Would Like some feedback on my new build

[Lord Vader]

Haven't built a gaming PC in probably a decade so, here's what I was planning on getting and the prices that I will be paying. Going to start buying stuff this weekend and accumulate it over the next couple of months.

Any feedback and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm buying all my stuff at the local MicroCenter because their prices are tough to beat and it's nice to be able to return any DOA stuff locally.

Will do a mild OC on the CPU, probably to 4.2GHZ or so and try to OC the GPU. Not a big fan of AMD GPUs due to buggy drivers (always been an issue with ATI). Any motherboard, I would need USB3 on.

Will be using a 50" 1080P TV as a monitor

Case: Antec 300 $50 -$15 MIR for $35 total
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0283272

Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream 700q modular $90-$30 MIR for $60 total
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0301550

RAM: 8GB Kingston HyperX Blu CL9 DDR3 1600 $40
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0360527

CPU: Intel i5 2500K $180
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589

Motherboard: msi z68a-g45 g3 $140-$10 MIR $130 total
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0374835

Video Card(s) will buy 1 now and a 2nd later for SLI:
Gigabyte Nvidia GTX550ti 1GB $140-$20 MIR $120 total
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0372652

Dual Layer DVD Drive: LG DVDRW $18
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0372836

Hard Drive: Already have a 60GB OCZ solid state and will buy an additional 7200RPM internal later on.

Well, there she be lads, $585 total. Let me know what you think and any suggestions with pros/cons that you can think of, without going much over what I've already planned on spending.

 

[Deltafan909]

Haven't built a gaming PC in probably a decade so, here's what I was planning on getting and the prices that I will be paying. Going to start buying stuff this weekend and accumulate it over the next couple of months.

Any feedback and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm buying all my stuff at the local MicroCenter because their prices are tough to beat and it's nice to be able to return any DOA stuff locally.

Will do a mild OC on the CPU, probably to 4.2GHZ or so and try to OC the GPU. Not a big fan of AMD GPUs due to buggy drivers (always been an issue with ATI). Any motherboard, I would need USB3 on.

Will be using a 50" 1080P TV as a monitor

Case: Antec 300 $50 -$15 MIR for $35 total
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0283272

Power Supply: OCZ Fatal1ty 550W modular $70-$20 MIR for $50 total
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0303417

RAM: 8GB Kingston HyperX Blu CL9 DDR3 1600 $40
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0360527

CPU: Intel i5 2500K $180
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589

Motherboard: MSI P67A-GD65-B3 $150-$20 MIR $130 total
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0358065

Video Card(s) will buy 1 now and a 2nd later for SLI:
Gigabyte Nvidia GTX550ti 1GB $140-$20 MIR $120 total
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0372652

Dual Layer DVD Drive: LG DVDRW $18
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0372836

Hard Drive: Already have a 60GB OCZ solid state and will buy an additional 7200RPM internal later on.

Well, there she be lads, $575 total. Let me know what you think and any suggestions with pros/cons that you can think of, without going much over what I've already planned on spending.

You may be cutting it close with even a HQ 550W PSU if you plan on doing SLI. I would say a good 650W or 750W if you really want could do it. It would be fine for one card though IMO.

 

[Lord Vader]

You may be cutting it close with even a HQ 550W PSU if you plan on doing SLI. I would say a good 650W or 750W if you really want could do it. It would be fine for one card though IMO.

Well, this 600W is the same price: OCZ ModXStream
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0301547

and this 700W is $10 more, but I hate spending that much on just a PSU.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0301550

 

[Mjolnir]

Looks fine. Assuming that 550W OCZ is a decent unit; you'll be fine for 550 Ti in SLI with a 2500K.

If it were me; I'd save a bit more and change a few things... But it's not me lol. Consider this though..

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315397

Will take you to 4.5ghz no sweat. It's worth 30 bucks. Go for it.

 

[Mjolnir]

Well, this 600W is the same price: OCZ ModXStream
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0301547

and this 700W is $10 more, but I hate spending that much on just a PSU.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0301550

Eh... JUST a PSU? The PSU is arguably the most important part of your build. If it dies; it can potentially take everything else with it! If I were you I'd actually spend more on a PSU.. But.. I'm not .

 

[Mjolnir]

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0348767

It's not modular.. But it's a better PSU than the one you picked.. The Antec 300 has a side-slot for all excess cables.. If you're witty with cable management it's a far better choice.

 

[Lord Vader]

Eh... JUST a PSU? The PSU is arguably the most important part of your build. If it dies; it can potentially take everything else with it! If I were you I'd actually spend more on a PSU.. But.. I'm not .

I thought the OCZ stuff was pretty high quality? By all means, let me know what you'd change in the build. I'm not opposed to spending more, just not a lot more.

The Antec is out of stock right now. I'll see what else they have from Antec.

 

[Mjolnir]

I thought the OCZ stuff was pretty high quality? By all means, let me know what you'd change in the build. I'm not opposed to spending more, just not a lot more.

The Antec is out of stock right now. I'll see what else they have from Antec.

Their PSU's are half half. Some of them are top quality; some, not so much. Lemme see what I can dig up.. (Though Microcenter seems to be quite limited in it's choices of hardware...) there's a few things I'd change but they aren't on that site. :\.

 

[Mjolnir]

I searched up a review of your PSU. Looks fine enough; apparently close to full-loading though is where it starts faltering in its performance.. If it were me; I'd buy the Antec HCG 520. Again non-modular; but has two PCIE connectors same as the OCZ, but it's a higher quality unit.

