First time attempting a build, a few obvious questions!

B

Belle6715

New Member
Hi guys,

With nothing to do this summer I've taken it upon myself to build a gaming computer. I've never thought of even attempting this before so yes, this is all very new to me. I have a budget of $1500 in Canadian funds. This includes the monitor (I currently have an all-in-one so I don't have an old monitor to use, unfortunately) and the whole shebang.

I can't call myself a 'serious' gamer as all I've ever played on PC is the Sims. However, I'm really fed up with my PS3. The fan, man. I've never heard a console so loud. That, and I just really want a new computer that can handle today's games. I suspect I'd be playing a lot of COD, Crysis, Battlefield 3, and of course (LOL) the Sims. If I'm going to do this, I don't want to skimp in any important areas. Here is my list so far from newegg.ca... if you guys know of any Canadian retailers with similar prices by all means give me a shout.

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $69.99

ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor W/Speakers - $179.99

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE - $99.99

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core - $224.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - $119.99

GIGABYTE GV-N560OC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 - $234.99

ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card - $86.99

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory - $93.99

ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS - $143.99

ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM - $59.99

Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $79.99


Sub-total: $1394.89

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My first question, of course: is all of this compatible? In other words, will I run into any problems with this set up? I'm no expert by any means and I only picked these things out from all the 'how-to's and guides I've read over the past couple of days. If I've gone wrong anywhere please point it out, and perhaps offer suggestions for alternative parts.

Also, this may be an idiotic question but is a sound card needed? None of the places I've visited that have detailed how to build a PC have said anything about it, but I added one in anyway just to see where I stand on my budget.

My next question is about network cards. I need wireless and have almost no clue what to get in this regard.

I've heard good things about solid-state boot drives... so I'm supposing that's a good idea? Haha.

Any help would be much appreciated!

I hope you guys can stand my noob-ish, long-winded questions :o Thanks!
 
All compatible, yes.
My reccomendations:
Get a i5 3570k.
Get a Gigabyte board.
Get a HD 7850 or GTX 570: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150617
I would get a modulaur power supply.
I think the haf 912 is not a good idea. Great case, ugly inside. The silver in the case really makes it so much more ugly. I would get this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119240 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146070
What are your speakers?
 
They're all compatible.

I'd go for a Gigabyte Mobo, as byte said.

The Crucial M4 is good but I'd get the 128GB one instead. It's worth it.

and byte, the HAF is still a good case. If he doesn't like the inside he could always just spray paint it or something :P. But yes, the cases you linked are better.
 
I agree with the advice to go with a 128G ssd, you will probably regret the 64G later on.

A soundcard depends on which motherboard you get, many have decent built-in audio which is why you don't see many recommendations for them.

I recently completed a build with a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H mobo and I am very satisfied with the built-in audio on it.

Since you seem to be leaning toward a cpu with OC capabilities, you may want to consider an aftermarket cpu cooler. I went with the Coolermaster 212+ which is a fairly decent cooler for the price.
 
Wow, thanks for the replies everyone! You have helped immensely. Here are the revisions I've made so far...

I switched out the 912 HAF case for the Coolermaster Storm Scout. I do like the pretty cases haha. Chose the Ivy Bridge i5-3750k processor, the GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H motherboard and the Coolermaster 212+ CPU cooler. I also picked out the CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 modular power supply--let me know if that's a crappy choice.

In order to keep things reasonable price-wise I took out the sound card altogether, thanks for letting me know the built in one is decent enough. I'll probably just end up throwing some Logitech speakers in anyway.

What about the graphics cards that byteninja2 has recommended? I don't know too much about the AMD cards or the GTX 570. Is there a whole lot of difference between those and the 560 Ti? Right now I have selected the 7870 because it's not too far out in regards to price. And if I go with the 560 Ti instead, is the HX750 power supply still recommended?

I went with the 128GB SSD instead of the 64GB as recommended, thanks! Right now the total is $1618 excluding the monitor... but hey, it still works for me. If you know anywhere I can cut a corner or two to get the price a little lower though, please let me know :)

Thanks again!
 
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a couple things, some reviews for that monitor complained about stuck pixels,
i think you can find 1tb hard drives just as good for $99, and with that kind of budget i would recommend spending more on the video card, the gtx 670 is the manliest card for price to performance ratio. also you dont have to get a 3570k its 10 dollars more and its about 10 dollars better but you dont need it, your gpu will be your bottleneck in gaming anyways.
 
to get the cost down spend 20 dollars less on the hdd, save 30 dollars on the bluray and just get a dvd(unless you really need it, i mean u have a ps3), spend 20 dollars less on the mother board. save 50 dollars and just get 8gb of memory because no games out now or in the next couple of years use even 8. and most importantly spend 80 dollars less on the power supply.
 
