Building my first rig. Help me not screw up ^_^?

[ThatGuyNick]

Building my first rig. Am I doin it rite?

I've been reading up on Computers for quite a bit these past few days. I know more than your average Joe, but when we get down to it...I'm a guppy in the lake. I've read, watched, and absorbed a lot of info in my quest for a cheap (Under 1k) gaming rig. Here's hoping that your expertise can supplement my basic knowledge and create something wonderful.

I have speakers and a monitor (24 inch, 2ms, 1080p for $160!) I'm going to be using this computer for gaming. School, movies, interwebs, but the main focus is gaming. World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2 primarily (I have a 360, so no FPS most likely). I will try to overclock, after reading about computers I've come to the conclusion that it would be criminal not to overclock. Here is what I'm looking at. If I forgot anything or you have questions, PLEASE ask. I'm trying to get the most bang for my buck and if you see any discrepancies I will be HAPPY to look like an idiot.

Case: NZXT Apollo Black

Seems like a good case, reviews say decent size and it looks rather sexy and is cheap. Suggested by a friend.

CPU: Intel Core i5-750 2.66GHz 4 Cores or AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz AM3 3 Cores

The AMD seems to be the best budget buy and after hearing so many good things about AMB (it can generally do most everything an Intel can for cheaper) I was interested. Then I heard how stupidly good you can get an i5 if you overclock it. Since I plan on overclocking, the i5 sounded damn sexy at that moment. Leaning toward the i5, but not sure which to choose.

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W

I read the how to build a computer sticky which confirmed my belief in Corsair being a great brand. Reading the reviews on this makes me think this is a great PSU for my price and power range.

Mobo: EDIT: Going with ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard Supports DDR3 and looks pretty solid.

RAM: I plan on overclocking so the building a computer sticky suggested a 1600Mhz DDR3. I'll most likely go Dual Channel since I've read Triple Channel is designed for Intel's i7 and since I'm most likely getting an i5. I might be wrong though, feel free to correct and suggest.

EDIT: Going with G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL DDR3 and has good reviews.

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB (6 Gb/s)

I don't really understand the HDD much, but this seems like a good solid drive. One thing I'm still wondering is whether it is worth it to go SSD. Suggestions, once again, welcome!

Video Card: Most likely I will go a 5850. I don't know which 5850 brand though, there are tons of em. Whichever I can find cheapest probably.

OS: Home Premium I'm pretty sure about this, correct me if I'm wrong.

Heat Sink EDIT: Going with XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V REV.W with ACK-I5361 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler Good reviews and dummyyy suggested it. Seems cheap also.

So far this is coming out to 1.25k, which may be pushing it a little. If you have any suggestions to knock it down feel free to suggest! Also, still curious if SSD physically replaces the HDD.

 

[dummyyy]

How much are you looking to spend?

 

[ThatGuyNick]

How much are you looking to spend?

Around 1k, I can go over, but would like to keep it around that level.

 

[dummyyy]

Well for video card, any brand is fine. It just comes down to the warranty.

I would go for the i5.

For motherboard, the gigabyte p55 ATX looks good. Im not sure about intel builds so someone else can recommend a different motherboard if theres better ones.

For heatsink and fan, i like the xigmatek dark knight. its not toooo expensive but it works well.

You're right about tri-channel. thats only for 1366 sockets.

 

[ThatGuyNick]

Well for video card, any brand is fine. It just comes down to the warranty.

I would go for the i5.

For motherboard, the gigabyte p55 ATX looks good. Im not sure about intel builds so someone else can recommend a different motherboard if theres better ones.

For heatsink and fan, i like the xigmatek dark knight. its not toooo expensive but it works well.

You're right about tri-channel. thats only for 1366 sockets.

I'm most likely going for the i5, while the price is $100 more than the AMD it seems much more future proof and a hell of an upgrade for $100 as it beats the next best AMD in most categories it seems.

I'll most likely get the Xigmatek DK, one of the threads I reference heavily suggests it also. Will I need to buy an adapter for it to fit the i5 though?

Also I'm thinkin ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard for the motherboard. Anyone got feedback for that?

 

[Joeteck]

The i7 860 is not a bad choice either, and since it has four cores 8 threads it may be a better bang for you're Buck.

 

[ThatGuyNick]

The i7 860 is not a bad choice either, and since it has four cores 8 threads it may be a better bang for you're Buck.

Only problem is it's 100 more and I'm runnin outta cash. Since the GPU is more useful than CPU for gaming, I can probably get by with the i5 if I go with a pretty good video card (like a 5850 I think).

