Help me perfect this build please! ($1500 USD MAX) - Hardware & Software

[url]http://amzn.com/w/1ICRC0W648EBI[/url] I know everything will work fine but I'm also sure there are better alternatives out there. What would you recommend switching out? Thanks.

Actually, for the price range, that looks good. But I would wait for someone elses opinion, considering I don't have much experience in building computers.

What will you be using the build for first off. [editline]2nd April 2013[/editline] also an Antec Three Hundred for $80 is a massive ripoff

Do you do any kind of encoding? Rendering, streaming etc? Otherwise the i7 is useless.

I do some rendering and a lot of gaming. The budget is there and I want the PC to last long. That's why I chose the i7. Any case recommendations? Don't want anything too war machine/alien looking like the HAF. Sleek and on the down low is my preferred style.

Bitfenix Shinobi is like the perfect budget case imo, and if you don't get the windowed version it's very sleek looking. An i5 will last just as long as an i7 because games don't make use of hyperthreading which is the main difference between the two (there are other technical ones I don't know off the top of my head but you get the idea). Heavy rendering and design and stuff is what needs an i7, doing those lightly or whatever will be fine on an i5. Spend money you saved from dropping to an i5 to get a Radeon HD 7970 [url]http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL-DVI-I-SL-DVI-D-PCI-Express-11197-03-40G/dp/B009B6Y01Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1364890478&sr=8-2&keywords=hd+7970[/url] Don't get an odd number of RAM like that, just get a 2x4gb kit for now and upgrade later on. Also get the Low Profile Vengeance. Get a Western Digital Caviar Black 1tb HDD because they're way more reliable than Deskstar drives. Swap out the regular 840 for the 840 Pro [url]http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-2-5-Inch-SATA_6_0_gb-MZ-7PD128BW/dp/B009NB8WR0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1364890602&sr=8-2&keywords=samsung+840+pro[/url]

[QUOTE=HolyCrapAWalrus;40128621]An i5 will last just as long as an i7 because games don't make use of hyperthreading which is the main difference between the two (there are other technical ones I don't know off the top of my head but you get the idea). Heavy rendering and design and stuff is what needs an i7, doing those lightly or whatever will be fine on an i5[/QUOTE] If he does both rendering and gaming, he can get the i7. He can do rendering and such things with HT on, and restart the computer to disable HT when gaming. It's a bit of an annoyance, but he can get the performance of both worlds.

[QUOTE=bohb;40128681]If he does both rendering and gaming, he can get the i7. He can do rendering and such things with HT on, and restart the computer to disable HT when gaming. It's a bit of an annoyance, but he can get the performance of both worlds.[/QUOTE] With how he said "some rendering and lots of gaming" I took it as there's a significant amount more of the latter. It's up to him if he'd rather have better game performance at the cost of slightly longer rendering times or not.

To be honest, unless he does streaming or uses After Effects. i5 is just fine.

Get the "Antec Three Hundred [B]Two[/B]" instead as it has much better space for cable management and better hard-drive holders.

Thanks for the advice thus far. I think I will jump back down to the i5. It'll be a huge step over my current Athlon II x4 645 so I don't think it'll be a problem. Still wondering about cases though. Appreciate the reccomendations so far.

Other suggestions for minimalist cases would be NZXT H2, Antec P280, and Fractal Design Define R4 [editline]2nd April 2013[/editline] Also worth noting that the H2 and R4 have sound deadening foam lining inside.

Sound deadener inside a PC? Never heard of that before. I'll have to check that out

I have the Shinobi, and despite having no specialized sound dampeners it's very quiet if you get okay fans.

[QUOTE=HolyCrapAWalrus;40131808] Also worth noting that the H2 and R4 have [I][B]sound deadening[/B][/I] foam lining inside.[/QUOTE] [del]I think you mean sound deafening foam :v:[/del] Anyways, I have the NZXT H2. It has enormous space for cable management in the back, it's cool. Front side has fans you can click right out, even when it's running. It has filters everywhere so your insides are clean (I opened it up recently to put in my new GPU... Holy fuck it was clean :O). Only bad thing about the case is when you're doing the actual cable management. The rubber grommets don't stick very well into place, and thus you have to hold onto it when putting cables through. (Oh, it also has a hot-swap bay on the top. Surprisingly I've used it once and it worked great.) EDIT: Scratch that, looked it up - it's apparantly deadening. It just sounds odd to me.

[QUOTE=Killervalon;40145112]I think you mean sound deafening foam :v: Anyways, I have the NZXT H2. It has enormous space for cable management in the back, it's cool. Front side has fans you can click right out, even when it's running. It has filters everywhere so your insides are clean (I opened it up recently to put in my new GPU... Holy fuck it was clean :O). Only bad thing about the case is when you're doing the actual cable management. The rubber grommets don't stick very well into place, and thus you have to hold onto it when putting cables through. (Oh, it also has a hot-swap bay on the top. Surprisingly I've used it once and it worked great.)[/QUOTE] No. I meant sound deadening because that's what it's called. Deadening is to reduce noise, deafening is a descriptive word for a loud noise. [editline]3rd April 2013[/editline] Stop pointing out other peoples mistakes in your posts, especially when it's not a mistake. People misspell and use improper grammar sometimes, it's the internet.

Thanks for the help so far. I've done some looking and I think I am going to get the NZXT H2 case over the Antec. I'll also be using an i5 instead of an i7. I'm almost done, but I do have one more question. [QUOTE=HolyCrapAWalrus;40128621]Don't get an odd number of RAM like that, just get a 2x4gb kit for now and upgrade later on.[/QUOTE] What does having an odd number of modules do? I currently have 2x3gb +1x2gb in my pc right now. Not the most ideal, but it works.

It's always best to have matching RAM, for compability reasons.

[QUOTE=Cjmax;40157027]Thanks for the help so far. I've done some looking and I think I am going to get the NZXT H2 case over the Antec. I'll also be using an i5 instead of an i7. I'm almost done, but I do have one more question. What does having an odd number of modules do? I currently have 2x3gb +1x2gb in my pc right now. Not the most ideal, but it works.[/QUOTE] Because most modern platforms other than 2011/servers etc. run RAM in dual channel, not tri channel. You could run into some performance issues.

So would I be better off getting rid of the extra 2gb module I have installed?

[QUOTE=Cjmax;40172665]So would I be better off getting rid of the extra 2gb module I have installed?[/QUOTE] yes but you could also buy 2x 4gb if you want 8gigs of ram

Carbide 500R Check dat case out, built two computers in it and im loving every minute of it.

Don't get Windows 8.

[QUOTE=saladfingers;40273606]Don't get Windows 8.[/QUOTE]Congrats, a shitstorm will inevitably ensue.

[QUOTE=saladfingers;40273606]Don't get Windows 8.[/QUOTE] Correction: Don't get Windows 8 [B][I]YET[/I][/B]. It might need minor improvements here and there and your all ready to use W8.

[QUOTE=Merijnwitje;40278150]Correction: Don't get Windows 8 [B][I]YET[/I][/B]. It might need minor improvements here and there and your all ready to use W8.[/QUOTE] What's wrong with it?

Please just stop while you're ahead

called it