Hello Everyone,

I am working on my first custom PC build. I have decided on most of the following for the build:

Case ($59.99): COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 Black Steel / Plastic Computer Case

Motherboard ($129.99): ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Power Supply ($79.99): APEVIA JAVA ATX-JV650W 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply

CPU ($219.99): Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000

RAM ($97.99): CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

Hard Drive ($109.99): Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

OS ($99.99): Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

Extra Fans ($7.99ea) (4): Rosewill RFA-120-BL 120mm 4 Blue LEDs LED Case Fan

Optical Drive ($17.99): LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA

Monitors ($84.99ea) (2): SYLVANIA SCM2001 Black 20" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor

Keyboard ($59.99): Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Keyboard


The last thing I need to decide on is which video card to use. I am looking at the following two:

Option 1 ($144.99): EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1557-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Option 2 ($254.99): EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1563-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card


As you can see there is over a $100 dollar difference. I know that the GTX 560 Ti is a better card but is it worth the extra $100 for my build? Let me know what you guys think.

Also let me know if I am missing anything in my build that I might want to include. My budget for this build is around $1200 or less. Thanks for the help.

Eest

You might get better results if you post in the PC Hardware & Software forum.

thanks

First thoughts on a quick look -

- Are you overclocking, as consider CPU cooling, i.e. maybe on for those h70 self-contained water coolers etc

- Be wary of cheap monitors, it's really the only thing that lasts between systems so it's often worth spending a bit more for a one you've seen in action.

Also (and I'm nothing to do with NCIX etc but they are my local shop) how does the stuff/price compare to something like this for $999 -

http://pc.ncix.com/ncixpc_new/ncixpc.cfm?uuid=3028F5F6-257B-488A-8174E51BE20491EB-4206347


Hope that helps.

I don't know if I need to overclock on not. I'm new to this so I don't even know how to do do it... As to the cooling system I was thinking of getting one of those but I wasn't sure how to mount it in the case and is it really safe with the liquid and the electronics so close together? Ever hear of any bad things happening because of it?

Also just a side note I am willing to revisit some items in the above list if anyone has any better ideas.

The link you posted for that pc is nice but I really would like to build it myself. Thanks.

Eest

What sort of things do you want to use it for, as that will help define what's worth spending on?

Some sims make the most of more cores, while others are graphic's card limited etc.

This is going to be my gaming rig but I don't play a TON of different games. I play some League of Legends, EQ II, Skyrim, Minecraft, LOTR, and some L4D2.

There are people smarter than me on hardware here, so maybe they'll chime in but I think for general gaming I would probably:

- Not bother with 16GB, 8GB will be fine

- Consider a single monitor (spending the same) rather than two inexpensive ones

- Consider a H60 (or similar) CPU cooler, as if you are keen to build then eventually you'll want to overclock the 2500K (they do it very easily now)

- For the GPU I usually go two steps down the current hierarchy chart, as the top is premium and below that ages faster. The 560i is good, although graphics cards are an almost religious decision

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

My thoughts:
Consider a switch to an AMD fx-4170 cpu (and appropriate mobo), and put that savings into a better, larger, monitor. I recently bought a 25" HP that's the best I've ever had, and after having 27", 26", 24"....25" is the Mama Bear monitor and just right (IMO).

Overclocking is overrated, more for benchmark racing than practical, often causing more issues to be dealt with than it's worth, shortening the life of your hardware. If you don't know how to do it, then don't do it. With an up to date cpu and gpu, you're fine anyway. By the time it's outdated and NEEDS to be overclocked, replace it.

I like the case. It's a bit cheaper at Amazon, btw.

Get a 2nd hard drive for your system image and back up, about 500 GB "green" since speed isn't an issue. Once you get this set up right, you need to create an image (W78 does this) in case of issues later. FAR better than a clean install.

I think you can do better than either of those cards for the money.
Reference Tom's for some help comparing and shopping around:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

I am no expert on nVidia cards, but from what I know unless you get the latest-gen cards, you can only do single-monitor setups with nVidia. You'd need a TripleHead2Go setup or get a second card if you want to multi-monitor. This is the main reason I stick with AMD/ATI.

Two screens seems like a funny choice too. Are you doing a vertical arrangement? Tri-screen would make more sense, but like I said above, you're gonna hit a wall with nVidia.

As for the case, I would recommend getting a good case. As others have said, some things you can carry over between builds so investing in a good case is a good idea. You want to make sure you have good airflow, space for cable management, and enough space for all the goodies you will eventually pack in. That 1TB HDD looks alright now, but a year or so later, once it's packed with movies and pictures and junk, well... Anyway, a good case is just like a good PSU. A good PSU powers your entire system, so you don't want to skimp on that. A good case makes sure all your parts get good airflow and don't choke each other with hot exhaust, so you don't want to skimp on that too.

I am very happy with my old Antec 300 gaming case which should be only slightly more expensive than your case choice. The Antec will come with two fans by default, one rear exhaust and one top exhaust. As you know you can get extra fans for cheap, but I never needed any more even with overclocking my system. It is quite a tight fit for cable management though, so I upgraded to a Corsair Carbide 500R, which is a beaut.

With regards to overclocking, trust me, you will want to fiddle with it some day, so if you make allowances for it, you'll be thanking yourself later. A Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo (Ł25) dropped my CPU temps by a good few degrees on full tilt and allowed me to go from about 3.6GHz up to 4.1GHz on my i5 750 on air cooling alone. I've dropped my OC a bit now and I am comfortable knowing that my parts are adequately cooled and properly ventilated.

If you can drop to 8GB RAM and put the money to good use elsewhere (like the case!), do so. Just make sure you get a good brand RAM with tight timings and around 1600MHz... that will help with overclocking later as well.

Lastly, if you can snag a modular PSU, I think you'd want to do that as well. Makes cable management hell of a lot easier!

Hope that helps and welcome to SimHQ!