Advice On My First Rig

G

GAM

New member
Hello OC3D,

To start off, I guess I should mention that I am a noob to this whole PC world, but I have been doing some research for the past couple months so I should be able to understand some, hopefully most, of the feedback! I am planning on building my computer at the end of the month (Semptember 2012) so I wanted to get some critiques in on my build before I set out to build it.

First off, I plan on using the build mostly for gaming, but before you say to lower the CPU, I also do some video editing/graphic design/3D rendering. I wanted to keep the budget around $1700/1800 for the computer itself and I have about $300/400 for the peripherals. Before getting into the PC specs, I'll list the peripherals if you guys have any advice on what to get.

  • Dell Ultrasharp 23" Monitor
  • Logitech S-220 Speakers
  • Logitech Keyboard/Mouse Combo (until I have enough $ to upgrade)

So if you have any advice on those, please post about it.

Now for the computer (yay)...

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K, because of the rendering, editing and graphic design, I figured this would be the best choice for my needs and pricing.

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, I didn't research this as much as the other parts, but I read some good reviews about this, if you have another one of a similar, or less, price in mind please share.

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Again, read some good reviews about this, and the price wasn't too bad.

Memory: Corsair Vengence 16GB, This was the max I could go without upgrading to Windows 7 Pro and I felt 16GB would be great for my needs.

Storage: Corsair Force Series 3 180GB SSD for OS and games, and Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB HDD for all the raw video and pictures I have. I also have an externale 2TB HDD so I am pretty covered with storage.

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670, I was orignally going to go with the 680 but after reading some comments on other builds I have learned that the 670 seems to be enough.

PSU: Corsair 850W, I do believe that this is modular and for a first time build I was told this would make life a lot easier.

Optical Drive: Sony DDU1681S-0B DVD/CD Drive, just a standard optical drive, I don't plan on using BluRay at all and if I do in the future I can always upgrade.

Case: CM Storm Stryker, and no, I didn't choose this just because of Tom's "Orca" build :P. I had liked the case ever since I had seen it.

So that is the PC. Additionally I would like it to be as future proof as possible, so basically I am looking for upgradeability. I would also like to be able to add another card for SLI in the future. I was considering overclocking possibly, but not too often so that is another option, and lastly, I was thinking about WC in the future. Would this rig be capable of that? THANK YOU for reading over this, if you need any more info from me, please ask, and please tell me what you think about it for being a first time build!

And I almost forgot the PCpartpicker link - http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gWlZ

-Jared
 
Last edited:
change the motherboard to a gd55/gd65
corsair ax750 is more than enough for your setup it can easily handle two 670s
for wc get a evga 670 ftw (680 pcb)
other than that its all good
 
As said, change the gd55/65

I would personally say an AX650 will be fine and I would recommend the KFA2 or Gigabyte Windforce 670
 
Thanks for the quick replies guys. I decided to stick with the ASRocks Mobo after doing some digging around the internet. I did a comparison of the GD-65 and the Extreme4 and the only difference was that the Extreme4 was cheaper and had an esata port. The only thing I believe the MSI board is better for is overclocking which I don't plan on doing much of. I did switch my gpu and psu though, and saved some money. Now to the watercooling. Does anyone have some recommendations? I looked around the watercooling threads and noticed that A LOT of people like the Corsair H100 so this is what I am thinking of going with, but is that all I need to buy? What else do I need to purchase along with this to WC the entire system? Correct me if I am wrong but I think I need a reservoir and fittings, right? If you know any posts that could help me out please link me :D. Thanks - Jared
 
Get the GD55 mate. MSI are about the best makers of Z77 there is. ASrock havent been that great in the past and so we tend not to advise them on these forums.

As others have said, drop to the AX650...

And one more thing that I'd never ever ever think I'd be saying on these forums...
You need to change the optical drive :O
Not bothering with a link - but you need to get DVD r/w, not DVD-ROM like in your link.

Tbh though - you dont really need one at all these days
 
All my thoughts have been expressed above. Another thing i'd do is change the SSD, the Force 3 is alright, but the Samsung 830 or Crucial M4's are cheaper (in the UK at least), more reliable and faster too. Apart from that and the things mentioned above its fine. The Asus GTX670 DCUii is amazing, i have one and it looks incredible and is dead silent. Just do NOT install the Asus GPU Tweak software because it's terrible and will give you red screens. And do NOT buy the TOP version either, they can boost over their specified clock speeds, causing issues. The normal version will OC just as well as the Non-TOP and TOP cards are identical apart from the clock speeds and their BIOS'.
 
Thanks a lot guys.

@james I did change the PSU, I guess the site just didn't update my build. I changed the optical drive to a DVD r/w. Thanks for the heads up on that I never knew. And I plan on keeping that in only because I have a ton of CDs that I would like to put onto my computer. And I did change the motherboard since at least half the forum will recommend it until I changed it :P.

@Petrol I have changed the SSD, but also lowered the storage to 128GB because I don't plan on having a lot of games, just a few I play a lot of. And I chose the Asus model because of the great reviews it got, and it was only $20 more. I don't know if it is the TOP version or not, here is the link. LINK

Thanks - Jared
 
Alright. I am sticking with the same build basically, except I went with a 750W PSU for future proofing. As mentioned above I wanted to possibly SLI in the future, so would this build be okay for that? Able to handle 2 670s? I am sticking with the Asus 670 Dcuii because of the great reviews I found on it. I also plan on getting the NZXT Switch 810 for a case instead of the Stryker because of water cooling options.

Thanks for the help and support!
 
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