Building new PC, tips?

[Sel94]

Hello everyone, I will be graduating high school soon and I get to build a new PC as a present! Here are the parts I plan to use, any tips are appreciated. I can't go much higher than $1,100, this build costs 1,137. I am upgrading from a Phenom II 810 quad(2.6Ghz), Radeon 5750 PC.

 

CPU: i5 3570k

MoBo: MSI Z77

RAM: 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600

GPU: Radeon 6850

SSD: Samsung 830 64BG (for OS)

HDD: Seagate 1TB

PSU: Corsair 700W

Optical Drive: Sony Drive

WiFi: Rosewell Adapter (I need wireless)

OS: Win 7 64-bit

Case: NZXT Phantom ATX Full

 

That's what I came up with, any tips for something I missed/saving money/getting better parts are welcome. Also I know the Sandy Bridges didn't work 1600 RAM without changing some settings, I'm not sure how it is with the new CPUs/MoBos, so can I get some info on that? Thanks!

Edited May 28, 2012 by Sel94

[blackbelter]

If I were you, I would cross ssd off the list, and get a better graphics card.

 

SSD is nice to have, but not essential in any sense. It shortens the boot up/load time, but that's about all that it can do.

 

If you value the little bit shortening of the boot up/load time more than fps, go get the ssd by all means. I myself value fps more than anything else. If I were on a tight budget, ssd would be the last thing that comes to my mind.

[Sel94]

If I were you, I would cross ssd off the list, and get a better graphics card.

 

SSD is nice to have, but not essential in any sense. It shortens the boot up/load time, but that's about all that it can do.

 

If you value the little bit shortening of the boot up/load time more than fps, go get the ssd by all means. I myself value fps more than anything else. If I were on a tight budget, ssd would be the last thing that comes to my mind.

 

That's a good point, although I would value that faster speeds from the SSD, and it is easy to upgrade a graphics card, which I will probably do the next holiday. And I'm upgrading from a 5750, I don't really have a problem with it but any upgrade will satisfy me.

[Sel94]

Switched MoBo to an MSI Z77. Also, if possible I would like to try an Nvidia card, are there any good ones for the same price as the 6850?

[pacotito]

You could save a little by getting an oem copy of windows. The downside is no support from microsoft and the serial is tied to the motherboard so you can't transfer to another pc.

[Sel94]

Yes I am getting an OEM copy.

[Haukka81]

And take SSD because flight sims like to load lots of terrain data from hard drive so you get less stutter's etc... =)

 

I have one SSD for windows and flight sims =) Other games on normal hard drive.

 

 

-haukka81

 

 

Finland

[Pilotasso]

Keeping the SSD is a good decision IMHO, its just as important as a GFX, except in DCS titles, the CPU becomes the bottleneck first. Speaking of which, you may want to purchase the cheapest CPU you can find between that I7 3770K or the 2600K or the 2700K, because the later has better thermal dissipation and can overclock higher. Take the 3770K if you intend to fill in all memory banks, the 2600K may not overclock as well with all 4 slots taken. This is the 3770's only advantage IMHO.

[Sel94]

My budget's just not high enough to afford an i7 without sacrificing other components. Also I'm pretty sure the i5 ivy bridge I picked should last me a while, it's not that much worse from an i7 right?

[Pilotasso]

ups sorry! I misread the CPU line you posted above. I correct what I said from the 2600K/3770K to the 2500K/3570K.

 

Same line of thought applies :)

[Sel94]

Hey does anyone know if 1600 speed RAM works without OCing on my MoBo? I'v asked and looked around, some say it does and some say it doesn't, so I'd really like to know for sure.

Edited May 29, 2012 by Sel94

[cichlidfan]

Hey does anyone know if 1600 speed RAM works without OCing on my MoBo? I'v asked looked around, some say it does and some say it doesn't, so I'd really like to know for sure.

 

The default settings for the BIOS on the mobo will most likely set the memory to 1366. This can be changed in the BIOS to run the memory at 1600. I would not call it 'overclocking' but some might since it involves changing the default settings.

[Sel94]

Thank you. In that case, would it be best to just get 1333 RAM? Or would be setting it to 1600 be easy, as in do it and never worry about it again?

[hitman]

If you plan on overclocking, youll need the 1600mhz or better.

 

Also you should really get the 2600k instead of the i5 you plan on getting. You look around, the 2600k is actually cheaper. I got mine brand new for 200 bucks, you just got to shop around some.

 

For example:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-i7-2600K-3-4-GHz-Quad-Core-BX80623I72600K-Processor-/170847195457?pt=CPUs&hash=item27c7495141

Edited May 29, 2012 by hitman

[pacotito]

Setting it is fairly easy you may have to adjust the timing as well. Most memory nowadays has an xmp profile than can be loaded in the bios and it sets the frequency and timings to the factory specifications.

