Building a PC (looking for advices)

[Sirex]

Hello,

my first post here (was a lurker for a little bit). Need your help guys.
I am planning to buy a new PC and have a few questions. PC is mainly for gaming.

I am planning to buy i5-3570k.
I love Asus (also they are SC2 tournamets sponsors ) so i am looking for asus MB. Is it ok to buy P8Z77-V model? Which exactly? I want to overclock i5-3570k, but not too much (not planning to change voltages). Also i will have only 1 GPU. Or maybe there is a better motherboard (maybe not asus) for this CPU?

Also really want and SSD (120GB). I have no idea which one to choose. Can You reccomend?

GPU: GTX670 is too expensive for me, but GTX560 looks too old. Want to wait for GTX660. Till then I will borrow older video card. Is it worth to wait and see what nvidia will do with GTX660?

Sorry for my english and thank you in advance.

[lehtv]

Where are you buying form? If online, please link to a shop you're planning to use.
What's your overall budget?
Can you reuse any parts like drives from your current build? I also take it you already have Windows, monitor, keyboard, mouse etc?
What's your monitor resolution?
Any special needs as far as connectivity goes, e.g. wifi, firewire or whatever?
When are you looking to get it built?

[sverek]

What leht said. Provide more info of your needs for PC. Can't help you without a purpose for a pc.

I'll just randomly post what came in my mind... Just food for thoughts.
tips:
1) are you sure you need i5-3570k?
3450 is more than enough to carry out most of tasks. Not to mention gaming.

2) Pick a 64 / 128Gb SSD for system and frequently used soft and leave data on HDD.

3) No need to narrow mind on nvidia. Radeon has some good cost performance offers, check 7850 / 7870.
I don't see any reasonable cards from nvidia atm without spending lots of cash (560ti was a good call back then).

[Sirex]

Originally Posted by lehtv

Where are you buying form? If online, please link to a shop you're planning to use.
What's your overall budget?
Can you reuse any parts like drives from your current build? I also take it you already have Windows, monitor, keyboard, mouse etc?
What's your monitor resolution?
Any special needs as far as connectivity goes, e.g. wifi, firewire or whatever?
When are you looking to get it built?

I will buy online, but from "noname" (not known wordwide) e-shops in my small country, so You can just write models, i will find them myself. I am planning to use my SyncMaster 2032BW monitor (in the future it will be my second monitor when i will buy 1920x1080 monitor). Also for the start i will use samsung HD502HJ HDD (500 GB), or do you recommend and new HDD? I have Win, keyboard, mouse.
No special need i think (except planning to wach stuff from my pc on TV through LAN).
Lookink to get it built in 1-2 months.

What leht said. Provide more info of your needs for PC. Can't help you without a purpose for a pc.

I'll just randomly post what came in my mind... Just food for thoughts.
tips:
1) are you sure you need i5-3570k?
3450 is more than enough to carry out most of tasks. Not to mention gaming.

2) Pick a 64 / 128Gb SSD for system and frequently used soft and leave data on HDD.

3) No need to narrow mind on nvidia. Radeon has some good cost performance offers, check 7850 / 7870.
I don't see any reasonable cards from nvidia atm without spending lots of cash (560ti was a good call back then).

1. Planning to have this built at least for 4 years.
looking for i5-3570k because as i understand it is a good proccesor (like 2500k) and want also to OC it a little bit.

2. Which 128GB SSDs are the best without spending a lot of money (price/performance)?

3. Will have those cards in mind when i will be ready to buy GPU, thanks

[lehtv]

You can link to the e-shops you plan to use. I'd like to avoid suggesting components that are unavailable or disproportionally expensive. Don't worry about the language, Google will happily translate.

Noted the plans for 1080p. That HDD is good, stick with it. Is your Windows 64bit?

Budget in local currency?

[Sirex]

You can check this eshop: http://www.kilobaitas.lt/Pub/default.aspx
Budget in local currency 2000-3000 LTL (570-860 EUR)
Yes, Windows 64bit. Planning to use 8 GB RAM. If there isn't something You can recommend, post it anyway, maybe that product will be available soon.

[lehtv]

Thx. A pretty good selection of components there. Here's the best bang for buck yet good quality build I could come up with, involving all of the following: intel overclockability, SSD, good 1080p gaming GPU.

CPU i5-3570K 754 lt

Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 105 lt
- will achieve good temps at stock volts

Mobo Asrock Z77 Pro3 312 lt
- sufficient for moderate OC'ing
- single GPU

RAM 2x4GB Crucial Ballistix 1333Mhz 165 lt

GPU MSI 7850 2GB 796 lt
- low power requirements, highly overclockable, 2GB VRAM and great 1080p performance

HDD Reuse.

