I have never built a computer from scratch before.
Here is what I've pieced together from some Google searches and lazy browsing of Newegg:
[B]CPU[/B]: [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115233[/URL] (Intel i5-3570) $215
[B]Graphics Card[/B]: [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127696[/URL] (GTX 660 Ti) $310 - I would strongly prefer an Nvidia card.
[B]Motherboard[/B]: [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837[/URL] (ASUS P8Z77-V) $140
[B]RAM[/B]: [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314[/URL] (Two orders of these for 16GB total) 2 x $40 = $80
[B]Hard Drive[/B]: [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840[/URL] (Seagate 1TB) $70
[B]Power Supply[/B]: [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182200[/URL] (Rosewill 630W) $60
[B]Case[/B]: [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153[/URL] (Rosewill Challenger) $50
The case and power supply are just wild guesses, and I am not factoring in the cost of the operating system or DVD drive.
I also do not intend to overclock anything (unless there's no reason not to and it would be a big help,) and I don't intend to add on to or upgrade this thing until I build a completely new rig in a few years.
Questions:
• Do these components all plug in to each other?
• if I am not going to overclock anything or use Crossfire/SLI, are there more effecient components I can get?
• Is it better to get two 8GB RAM chips vs four 4GB ones, or does it not matter?
• Windows 7 or 8? I don't care how many start buttons it has, just which one runs games better.
• Is there really $70 worth of difference between a 660, 660 Ti, and a 670?
• Do I need a surge protector? Or does the power supply act as one already?
• Is there anything I am missing?
• Would a pre-built computer actually be a better value?
1. Everything's compatible.
2. You could just get the equivalent performing card that matches two cards' performance in SLI/CFX, but other than that, not really.
3. You won't ever need 16 GB of RAM exclusively for gaming. 8 GB is more than enough. It would be better to get 2 x 4 GB in this instance.
4. It's mostly a toss-up. Win8 provides some useful UI improvements (most notably in Task Manager), while most things are compatible with Win7.
5. 660 non-ti vs. 660 ti: [url]http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/660?vs=647[/url]
660 ti vs. 670: [url]http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/647?vs=598[/url]
6. If your area is prone to power outages, I'd get one just to be on the safe side.
7. Other than an optical drive (even then, not necessary as you can install Windows off of a USB drive) and the OS, you aren't missing anything.
8. It'd actually be the polar opposite.
Despite what you said about over overclocking the 3570 costs the exact same as the 3570k so there's no reason not to get it. For now you should get it and worry about overclocking in the future when you actually do need it.
Assuming you don't have any components to carry over from your current computer (like re-using your OS or disk drive):
CPU: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504]Core i5 3570k[/url]
GPU: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500268]Nvidia 660ti[/url]
RAM: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820576006]Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB)[/url]
HDD: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840]Seagate 1TB[/url]
Motherboard: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157330]ASRock Z77 Extreme3[/url]
Case: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153]Rosewill CHALLENGER[/url]
OS: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416550]Windows 8 64-bit[/url]
PSU: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207022]XFX 650w[/url]
DVD Drive: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151256[/url]
Total: $982.81
Quick notes:
- For a different case in that budget I could recommend the Corsair Carbide 200R: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139018[/url]
- The 650w I listed is certainly enough for adding an extra 660ti SLI in the future. If you don't have any plans to SLI then this 500w PSU is more than enough: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093[/url]
- For gaming you do not need more than 8GB of RAM.
- The CPU already comes with a stock heatsink but I don't recommend to overclock on it for now. If you want to upgrade it so you are able to have that option in the future then I would highly recommend the Hyper 212 Evo on the low end and price: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099[/url]
[QUOTE=Grendel;38673725]• Do these components all plug in to each other?[/quote]
For the components both of us picked then yes.
[QUOTE=Grendel;38673725]• Windows 7 or 8? I don't care how many start buttons it has, just which one runs games better.[/quote]
Windows 8. Keep in mind you will be an early adopter so it's possible you might run into some bugs while it matures.
[QUOTE=Grendel;38673725]• Is there really $70 worth of difference between a 660, 660 Ti, and a 670?[/quote]
On the technical side I would actually recommend AMD since they offer much better gaming performance at a better price. If you're sure of sticking with nvidia then the 660ti should be fine.
