First Build for Gaming at $1,600

[Dragon]

After weeks of research I decided to build a computer system for the first time in my life. With such a significant investment on something I spend time with every week for several years to come, I want to have the fastest and most graphically pleasing gaming system that $1,600 can buy, to be familiar with every component, and to feel the pride of patiently researching and building it myself.


My intention is to continue using my existing peripherals, but please let me know if you feel these will detract from my gaming experience.

• Asus monitor MK241H 24" 2ms HDMI widescreen LCD 1920 x 1200
• Astro headset A35
• Deck keyboard
• Logitech MX-518 mouse

With this in mind, your feedback on my proposed build, on any possible compatibility issues you see, or words of wisdom is greatly appreciated. My intention is to overclock the system.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fPGa

Thank you.

 

[PapaSmurf6768]

Looks like a really solid system to me. Couple things that I'll just just to save some of the other guys the trouble, as I know they're gonna say it. First of all, you could drop the 680 to a 670 as the performance gain for the money isn't really worth it, and the 670's performance is going to get even better as the drivers develop. Also, an AX750 instead of the 850 would save you some money, as the 750 would still be able to power two 670''s/680's if you ever went SLI.

All your peripherals look good to me, if you're happy with them no reason to change anything.

Other then that this looks like it's gonna be a sweet build!

EDIT: One thing I just noticed though, you don't have a storage drive. An 128GB SSD is plenty for the OS and some programs, but I'd say you need atleast another 500GB hard drive for other stuffs.

 

[Dragon]

Thanks so much for your feedback, and pointing out the low memory. I appreciate it.

Based on your feedback, and reviewing other posts by Jamesriley94 and Seumasbeatham I'll be making the following adjustments.

* Asus GTX 670 instead of 680
* Corsair 750 instead of 850
* Second Crucial SSD instead of one

Maybe early next year I'll get a second Asus GTX 670 for improved FPS at high graphic settings.

 

[jamesriley94]

Hi,
Agreeing with Papasmurf completely about...well...everything

When you say second crucial SSD - that's not what he meant.
He means you may need a storage HDD to put data, programs and maybe a couple of games on if you run out of space on the 128gb SSD.
I'd personally make a couple of changes:

Depending on how many games you plan to have installed - it may be wise to get a 256gb SSD. I personally have a 128gb M4 Which allows me to install Windows and roughly 8 games. That should give you an idea - so if you're hoping to install say 15 games, you may need the 256gb drive. You need to decide that for yourself though - dont just take my word on it.

Also - I wouldnt buy the Switch 810. The case is built for watercooling, and I feel you'd waste quite a lot of money on it if you dont use it for watercooling, when cases half the price would possibly suit you better. I'd look more for a mid tower if I was you - you dont have enough hardware going inside to warrant a full tower case - but that's just my opinion.

You may also want to think about changing the fans that come on the H100, because they're very loud. Look into the Corsair SP series, Silverstone AP, Noctua NF-F12 or Scythe GTs to name a few.


I'd lastly like to thank you for actually taking the effort to look at other peoples posts prior to posting your own. Very few people do that and so end up with incredibly long build advices, and seem unwilling to take any advice to change it - You've actually taken the time to familiarise yourself with the site and that in turn helps us a lot

 

[Dragon]

Thank you for the awesome detailed and comprehensive feedback. I made changes to my link accordingly.

After some additional research I am leaning toward not water cooling due to its inherent risks and this being my first build, and instead installing a Noctua NH-D14 (I see you have this on your rig James). I need to further research if the revised case I selected, my memory being installed and selected motherboard will easily fit together with the NH-D14.

 

[Master&Puppet]

I'm still seeing the switch case and h100 in the op link but generally if the case has an 120mm rear exhaust fan then it will fit a big cooler such as the d14. The d14 will give you similar temps to the stock h100 but for less money so it is a good choice.

