New Custom PC

[Winterguy]

I'm on the verge of building myself a new PC and thought I'd ask some pro's for any feedback or advice they have for me or the system I'm preparing to build. Things I should change or add.


Here are the specs:

Case: Coolermaster Storm Trooper
Mobo: ASUS MAXIMUS IV EXTREME Z Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core i7 3930K
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Overclocked Edition
Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws Z 16GB(4x 4GB) Quad Channel DDR3 Kit
Main HDD/SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SATA3 SSD
PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1000W PSU, 80Plus Gold, ATX 12V v2.3
Monitor: BenQ XL2410T 23.6"
Optical Drive: Some random Blu ray player
Secondary HDD: Some random HDD with 2TB


I'll be using this mostly for gaming, among the usual watching dvd's, browsing the net etc etc gaming would be biggest thing.


Also any advice on a sound card? I havn't got a clue what I should get in regards to that.


Thanks in advance

 

[wolfeking]

gaming, save yourself some money. The 3820 would perform just as well. You could go 2500k and a P67/Z68 motherboard and get the same performance. With the money saved, go to the GTX680 or HD7970. Of the two, the 680 is higher performing, and cheaper, so clear winner there.

 

[claptonman]

Agreed with Wolfe with replacing the CPU and upping the video card.

Are you thinking of getting another video card? Even if you are, 1000w is really overkill, including overclocking and two video cards. 850w would be plenty.

For the sound card, what kind of headphones/speakers are you using? If they're just generic ones, might as well use the onboard sound.

 

[spirit]

Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws Z 16GB(4x 4GB) Quad Channel DDR3 Kit

If you got an i5 2500K and a Z68 board (which by the way I recommend) you'd have to get the RipJaws X RAM because it is dual-channel and the 2500K does not support quad-channel. You can get 16GBs of RipJaws X RAM no problem, I have 16GBs of RipJaws X @ 1600MHz and it's good.

If you went for the 2500K you'd need a different motherboard. ASUS have a nice Z68 board at the moment, the P8Z68-V series (I have the Pro Gen3), but these boards are expensive. Gigabyte and ASRock have some cheaper Z68 boards which are also good. Gigabyte have the GA-Z68AP-D3 and ASRock have the Z58 Extreme3 Gen3.

Main HDD/SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SATA3 SSD

I'd go for a Crucial M4 128GB SSD over a Vertex 3. The M4 is really reliable, I've had my M4 for six months and not had a single hitch in terms of stability. The M4 is just as fast as well.

PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1000W PSU, 80Plus Gold, ATX 12V v2.3

Cooler Master isn't a great brand of PSU, a Corsair or an XFX 800W would work well with a 2500K and a 7970 or GTX 680 (go for the GTX 680, it's faster and cheaper).

Also any advice on a sound card? I havn't got a clue what I should get in regards to that.

I don't know a lot about sound cards myself, but I'll try to help. The ASUS Xonar cards are meant to be pretty good, speficially the DG and the DS, so I'd have a look into those and see which ones you like.

 

[wolfeking]

If you got an i5 2500K and a Z68 board (which by the way I recommend) you'd have to get the RipJaws X RAM because it is dual-channel and the 2500K does not support quad-channel. You can get 16GBs of RipJaws X RAM no problem, I have 16GBs of RipJaws X @ 1600MHz and it's good.

You do know that the channel setup has little to do with the memory, right? You can use a quad channel set in a dual channel board. All Quad channel memory is is testing that says all 4 sticks will perform together without issues. The memory itself is not different.

 

[Winterguy]

Thanks for the help guys, I'll most likely go for an i5 2500k CPU instead of the i7 and I'll do a bit more research for a new motherboard looking into those Z68's.

I'll probably stick with the onboard sound(I thought you needed to buy an actual sound card to get sound from a PC) so that saves money.

Definitely will look into a new PSU, RAM and SSD as well.


Thanks a lot for the help, I'll keep an eye on this thread in case someone has any other tips.

 

[spirit]

You do know that the channel setup has little to do with the memory, right? You can use a quad channel set in a dual channel board. All Quad channel memory is is testing that says all 4 sticks will perform together without issues. The memory itself is not different.

I thought that but I wasn't sure - thanks for the information.

I'll most likely go for an i5 2500k CPU instead of the i7 and I'll do a bit more research for a new motherboard looking into those Z68's.

Yep, definitely go for the i5 2500K over the i7 you were looking at and the Z68 boards are good, but P67 is cheaper so if you want to save some money I'd say the P67 boards would also be good.

Definitely will look into a new PSU, RAM and SSD as well.

You should actually be OK using the RAM you listed in the first post, but yes, the M4 is a great SSD and a Corsair TX850 would be a good PSU option.