Building a Gaming PC *Need Suggestions*

Is it a decent build so far?

Yes	33.3%	[ 2 ]
Could use some work	50.0%	[ 3 ]
Not at all	16.7%	[ 1 ]
Total Votes:			[ 6 ]

[Leggo My Eggos]

I plan on building a decent gaming rig without going too much over $700.

I would like any suggestions such as : Better graphics card (for a reasonable price), Hard Drive, Case, or any other way to cut down on price without sacrificing much. Thanks in advance

So far I plan on getting these parts (Total Price : 649.96 ) *already own a copy of windows 7*
All links go to amazon
Motherboard : GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Ram : Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit
Hard Drive : Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003
Graphics Card : Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB PCI-E Video Card (100315L)
Power Supply : Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply
Processor : AMD Phenom II X4 965 AM3 3.4Ghz 512KB 45NM 125W 4000MHZ I would like to get an Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core but it's about $100 more
Disc Drive : Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST
Case : Thermaltake V3 Black AMD Edition Gaming Chassis Mid Tower Steel Computer Case VL800P1W2N

[Neurologicalqt]

That's a good build.

[Minion4Hire]

The performance and feature benefits of the i5 make it worth the extra money IMO. Better performance while consuming less power and offering more/better features? It's hard to go wrong there.

[Leggo My Eggos]

Neurologicalqt

That's a good build.

thanks, is there anything that can use some improvements?

[Leggo My Eggos]

Minion4Hire

The performance and feature benefits of the i5 make it worth the extra money IMO. Better performance while consuming less power and offering more/better features? It's hard to go wrong there.

I mean I would rather get that, and although I do have the money for, I kind of want to reserve a bit in case I decide to upgrade my mouse & keyboard or get a new monitor. Are there any other suggestions you have?

[Minion4Hire]

Leggo My Eggos

Minion4Hire

The performance and feature benefits of the i5 make it worth the extra money IMO. Better performance while consuming less power and offering more/better features? It's hard to go wrong there.

I mean I would rather get that, and although I do have the money for, I kind of want to reserve a bit in case I decide to upgrade my mouse & keyboard or get a new monitor. Are there any other suggestions you have?

Not really. It's fine. You don't "need" that wattage of PSU; a similar 500W model would be plenty. It's not massive overkill or anything, but you might be able to save a couple bucks by stepping down.

[Samejima Kyouhei]

Go for the i5 if you want a more than decent gaming pc. Otherwise, it's a good build biggrin .

[Leggo My Eggos]

Minion4Hire

Leggo My Eggos

Minion4Hire

The performance and feature benefits of the i5 make it worth the extra money IMO. Better performance while consuming less power and offering more/better features? It's hard to go wrong there.

I mean I would rather get that, and although I do have the money for, I kind of want to reserve a bit in case I decide to upgrade my mouse & keyboard or get a new monitor. Are there any other suggestions you have?

Not really. It's fine. You don't "need" that wattage of PSU; a similar 500W model would be plenty. It's not massive overkill or anything, but you might be able to save a couple bucks by stepping down.

What type of brand should I look for. The reason i had originally chosen this psu due to it's reviews and I heard mostly good things about Corsair brand items. The problem is that the smallest wattage for this series is the 650w. Anything you recommend?

[Zane Heocho]

Go with an I5 Intel Ivy bridge (3xxx series) or I5 Sandy Bridge (2xxx series)

Both of these are light years ahead of whatever AMD has to offer.
If you are planning to overclock go with the un-locked processors. They will have a K at the end
Example: i5-2500k or i5-3570k. If you're NOT overclocking just get a cheaper processor for a little less....but if you're willing to go a tad over budget these WILL be worth it.
Also if you're going to intel, get the Z77 series motherboards. They are the newest and most updated ones and are highly upgradable.

Actually even the i3, dual-core, has more performance than AMDs (even the highest end processors except MAYBE the best FX 6-8 cores....i'm serious)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077
^ If you spend a little more you can get that.


If i were you i'd maybe go with the newer graphics cards as well since they consume alot less power, allowing you to get an even cheaper (price wise) power supply as well.
But I will say your card is the best in the $150 price range....ideally you want to spend at least twice as much on your graphics card as your processor. At least this is what alot of people who build systems go by. You always want to spend as much as possible on your graphics card as you can.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150608
^I wish you would consider spending a little more for this smile Just $210 after rebate
(aslo, again, go intel for processors ^^)

Btw probably the best known brands for PSUs are: Corsair, Antec, Seasonic and XFX. Though I think Rosewill has been trying really hard and I would certainly give them a shot.
I think you did okay with Corsair, but it just depends on the line as corsair has quite a few....But don't worry about it too much.
But I think as long as you have a trusted brand and it's at least 80 plus (I'd personally try silver or gold or platinum if you can afford it) then you should be fine.

Note: If a video card is telling you that you need 500w minimum, that is an estimate for the whole system with their card. In my opinion you should go above that (550w or 600w) because you do want at least SOME headroom to be safe, plus if you are ever going to overclock you would be safer with more.
But of course getting too much excess is pointless if you aren't going to add more RAM, or add another card for SLI/Crossfire.

[Leggo My Eggos]

Zane Heocho

Go with an I5 Intel Ivy bridge (3xxx series) or I5 Sandy Bridge (2xxx series)

Both of these are light years ahead of whatever AMD has to offer.
If you are planning to overclock go with the un-locked processors. They will have a K at the end
Example: i5-2500k or i5-3570k. If you're NOT overclocking just get a cheaper processor for a little less....but if you're willing to go a tad over budget these WILL be worth it.
Also if you're going to intel, get the Z77 series motherboards. They are the newest and most updated ones and are highly upgradable.

Actually even the i3, dual-core, has more performance than AMDs (even the highest end processors except MAYBE the best FX 6-8 cores....i'm serious)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077
^ If you spend a little more you can get that.


If i were you i'd maybe go with the newer graphics cards as well since they consume alot less power, allowing you to get an even cheaper (price wise) power supply as well.
But I will say your card is the best in the $150 price range....ideally you want to spend at least twice as much on your graphics card as your processor. At least this is what alot of people who build systems go by. You always want to spend as much as possible on your graphics card as you can.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150608
^I wish you would consider spending a little more for this smile Just $210 after rebate
(aslo, again, go intel for processors ^^)

Btw probably the best known brands for PSUs are: Corsair, Antec, Seasonic and XFX. Though I think Rosewill has been trying really hard and I would certainly give them a shot.
I think you did okay with Corsair, but it just depends on the line as corsair has quite a few....But don't worry about it too much.
But I think as long as you have a trusted brand and it's at least 80 plus (I'd personally try silver or gold or platinum if you can afford it) then you should be fine.

Note: If a video card is telling you that you need 500w minimum, that is an estimate for the whole system with their card. In my opinion you should go above that (550w or 600 becauseld you do want at least SOME headroom to be safe, plus if you are ever going to overclock you would be safer with more.
But of course getting too much excess is pointless if you aren't going to add more RAM, or add another card for SLI/Crossfire.

Thanks for all the information, for the processor with the processor what is the main difference between the intel i5 2500k and 3570k and might overclock and well the 2500k is about $30 cheaper, If i were to get the 2500k then I might consider a bit more on the motherboard, but I was wondering if this particular Intel z77 should work. And thanks for mentioning the power supply. Many people have been telling me about that So I should be able to save myself a couple bucks there. Are there any specific ones that you can recommend?

[ArcMinute]

If you live near one of these, they sell the 2500k for $160, and will give you $50 off any z77 motherboard of your choosing.

Just stating in case this maybe actually be an option for you.