotter than the 2nd Gen when it just reaches 4.5GHz probably the 3D transistors.
Cheer !

Ballzach : grats on the new system

 

[Knufire]

You are right, it isn't 100% but it comes close to the budget and I think that's what matters. The 3570K gives greater advantages for its better integrated graphics chipset and more efficient QuickSync tech, but those play a small role for a gaming system.
There is no app that the i5 2500k can't challenge and the combo with z68 is much cheaper than dishing out too much for the latest. Thus you will have more budget for maybe a SSD or liquid cooling kit (4.8GHz for 2500k ^^) or fund toward graphics card. Two HD 7770 is right on par with 6970 and 580 for just $280.

Anyhow, I don't know why the 3rd Gen is so much hotter than the 2nd Gen when it just reaches 4.5GHz probably the 3D transistors.
Cheer !

Ballzach : grats on the new system

And where did you determine that his budget was $900?

 

[EpicMango]

Anyhow, I don't know why the 3rd Gen is so much hotter than the 2nd Gen when it just reaches 4.5GHz probably the 3D transistors.
Cheer !

Its the crappier thermal solution they used to melt the processor together. http://www.overclockers.com/ivy-bridge-temperatures
^^^ Our very own!

 

[silveryhat]

good read, EpicMango! thank you