Consider this; the 2500K has what, a 95w TDP? Even OC'd, it wouldn't pull a whole lot more.. The GTX 550 Ti would realistically only be able to pull 75+75 (socket+6pin), so say 150W at load. Add two, 300W. You're well under 500. But this assumes an unnatural full loading on your system. Which will never happen unless you stress test both the GPUs/CPU at the same time. But even then a quality unit will handle this fine.

 

[Lord Vader]

I searched up a review of your PSU. Looks fine enough; apparently close to full-loading though is where it starts faltering in its performance.. If it were me; I'd buy the Antec HCG 520. Again non-modular; but has two PCIE connectors same as the OCZ, but it's a higher quality unit.

Consider this; the 2500K has what, a 95w TDP? Even OC'd, it wouldn't pull a whole lot more.. The GTX 550 Ti would realistically only be able to pull 75+75 (socket+6pin), so say 150W at load. Add two, 300W. You're well under 500. But this assumes an unnatural full loading on your system. Which will never happen unless you stress test both the GPUs/CPU at the same time. But even then a quality unit will handle this fine.

Cool thanks, I think that since the one you linked is out of stock then I'll plunk the extra $10 down on the 700W so that if I decide to go for higher end GPUs in the future then I'll have some overhead with the PSU.

 

[Deltafan909]

Keep in mind, the GTX 550ti has a load TDP of up to 280W. 280x2=560W. You will also have other things running as well. I would say 700W minimum for your set up if you do SLI. This is just my opinion, any feel free to add to it.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2011/03/15/nvidia-geforce-gtx-550-ti-1gb-review/10
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_550_ti,8.html

Edit: If I got wrong information, please let me know
Edit 2: How could the power consumption get that high...that may be two in SLI.

 

[Mjolnir]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_550_Ti_Amp_Edition/21.html

Techpowerup read the power draw directly from the card itself. The absolute Max it's hitting here is 180W. And that's ONLY under furmark. Also if you read the review; the Zotac Amp pulls the MOST power out of the stock GTX 550 ti's they reviewed.. If you check the Asus review, it doesn't even hit 150. The peak otherwise is 135 or so. So say even if it hits 150.. It's still within spec of my recommendation.. Just don't run Furmark .

@The OP. I would just take the plunge and buy up. the GTX 550 Ti wasn't really highly regarded in any sense concerning performance.. I'd grab a GTX 560 Ti and be done with it. Forget SLI for 1080p. Then later on down the track; IF you feel the need to SLI; go for it.. As the GTX 560 Ti should be a fair bit cheaper by then.. nvidia's new series are coming out within a few months hopefully.. So we can only hope to see a price-drop in current cards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130623

It's not microcenter.. But I notice their GTX 560 Ti line is VERY high priced.. Not sure why...

 

[Lord Vader]

Keep in mind, the GTX 550ti has a load TDP of up to 280W. 280x2=560W. You will also have other things running as well. I would say 700W minimum for your set up if you do SLI. This is just my opinion, any feel free to add to it.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2011/03/15/nvidia-geforce-gtx-550-ti-1gb-review/10
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_550_ti,8.html

Edit: If I got wrong information, please let me know
Edit 2: How could the power consumption get that high...that may be two in SLI.

Kind of confused on this, everywhere I've read, the GTX 550TI is 120w, so the figures they're showing are even more than what 2 cards in SLI would be.

@Mjolnir, The 560 is $170, so do you think it's $50 better than the 550?
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0369114

 

[Deltafan909]

Kind of confused on this, everywhere I've read, the GTX 550TI is 120w, so the figures they're showing are even more than what 2 cards in SLI would be.

Those sites were a little bit confusing for me as well...

 

[Knufire]

IMO, you'd have to go AMD at this budget. The 2500K is a great CPU, but with that you're dropping down to a fairly low powered GPU and a pretty low end motherboard...

If you're going to buy over the course of a couple months, things are going to change REALLY fast. Start off by getting the case, PSU, hard drive, DVD drive, RAM. CPU, video card, and motherboard should be the LAST things you buy.

 

[Lord Vader]

IMO, you'd have to go AMD at this budget. The 2500K is a great CPU, but with that you're dropping down to a fairly low powered GPU and a pretty low end motherboard...

If you're going to buy over the course of a couple months, things are going to change REALLY fast. Start off by getting the case, PSU, hard drive, DVD drive, RAM. CPU, video card, and motherboard should be the LAST things you buy.

That's the plan. Getting the Case, PSU and RAM today. Next purchase will be next paycheck, 1/6/12.

 

[Lord Vader]

Think I'll likely go with this motherboard instead also:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0374835

 

[Knufire]

The ultimate budget motherboard is the ASRock Extreme3 Gen3, but microcenter doesn't seem to carry it. As is, I'd buy your CPU and motherboard at the same time. If you save that until last, you can probably just get Ivy Bridge, Intel's next line of CPUs. They're on the same 1155 socket, but new chipsets are probably going to come out as well.

 

[Lord Vader]

The ultimate budget motherboard is the ASRock Extreme3 Gen3, but microcenter doesn't seem to carry it. As is, I'd buy your CPU and motherboard at the same time. If you save that until last, you can probably just get Ivy Bridge, Intel's next line of CPUs. They're on the same 1155 socket, but new chipsets are probably going to come out as well.

Thanks, but my system will be built by mid February or earlier and Ivy Bridge doesn't come out until April.

I'll check out that ASRock. Things don't HAVE to come from MicroCenter, it's just that they're local and their prices pretty much beat all the online retailers to boot.

 

[Mjolnir]

^Most of the things you've picked or that I would change in your build; are cheaper via Newegg.com. If you wouldn't mind swapping to new egg it'd probably be easier to work with your build. ><