Need Build Advice

R

RoyalTurtle

New member
Have a budget of about $1100 USD. Going to most likely buy all of my parts this Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Not 100% sure about my build would love some advice or feedback on it.

Build

SSD: Force Series GT 120GB $115
RAM: Vengeance LP 8GB 2x4G $50
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K $220
MOBO: MSI Z77A-GD65 $170
CASE: CM Storm Stryker $160
CPU COOLER: CM Hyper 212 EVO $30
GPU: Either MSI 7950 Twin Frozr 3gb $315 OR MSI 660ti 2GB $300 No idea which one to get OTL
PSU: HX650 650W $120
HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB $110
Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner $20
Total: $1295-$1310

Currently I am around $200 over budget :\ I would love suggestions to what I should change and if the build is compatible and just advice overall.
 
Looks pretty solid to me. If you're over budget, drop the SSD and bump the GPU up to a 7970. That'll save you a few bucks but give you a good bit better gaming performance. The 7970 will AVERAGE almost 60 fps in any game out right now on max settings at 1920x1080.
 
Motherboard could be dropped to a GD55, storage drive replaced with a Caviar Green.
Remember that your sales give some crazy reductions, so I don't think you'll have an issue with staying within budget.
 
The GD-55 is currently on sale for 110. Whats the difference between the 65 and the 55? Oh and anyone wanna give their personal about 660ti vs 7950?
 
7950 wins for me.
Difference is price, some aesthetic changes, fewer power phases (but still plenty), no debug LED and fewer SATA ports.
Edit: also, the GD65 has two BIOS chips. Helps if you bugger one up when trying to flash it, etc.
 
Last edited:
Isn't the 660ti around 20 bucks cheaper? the 7950 does look nice.
Is that the only diff? they seem to have a big price difference.
 
for the motherboard differences..
overclocking phase power (55-9, 65-12), more memory speeds available, PCI slot
assignments, 2 more SATA III ports.

on GPU, depends on what you are using the rig for, really. some appz are compatible
with both, some are not. mainly video editing/rendering. from Tom's latest
review the 7950 really deserves some homework. as he stated not all can be
expected to have the same performance level as he tested, but deffo a look in
to the scope for the levels. i don't believe the 660 ti is not on the same level.
i have two FTW 2GB (should have held onto the 580s) and they are good,
but the bit-rate is crap. the 3GB version is better (transfer-rate increases),
but still meah.. now all this is from an application stand-point. no gaming..

airdeano
 
airdeano said:
for the motherboard differences..
overclocking phase power (55-9, 65-12), more memory speeds available, PCI slot
assignments, 2 more SATA III ports.

on GPU, depends on what you are using the rig for, really. some appz are compatible
with both, some are not. mainly video editing/rendering. from Tom's latest
review the 7950 really deserves some homework. as he stated not all can be
expected to have the same performance level as he tested, but deffo a look in
to the scope for the levels. i don't believe the 660 ti is not on the same level.
i have two FTW 2GB (should have held onto the 580s) and they are good,
but the bit-rate is crap. the 3GB version is better (transfer-rate increases),
but still meah.. now all this is from an application stand-point. no gaming..

airdeano
Click to expand...

Ah thanks! I'm tring to understand what you said abotu the GPU's and I assume you are saying that it depends on what I'm using it for? Well I'm using it for web surfing youtube/movies and gaming.
 
RoyalTurtle said:
Have a budget of about $1100 USD. Going to most likely buy all of my parts this Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Not 100% sure about my build would love some advice or feedback on it.

Build

SSD: Force Series GT 120GB $115
RAM: Vengeance LP 8GB 2x4G $50
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K $220
MOBO: MSI Z77A-GD65 $170
CASE: CM Storm Stryker $160
CPU COOLER: CM Hyper 212 EVO $30
GPU: Either MSI 7950 Twin Frozr 3gb $315 OR MSI 660ti 2GB $300 No idea which one to get OTL
PSU: HX650 650W $120
HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB $110
Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner $20
Total: $1295-$1310

Currently I am around $200 over budget :\ I would love suggestions to what I should change and if the build is compatible and just advice overall.
Click to expand...
I'd drop the motherboard to a 55 (45 if you need more saving).
You could drop the size and model of the PSU from HX to TXm (or even CX if you don't mind losing modular) and you'll only a decent 400w PSU for this build.
I agree with dropping from a caviar black to a caviar green for a storage drive (I'm assuming you won't be running games off it).
In terms of GPUs - get the best one you can afford on the day with your spare budget in performance order:
7970~670~7950>660ti~7870.

