Hardware My First Build Suggestions

FireGrey

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This is my first time building a PC, My absolute maximum limit is $1800.


ASRock X79 Extreme6 Motherboard $299.00
Intel Core i7 3820 $289.00
Gigabyte Radeon HD7850 2GB OC $269.00
CoolerMaster Silencio 550 $89.00
G.Skill Ripjaws Z F3-14900CL9Q-16GBZL 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 $125.00
Intel RTS2011LC Liquid Cooling System $85.00
CoolerMaster GX 750W PSU $105.00
TP-Link TL-WN881ND Wireless N PCI Express Adapter $22.00
Corsair Force Series 3 60GB SSD $85.00
Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001 $115.00
LG CH12LS28 12X BD-R Blu-ray DVD Combo Drive $55.00
LG E2351VR 23in LED Widescreen Monitor $155.00
Premium Anti-Static Wrist Strap $6.00
HDMI v1.3 Male to Male Cable 1.8m $6.00
SUB TOTAL: ​ $1,705.00


I'm going to use this for gaming, for things such as minecraft (with shader mod), Black Ops II and random steam games that i seem interested in such as Assassin's Creed.
Also for Video Editing and Programming.
My main concern though is the water cooling.
I'm really set in the case but it cant fit a large heat sink and i want to keep my computer quiet and cool.
I'm not very confident in having liquid pump through my computer 24/7
Can anyone make some suggestions/improvements.
 

Lanlan

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All-in-all, it's pretty much overkill. You don't need an i7 for gaming. Just get the i5 3550 or something. You can probably save on RAM by getting 1333 mhz sticks, the only processors that really benefit from faster ram (frequency-wise) are AMD's APUs. You can save on the processor and motherboard by going the i5 route, and use the money you save to get a better card. A good i5 is more than enough for playing games, and games benefit more from a better card, not as much from a better cpu.
 
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FireGrey

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All-in-all, it's pretty much overkill. You don't need an i7 for gaming. Just get the i5 3550 or something. You can probably save on RAM by getting 1333 mhz sticks, the only processors that really benefit from faster ram (frequency-wise) are AMD's APUs. You can save on the processor and motherboard by going the i5 route, and use the money you save to get a better card. A good i5 is more than enough for playing games, and games benefit more from a better card, not as much from a better cpu.
I was kinda hoping for overkill so it can last a long time.
I've been thinking that $269 is a bit low for a GPU so I'm going to try and make a way to squeeze a better graphics into my budget.
As for downgrading my CPU, it won't be too much of a help for a better gpu as it saves about $60.
 

lenselijer

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Motherboard: Why the ASRock motherboard? Better get Asus or MSI.
processor: i5 3570k
video: Get the GTX670, much better
16GB ram is overkill, better get 8GB, 2x4gb corsair is good
Liquid cooling? I wouldn't do it, get a big tower air cooler, like the gelid tranquilo rev2
Power supply: Get a Seasonic one, much better quality.
 

Lanlan

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I don't know much about different brands and such, but I think an overclockable i5 would do you better in the long run than an i7. Also for a tower cooler, I recommend either of the Cooler Master Hyper 212s. Although I am adamant about the i5, it's pretty much futureproof for the time being. The price/performance ratio on the i5 is much better than the i7. You pay more for very little gain
 

Screlvis

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This is my first time building a PC, My absolute maximum limit is $1800.


