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KippKing

New Member
Hey everyone, so I'm building a new gaming PC that I want to last me for a strong handful of years... ideally more than 5 (if that is possible). My brother put together a budget build not too long ago and highly recommended that before I pull the trigger on the "Buy Button" over at NewEgg I have you guys review it first. He said you've got a pretty solid community over here... Anyways, enough rambling, here is what I am looking at.

CPU/MOBO/SSD Combo... I know it's not the 2500k, but I have never overclocked a machine... is it something to seriously consider?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.864272

GPU:ASUS HD7850... I had NVIDEA before, but am told this is better?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121623

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

Monitor: ASUS 23inch, LED, 2ms... comes to 150.00 after savings/rebate. Is there a better one in the price range?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236117

I have a case, hard drive, and power supply from my previous machine that I have been told I can re-use. I also have a copy of Win7-64 bit.

Overall thoughts?
Would you recommend a different direction?

With a monitor my budget is around 900.00... less is of course better but I don't want to compromise quality. I know people rave about the 2500k which I am anticipating may be the biggest critique someone may have, but as mentioned I have never overcloacked... I know NOTHING about it. If it is something to seriously consider I am willing and all ears, I was originally planning on going with the 2500k, but the combo deal with the intel SSD and 2500 I thought was attractive.

Thanks.
 
I have never overclocked before I got my computer, and knew nothing about it. Read up on it and now mine is at 4ghz, and its really fast. But that is an excellent combo, though. You could always sell the i5 2500 for about $200 new in the box and use that money for an 2500k. But then you'll need an aftermarket cooler.

7850 is a good card, beat the 560ti and is around the same price.

What power supply do you have from your previous build, and how old is it?
 
4 years might be cutting it. Maybe keep it in there another year, and then replace it. Don't want it failing and taking your system out.
 
If you're looking for this system to last a good 5+ years, I would recommend going with the 2500K over a non-K version. I'm willing to bet that an overclocked 2500k would be able to last 5-6 years for gaming. Your video card would be the only thing that would need to be upgraded over the duration. Also, if you're overclocking you would want an aftermarket cooler. The Coolermaster Hyper 212+ is a nice economical choice with good performance.

You could save money by going with a Crucial M4 SSD, which are well-known for their good mix of reliability and performance at a reasonable price. If you wanted/needed to save more money in another area, the motherboard would be a decent place to do that at. The ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 mobo would be a great choice for a good mobo at a much cheaper price:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271&Tpk=asrock extreme3 z68

...just a thought though. I guess my main thing is that if you went with the 2500K and overclocked it down the road, it would last for 5+ years even in a gaming system. Up to you how you want to play it regarding upgrades, timeframes, and initial selections.
 
What PSU would you recommend?

If something happens to my PSU and it goes bad it can damage my whole system? That being said, isn't it probably best to go ahead and replace it?

Is there a way I can test my current PSU to ensure it's ok?
 
Mishkin said:
If you're looking for this system to last a good 5+ years, I would recommend going with the 2500K over a non-K version. I'm willing to bet that an overclocked 2500k would be able to last 5-6 years for gaming. Your video card would be the only thing that would need to be upgraded over the duration. Also, if you're overclocking you would want an aftermarket cooler. The Coolermaster Hyper 212+ is a nice economical choice with good performance.

You could save money by going with a Crucial M4 SSD, which are well-known for their good mix of reliability and performance at a reasonable price. If you wanted/needed to save more money in another area, the motherboard would be a decent place to do that at. The ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 mobo would be a great choice for a good mobo at a much cheaper price:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271&Tpk=asrock extreme3 z68

...just a thought though. I guess my main thing is that if you went with the 2500K and overclocked it down the road, it would last for 5+ years even in a gaming system. Up to you how you want to play it regarding upgrades, timeframes, and initial selections.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. The reason I am going with the MoBo and SSD that I am is that they are part of a combo deal with my processor and I save 50.00. That being said the Intel SSD is only 5.00 more than the crucial and comes with a 5 year warranty vs Crucials 3 year warranty.