 

Edit:Yeah what he said...the sweet spot from a memory article I read once seemed to be low latency 1600 ram. After that the price to performance wasn't worth it. The easiest way is to buy the ram that is the frequency and price you want set it up in the bios and youre good to go.

Edited May 29, 2012 by pacotito

[cichlidfan]

Thank you. In that case, would it be best to just get 1333 RAM? Or would be setting it to 1600 be easy, as in do it and never worry about it again?

 

No and Yes.;)

[EtherealN]

Well, not COMPLETELY "never worry about it again". I mean, if something causes the UEFI to revert to factory configuration, you'd have to do it again. But of course, if that happens, re-setting the RAM is probably the least of your worries since you usually have to have something go really wrong for the mobo to turn all failsafe on you. :)

 

And of course, the memories being 1600MHz memories does mean that they aren't actually overclocked, really. It's just Intel that thinks anything above 1333 should officially be called an "overclock" just because they're anal. It's nothing to worry about, and with where prices are on memory I'd say getting anything slower than 1333 is pretty much a waste; that upgrade costs almost nothing extra...

[cichlidfan]

Well, not COMPLETELY "never worry about it again". I mean, if something causes the UEFI to revert to factory configuration, you'd have to do it again. But of course, if that happens, re-setting the RAM is probably the least of your worries since you usually have to have something go really wrong for the mobo to turn all failsafe on you. :)

 

OK, I neglected to mention 'catastrophe'.:P

[Sel94]

Thanks for all the help guys. One more question, which way do I point the PSU fan? Up into the case or down through the...thing at the bottom?

[blackbelter]

In fact I have a similar question. Which way should I orient the cpu heat sink fans? The heat sink itself is designed as if it should be up-down, so that its rectangular shape goes along the shape of the cpu socket well. But this way the fans suck in air from the narrow space between the fan itself and the graphics card. It might help cooling the graphics card a little, but I don't think it is good for the cpu.

 

On the other hand, if I orient the heat sink front-back, the fan suck in air from the middle of the case, which is fed by the front in-take case fan, which is good. But I always have a hard time aligning the heat sink with the cpu socket.

 

Any advice? Thanks.

[hitman]

You want to make the airflow go where you want it to go. You dont want a fan blowing hot air directly onto your memory or vice versa.

 

You should build a positive pressure case. Ideally you want 2-4 intake fans to blow inside the case, and 2 exhaust fans. If you have a fan on the cpu, aim the direction of airflow directly towards the exhaust fans, while the intake fans blow cold air onto the cpu heatsink and fan. My last computer had a 25cm case fan, 4 120mm intakes, and 2 120mm exhaust fans, as well as memory fans on the dimm modules. If you have enough pins on the mobo or psu, put as many case fans on it as possible, and make 2 of them exhaust. You just have to decide where you want the exhaust to shoot out of.

Edited May 29, 2012 by hitman

[Sel94]

Thanks for all the help guys, couldn't have done it without you! I recently finished, and everything is working great! I was worried for a while, I was finishing the build late at night and I couldn't get it to turn on, I thought something might have been broken. But when I woke up the next day I realized I accidentally put a PCI-e 6+2 connector into the CPU port instead of the 4+4:doh: So I fixed that up and now all the ladies are impressed with me, so thanks. Also, here's a few low quality pictures from my phone so you can see my awesome work.

[hassata]

^is also important for cooling and airflow. Congrats.

[Sel94]

Hey guys good news, money finally came in so now I can get a new graphics card. I got $350, so, from what I'v been looking at, that puts me at about a GTX 570. Can you guys help me out with picking one out? For one thing, I am confused on the reason for the huge price difference on these two cards (ASUS 570 - EVGA 570) I have a PCI-E 3 slot on my MoBo, and space isn't an issue. Also I would prefer having one card, no SLI or anything. So any tips on what I should get would be appreciated, thanks!

 

Edit: I might be getting a *little* more money so going slightly over isn't terrible. But with tax and shipping, it would probably be best to stay at 350.

Edit 2: Also, I need at least two DVI ports.(or VGA, I have adapters)

Edited June 18, 2012 by Sel94

[EtherealN]

I'd say, with that budget and this time, pull an effort to assemble enough cash to get yourself a 670. You add 50 dollars to the pricetag, but get a LOT more performance. Another option is to wait and see where the GTX660 ends up as far as pricetag and performance goes.

 

 

Edit: the reason for the price difference between those cards is the custom cooling solution and custom PCB on the ASUS card.

Edited June 18, 2012 by EtherealN