Building myself a present

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noxarcana23

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Hey guys, this is my first post here so I would like to say reading these forums has been a great help to me in the past. But it is time that I start posting and contributing to the forums.

I am currently going after a promotion at work, which I am pretty sure that I will get. With the extra money that will be coming my way, I have decided to build my third computer. The first two that I build were years ago so I am assuming the build that I came up with so far could use some tweaking. My budget for the build is roughly 1500. What I want from the computer is to be able to play almost any game at full resolution with hardly any hiccups. As well as enough storage for any music and movies. This is what I have so far.

Monitor - ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24" 2ms - $199.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236049

Mother board - ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 - $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo
Case - COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942 - $189.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge - $219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Video card - EVGA SuperClocked 015-P3-1582-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) - $419.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130590

RAM - CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) - $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233143

Optical drive - ASUS 24X DVD Burner - $19.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

SSD (for windows boot up ) - Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F60GB3A-BK 2.5" 60GB - $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233223

HDD (for music, games and movies ) - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s - $139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

Keyboard - Newegg.com - Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Keyboard - $44.99
Mouse - Newegg.com - Logitech G9x Black Two modes scroll USB Wired Laser 5700 dpi Gaming Mouse - $67.29
CPU aftermarket heatsink - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus - $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo


I do have a copy of windows that I can use so I do not have to buy one in this build. So this comes out to $1657.18. If anyone has any recommendations for something that would be better bang for the buck or anything like that, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

-edit added links
 
And I forgot to add that I did not pick out a power supply yet because I was wondering how many watts I should get in one. I do know that Corsair is a reliable brand, but I do not know much about them.
 
Corsair is a good brand, Antec is also good. a 750W PSU should be more than sufficient for this build. I also personally like modular PSU's, so I don't have to hide the extra cables.
A lot of people have bad luck with Asrock, so you might want to shy away... I like MSI myself. (but that a personal thing)

I personally couldn't justify the price for me to buy a 580, but that is a very nice card. You would have no need for SLi in the distant future, much less soon.
 
Good build but swap that P67 out for a Z68 board and get the vanilla eVGA 580 instead.
Nukem, ASRock sells almost as many boards as Gigabyte and Asus now and are earning quite the good reputation. They were junk back in the day but now they are pretty nice. My next board will be an ASRock Xtreme board.

A single 580 will play everything with no hiccups. I have a mimic system and I don't even have to overclock it for no lag.
 
I agree... I was just commenting on the recent rash of Asrock bashing that has been going on. Most of it related to RMA problems. (I think) So it was food for thought. but no worries. The xtreme is a nice board though, just pricey.
 
So for 750W, this is the power supply that i decided on. It is more expensive than I would have liked, but I really do not want to have any issues with the power supply.

[h=1]CORSAIR Professional Series HX750[/h]Newegg.com - CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

And for the video card, I know it is a little expensive as well. But it will be more beneficial to me right now to get a better video card that will last longer rather than having to get a cheaper one that will not do as well now and having to replace it sooner? I guess that is my mentality since its been a while since I built a computer and I just want something that will tear my other system to shreds. It was a amd x2 4200 and a nvidea 7600GT haha.

And not to sound like a complete newb, but what do you mean by getting the vanilla evga instead?

Also I have looked at a dozen z68 motherboards and i cannot seem to find the perfect one for me. I just want one that overclocking will not be a pain in the behind if and when i would like to do it. Also i would like it to have atleast 2 sata III ports (although hoping for 3 so i can eventually have one sdd for windows, one for games and one for media) and possibly the newer USB 3.0's. I know cheaper mobos can act as bottlenecks, but expensive ones.. cost more money ha.

I also can probably get away with a cheap keyboard and mouse for the first couple weeks to cut down the initial price.
 
I made another post about my setup a day and a half ago and for whatever reason, it did not show up.

For the motherboard for this build, I have been doing some research and have come to no clear winner. Every single motherboard that I have looked at that is below the $200 level, they all have reviews of many DOA and other problems. If anyone can recommend me a mobo under the $200 price range, please let me know. The things that I want in a motherboard is the ability to overclock decently, USB 3.0 and SATA III availability. And above all else, I want it to be reliable.

For the case that I was looking into in the original post, I found another one that might be better. It does not have any reviews on newegg but I thought it was worth a look. Here is the link to the item on newegg and also a post to a youtube video of someone reviewing it. If anyone has any comments on the case or any suggestions for the best full tower around $200, please let me know.
Newegg.com - Thermaltake Armor Revo VO200M1W2N Black SECC ATX Full Tower Computer Case - [Review] ThermalTake Armor Revo - YouTube

For the power supply, I have decided that I want Corsair. I've had Corsair in my other builds and never had a problem with them. The two that I have been debating between are a 750W and a 800W corsair. If anyone has any comments or can help me decide between the two, please don't hesitate.
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com - CORSAIR Gaming Series GS800 800W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

I have a question about the RAM. I know that RAM right now is cheap, but for a gaming any anything else that I decide to do with this computer, 16gb is overkill, correct? I could save $50 dollars and get the same RAM but 8gb. Which would be smarter to do since I will be able to update the 8gb of RAM if it ever becomes an issue.

Also, I have been debating on the heat sink for the PSU. I found the A70 also sounds pretty amazing. What would be the ideal cooler for the 2500k that is not water cooling?
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CAFA70 120mm A70 Dual-Fan CPU Cooler

For the 580, I think that I am settled on this one ( Newegg.com - EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card ) But if someone could tell me more about the review that says the display driver stopped responding? To find the review just sort it by helpfulness. It seems that a lot of people loved the card but that review is right at the top.

I am sorry for asking for so much help from you guys here. Its just the fact that I haven't built a computer in a while and now that I have the chance, I want it to be damn near perfect.
 
I should make one comment on Newegg reviews. 99.9% of them are crap and fud. I have seen people post stuff simply to troll or negate the item in question. That being said, anything you order can be DOA. That is just the chance you take with new computer parts. I myself like to get used parts because it is basically guaranteed to work. Just my own thing though. I do love the smell of new electronics though.
For a motherboard I would get this one personally.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269R
If you really need under 200 then this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

Anyways, I can't really comment on a case as I have a weird taste in cases.

For PSU, I would get the HX750. It will be more than enough power for the rig and modular which will help with cable clutter and air flow in the end.

You are right on 16GB being overkill. Unless you do intense photochopping, editing, ect then 8GB is more than plenty. I have never even gone over 6GB myself.

A70 would be good if you want to run the CPU at stock or give it some mild overclocking. I am running under an H50 myself but I put all my clocks to stock because I don't need anymore power right now. IF you don't want to consider the Corsair H series as typical water cooling (because it isn't) then I would say get an H80.

That 580 will be plenty fine. The display driver not responding can be any number of things particular to any ones system. For instance, they could simply have been overclocking to far and they were lucky and the display driver crashed and Windows recovered. They could also be using beta drivers, or old drivers. Not something I would worry about.
 
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