ASRock X79 Extreme6 Motherboard $299.00
Intel Core i7 3820 $289.00
Gigabyte Radeon HD7850 2GB OC $269.00
CoolerMaster Silencio 550 $89.00
G.Skill Ripjaws Z F3-14900CL9Q-16GBZL 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 $125.00
Intel RTS2011LC Liquid Cooling System $85.00
CoolerMaster GX 750W PSU $105.00
TP-Link TL-WN881ND Wireless N PCI Express Adapter $22.00
Corsair Force Series 3 60GB SSD $85.00
Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001 $115.00
LG CH12LS28 12X BD-R Blu-ray DVD Combo Drive $55.00
LG E2351VR 23in LED Widescreen Monitor $155.00
Premium Anti-Static Wrist Strap $6.00
HDMI v1.3 Male to Male Cable 1.8m $6.00
SUB TOTAL: ​ $1,705.00


I'm going to use this for gaming, for things such as minecraft (with shader mod), Black Ops II and random steam games that i seem interested in such as Assassin's Creed.
Also for Video Editing and Programming.
My main concern though is the water cooling.
I'm really set in the case but it cant fit a large heat sink and i want to keep my computer quiet and cool.
I'm not very confident in having liquid pump through my computer 24/7
Can anyone make some suggestions/improvements.


Intel Core i5 3570K 239.00
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 Motherboard 189.00
Palit GeForce GTX 670 2GB 439.00
G.Skill Ares F3-1600C10D-16GAO 16GB (2x8GB) 109.00
Noctua NH-C12P SE14 75.00
Samsung 830 Series 128GB SSD Retail Box 129.00


I kept everything else the same as you had it and the total was $1733
 

narutopet112

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This is my first time building a PC, My absolute maximum limit is $1800.


ASRock X79 Extreme6 Motherboard $299.00
Intel Core i7 3820 $289.00
Gigabyte Radeon HD7850 2GB OC $269.00
CoolerMaster Silencio 550 $89.00
G.Skill Ripjaws Z F3-14900CL9Q-16GBZL 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 $125.00
Intel RTS2011LC Liquid Cooling System $85.00
CoolerMaster GX 750W PSU $105.00
TP-Link TL-WN881ND Wireless N PCI Express Adapter $22.00
Corsair Force Series 3 60GB SSD $85.00
Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001 $115.00
LG CH12LS28 12X BD-R Blu-ray DVD Combo Drive $55.00
LG E2351VR 23in LED Widescreen Monitor $155.00
Premium Anti-Static Wrist Strap $6.00
HDMI v1.3 Male to Male Cable 1.8m $6.00
SUB TOTAL: ​ $1,705.00


I'm going to use this for gaming, for things such as minecraft (with shader mod), Black Ops II and random steam games that i seem interested in such as Assassin's Creed.
Also for Video Editing and Programming.
My main concern though is the water cooling.
I'm really set in the case but it cant fit a large heat sink and i want to keep my computer quiet and cool.
I'm not very confident in having liquid pump through my computer 24/7
Can anyone make some suggestions/improvements.
You are quite rich buddy :)
 

Originality

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You are quite rich buddy :)
It pales in comparison to the system my brother wants built for him by new years. He's got an unlimited budget (he's been saving up from his job) and I'm the one picking the parts. I'm sure the regulars to these forums can guess what that means.

Back to the topic.
The OP needs are video editing, moderate gaming and programming (not a factor since a 12 year old laptop can program just fine).
This translates to mid-tier graphics and CPU. He doesn't need more, at least not just yet.

Before I list parts, let me just say this. You do not need liquid cooling. You do not need Core i7. You also don't need overclocking. You don't even need a SSD, but they're coming down in price and I can testify as to what a difference it makes for loading times.

