Part suggestions

[hoople]

So I want a new desktop by the new year (keeping an eye for deals), here's what I'm thinking for parts:

CPU Intel Core i5-3570K ~$220
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LE ATX ~$130
Memory (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ~$40
Storage Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ~$100
Storage Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ~$110
Video Card Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ~$400
Case Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX Full Tower Case ~$170
Power Supply Antec High Current Pro 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ~$90
Monitor Dell UltraSharp U2412HM ~$270

I need help on a few things.

• Should I buy the GTX 680 instead?
• Which i7 processors are good value?
• Anyone have recommendations for good cases, motherboards or monitors?

[zypho]

How about some info on what your plans are for this machine so we can advise better on parts. Off the top of my head I can tell you the U2412 is an awesome monitor, great quality and good price for an IPS display. I'd also consider going for a larger SSD, after OS load, some programs and a game or two that 128gb SSD will fill up quick. Also are you only planning on running one monitor? Your looking for 1920x1200 res? Card might be a bit of overkill for just one monitor for games, or there might be an NVIDIA card that is cheaper that will give you better performance per dollar. Don't be fooled by the nice 3gb card number, wont even come close to using it on one monitor at that res.

[Kingsix]

Honestly if you are asking the question if you should go to the Nvidida 680 instead, well really you might want to look at the 670.
My local store 670= $379.99 680= $519.99 (my preferred card the Gigabyte windforce 670OC vs the 680OC)
The Gigabyte 7970 OC = 459.99
I have been researching a similar rig, and I found Nvidia to be superior.

For benchmarks I like to look at the passmark software bench lists. (H=B)
670= 4023
680= 4023
7970= 3957
Passmark isn't the greatest benchmark, and I have looked at pretty much every review comparison that was done when the 670's first came out. The reason I like passmark is because it is more of a benchmark of the performance people have been able to squeeze out of the device, so OCs etc are in there. Also they give you a value comparison, Performance for price.

But pretty much every review where they check the 670 vs 680s and ATI cards in games etc for fps the 670 is darn close to the 680, and from what I remember usually better than the ATI cards for the similar prices.

Check out some reviews but there is a reason why the 670 is getting the go ahead in my system.

[zypho]

IMO 670 isn't worth the price with the latest drops in ATI cards, compare these two for example.

XFX 7950 OC Black Edition 3GB - Review

Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce OC - Review

On Crysis at 1920x1200 the 670 oc gets an avg FPS of 76.61 while the 7950 OC Black ed gets 61 avg, bit of an increase for sure, but currently the 670 Windforce is $419 on newegg and the 7950 OC is $339. If you got the extra cash for sure Nvidia will get you better performance, but to me $80 extra isn't worth 15 FPS, and while both those reviews are testing on difference resolutions on overclocking for some reason :S, I am willing to bet the 7950 will overclock pretty close to the 670.

Thats why I choose the 7950 Black Ed for my build.

[Kingsix]

He is right but it all depends on what you want and what you want to spend.
Either way I think we agree that the 7970 is too costly for almost no advantage. The 680 is too costly for pretty much no advantage.

In my opinion I would go 7950 if you need to save $100, 670 if you don't need to save it. Or if you have a preference on company go with that.

[Dzzope]

At that res Nvidia's usually win out BUT with the recent price-drops of AMD cards they are very hard to pass up.

670 WOULD be my go to card if you can find one for $380(non reference) MIR's included..

7970 with non reference cooler at $400 ish would be sweet. At the moment though at that res (depending on the game) a 670 will beat it.
And at the moment the performance of the AMD's don't justify going to a (in my opinion) worse supported platform.. Drivers are still not up to scratch, not to say Nvidia's are perfect..

An MSI 670PE with borderlands2 bundled would be what I would be looking at.(if they are still doing that)


On the motherboard.. Asus have gotten to pricey especially for their lower end boards.. I would look at ASRock or MSI in that price-range.
For a gaming / general purpose rig stick to the i5.. if you do lots of encoding / rendering / VM stuff then a 3770k is the go-to chip.

The case, there are LOADS of options.. Corsair 600t is one of my faves for looks and features but there are many more that are sweet too especially depending on your preference for looks
Corsair, CoolerMaster, Bitfnix, Fractal, Nzxt are all pretty good and have good options in your range..

[hoople]

Zypho, you're right about the SSD capacity. I'll go for a 240GB.
If you need clarification about what I'm using this for: single-monitor gaming, mostly. It's a home desktop.

The 670PE seems to fit the bill perfectly. I've seen a 7970 for $370 before but it was a reference cooler. We'll see how the pricing goes.

I appreciate you listing those case manufacturers, Dzzope. I'm seeing lots of different options now, like the Fractal Design Define XL and the Corsair favourite. Sticking with an i5 processor is probably best. I do use some VM features but I really don't think I'll need the VT extensions, etc from the i7.

Thanks so much for the replies.