SSD Samsung 830 64GB 288 lt
- very fast, very reliable, big enough for OS + programs and your current favorite game

DVD Samsung DVDRW 47 lt

PSU Antec HCG-520 260 lt
- high quality Seasonic build with 2x PCIe connectors for any single GPU upgrade you might do in the future (7850 only requires one)
- semi-modular

Case Fractal Design Core 3000 233 lt
- nice allrounder with decent cable management, usb3.0, 1x 120mm + 2x 140mm cooling

= 2960 lt

This maxes out your budget, obviously. It's possible to spend less without impacting performance - e.g. cheaper PSU and case, like Corsair CX500 V2 192 lt and CM Elite 430 142 lt. Or you can drop the SSD altogether and leave that for later. Or forget about CPU overclocking, that'd save you about 200 lt or so.

[sverek]

As always, completely agree with lehtv. Good list.

However...
I still not sure on CPU. I am pretty sure 3450 should do well for 4 years.

If you want to play games on max quality and bigger resolution, it gonna be GPU that will slow you down, not CPU. You'll probably need 1 very strong video card or sli/crossfire to make use of overclocked 3570k.

Going for 3450 means no overclocking, no overclocking means you don't need expensive motherboard. You could save around 500 lt.

I have 2500k and I still see no need to overclock it. If I'd need to play all games on ultra settings I'd need to buy a new video card. Yet, 3450 provides better performance than 2500k on stocks (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html).

I build my brother this build (for reference):
http://www.amazon.co.jp/lm/RH7AM6REW...pdp_lm_title_1

So yeah, unless you building pc for cpu heavy programs like video editing or batching, I don't see reason going for overclockable cpus.

Just my opinion. Good luck!

[lehtv]

If he could save 500 lt with non-overclockable components that'd be very awesome and definitely worth it. I'm just not sure if it'll actually save that much - can you list the parts sverek?

[sverek]

I jumped a gun on 500 lt. Should of checked his store 1st. Was comparing prices on my local stores.

Kinda weird they don't list 3450 in his store, it's around 70% price of 3570k.
On his store Asrock B75 is around 100 lt cheaper than Z77.

Since his CPU won't need any stronger cooler, stock cooler will do.
Thats 105 lt off.

Since he won't need power for overclock, Corsair CX430W would be enough.
around 80 lt off. (did approximate calculation on http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine - 320W)

So we can save around 350lt. Maybe more if there would be crucial 64 SSD on his store.

Not sure if it would be worth it. Hopefully it will expand some options.

[Sirex]

Lets say i can spend more than 3000lt or i won't buy video card at first (really thanks for AMD offers, i will have them in mind, but as i wrote, i really want to wait and see what nvidia will do with gtx660. Yes, i am "stupid" nvidia fan ).

Asrock mobo is really cheaper (312lt), but isn't it worth to buy Asus P8Z77-V LK (458lt)? Maybe in the late future i will try SLI/Crossfire. Also as i understand Intel® Smart Response Technology is a great thing and also Virtu MVP.

I can get and 3450 CPU, but really want to try and overclocking a little. Also people talk about 3570k a lot more, so i want to stick with 3570k (then maybe i can be with this PC even more than 4-5 years and still enjoy )

RAM: how about Corsair 1600 MHz or maybe Corsair 1866 MHz (i don't know if i can use 1866 MHz RAMs, can you tell me?)?

SSD: i heard that it is good to left at least ~20% free space on SSD thats why i want 120GB. Also Windows 8 can eat a lot of space. Intel SSDs are good, right? They cost a lot, but maybe they worth the cost? What do you think about corsair SSD? Actually i never thought to buy samsung ssd till you offered it to me..

DVD: will use my old one.

PSU: if i plan to have sli in the future, maybe i have to take now and PSU with more power. Is it good (292 Lt)?

Case: I like your case (233lt), but i heard nothing about this brand. Also i thought cases for 150-180lt are also good. You chose this case randomly or do you really recommend it? What do you think about this case?

Thank you both for your answers, and sorry that i bother with so many questions

EDIT: lehtv, in other thread i saw u recommend Crucial M4 SSD and Z77 Extreme4 motherboard. Maybe it is the way to go and for me? But of course i really want to get all answers.

[lehtv]

Originally Posted by Sirex

Lets say i can spend more than 3000lt or i won't buy video card at first (really thanks for AMD offers, i will have them in mind, but as i wrote, i really want to wait and see what nvidia will do with gtx660. Yes, i am "stupid" nvidia fan ).

GTX 660 is probably going to be an awesome card worth waiting for. The only downside compared to 7850 is that it's only going to be equipped with 1.5GB of VRAM.