I have ignored the 680 because the tiny performance gain you get over the 670 is not worth the money. I've listed the 7970/670/7950 as roughly equal because it largely depends on the game and whether you overclock. The 660ti is slightly better than the 7870 but if you overclock then the AMD card isn't limited by the rather small memory bandwidth like the 660 series is.

Be aware that the 7950/7970 now comes in two forms. There was a recent revision which added a turbo boost. If you are into overclocking then it doesn't really matter but if you want to run it out of the box then get the turbo model. If you look at this page you can see that some 7950s only list a core clock speed whilst others also list a boost clock - that's how you can tell.

Also whilst you can get an nvidia card with the stock cooler and be happy with it I would highly recommend steering away from the stock AMD cooler - make sure you get one with at least two fans on it.
 
Last edited:
Master&Puppet said:
I'd drop the motherboard to a 55 (45 if you need more saving).
You could drop the size and model of the PSU from HX to TXm (or even CX if you don't mind losing modular) and you'll only a decent 400w PSU for this build.
I agree with dropping from a caviar black to a caviar green for a storage drive (I'm assuming you won't be running games off it).
In terms of GPUs - get the best one you can afford on the day with your spare budget in performance order:
7970~670~7950>660ti~7870.

I have ignored the 680 because the tiny performance gain you get over the 670 is not worth the money. I've listed the 7970/670/7950 as roughly equal because it largely depends on the game and whether you overclock. The 660ti is slightly better than the 7870 but if you overclock then the AMD card isn't limited by the rather small memory bandwidth like the 660 series is.

Be aware that the 7950/7970 now comes in two forms. There was a recent revision which added a turbo boost. If you are into overclocking then it doesn't really matter but if you want to run it out of the box then get the turbo model. If you look at this page you can see that some 7950s only list a core clock speed whilst others also list a boost clock - that's how you can tell.

Also whilst you can get an nvidia card with the stock cooler and be happy with it I would highly recommend steering away from the stock AMD cooler - make sure you get one with at least two fans on it.
Click to expand...

I'm suck between a 7950/660ti/7870 now OTL. No idea which one to get. They all seem good but which one is better for the money? I don't really know how to overclock yet so I won;t be doing that much unless there is a easy way of doing it. Only going to use one 1920X1080 monitor too.
 
I'd get the best card you can afford with what's left of your budget. All of them will do well on your resolution, however:

7950>660ti>7870.

Beyond that if you get an AMD card make sure it has a non ref cooler and try and get one with a factory overclock.
 
IMHO a better cooler would be the go especially for ivy. Big case like that screams for a D14 or water.
7950 ftw. Mine oc's to the hilt and blitzes a 680.
 
Well I have went ahead and redone my build. This is currently what I will buy any thoughts on it?

SSD: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB $100
RAM: Vengeance LP 8GB 2x4G $50
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K $220
MOBO: MSI Z77A-GD65 $110
CASE: NZXT Phantom $80
CPU COOLER: CM Hyper 212 EVO $25
GPU: Sapphire HD 7950 3gb $280
PSU: HX650 650W $110
HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB $110
Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner $20
OS: Windows 7 64 bit $85

Total: $1190

I hope there is nothing wrong with this since I am going to buy it tomorrow.
 
RoyalTurtle said:
Well I have went ahead and redone my build. This is currently what I will buy any thoughts on it?

SSD: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB $100
RAM: Vengeance LP 8GB 2x4G $50
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K $220
MOBO: MSI Z77A-GD65 $110
CASE: NZXT Phantom $80
CPU COOLER: CM Hyper 212 EVO $25
GPU: Sapphire HD 7950 3gb $280
PSU: HX650 650W $110
HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB $110
Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner $20
OS: Windows 7 64 bit $85

Total: $1190

I hope there is nothing wrong with this since I am going to buy it tomorrow.
Click to expand...

looks good, gwlb
 
RoyalTurtle said:
How do I know if it has a overclock?
Click to expand...
It usually says in the cards title. I.e. OC edition
If not then look at the core clock speed. 800MHz is stock and manufacturers will take that up to 950 ish for their OCs.

Make sure you get one with 2 or more fans on the cooler! It will be very loud otherwise!
 
RoyalTurtle said:
Well I have went ahead and redone my build. This is currently what I will buy any thoughts on it?

SSD: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB $100
RAM: Vengeance LP 8GB 2x4G $50
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K $220
MOBO: MSI Z77A-GD65 $110
CASE: NZXT Phantom $80
CPU COOLER: CM Hyper 212 EVO $25
GPU: Sapphire HD 7950 3gb $280
PSU: HX650 650W $110
HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB $110
Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner $20
OS: Windows 7 64 bit $85

Total: $1190

I hope there is nothing wrong with this since I am going to buy it tomorrow.
Click to expand...

looking pretty good to me
you could change the hdd for a wd green
 
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