I'm really curious/interested about SSD. If I get a SSD, does it replace my HDD? Or does it compliment it and I put important things (My OS, games, music, web browser) on it so they load instantly? It seems like a great investment and I would love some help picking one out. I'm looking at Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2M080G2XX I'm thinkin 80g should be enough.

 

[Quigsby]

I'm really curious/interested about SSD. If I get a SSD, does it replace my HDD? Or does it compliment it and I put important things (My OS, games, music, web browser) on it so they load instantly? It seems like a great investment and I would love some help picking one out. I'm looking at Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2M080G2XX I'm thinkin 80g should be enough.

You're right on the money. Get an SSD and a storage drive (like 1TB or so). Put those important things on the SSD (make sure you have a backup that goes to your second drive, at least). The Intel drive is great.

 

[ThatGuyNick]

You're right on the money. Get an SSD and a storage drive (like 1TB or so). Put those important things on the SSD (make sure you have a backup that goes to your second drive, at least). The Intel drive is great.

If my HDD is a SATAIII and I get a SATAII SSD, everything should still work yes? The HDD i'm lookin at is still my WD 1 Tera and the SDD I'm thinkin is a 64GB Corsair SATII

Win 7 takes 16, so that leaves 48 for games and music, plenty I thinks.

 

[Marshmallow64]

Those hds look good for OS and storage.

 

[Bobnova]

Depending on what games you're planning on playing, an AMD may be just fine and save some money, or an i3 intel if you prefer intel. Do you have a MicroCenter in your area? If so, you can often get i7's for quite cheap there.

 

[ThatGuyNick]

Depending on what games you're planning on playing, an AMD may be just fine and save some money, or an i3 intel if you prefer intel. Do you have a MicroCenter in your area? If so, you can often get i7's for quite cheap there.

I'm going to be doing SC2 and WoW mainly. I have a 360 and can't think of any big games coming out I would want for the PC that I can get on the 360. If I overclock the i5 though, I've read it can perform stupidly well and will last me quite a while. Plus wouldn't I need to pick a new AMD specific motherboard and then check if that is compatible with my HDD? If you have a good AMD build, however, I would love to see it =D

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

i5 750 will do fine for your needs. It can overclock very well to 4GHz with good air cooler or water block. Hyperthreading isn't used much with some games so you can probably ignore those.

My i5 750 clocked to 4GHz outperforms my AMD 6 cores 1090t (also overclocked to 4GHz) by a small margin. So for a little more money, Intel gives you more power.

 

[Bobnova]

In games/apps that don't use >4 cores, the 750 will win by a little bit.
In games/apps that DO use >4 cores, the 1090t will win by a lot.

 

[ThatGuyNick]

In games/apps that don't use >4 cores, the 750 will win by a little bit.
In games/apps that DO use >4 cores, the 1090t will win by a lot.

Aren't games/apps that use >4 cores very rare and new? I know WoW takes at least 3 cores for best performance and I'm sure SC2 wont take that much.

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

That is correct. We've had multi-core CPU for how long? 5 or 6 years? And before that, some people have used dual CPU setup. Current games aren't optimized to take advantage of it and some may benefit from 2 or 3 cores. WoW for example has a small code redone to work with multi-cores but only in limited capacity.

So an i5 750 or any flavor of i7 would be enough to tide you for a few more years.

 

[ThatGuyNick]

That is correct. We've had multi-core CPU for how long? 5 or 6 years? And before that, some people have used dual CPU setup. Current games aren't optimized to take advantage of it and some may benefit from 2 or 3 cores. WoW for example has a small code redone to work with multi-cores but only in limited capacity.

So an i5 750 or any flavor of i7 would be enough to tide you for a few more years.

I'll probably grab an 15 750 then and just overclock it. Puts me at around 1.4k, but with a 5850 Video, 64g SSD, 1TB HDD, 4g of DDR3 RAM, 650W PSU, and a 6G Intel Mobo, I should be set for a while.

 

[Bobnova]

Aren't games/apps that use >4 cores very rare and new? I know WoW takes at least 3 cores for best performance and I'm sure SC2 wont take that much.

Games yes, apps no.
There are a few games out that take advantage of lots of cores though.

 

[ThatGuyNick]

Games yes, apps no.
There are a few games out that take advantage of lots of cores though.

Like what types of apps? I'm not going to be doing anything heavy like photoshop or such so I assume an overclocked i5 750 would do fine

 

[Devourment]

Bought my rig just a month ago for 1300$ CND. U should get the same and lower the GPU, get like a 5850... Ez oc with this gear... This CPU own at 4Ghz, bye bye i5...

I can give you exact specs and model if u want...