Help me build a computer, or wait for Haswell?

V

Verivus

New Member
Hi guys, newbie here. This is going to be the first computer I will be building. Currently I only have a laptop so no salvageable parts. I have a keyboard & mouse and am buying the monitor during Black Friday (Is this monitor any good? https://blackfriday.bestbuy.com/computers+amp+tablets2/product/4880161/lg++27quot+widescreen+flatpanel+led+hd+monitor).

I'm just wondering if it's worth waiting for Haswell to come out in the spring or just build one now (by now I mean December). My budget is between $2-2.5k. Must be able to handle gaming. Future-proofing is big on my list. Is it better to go with intel i5 or i7? Thanks for the help!

Chrissy
 
This is what I was looking at for now while perusing newegg. Feel free to suggest changes, preferably with explanations as to why since I'm always open to learning. :)

Corsair Obsidian Series 800D
Intel Core i5-3570K IB
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X
CORSAIR HX850 850W
Sapphire Radeon HD7970
Corsair Dominator Platinum 16 gb (2x8gb)
Crucial M4 128GB SATA III
WD CB 2TB HDD
CORSAIR Hydro Series H100
LG Blu-ray burner

Subtotal: $1,878.90

Is there a CD/DVD/Blu-ray combo burner?

Chrissy
 
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Verivus said:
This is what I was looking at for now while perusing newegg. Feel free to suggest changes, preferably with explanations as to why since I'm always open to learning. :)

Corsair Obsidian Series 800D
Intel Core i5-3570K IB
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X
CORSAIR HX850 850W
GeForce GTX 680
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB)
Crucial M4 128GB SATA III
CORSAIR Hydro Series H80

Subtotal: $1,678.92

Is there a CD/DVD/Blu-ray combo burner?

Chrissy
Click to expand...
Which version of the Z77X?

The HD7970 is cheaper and with the new drivers is faster than the 680. The only thing it will not do is Physx and Cuda processing. Though AMD has gotten better at GPGPU processing with GCN.
 
Hmm, I will look into the HD7970. :) So for my previous question, is there any significant difference between the intel i5 and i7 to justify getting the i7?
 
20% or so more performance in HT supporting or heavily threaded programs. If the computer is for gaming only, then the i5 is all you need.
 
Yeah gaming is the biggest thing. Thanks. :) Any other suggestions out there? Thinking about it, I guess if an i5 is good enough for now might as well just build now. Maybe next year after Haswell's been out for a while I can think about upgrading.
 
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Not really. I'd go for one from Sapphire or XFX though, they're my two favourite brands for AMD.
 
Eh wouldn't bother with a Blu-Ray RW right now. I have a Blu-Ray ROM, it works nicely. No need to be burning Blu-Rays right now.
 
One thing i think i should mention is with XFX i got a 5 year warranty. You have to register with them within a month but 5 years is nice about of time not to be worried at all if it breaks. I'm not completely sure they'r still doing it so best to look it up though.
 
DDR3 ram frequency doesn't gain much performance boost, certainly not enough for the price imo.

It looks like (from a quick glance), that you're paying 50 bucks on average more for thunderbolt. USB3 is as good for most uses, but if you're a photographer or have other thunderbolt gear its probably worth it.
 
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