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Belle6715 said:
Right now the total is $1618 excluding the monitor... but hey, it still works for me. If you know anywhere I can cut a corner or two to get the price a little lower though, please let me know :)
Click to expand...
There is money to be saved w/o loosing quality or features. I think a GTX 670 is managable for < 1600 if that interests you.

Are you buying Windows 7?
Do you need 3TB of storage right now?
Are you staying with Blue Ray for the OD?
 
S3AnD3 said:
They're all compatible.

I'd go for a Gigabyte Mobo, as byte said.

The Crucial M4 is good but I'd get the 128GB one instead. It's worth it.

and byte, the HAF is still a good case. If he doesn't like the inside he could always just spray paint it or something :P. But yes, the cases you linked are better.
Click to expand...

Do you realise how hard painting a case is? Im getting ready to atempt it.
 
Belle6715 said:
Wow, thanks for the replies everyone! You have helped immensely. Here are the revisions I've made so far...

I switched out the 912 HAF case for the Coolermaster Storm Scout. I do like the pretty cases haha. Chose the Ivy Bridge i5-3750k processor, the GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H motherboard and the Coolermaster 212+ CPU cooler. I also picked out the CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 modular power supply--let me know if that's a crappy choice.

In order to keep things reasonable price-wise I took out the sound card altogether, thanks for letting me know the built in one is decent enough. I'll probably just end up throwing some Logitech speakers in anyway.

What about the graphics cards that byteninja2 has recommended? I don't know too much about the AMD cards or the GTX 570. Is there a whole lot of difference between those and the 560 Ti? Right now I have selected the 7870 because it's not too far out in regards to price. And if I go with the 560 Ti instead, is the HX750 power supply still recommended?

I went with the 128GB SSD instead of the 64GB as recommended, thanks! Right now the total is $1618 excluding the monitor... but hey, it still works for me. If you know anywhere I can cut a corner or two to get the price a little lower though, please let me know :)

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

A 7870 is a GREAT choice. I said 7850 because it was around the same price as a 560 Ti, but quite a bit better. A 7870 is even better than the 7850, go for it. You have a great build now. Corsair makes GREAT power supplys.
 
byteninja2 said:
I think the haf 912 is not a good idea. Great case, ugly inside. The silver in the case really makes it so much more ugly. I would get this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119240 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146070
What are your speakers?
Click to expand...
You know the HAF 912 is a better case than the Strom Scout, right? Has way better cable management features. The Enforcer is probably the best of both worlds though, decent looks, black interior and by the looks of it fairly good cable management.
 
A couple of things:

I'd stick with the TX650. If you have extra cables you aren't using, you can stick them behind where the cable management is. Better to spend the extra money on the graphics card.

I'd ditch the sound card for now, unless you have really nice speakers/headphones to go with it.

Go down to 8GB of memory. Will save you $40.

The 912 is a perfectly fine case. If you want to spend a little more for looks, get the Corsair 300R.

With those saving, I think you'd be able to squeeze a 670 in there.
 
vistakid10 said:
You know the HAF 912 is a better case than the Strom Scout, right? Has way better cable management features. The Enforcer is probably the best of both worlds though, decent looks, black interior and by the looks of it fairly good cable management.
Click to expand...

Ermm... No. Cable managment, the haf beats it. I would get the enforcer, but both are great.
 
I said the HAF had better cable management features. But anyway, the Enforcer is the better case.
 
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Alright, here's my revised (x2) list. Let me know where I should go from here. I really want the GTX 670 but right now I have the 570 selected due to cost.

Coolermaster HAF 912 case

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 power supply

Sandy Bridge i5-2500k processor

Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H motherboard

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB ram

EVGA GeForce GTX 570

Windows 7 home premium 64 bit

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 RPM hard drive

Crucial M4 128GB SSD

ASUS 24x DVD burner

Total: $1,427.73

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As you can see I threw out a lot of things I initially had plans for. I forgot to mention that I had added in Windows 7 the first time around too. I took out the CPU cooler because I don't think I will be interested in over-clocking, and for right now that $30 will keep me in-budget.

I went down from 16GB of ram to 8 as recommended. No blu-ray drive, I already have a player and a PS3 so yeah, not much of a need there now that I think about it. Cheaper hard drive... went back to the HAF 912 case (I think I actually like its look haha). And I think that's it.

With the GTX 670 it would be well over $1,600. Sigh. Any ideas on what to do there? My only wonderance is if I could axe the SSD in order to get the 670. Or is that as bad an idea as I think it is?

Oh and thanks once again, everyone. I wasn't expecting so much help and I'm very grateful for it :)
 
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