Building a Desktop (first time)

M

Mies

New Member
Hi, I am an architecture student wanting to invest in a strong self-built computer that is going to be reliable for the next 5 years or so. The reason I want to build my own pc is so that I understand what my pc can and cannot handle.

What I will be doing is running heavy rendering programs and documenting a lot of files as well.

What I don't want to do is OVERCLOCKING. But it seems that most of the strong processors or motherboards come with that features. I want to use my pc the most out of it for its price. With that being said, my budget is $1,500

After a week of researching on and off, these are the specs I have so far, what do you guys think?

MOTHERBOARD:
ASUS MAXIMUS N GENE-Z (Overclock feature)

PROCCESSOR:
INTEL i7-2600K (Overclock feature)

RAM:
CORSAIR VENGEANCE 16 GB DDR3 SDRAM

HARD DRIVE:
SEAGATE 2TB BARRACUDA 3.5" INTERNAL HARD DRIVE

COOLER:
COOLERMASTER HYPER 212 PLUS

POWER SUPPLY:
Earthwatts 650W

VIDEO CARD:
GTX 260

DVD DRIVE:
LG Black DVD Burner - Bulk LightScribe Support - OEM
ASUS 24xDVD-RW SERIAL ATA INTERNAL OEM DRIVE DRW-24B1ST (BLACK

CASE:
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 MID TOWER COMPUTER CASE

Feel free to bash my stupidity. I am open for any suggestions.
Thank you.
 
Last edited:
I think the first thing you need is a newer video card (unless you already have a GTX 260 you can use?) Something like a Radeon HD 7850 or the brand new (released today!) GeForce GTX 660 Ti would be a better choice than a 260. The 260 is getting on a bit - but if you already have one then it should be fine if you don't want to spend the extra on a newer video card.

I'd replace the ASUS Maximus board with a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H or a UD5H perhaps, or maybe one of the Z68 boards if you want the 2600K. You could get a 3770 or a 3770K to be honest a 2600K is probably a lot cheaper and the performance difference between a 2600K and a 3770K would be negligible.

Rest of the stuff is good I'd say. :good:
 
If budget permits:
An SSD for OS and programs to speed thing up and so you don't have everything on the 2TB.
A little better case.
 
Miles are you going to be running multiple programs at the same time? If so maybe you might benefit from a amd 8 core processor like the FX 8150. As for the case, it's just a preference of what you like or want. I agree with the ssd especially if your looking for speed. As for the 260, not a bad card, just an older generation.
 
spirit said:
I think the first thing you need is a newer video card (unless you already have a GTX 260 you can use?) Something like a Radeon HD 7850 or the brand new (released today!) GeForce GTX 660 Ti would be a better choice than a 260. The 260 is getting on a bit - but if you already have one then it should be fine if you don't want to spend the extra on a newer video card.

I'd replace the ASUS Maximus board with a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H or a UD5H perhaps, or maybe one of the Z68 boards if you want the 2600K. You could get a 3770 or a 3770K to be honest a 2600K is probably a lot cheaper and the performance difference between a 2600K and a 3770K would be negligible.

Rest of the stuff is good I'd say. :good:
Click to expand...

Thank you for the post.

Yeah. Def. a better graphic card. I haven't looked into that one yet. GTX 260 is just a filler I put there.
I have been comparing ASUS and Gigabyte products and most of the time, ASUS seems to operate better than Gigabyte.

Do you think I should install extra cooler or I should be fine with the cooler that comes with the processor?
 
Last edited:
Benny Boy said:
If budget permits:
An SSD for OS and programs to speed thing up and so you don't have everything on the 2TB.
A little better case.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the post.

Does that mean that I will have to install both 2TB and SSD and SSD will be supporting 2TB?
 
Mies said:
Thank you for the post.

Does that mean that I will have to install both 2TB and SSD and SSD will be supporting 2TB?
Click to expand...

It means you while have two things to store your stuff. Both the 2TB Harddrive and the SSD.
 
Mies said:
Thank you for the post.

Yeah. Def. a better graphic card. I haven't looked into that one yet. GTX 260 is just a filler I put there.
I have been comparing ASUS and Gigabyte products and most of the time, ASUS seems to operate better than Gigabyte.

Do you think I should install extra cooler or I should be fine with the cooler that comes with the processor?
Click to expand...

If you're not overclcoking then you probably don't need to, but if you're doing rendering ad your chip will be running at high loads a lot and your temperatures get hot then yeah maybe.

I'd see you how go with the stock cooler for a while, see what your temps are whilst you are rendering. If they get high then grab an aftermarket cooler.

Graphics card wise - 7870 or 660 Ti, both very similar in performance, either one is a great choice.
 
SmileMan said:
I would go for the gtx 660ti, because it's equal in price.
Click to expand...
Depends where you buy it - here the 7870 is cheaper than the 660 Ti, but I'm sure the prices will drop on the 660 Ti. I remember when the 7850 and the 7870 came out a while back they were also extremely expensive to start off with, but as the older Northern Islands (6xxx) cards got phased out the prices of the Southern Islands (7xxx) cards dropped. Same may happen with Fermi and Kepler.
 
azeem40 said:
Southern Islands is 77xx.
Click to expand...
I thought SI was all the 7xxx cards?

azeem40 said:
I HIGHY doubt the 660ti is that much better, because according to http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-ti-benchmark-review,3279.html (last page), the 7870 is cheaper and 3.3% better.
Click to expand...
They're actually pretty closely matched in some games and 'further apart' in others - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548?vs=647 sometimes the 7870 wins, sometimes the 660 Ti wins.
 
Mies said:
Does that mean that I will have to install both 2TB and SSD and SSD will be supporting 2TB?
Click to expand...
Yes. If you get an ssd you would install it and the 2TB.
And basically yes. The 2TB would be supported by the SSD. The SSD would be the main drive (C:\ ) for Windows and programs. All your videos, files and other storage would be kept on the 2TB.
 
Hey guys thank you so much for helping me out. So I have finalized my specs. And I just want to double check and make sure everything is right. So all the products can be installed into the computer case and they are all compatible, correct?



Once again, Thank you all of you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top