Building my first computer.

[Smashisleet]

Hello All,

I just signed up to the forums and I am hoping to learn a few things, and share my knowledge as well.

I'm going to start building my first computer. I am looking to have a decent gaming machine, but nothing super expensive. I did some research and started to build my own computer piece by piece.

Here is my current list.

Intel Core i3-2120 Processor - $109.99

Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 - $119.99

Cooler Master HAF 912 Case - $59.99

GeForce GTX 460 Video Card - $139.99

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB Hard Drive - $69.99

Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer - $17.99

G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 Ram - $41.99

Cooler Master 500W ATX12V Psu - $44.99

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Cooler - $19.99

Are these parts all compatable? Will they all fit in the case I have decided on?

I'm just looking for some feedback, to prevent any future mishaps.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[SmithWick]

When i built my first machine I was told to make sure your MoBo syncs well with your cpu and ram.
Check out this sweet website that i use often:
tomshardware.com
cpubenchmark.net

 

[tj_extreme]

Hello All,

I just signed up to the forums and I am hoping to learn a few things, and share my knowledge as well.

I'm going to start building my first computer. I am looking to have a decent gaming machine, but nothing super expensive. I did some research and started to build my own computer piece by piece.

Here is my current list.

Intel Core i3-2120 Processor - $109.99

Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 - $119.99

Cooler Master HAF 912 Case - $59.99

GeForce GTX 460 Video Card - $139.99

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB Hard Drive - $69.99

Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer - $17.99

G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 Ram - $41.99

Cooler Master 500W ATX12V Psu - $44.99

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Cooler - $19.99

Are these parts all compatable? Will they all fit in the case I have decided on?

I'm just looking for some feedback, to prevent any future mishaps.

Thanks in advance for the help!

It's all good, but two suggestions:

A faster hard drive, or an SSD along with that if you have the funds. The performance boost with an SSD is totally worth the cost.

GPU wise. The 460 was a GREAT card. I loved mine. But that was 2 years ago; it's becoming a bit dated. I'd suggest at least a 560ti.

Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1460-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Also, Welcome to TF!

 

[Lionux]

As far as the processor goes you might want to rethink your choice. The i3's are known to get very hot and there are certainly some better deals out there. As for processing power for a few bucks more (30-50) you can get more power and less heat for barely any more money.

 

[Smashisleet]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm going to go looking for a different processor. What about a i5-2500?

Also, thanks for the advice on the video card. I'll definitely check that one out.

 

[PP Mguire]

i5 2500k is great, but no the SB i3 CPUs are great little dual cores. I've never heard of them being hot.

 

[tj_extreme]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm going to go looking for a different processor. What about a i5-2500?

Also, thanks for the advice on the video card. I'll definitely check that one out.

I don't think you'll need a 2500, but if you went with one get the 2500k for a few bucks more so you can OC it. And no, the Sandy i3's were great. Outperformed AMD quads in some cases. They didn't get hot, either.