CPU: Core i5-3550 or 3570 ($4 extra for 0.1Ghz faster).
Motherboard: Asus Maximus V Gene. It's a mATX motherboard, so it'll have less expansion ports than others, but it's a high standard motherboard. I've got the Maximus IV Gene (for Sandy Bridge) and it's never let me down (not like Asrock in the past).
RAM: Any brand, 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz RAM. Ivy Bridge can't use more than 1600Mhz, so stick to that. RAM is cheap, so I've got Corsair XMS3.
Graphics: GTX 560 Ti (HD 6870) or higher. I'd go with a GTX 670. You don't really need more since you're not doing 3D modelling, animation and rendering. Video editing involves some rendering, but with that RAM and graphics RAM is more important than raw processing power.
Case: I'd go with Antec xx Hundred series. I've got the 1200, my friend a 900, and others on the forum went with Antec 100. They've got great cooling and plenty of space inside. The CoolerMaster you picked is alright, but their cooling is far less adequate.
Cooling: Go with an Arctic Freezer i30. Closed loop water cooling is nice (I've tried the Antec Kuhler and Corsair H60) but they only work if your case has good enough cooling. Also many cases aren't designed for liquid cooling so your motherboard chipset may not get the cooling it needs without a real heatsink fan.
SSD: Get Samsung 830. They've recently had a price crash and they're currently the fastest and most reliable, so they're simply the best to get.
HDD: You can go with Seagate 2TB (since CPC magazine recently recommended them) but I don't trust them yet after seeing so many Seagate drives die. I'd suggest a 2-3TB Western Digital Caviar Green instead.
DVD: BluRay... up to you.

Extras: anti-static strap, monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc... all up to you. All I will say is that you're over-paying on the HDMI cable - you can get them from less than $2.

Did I forget anything?
 
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FireGrey

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Ok I've cut the price of it by quite a bit with all of your suggestions.


ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE Motherboard $309.00
Intel Core i5 3570K $239.00
Gigabyte Radeon HD7850 2GB OC $269.00
CoolerMaster CM 690 II Advanced with Window USB3.0 $119.00
G.Skill Ripjaws Z F3-14900CL9Q-16GBZL 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 $125.00
CoolerMaster GX 750W PSU $105.00
Corsair Force Series 3 60GB SSD $85.00
Western Digital WD Green 2TB WD20EARX $115.00
LG CH12LS28 12X BD-R Blu-ray DVD Combo Drive $55.00
LG E2351VR 23in LED Widescreen Monitor $155.00
Premium Anti-Static Wrist Strap $6.00
HDMI v1.3 Male to Male Cable 1.8m $6.00
SUB TOTAL: $1,588.00


It occured to me that I need to buy Windows 7 so that adds another $100 on to it.
In 2-3 years i'm going to grab another HD 7850/7870 so I can crossfire them for better performance.
I changed the case to a nice looking one with 10 fans and plenty of room.
Shipping is horrible :( $113 for 3-5 days delivery.
So i've pretty much gone past my budget right there.
 

Chhotu uttam

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That PC looks complete now :D .
Though I'll suggest some alternatives here.
Mobo:- Since you're spending $300+ on it,I'd suggest go with ASUS Maximus V FORMULA(ROG). The ROG mobos provide various options to overclock , so you should take at it.Also pretty good for liquid cooling
http://www.amazon.co...ximus+v+extreme
PSU:- The PSU is good,but looking at reviews the Corsair 750TX is a better alternative.
And Antec cases are really great.
Don't know if you're really going to use 16gb of RAM or what,but its up to you.

Rest all looks good.
 

Elrinth

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16 GB is not overkill. Whoever says this doesn't use computers very much. In order to save your hdd lifetime you'll want to turn off swap-memory in Windows (assuming u use windows).
In order to never pass the threshold of 8GB mem, better get 16 GB else you'll have a computer which locks up / reboots whenever u pass 8 GB. It's quite easy to pass once u start working with large pictures, movies, 3d modelling, programming, web development, music.
In my case, music broke the threshold quite fast for me. Some idiot said to me the same: "You only need 8 GB mem".
Loading two instances of Renoise (the music program I use) with two vst-filled songs broke the 8 GB barrier. I use two instances of it when I copy patterns between songs.

So, definatly get 16 GB ram if u intend to make sure your HDDs live. Ofc you'll want a SSD for main disk and perhaps another for specific games like Battlefield 3.

Oh and do I need to mention that RAM is pretty cheap atm?
 

