Budget is relatively flexible, but I am currently thinking I will be in the 1200 range. A little less than half of that is wrapped up in the processor/motherboard combo which, as it stands, looks like an Intel i7 3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4 GHz on an ASUS Sabretooth Z77. Ideas or suggestions are welcome.
you want an SSD for sure - go with the crucial m4 128gig.. I think it runs about $120 on tigerdirect or newegg... get at least a 1 TB HDD to go with it thats 7200RPM and definitely not at 5400... 8gigs of RAM should be good for awhile.. try to get it rated at 1600MHz or higher (if mobo supports it) how much would you like to spend on a GPU? I'm looking at upgrading mine and getting an AMD HD 7870 for $300 made by gigabyte that is OC'd already and has 3 fans on it.. you can find it on TD.. 2gigs of vram on it so its built for the future.. unless you wanna spend about 400$ then you could get a gtx 580.. or an HD 7950.. if you want a little less than $300 then look at the HD 7850 or the gtx 560 TI (448 cores for a slightly better version but $30-$50 more)... Obviously you can just pick up a cheap optical drive.. a good gaming head set is >>>>>>>>> computer speakers... do you need advice on monitors/mice/keyboards/front panel card readers and such? Also - can is that CPU unlocked? I have a sandy bridge i5 2500k so I don't know about Ivy bridge really.. if it can be unlocked then i'd purchase one of the corsair water coolers (can get one for $60) or the air cooler called the hyper 212 ($30 I think)..
duh - PSU.. I wouldnt get less than a 650 watt and avoid crappy brands. You should spend $100 minimum on it.. I got a non modular because I always lose my cables but if you are good at keeping up with them then modular all the way.. unless you are really tight on your budget.. I went with a 750 watt from corsair.
The GPU is one of the big reasons I am flexible on the price. I have looked at the card you are talking about, and that's around what I can spend and stay on track budget wise (Note: I am not factoring peripherals into that budget, because I know a few people that can probably help me get exceptional deals on those). The CPU is unlocked. I have heard two different lines of thought on water cooling, but I like the idea. Is it easy to install?
Also, the hyper212 comes pretty highly recommended by almost everyone I have talked to, so that is starting to move up the list.
This thread makes me feel very stupid. It's like reading Japanese to me. I am completely ignorant about this type of stuff.
I have the hyper.. but the low end corsair like the 60 and 70 are better if you want to really overclock or just worried about temps.. I overclock my 3.4 ghz 2500k to 4.0ghz with no issues with the hyper.. imo the water cooler may be an easier install than the hyper lol.. both (well any now) require a backplate on the motherboard for the socket which was the hardest part.. because I put mine on with all my wires still attached to the mobo lol.. didn't want to rewire everything.. the water cooler is just straight foward but you have to take out your rear case fan to install the radiator.. but I saw a video of it and they did it all in 5 minutes.
Well, I think I have looked at that card, is it this one GIGABYTE GV-R787OC-2GD Radeon HD 7870 Ultra Durable Video Card - 2048MB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0 (x16), 1x Dual-Link DVI-I, 2x Mini DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11, CrossFireX, Overclocked at TigerDirect.com
which card? the gigabyte 7870? I'm holding out for now but I hope that deal doesnt go away on TD cause there's also no tax on TD in TN like there is on newegg.. its OC'd yet still the cheapest 7870 somehow.
yep thats the one.. I really wanna buy it. only thing I don't like is there is only 1 dvi output and I use 2 monitors and like them to both be on the same output/input..
I have actually been a mac guy for quite awhile that has recently rediscovered my love for pc gaming. Luckily, I have always been a bit of a tech head and my roommate is the same way, so I stay somewhat up to date.
Gotcha. I want to get this thing built soon, and then bide my time until Watch Dogs comes out. Maybe I can get it to play Crysis 3, lol
Here's good setup. The total is right at $1500: Thermaltake Level 10 GTS Mid Tower Case - Newegg.com - Thermaltake Level 10 Series Level 10 GTS Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Z77 LGA 1155 Mobo - Newegg.com - MSI Z77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge - Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770 Zalman CNPS9500 AT CPU Heatsink - Newegg.com - ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink Corsair Vengenance 8GB - Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9 Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK DVD/CD-RW - Newegg.com - 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 - CD / DVD Burners Vantec NexStar SE MRK-525ST (Dual SSD 5.25" bay) - Newegg.com - 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 - CD / DVD Burners Corsair Force Series 3 240GB SSD Sata III - Newegg.com - Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F240GB3A-BK 2.5" 240GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Seasonic X Series x650 Gold Modular PSU - Newegg.com - 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 AeroCool Shark 120mm (case fan) - Newegg.com - AeroCool Shark 120mm Black Edition 120mm Case Fan Coolermaster Megaflow 200 (case fan) - Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200 R4-LUS-07AB-GP 200mm Blue LED Case Fan NVIDIA GT 640 2GB (graphics card) - Newegg.com - EVGA 02G-P4-2645-KR GeForce GT 640 2GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
