$1200 Gaming Computer that needs tweaking (List Provided)

[Fayt19]

Hello, I just got my money from my deployment and its time to finally build a computer.

Goals for the Gaming PC:

- I want the computers foundation to last YEARS so that the ONLY thing I have to ever upgrade is the Video card every year.
- Probably will never SLI/Crossfire
- Overclock like a BEAST
- Air cool for now with a case that has very good future water cooling capabilities
- <$1200 Maybe tweak it down to $1000


What I have that will move onward to the future computer:

- 500GB HDD
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- 24" Monitor
- Cousin is giving me a Hyper 212+ and a copy of Windows 7 64bit (Not sure which one)

Heres the build I have conjured:

Case - NZXT Switch 810 $169.99
PSU - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 $109.99
Motherboard - ASRock Z77 Extreme4 $124.99
CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K $219.99
RAM - G.SKILL Ripjaws 16GB DDR3 1600 $94.99
Videocard - EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti $244.99
SSD - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB $114.99
Thermal Paste - Arctic Cooling MX-4 $9.99

Total - $1089.92 Shipped

Notes:

Case - I spent way too many hours researching computer cases and the NZXT Switch 810 seems to be the best one imo. So in the tweaking process id like to keep the case if possible.
PSU - 750W is most likely overkill as I will probably never SLI/Crossfire. I will most likely sell w/e card I have at the time and buy a new one instead of trying to SLI 2 cards
Motherboard - I dont know much about. Researching just said Z68 and Z77 are good boards.
CPU - From my research it looked like Sandy Bridge overclocks better than Ivy Bridge I dont know how true that is. I was maybe thinking about the 2600k/2700k.
RAM - 16GB cause why not? Actually I was going to get 8GB then maybe up to 16GB later down the road but reviews show that if you try to pair different RAM together (IE. 2 different packages of the SAME), you get problems
Videocard - 560 TI seems like a good GPU for the price
SSD - I dont know anything about SSD other than reviews says Crucial is the best and SSDs are FAST
Thermal Paste - I have some already but its some off cheap arctic silver (Not arctic silver 5) kind

So yeah sorry for all the details. I didnt want to just give a budget and have you guys think of a build on your own, as im sure that gets old. I tried to make this thread as pleasing on the eyes as possible, so i hope I did a good job at it.

~Thanks in advance~

 

[GhOsT1321]

If this is for gaming and CPU intensive programs like video rengering, CAD programs, and the such, drop the 2700k for a 2500k.
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K

Also, replace the SSD with an OCZ Vertex 4, it's faster, has a longer warranty, should last longer, and only costs $5 more.
Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-128G 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

[Fayt19]

If this is for gaming and CPU intensive programs like video rengering, CAD programs, and the such, drop the 2700k for a 2500k.
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K

Also, replace the SSD with an OCZ Vertex 4, it's faster, has a longer warranty, should last longer, and only costs $5 more.
Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-128G 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Yes the computer will be used for pretty much Gaming only. I do want to overclock a lot though. Whats the benefit from going with the 2500k vs the 2600k/2700k? Nice catch on the SSD

 

[GhOsT1321]

The advantage is that it cheaper with very little loss in performance versus the 2600k/2700k. Hyperthreading doesn't benefit games much, but if you have a program that can use as many cores that you throw at it, then it helps.

 

[jasonalwaysready]

get this power supply, 650 W which is still more than you need, and its modular for same price of $5 cheaper after MIR.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650M 650W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Semi Modular High Performance Power Supply

you dont need 16Gb of RAM. get 8 Gb at 1600 speed. Running multiple things, the most ive gotten to is about 6.5 Gb of Ram used, and im not sure how much of that is the program cache file.

apparently asrock motherboards have been improving, but they havent always been the best. there are a few people on this board who say they are fine to use, moreso on the z77. otherwise, i would shoot for something by ASUS in the same price range.

use the remaining money to get a better video card, because for your budget, you should be doing a lot better. saving $50 on less ram and $20 more in the budget (or just the savings in ram after MIR), you can get a 7870

Newegg.com - XFX Double D FX-787A-CDFC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

 

[PP Mguire]

Actually, I think you should leave your PC the way you had it selected. A higher watt PSU will help if you plan on upgrading your GPU every year. A 560ti paired with a 2500k overclocked will be beast enough for years to come (hence my rig), and 16GB of RAM will allow for some smaller games to be placed in RAMDisk for extra speed if you like. I agree with Jason if you decide not to stick with those, as the 7870 is a nice card.

I am one of the people who say ASRock is fine, they are in the top 3 sold along with Asus and Gigabyte. The quality has improved greatly since they moved from Asus.

 

[Fayt19]

I was thinking about getting the Corsair 650W modular PSU for the same price but I figured the 750W is the same and the case I have selected is gigantic and from what I have read, has lots of space to hide whatever cords I don't use.

I would downgrade to 8GB of RAM but like I said, I'm afraid if I try to buy another 8gb kit in the future, it won't work with the kit I buy now. I don't know of that's a DDR3 or a Ripjaws problem but I guess it's very common. Gskill even commented on how each kit isn't programmed to work with other kits and it's a risk you take of you go that route.

As far as the Videocard goes, right now I have a 7800GTX and it's terrible! I think the 560 TI might be good enough for me at least till FEB when tax time comes around.

 

[PP Mguire]

I was thinking about getting the Corsair 650W modular PSU for the same price but I figured the 750W is the same and the case I have selected is gigantic and from what I have read, has lots of space to hide whatever cords I don't use.

I would downgrade to 8GB of RAM but like I said, I'm afraid if I try to buy another 8gb kit in the future, it won't work with the kit I buy now. I don't know of that's a DDR3 or a Ripjaws problem but I guess it's very common. Gskill even commented on how each kit isn't programmed to work with other kits and it's a risk you take of you go that route.

As far as the Videocard goes, right now I have a 7800GTX and it's terrible! I think the 560 TI might be good enough for me at least till FEB when tax time comes around.

Yes that case is fantastic. It might be my next case as well.

Problems mixing RAM? No sir. DDR2 had problems mixing RAM due to the timings being set in auto wouldn't always work. I've never heard of DDR3 (or Ripjaws, I have those) having a problem being mixed. I have 2 Ripjaw kits making 8GB myself.

7800GTX was a fantastic card back in 2005, but the 560ti you will see is miles ahead of that and even the 8800GT. You wont be disappointed with it.

 

[jasonalwaysready]

by the time you really want/need to upgrade again, you will want to do the entire computer; and it will be half of what this one cost (inflation adjusted.) I really wouldnt worry about components future compatibility. a case on the other hand... a good one can last several builds.

 

[Fayt19]

Yeah the build in my Sig is LONG gone...and theres not edit button to change it so i dont know what to do about that. I sold that computer a long time ago due to Wife aggro.

Now I currently have:

E6600
500GB HDD
2 GB DDR2 800
7800GTX

As far as the DDR3 Ripjaws, just read the reviews on newegg. There is a lot of people complaining about that issue. The manufacturer actually comments on some of them stating that each kit is only made to worth with the RAM inside each kit.