Building my first Computer

S

smalls0224

New Member
Hey All,

So I've been planning on building a computer since the E6600 was the CPU of choice. I've swapped out parts so many times to keep up with tech and I finally decided to stop procrastinating and waiting for better parts and go for it. This is my first build so I want it to be a good one so, please tell me what you think and offer suggestions on alternatives or compatibility issues

CPU
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K

Memory
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9

Case
Newegg.com - Rosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, come with Five Fans, window side panel, top HDD dock

Mobo
Newegg.com - ASUS P8Z77-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

GPU
Newegg.com - XFX FX-795A-TNBC Radeon HD 7950 Black 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Blu-Ray
Newegg.com - ASUS Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS

PSU
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

OS
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems

Monitor
Newegg.com - Dell UltraSharp U2412M Black IPS Panel 24" 8ms Pivot, Swivel & Height Adjustable LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 2,000,000:1 (1000:1)

SSD
Newegg.com - SanDisk Extreme SDSSDX-120G-G25 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Storage Drive
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Build comes to a bit under US$2000 depending on where I purchase the items. That's about the range I want to stay. Again any help would be much appreciated.
 
All looks very good to me,Sticking with the stock CPU cooler?

Also,That Asus board is fine. ;)
 
If you're just gaming then I wouldn't bother with an i5.

Again, if it's just gaming then you won't need 16GB, 8GB will be enough. Although if you're planning on editing or rendering in the future then stick with 16. I'd also get G.Skill instead of Corsair, I think G.Skill may be cheaper as well.

Asus are OK but I think a Gigabyte Mobo would be better.

Good luck! :)
 
I wrote everything below then figured I would ask: What are you going to actually use the computer for? :D Your budget is great, and you can even save some money without losing noticable performance. Depends on your use of course.

The i7 is "better" of course, but if you absolutely need to save on something, get an i5 instead. For games you will probably not notice a difference until all games start making use of more than 4 cores. It's more about the GPU in my opinion. And that one will do just fine. Getting an i7 for gaming might be a bit of a waste.
And you can save some money on the RAM right away. 8 is plenty. ;)
I think the PSU is not modular or whatsitcalled, so your cables might go everywhere around the case (don't know which case it is and too lazy to check). If it is important to have order inside the case or if airflow is super critical, try to find a modular. Maybe for the money you saved on less RAM. :D
If you are going to play a lot of games on it, I agree with John on the monitor. :)
 
Sorry it took so long to respond. Moving cross country. Anyway, thanks for the advice. So far, I've changed the ram to:

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GXM

I've heard good things about G.Skill. In terms of use, I will be using this as my main computer so a bit of everything. Gaming, video watching, that sort of thing. I know it's pretty overkill, but I honestly just wanted to build a rig and if I was going to build it, I wanted it to be great. I'd rather future proof it so that's why I have the i7 and the 16gb.

Now unless I'm forgetting something, everything else should be good except for possible issues with the mobo and psu. Both are pretty important, so recommendations on alternatives if needed would be much appreciated. Thank you all so much for your help already. I'm getting pretty excited about this.
 
There's nothing wrong with the ASUS board you've chosen, but I'd probably go for a GA-Z77X-UD3H or UD5H over it - both are great boards from Gigabyte. I've got an ASUS board myself and it's been great, and so have all the ones I've had previous to it, but I prefer Gigabyte's Z77 boards over ASUS'.

G.Skill's memory is very good, going 2x8GB makes sense, and the Corsair TX650 you've chosen should be fine.

You may want to look into a better case from a better brand. The Carbide 300R is a great case and it's cheaper than that Rosewill http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139011

There are other nice ones too such as the Fractal Design Define R3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352013 and the Phantom 410 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...44&isNodeId=1&Description=phantom+410&x=0&y=0 but both of those are more expensive than the Rosewill, but they'd be better cases.

Other than that all is good.
 
quick thought, if you're just going with 2 sticks mem/ check mobo
set up in which slots to use /sometimes they are colour coded
 
Okay, so I did change my mobo to the GA-Z77X-UD5H because I have had issues with Asus tech support and that one seems to do everything I need it to do. Now I'm just down to the case. Vistakid gave several great choices for my case but the problem is I don't know which would be better. I don't want to just assume more expensive is better and want to get the best one.

I'm not a fan of the phantom pyramid top nor of drive bay doors. I prefer easy access. That said, it's not a deal-breaker if those are far and away the best bet for a case. I only chose the Rosewill case earlier because it was highly rated.

Given all of that, which case should I get?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=Property&N=100007583%20600006302%20600029808&IsNodeId=1&Manufactory=2177%2C14581%2C1459%2C2120&PropertyCodeValue=548%3A8287%2C2958%3A19209&page=2&bop=And&CompareItemList=7|11-147-107^11-147-107-TS%2C11-352-013^11-352-013-TS%2C11-146-085^11-146-085-TS%2C11-139-008^11-139-008-TS%2C11-139-011^11-139-011-TS

Thanks again for helping a newbie.
 
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Thank you StrangleHold. That is a very nice case. Why would you say that one is better than the others? I want to know what to look for in a case.
 
The case Strangle recommended to you is probably better than all the ones I recommended. You want a case with good looks, good airflow, great cable management features and options/room for expandability. That Lian-Li will be fine. :)
 
Again thanks. I have changed my case to the Lian-Li case. Now last question...hopefully. I was about to pull the trigger and did a final once over and looked at my GPU. I have some wiggle room so is it worth it to switch from

The 7950:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150601

to the GTX 670:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787

Doing some quick research, it seems like the 670 is just a better all around card and worth the $40 difference. Am I right in that assumption? And this shouldn't impact other components, e.g. the PSU should still be fine, correct?
 
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Thank you to everyone that helped me make this decision 6 years in the making. I pulled the trigger and got everything I wanted and more. I can't wait!
 
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