FireGrey

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That PC looks complete now :D .
Though I'll suggest some alternatives here.
Mobo:- Since you're spending $300+ on it,I'd suggest go with ASUS Maximus V FORMULA(ROG). The ROG mobos provide various options to overclock , so you should take at it.Also pretty good for liquid cooling
http://www.amazon.co...ximus+v+extreme
PSU:- The PSU is good,but looking at reviews the Corsair 750TX is a better alternative.
And Antec cases are really great.
Don't know if you're really going to use 16gb of RAM or what,but its up to you.

Rest all looks good.
I changed my Board as it's a bit pricey and I don't want to spend too much on this thing.


ASUS P8Z77-V Motherboard $205.00


The price is now $1,484.00
I mostly chose the case cause of it's appealing design and the fact it has USB 3.0 at the front
I won't have to worry about overheating cause of the 10 fan slots (It comes with 4-5 fans i believe)
I also changed the RAM


Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M4X1600C9 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 $125.00



16 GB is not overkill. Whoever says this doesn't use computers very much. In order to save your hdd lifetime you'll want to turn off swap-memory in Windows (assuming u use windows).
In order to never pass the threshold of 8GB mem, better get 16 GB else you'll have a computer which locks up / reboots whenever u pass 8 GB. It's quite easy to pass once u start working with large pictures, movies, 3d modelling, programming, web development, music.
In my case, music broke the threshold quite fast for me. Some idiot said to me the same: "You only need 8 GB mem".
Loading two instances of Renoise (the music program I use) with two vst-filled songs broke the 8 GB barrier. I use two instances of it when I copy patterns between songs.

So, definatly get 16 GB ram if u intend to make sure your HDDs live. Ofc you'll want a SSD for main disk and perhaps another for specific games like Battlefield 3.

Oh and do I need to mention that RAM is pretty cheap atm?
Yes I have 16GB of RAM cause it's only $50 difference and guarantees that I will never run out of RAM in my computers lifetime.
My friend has often used around 8GB just by playing minecraft and hosting a minecraft server for 3 people at the same time.

My PC build is starting to look better.
Sadly It will be a couple months until i can build this thing.

Also, would Windows 7 be worth actually buying?
It would take a while for a windows 8 crack and I want to get that once all the drivers are working on it so it will be $100 for windows 7 + $40 upgrade to windows 8
EDIT: I have a product key on my laptop so I'm just going to download the OEM install torrent, burn it to a disk, uninstall windows 7 on my laptop and use that key on the laptop and disc i burnt to get a legit copy of windows on my built PC, then I will wait for windows 8 and upgrade to that.
As for my laptop, I'm giving that to my sister but keeping windows 7 :evil:
 

Anon10W1z

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Shipping for system cases tends to be the worst part (due to weight and bulk).
Amazon can ship some things to Australia.
Would it be beneficial to buy from amazon, cause their cheaper prices may way out the shipping cost
For me, the shipping cost for Amazon was $80 to the US.
 

FireGrey

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Sorry for such a bump but I have just ordered the PC, here are the final specs:


Gigabyte Radeon HD7870 2GB Overclocked $265.00
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit with SP1 OEM $99.00
Antec EarthWatts 650W Green $89.00
CoolerMaster Hyper TX3 Evo $25.00
CoolerMaster CM 690 II Advanced with Window USB3.0 $119.00
Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 $105.00
LG CH12LS28 12X BD-R Blu-ray DVD Combo Drive $55.00
Intel Core i5 3570K In stock $235.00
Western Digital WD Green 2TB WD20EARX In stock $105.00
Premium Anti-Static Wrist Strap In stock $6.00
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H-WB WIFI Motherboard $189.00
SanDisk Extreme Solid State Drive 120GB $99.00
Sub-total: $1,391.00


Thankyou for all your help :)
This is a huge upgrade for me, especially considering the specs of the pc I used back 3 years ago, barely running an internet browser.
 

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