First gaming build

[Anonmouze]

So I am planning on buying my first gaming PC coming from a history of PS3 and Macs. :S

Anyways, I've done a painstaking amount of research into this and have come up with the following build:

i5-3570k
GTX 670
1 TB WD Black -- Maybe get a 100-200 GB SSD instead? I can only get one or the other for now.
A cheap DVD drive
8 GB of ram
I was thinking Corsair CX 600 or Corsair TX 650(How good of a PSU do I need for this build?)
something like a ASUS/Gigabyte GA-Z77X motherboard. (around $100 CAD)
A good but somewhat cheap case. 50-100 dollars hopefully

So yeah.. at first I was going with the 660 ti but I decided to add a bit more and go with the 670. I DON'T want to update anytime soon. The thing is the price slowly crept up as I started building my PC. I'll also need a monitor (2ms).

What do you think? Any suggestions to replace some parts? Also can you answer my hard drive/PSU question? One last thing, should I pay this store to build my PC for 50 dollars or build it myself and buy an anti-static wrist strap.


**Another LAST thing: Are those Ethernet adapters to get a wired internet connection to a part of my house as reliable/fast/stable as a normal wired connection? If they are I'll get one of those so I don't have to run wires all over the house. (Don't want wireless)

[KeyboardDemon]

Hi, welcome to the forums.

I think your build looks good, I would pick a Gigabyte mobo over the Asus, the current Gigabyte Z77 range overclock just as well as the Asus and have performed better in many tests, they are built to very high standards, come in at a lower price and Gigabyte seem to offer better support should things go wrong.

With the PSU either one of the Corsair range of supplies is considered by many as a bad choice while the rest of their range is good, unfortunately I can't remember which one that was so hopefully someone will be able to answer that question.

As for SSDs, don't get an SSD instead of a HDD, get one as well as a HDD. Consider a 256gb if you can, then you can put OS and games on the SSD and documents, office and other software can be put on the HDD. A cheaper option might be to get a smaller SSD and run it using Intel's Smart Response Technology as well as Rapid Start which are technologies designed to enhance the performance of a standard hdd by copying frequently accessed files and data on to the hdd, while Rapid start copies all of the system files onto a 20gb partition in order to boot the system from the SSD, but not everything you do will run at SSD speeds this way, however it is a good way to balance performance with budget.

If the Ethernet adapters you are talking about are the PowerLine style plugs that run your network over the power cables in your house, then yes, they are reliable, I have a network drive, three PCs, an XBox 360, a mac and a VOIP phone all hooked up to a PowerLine network and they all run flawlessly with no noticeable difference between the performance from those to PCs connected directly to my router, just be sure to buy a good brand, ie not Belkin etc...

[deejayburnout]

One last thing, should I pay this store to build my PC for 50 dollars or build it myself and buy an anti-static wrist strap.

Have you built a PC before? do you feel confident enough to do it?

if you make a mistake when building and you bend a pin say in your CPU, its your problem to deal with, BUT if the shop do it, its there problem. I presume the shop will come with some kind of warrenty for a built system as well.

[KeyboardDemon]

For getting a shop built PC ask to see some pictures of builds they've done for other customers so you can see how neat the finish will be. I've seen some where the shop have left a mess of cables inside the case instead of managing all of the cables neatly. You can see some good examples of cable management and good quality builds by looking through some of the customer build created by 3xs here.

Basically, if you are going to pay someone to do the job, you really want to make sure they do the job right.

[Obscurity]

Have you built a PC before? do you feel confident enough to do it?

if you make a mistake when building and you bend a pin say in your CPU, its your problem to deal with, BUT if the shop do it, its there problem. I presume the shop will come with some kind of warrenty for a built system as well.

Intel CPU's have no pins So thats no concern.
Gigabyte motherboards are the best around. I'd go with them any day, at any price point.
Build it yourself. It's as simple as pushing things in slots. I'm confident you'll be fine.

EDIT: Corsair 200R is a great budget case, and it fits in that price range.
Also, 3XS is one of about 3 places you can actually get a good prebuilt computer without having the bank ripped to shreds. They just charge component costs.

[Bonebreaker777]

Intel CPU's don't have any pins but the motherboard does. And eBay if you will motherboards with bend and missing pins (make sure you will have your sleeves UP and will not play around with any cloth etc).

SSD > HDD if you will not store movies and multimedia files on it.

DVD drive > Do you really need a optical drive?

i5-3570k + Z77 > make sure you will have better that stock cooling for overclocking.

PSU > Before finally deciding which one to buy, take a quick look on this website and compare your chosen PSU if it was made by a reputable OEM manufacturer or not ( http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page541.htm ).

Good luck