[QUOTE=Grendel;38673725]• Do I need a surge protector? Or does the power supply act as one already?[/quote]
You can get a surge protector if you want to. I own one and I would recommend it. Be sure to get one that is specifically designed to protect high tech equipment (computers specifically) and has a response time of at least under 1 nanosecond. This is what I own specifically: [url]http://www.belkin.com/uk/F9M820-4M/p/P-F9M820-4M[/url]
[QUOTE=Grendel;38673725]• Is there anything I am missing?[/quote]
If you have anything you could salvage from your current computer then this would help your budget. For now this is everything.
[QUOTE=Grendel;38673725]• Would a pre-built computer actually be a better value?[/quote]
It really depends. If you have a $500~ budget then you can actually get a Dell Inspiron 660 (Core i3 $400 version) and add in a Radeon HD 7750. This really is the bare minimum for gaming you could possibly ever get but for the price you get [u]everything[/u].
[url]http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=2202&c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102969[/url]
A budget higher than that then you're better off with a custom build.
Finally if you're new to building then I can direct you to this video which can assist you:
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls[/url]
I have updated my build and will order it as soon as I get it finished.
Here's what's changed:
[B]GPU[/B]: [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787"]EVGA 02G-P4-2678-KR GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card[/URL] $410
[B]Motherboard[/B]: [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157330"]ASRock Z77 Extreme3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard[/URL] $110
[B]RAM[/B]: [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314"]G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL[/URL] (Just one order for 8gb total) $40
[B]UPS[/B]: [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101343"]APC Back-UPS ES BE550G 550 VA 330 Watts (4) NEMA 5-15R (Battery Backup) (4) NEMA 5-15R (Surge Protection) Outlets UPS[/URL] $67
[B]Keyboard[/B]: [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201039"]Rosewill RK-700M Black 104 Normal Keys 12 Function Keys USB Wired Multimedia Keyboard[/URL] $10
[B]Mouse[/B]: Already have one.
[B]OS[/B]: Windows 7 64 bit. I'm not sure where to find it cheapest, so I could use some help with that. If Windows 8 comes even cheaper then that would be fine too.
[B]Optical Drive[/B]: Already have one.
For a reference/benchmark, I'm hoping to be able to run things like Planetside 2 or Natural Selection 2 well (60+ FPS with good or even okay graphics.)
I'm not entirely sure what my monitor is but it's very similar to this [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052"]ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 ASCR 20000:1 (1000:1) W/Speakers[/URL] and I don't think I'll be needing to go above 1920 x 1080 in any games either.
Also, if I could get away with a cheaper UPS or even no UPS, that would be nice.
• Is there really fifty dollars worth of difference between the [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787"]card I chose[/URL] and this [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500242"]other 670 from another manufacturer[/URL]? And it is even worth it to go from a 660 ti to a 670? Also, the only real reason I am opting for Nvidia is that I heard ATI had financial troubles or something, so I worry about future driver updates. That, and I think PhysX looks neat (I am upgrading from a Radeon HD 5670 so I have no idea what PhysX actually looks like.)
Amazon has Win7 for $91: [url]http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Q0PT3I/?tag=pcpapi-20[/url]
NCIX has Win8 for $88: [url]http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=77180&vpn=WN7-00404&manufacture=Microsoft&promoid=1310[/url]
It's all a matter of picking your poison.
[QUOTE=Grendel;38684917]• Is there really fifty dollars worth of difference between the [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787"]card I chose[/URL] and this [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500242"]other 670 from another manufacturer[/URL]? And it is even worth it to go from a 660 ti to a 670? Also, the only real reason I am opting for Nvidia is that I heard ATI had financial troubles or something, so I worry about future driver updates. That, and I think PhysX looks neat (I am upgrading from a Radeon HD 5670 so I have no idea what PhysX actually looks like.)[/QUOTE]
1. The EVGA 670 FTW edition is a factory overclocked card.
2. 660 ti vs. 670 (keep in mind these are non-OCed cards being benchmarked): [url]http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/647?vs=598[/url]
3. Aaagh, it's AMD, not ATI!
4. EVGA uploaded this promo video showing PhysX vs. non-PhysX:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x9B_4qBAkk[/media]
Windows 8 + Start8.
Best of both worlds.
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