Asrock mobo is really cheaper (312lt), but isn't it worth to buy Asus P8Z77-V LK (458lt)? Maybe in the late future i will try SLI/Crossfire. Also as i understand Intel® Smart Response Technology is a great thing and also Virtu MVP.

The only upside of the Asus P8Z77-V LK compared to Asrock Pro 3 is the SLI/Crossfire support. Intel SRT is enabled on all Z77 boards.

You're very, very unlikely to ever go SLI, so only consider it if you're willing to increase your budget. Don't make any tradeoffs for it. If you want a SLI board, the Z77 LK is fine.

RAM: how about Corsair 1600 MHz or maybe Corsair 1866 MHz (i don't know if i can use 1866 MHz RAMs, can you tell me?)?

Yes, any RAM up to 2400MHz will work on the Pro3 and Z77 LK. But high speed RAM isn't worth paying for, the 1333Mhz kit I linked offers you the best bang for buck.

SSD: i heard that it is good to left at least ~20% free space on SSD thats why i want 120GB.

OK, but you're really pushing the budget here. I would recommend 128GB as well with a bigger budget. But 64GB will easily fit your OS, programs and whatnot with more than 20% free space.

Intel SSDs are good, right? They cost a lot, but maybe they worth the cost? What do you think about corsair SSD? Actually i never thought to buy samsung ssd till you offered it to me..

Samsung 830 is one of the best consumer SSD's on the market. Very fast and reliable, and not too pricey. *edited out misinformation :<*

PSU: if i plan to have sli in the future, maybe i have to take now and PSU with more power. Is it good (292 Lt)?

Realistially, you will plan for SLI and never follow through with that. For the vast majority the better idea is to save your cash for a better single GPU upgrade.

TX650 is a decent dual GPU PSU.

Case: I like your case (233lt), but i heard nothing about this brand. Also i thought cases for 150-180lt are also good. You chose this case randomly or do you really recommend it? What do you think about this case?

I personally own a Fractal Design R3 case, I like their products and the Core 3000 is good bang for buck. The case you linked is also nice.

Thank you both for your answers, and sorry that i bother with so many questions

Nah, that's what I'm here for

[INSTG8R]

All of the things you chose are fine. The Corsair 1600 is good RAM(I have it)going for anything faster you won't really see big gains. Good PSU and a good case too.

[Sirex]

Just curiuos, what that O.C. means (DDR3 2400(O.C.)/2200(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/2000(O.C.)/1866(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600/1333 MHz)? That i need to do something additional if i want to use 1866 MHz RAM?

(EDIT: lehtv, in other thread i saw u recommend Crucial M4 SSD and Z77 Extreme4 motherboard. Maybe it is the way to go and for me? But of course i really want to get all answers.)

So samsung SSD will be better than Crucial m4, and i shouldn't even look at corsair, OCZ SSDs?
And if i won't use SLI there isn't any difference between Z77 Extreme4 or P8Z77-V LK and i can just stick with your recommended Z77 Pro3? I thought Asus boards are better..

Is it not better to buy PSU with more power that PSU could work not on it's full power?

Maybe i am asking similar questions, but just want to be sure.

[INSTG8R]

The O.C. means overclock. Sandybridge officially supports 1333 RAM and Ivybridge supports 1600 RAM. There really isn't alot to be gained past 1600 it is the "sweet spot" As for needing to do something extra most all RAM these days have an XMP profile which is set to it's overclocked speed. Simply going into the BIOS and selecting it will set it to it's rated speeds.

[Sir Galahad]

There is only one choice for 120GB SSDs in my opinion, and that's the Corsair Force GT.
I can't recommend it enough. One of the best you can buy.

[lehtv]

Originally Posted by Sirex

lehtv, in other thread i saw u recommend Crucial M4 SSD and Z77 Extreme4 motherboard. Maybe it is the way to go and for me? But of course i really want to get all answers.

I probably recommended the Z77 Extreme4 to someone with a bigger budget than yours.

Crucial M4 usually costs less than Samsung 830, hence why I often recommend it to others. But at in your shop only the M4 256gb is available.

So samsung SSD will be better than Crucial m4, and i shouldn't even look at corsair, OCZ SSDs?

Correct

And if i won't use SLI there isn't any difference between Z77 Extreme4 or P8Z77-V LK and i can just stick with your recommended Z77 Pro3? I thought Asus boards are better..

Yeah if you don't use SLI, the Pro3 is good. Asrock is very good these days, it's not worth paying a 50% premium for an Asus. But the Asus board is a good choice for SLI, would rather get that than Extreme4 at those prices (usually Extreme4 costs less, not in this case).

Is it not better to buy PSU with more power that PSU could work not on it's full power?

