Advice for 1st time pc

[foleykevin297]

Hi i'm currently in the process of picking out the parts for my first gaming pc and i was just wondering are the parts i have picked out compatible and are they any good ?

Case :Antec Nine Hundred Two V3
RAM :Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB 1600MHz
Motherboard :Asus P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3
Sound card :Creative SB Audigy SE 7.1
Power Supply : Corsair Gaming Series, 800 Watt
Graphics Card : GF GTX670 2GB
Processor : CORE I7-2600K
Hard Drive : Western digital caviar black 1TB
Cooler : Cooler master hyper 212 evo


im open too any suggestions and any advice would be much appreciated :)

[EmptyMellon]

Case wise: unless Antec updated the line-up, it has a USB 3.0 cable for the front panel, which you then have to run throught the back (feeding it through the water cooling holes) of the case and then plug it in the motherboard's external USB 3.0 slots; now, if the case has a proper 20-pin (interal) USB 3.0 interface then all is good.

Power Supply wise: 800W PSU is an overkill for the hardware you have, unless you are planing on adding a lot more hard drives and an additional video card, the 700W PSU version (Newegg.ca - CORSAIR Gaming Series GS700 700W ATX 12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply) is plenty.

RAM wise: with the 8 GB there is no issue, however, if you ever plan on adding additional Corsair Vengeance memory (by populating all four DIMMs) then I would recommend the LP (low profile) version of the Corsair memory as you will have interference issues with the Cooler Fan.

[foleykevin297]

Thanks for the reply! i was thinking the power supply was a bit of an overkill but i would rather be safe then sorry atleast now i know :) getting the low profile memory make sense since i do plan on adding more later on. As for the processor do you think an I7 in an overkill because i have read that the i5 2500k is more then enough for a gaming rig ?

[Dzzope]

Originally Posted by foleykevin297

Thanks for the reply! i was thinking the power supply was a bit of an overkill but i would rather be safe then sorry atleast now i know :) getting the low profile memory make sense since i do plan on adding more later on. As for the processor do you think an I7 in an overkill because i have read that the i5 2500k is more then enough for a gaming rig ?

Spot on.. I'd grab an SSD for the price difference.
You could also then change to a cheaper hdd as the ssd will be plenty for the stuff you need to be fast.

[Adzsask]

Originally Posted by foleykevin297

Thanks for the reply! i was thinking the power supply was a bit of an overkill but i would rather be safe then sorry atleast now i know :) getting the low profile memory make sense since i do plan on adding more later on. As for the processor do you think an I7 in an overkill because i have read that the i5 2500k is more then enough for a gaming rig ?

just like grabbing a slightly larger power supply is a good decision(running a corsair GS800 myself) grabbing an i7 is smart... I upgraded from a 775 socket q9400 to a 1366 socket i7 950...at the time I could have purchased a 1156 socket i5 system for much less, but looking back now everyone that went 1156 socket i5 upgraded, and I am still maxing out basically every game made still after years with basically no upgrading other then SSD.

[EmptyMellon]

Well, from a practicle point of view, if the primary function of your PC is gaming (no photo/image editing or 3D CAD), the i7-2600K is a definate overkill. The only time you will see difference betwee the i5-2500k and i7-2600k is:
- Synthethic graphical benchmarks
- the intergraded intel video HD3000 benches
- under-load power consuption (about 7W difference)

Best you check out some Intel i5-2500K vs i7-2600K reviews and make your decision; HWC has one: Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5-2500K & Core i7-2600K Processors Review

EDIT: of course, if you are going to get a 2600K, then might as well go all the way and get a 2700K.

[foleykevin297]

I'll probably get the 800 watt power supply since im living in ireland and the website im buying off doesnt offer a 700 watt option and buying from abroad becomes too expensive with p&p. I'll also probably get the i5-2500k since all ill be using my pc for is gaming and the usual stuff like skype and internet , no editing at all :) also if i wanted an i7 i'd have too compromise on my GPU which is more important for gaming :) im not sure if i should get a small ssd and just put windows on it or should i pay more and get a bigger ssd and no hdd ?

[Dzzope]

What site are you buying from?

Generally anywhere in Ireland is going to be more expensive than the UK.. try Scan or Overclockers.. (both .co.uk)
They deliver to Ireland and it really doesn't cost that much.. (bout £13 for my last order from overclockers)

Keep an eye out for their weekly and daily deals too.. could save you the shipping if you chose well and time it right.

You'll probably get a z77 board too as the z68 isn't that common any more.

Look at the Corsair TX650 V2 PSU.. it's more than enough for what your running and you'd only need more if you ever go for a dual card set-up.

P.S. I'm not sure what they are like now but I always found the Creative stuff overpriced..
If you really want a separate sound card (and have a speaker / headset / cans to justify getting one, on-board isn't bad these days)
Look at something like the Asus DX. But there are others here who are much better to get audio advice from.

If your budget stretches to it (after saving where you can, eg the processor) Grab a ssd (128GB minimum 256 is ideal) and a better cooler (allows you to overclock more and will be quieter)

Whats your budget all in (in euros)?

I'm about to build a rig for my bro on a budget.. Am currently living in Kiev and can get some dirt cheap parts.. gonna cost him €650-€700 for everything less the GPU (tower only) and a similar build to yours.. from UK it'll cost about €850 I think (again without the GPU)

If you want to Squeeze more out of your budget then you may be better looking at a differentt motherboard (I really like asus boards but they are expensive for their features)
Bro's machine is going to be an
Asrock extreme4 z77,
3570k,
8 Gb ram (whatever is cheap and good)
2 TB Seagate 7200.14 (faster and Much cheaper than the WD Blacks)
CorsairTX650V2
CM Haf 912 or something around as good and price.

No cooler or GPU for now as he's short on funds and isn't overclocking straight away and has a reasonable GPU (5770)

[Bond007]

agree with the drop to a 2500k, or a 3570k if you would like the newer generation. Also with saving a few bucks in mind I would drop the sound card. Onboard sound is now quite good and will be great for 99% of people. If you end up finding it lacking for one reason or another it is all to easy to add the sound card later. With all the savings get a minimum of a 120-128gb SSD (intel or crucial if it was my money). Or if you can get by with relatively low storage drop the normal hard drive and go to a 250ish gb ssd (that's your call though...I couldn't do it).

[foleykevin297]

Would a sound card be better if i wanted too use a 7.1 surround sound headset ? Im buying off elara.ie and my max budget is 1600 i want too get the best for my money since ive worked hard for it over the past few summers. I will probably get an ssd since my laptop has a 320gb hdd and i am not even using 100gb of it at max. Ill definately get the 650 watt power supply thanks ! Where im really confused is the motherboard i just dont understand what makes some more expensive then others can anyone recommend a good one for gaming ?