The ASRock MoBo you recommended was the exact MoBo I was going to go with initially until I saw this CPU/MoBo/SSD combo spring up.

I think I will try and do what was recommended to me and order up this combo, and then when it comes in sell the 2500 for 200.00 and then purchase the 2500K, that will still put me saving 30.00 in the end from the combo.
 
KippKing said:
What PSU would you recommend?
Click to expand...
Corsair TX650, that's a good PSU, would be enough for this build http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020 if that's too expensive than the Corsair CX600 would also be sufficient http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028&Tpk=cx600, I have an OCZ ZS 650W, nice PSU, no problems for me http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341048&Tpk=zs 650w Stick to brands such as XFX, Silverstone, Seasonic, Silverstone, OCZ, Corsair, Antec, just stick to the major brands. Amperage is probably more important than wattage too.

KippKing said:
If something happens to my PSU and it goes bad it can damage my whole system? That being said, isn't it probably best to go ahead and replace it?
Click to expand...
If the PSU fails then it will likely take everything it is connected to out with it yes, and a cheap PSU can suddenly turn into a very expensive PSU when it all goes wrong because as well as buying a new PSU you'd probably also have to buy a new motherboard, hard drive, graphics card etc etc. Just don't buy cheap/generic brand power supplies.

KippKing said:
Is there a way I can test my current PSU to ensure it's ok?
Click to expand...
It should be OK but it may or may not be 80+ Bronze certified if it's an older PSU, and you want 80+ Bronze these days. As you're building a whole new system, you may as well buy a new PSU too. Sell your old one and see if you can get any money back from what you spend on a new one.
 
KippKing said:
Thanks for the input. The reason I am going with the MoBo and SSD that I am is that they are part of a combo deal with my processor and I save 50.00. That being said the Intel SSD is only 5.00 more than the crucial and comes with a 5 year warranty vs Crucials 3 year warranty.

The ASRock MoBo you recommended was the exact MoBo I was going to go with initially until I saw this CPU/MoBo/SSD combo spring up.

I think I will try and do what was recommended to me and order up this combo, and then when it comes in sell the 2500 for 200.00 and then purchase the 2500K, that will still put me saving 30.00 in the end from the combo.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. If you're set on the combo deal, I would just keep the 2500. You'll still be able to overclock it, just not as far. It should do well for 5 years as well, or at least close, and you can always upgrade your cpu down the road - sell and replace or whatever. I wouldn't consider the $30 you would lose out by swapping the 2500 for the 2500K as being worth it, all things considered.
 
vistakid10 said:
If the PSU fails then it will likely take everything it is connected to out with it yes, and a cheap PSU can suddenly turn into a very expensive PSU when it all goes wrong because as well as buying a new PSU you'd probably also have to buy a new motherboard, hard drive, graphics card etc etc. Just don't buy cheap/generic brand power supplies.


It should be OK but it may or may not be 80+ Bronze certified if it's an older PSU, and you want 80+ Bronze these days. As you're building a whole new system, you may as well buy a new PSU too. Sell your old one and see if you can get any money back from what you spend on a new one.
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks so much for the input. I pulled up my old purcahse order on NewEgg and this is my current PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

It says it's 80+ but no mention of bronze...
 
It seems like a pretty decent PSU but I'd probably still for either the CX600 or the TX650 if you want Corsair or another good branded 600-650W PSU. The PSU you've got there is quite old looking at the dates of some of the reviews. Oldest review is from 2007 - that's 5 years ago now.

Anything above 650W is probably overkill by the way. You'd probably be able to get away with 550W but I'd go for 600W just to be on the safe side.
 
That psu is plenty good, shouldn't need to be changed at all for a few more years, they last a really long time, but it will die eventually.
 
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