The PSU I recommended will not even be working at half capacity in a system like yours. Your system will use about 200 watts at full system load - 250W with everything overclocked (stock volts). In fact it will also handle stock 7850 Crossfire / GTX 660 SLI if needed

[Sirex]

About Mobo: maybe i should get Z77 pro4 instead of pro3 (60lt difference)? As i see pro4 have DVI output and more SATA 3 connectors (planning to have 1 SSD and 2 HDDs). In case i will decide to be only with iGPU for a little bit (my old card is almost broken, monitor with DVI connector).
Also, maybe overcklocking will be a little bit better with pro4?

When i will have 2 monitors my main monitor will be connected to GPU and other monitor to iGPU. Am i thinking correctly? Or should i use both monitors on GPU?

All in all, looks like i've decided what to buy. Thank You for showing me asrock, samsung ssd and thanks for all recommendations!

[ATR]

regarding monitors - both monitors will be plugged into the gpu - as it overrides the onboard intel video.

As regard to Mobo - I wouldn't go asrock. - They are the cheapest for a reason. they have the worst failure rate out of all boards. you should be looking at gigabyte or asus for Mobo's as they are far better. But Asus make the best motherboards.

SSD's - go either Intel, Crucial or Samsung - all have the highest reliability. Stay away from OCZ.

ram - id suggest gskill ram - strangely enough they seem to have a higher chance of doa than the other brands, though if you get a good set they are the best.

[Sirex]

Originally Posted by ATR

regarding monitors - both monitors will be plugged into the gpu - as it overrides the onboard intel video.

As regard to Mobo - I wouldn't go asrock. - They are the cheapest for a reason. they have the worst failure rate out of all boards. you should be looking at gigabyte or asus for Mobo's as they are far better. But Asus make the best motherboards.

SSD's - go either Intel, Crucial or Samsung - all have the highest reliability. Stay away from OCZ.

ram - id suggest gskill ram - strangely enough they seem to have a higher chance of doa than the other brands, though if you get a good set they are the best.

Thanks for your opinion, will have that in mind. I will go for samsung hdd, corsair rams, but now you messed my head with mobo..

[lehtv]

Originally Posted by ATR

regarding monitors - both monitors will be plugged into the gpu - as it overrides the onboard intel video.

Onboard video can be used simultaneously with discrete video.

As regard to Mobo - I wouldn't go asrock. - They are the cheapest for a reason. they have the worst failure rate out of all boards. you should be looking at gigabyte or asus for Mobo's as they are far better. But Asus make the best motherboards.

According to what data? That's a pretty bold claim. I don't know how reliable this article is but it puts Asrock on first place in return rate at 1.9% and Asus on last place at 2.66%.

ram - id suggest gskill ram - strangely enough they seem to have a higher chance of doa than the other brands

Again according to what data?

though if you get a good set they are the best.

Can you elaborate? If a set works at a particular speed and timings, it makes no difference what brand it is

[INSTG8R]

Thanks lehtv!

[ATR]

According to what data? That's a pretty bold claim. I don't know how reliable this article is but it puts Asrock on first place in return rate at 1.9% and Asus on last place at 2.66%.

According to return rate % where I work, and the knowledge of building computers there - pretty much all the boards that I have processed for warranty as doa have been Asrock boards.

Again according to what data?

Again through return rates and personal experience building PC's where I work.

Can you elaborate? If a set works at a particular speed and timings, it makes no difference what brand it is

Stability - ram no matter the speed and timings are quite unstable. especially xmp ram as it is essentially overclocking ram (Yes they are tested at the overclock as working fine) but again anything overclocked creates more instability to what it originally had.

If you want the best reliabilty ram go kingston - everyone knows they have the most reliable ram with one of the lowest rate of returns, but you pay a bit more for them. Gskill are cheaper option which offer similar reliabilty - but have a greater chance of being unstable, but as I said If you get a good set they are really really good and stable.

I only know and work with kingston, gskill and corsair ram here as the majority of PC retailers in Australia only stock these 3 brands, I know of mushkin and team/elite or something but have no working knowledge of those kits.

[lehtv]

Originally Posted by ATR

According to return rate % where I work, and the knowledge of building computers there - pretty much all the boards that I have processed for warranty as doa have been Asrock boards.

How well does Asrock sell compared to other brands?

[sverek]

Originally Posted by ATR

As regard to Mobo - I wouldn't go asrock. - They are the cheapest for a reason. they have the worst failure rate out of all boards. you should be looking at gigabyte or asus for Mobo's as they are far better. But Asus make the best motherboards.

I had 2 MSI motherboards, both did black screen on me. Spent week reviving, saved only one.
Should I start telling not to buy MSI mobos?

I bought my bro cheapest 775 asrock 4 years ago, yet it does well nowadays.

I am sorry for you bad luck with ASrock.