As for Ram - to guarantee that you won't run into issues you need to get low profile (lp) ram which is essentially ram without any heatsink or design feature above the PCB. For example corsair vengeance comes in two formats:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...nnel+Kit+(CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B)+?productId=43953

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...nnel+Kit+(CML8GX3M2A1600C9B)+?productId=45510

I have a query about the sabertooth- unless you are specifically buying it for the looks there is no performance advantage between it and motherboards which cost significantly less.

 

[ruairi.C]

Yea it looks good now but as said above if you want the best money can buy you don't want a Z77 sabretooth. You're paying for looks and it has small fans on the motherboard which may cause unneccessary noise.

 

[jamesriley94]

Thank you for the awesome detailed and comprehensive feedback. I made changes to my link accordingly.

After some additional research I am leaning toward not water cooling due to its inherent risks and this being my first build, and instead installing a Noctua NH-D14 (I see you have this on your rig James). I need to further research if the revised case I selected, my memory being installed and selected motherboard will easily fit together with the NH-D14.

There isnt really much of a risk with an H100 tbh. If you've got the money, then there's no harm in buying it for the looks. Performance wise - there isnt really much between it and the Noctua, and on Ivybridge you'll only be able to overclock to same kind of clocks with both coolers anyway - so whichever you prefer really.

What memory are you looking at? It should fit fine in pretty much any case you'll have in mind anyway.

As said - maybe look a different motherboard. Not because the fans are really loud because you dont even need them on really - but just because you end up paying a lot of money just for the 'thermal armour'. The MSI series provides a similar kind of performance at quite a significant amount cheaper. But then again - if you like the look of it then it's still a good board and so you dont really need to change.

 

[Dragon]

Thanks again everyone. I incorrectly assumed that the original link retained the changes I made, so here is the new link to my planned build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/g49z

If performance of motherboards is just as reliable, durable, compatible, and at the same speeds as the Asus I selected, but at significantly lesser pricing, I will most definately consider it.

 

[Master&Puppet]

The performance of the z77 chip across the board (pun?) is very good. MSI are very good overclockers and have the best power efficiency too.

An MSI z77-G45 or GD55 would be perfect for you.

You have two SSDs listed in that build - the original comment was to have an 120gb SSD for windows and games/programs but then have a standard hard drive for keeping your music/videos/pictures etc on. You don't need speed for those things so can get a lot of storage space for a lot less money.

 

[jamesriley94]

The performance of the z77 chip across the board (pun?) is very good. MSI are very good overclockers and have the best power efficiency too.

An MSI z77-G45 or GD55 would be perfect for you.

You have two SSDs listed in that build - the original comment was to have an 120gb SSD for windows and games/programs but then have a standard hard drive for keeping your music/videos/pictures etc on. You don't need speed for those things so can get a lot of storage space for a lot less money.

This ^^


Also - you've gone down from an AX850 to an HX750?
Why not the AX750, or AX650?
You only need 650w really - you can even run SLI 670s off that - and fully modular makes things so much better

 

[Dragon]

Outstanding, really appreciate the feedback.

I'm planning to purchase the parts for the 2nd revised build this weekend with only one video card to keep within my budget, and then to puchase a second video card in 8 months.

Please let me know if you see any areas for improvement considering my wanting the fastest and most graphically pleasing gaming system that $1,600 can buy.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/g9mv

My understanding is that gameplay is increased a little when those files are accessed from a second hard drive, apart from the drive that has the system files. This is why I am planning to purchase 2 SSD instead of the suggested 1. The memory consumption on my present 3 year old system is 149gb out of a total 209gb available. Please let me know if this is no longer applicable with the present technology advancements, or if I have a misunderstanding.

 

[Master&Puppet]

I wouldn't bother getting a separate SSD - a single 120gb drive will be fast enough. Bare in mind that once a file has been loaded from the drive it will be cached and loaded from RAM thereafter.

 

[jamesriley94]

I wouldn't bother getting a separate SSD - a single 120gb drive will be fast enough. Bare in mind that once a file has been loaded from the drive it will be cached and loaded from RAM thereafter.

Exactly.

Go with a bigger drive if you want - just dont bother with 2. Load times on SSDs are gunna be fast enough anyway, dont worry about that at all