Looking For Advice on a PC Setup

[Scizophrenic Llama]

So I've been looking to build a gaming PC for a while now and have decided to start looking around at parts to get a good idea on a setup, first actual time I'm getting a PC myself rather than just going out and getting it custom built so I'm not too sure what else I might need. Price range caps out at about $1300(I might be able to go slightly over, but it really depends on things going on), unless I wait on another paycheck, but I don't really want to go past that point for the computer either.

Case: RAIDMAX SMILODON Extreme Black ATX-612WEB 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156078]

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072]

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128493]

GPU: GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613]

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006]

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314]

Internal Hard-drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284]

DVD Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204]

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116713]

Price: $1,265.91

So, please, feel free to offer up suggestions on different items or just give me a whole new setup to consider. I'd more than appreciate it.

I will likely be buying the parts this friday.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

Ah, completely forgot to put that on there. Updated it with the hard-drive.

 

[Kabutos]

If you're just gaming then drop down to an i5 2500k and 4GB of RAM.

Also i would go with this [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613&cm_re=gtx_570-_-14-130-613-_-Product] 570 instead. It's cheaper and the "Superclocked card" is only a 65/130/100 Mhz Core/Shader/Mem overclock, which you can easily do on your own.

Also is there a reason you're going mATX? Because if you aren't, then I'd suggest this [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130572&Tpk=p67a%20gd53] mobo, cheaper and ATX. It's P67 but imo you don't need Z68 if you already have a dedicated GPU.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

If you're just gaming then drop down to an i5 2500k and 4GB of RAM.

Also i would go with this [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613&cm_re=gtx_570-_-14-130-613-_-Product] 570 instead. It's cheaper and the "Superclocked card" is only a 65/130/100 Mhz Core/Shader/Mem overclock, which you can easily do on your own.

Also is there a reason you're going mATX? Because if you aren't, then I'd suggest this [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130572&Tpk=p67a%20gd53] mobo, cheaper and ATX. It's P67 but imo you don't need Z68 if you already have a dedicated GPU.

I just kind of threw together a list to start a basis off of. I would've gone from that and started doing the lovely task of researching everything meticulously until I finally just cave in on something, but I figured I'd coming to the forums and consult the more tech-savvy on it. Pretty sure that case didn't even support mATX so that saved me a hassle. There a specific brand of RAM you'd suggest for me that you'd say is reliable? Of all the things I see crap out on a computer for my friends it seems to be RAM that goes first.

 

[Kabutos]

I just kind of threw together a list to start a basis off of. I would've gone from that and started doing the lovely task of researching everything meticulously until I finally just cave in on something, but I figured I'd coming to the forums and consult the more tech-savvy on it. Pretty sure that case didn't even support mATX so that saved me a hassle. There a specific brand of RAM you'd suggest for me that you'd say is reliable? Of all the things I see crap out on a computer for my friends it seems to be RAM that goes first.

The case supports mATX, but it's just that with mATX you get less PCI and PCIe slots which will limit you in future upgrades, so why choose it if you're not using an mATX case, right?

As for RAM, I would say just get 2x2GB of whatever's cheapest. You don't need anything fancy like huge heatsinks, also the difference between 1600 Mhz and 1333 Mhz as well as CAS latencies is so small they're pretty much negligible.

That being said, I like Mushkin [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226092], but really anything that works and is around $40 is fine.

Also you're going to need a good HSF; stock ones are generally pretty garbage at overclocking; I like the Hyper 212+ [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper_212%2b-_-35-103-065-_-Product]

 

[kaioshade]

Caviar Black seconded. There is no reason to use a blue over the black for the modest price difference.

Maybe i am bizarre, but i actually find mATX cases better. Most gaming computers i see have one card, one optical drive, one hard drive and a lot of wasted space. Sure upgrades factor in, but a ton of people end up upgrading their entire comp before they add that many expansion cards.

And mATX can still take SLI if you really wanted. Anyway i digress. The build looks good. And i recommend keeping 8GB of ram. It isn't that much more expensive then the 4GB and soon enough you will end up using that kind of memory.

 

[Weaver]

If you're just gaming then drop down to an i5 2500k and 4GB of RAM.

Also i would go with this [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613&cm_re=gtx_570-_-14-130-613-_-Product] 570 instead. It's cheaper and the "Superclocked card" is only a 65/130/100 Mhz Core/Shader/Mem overclock, which you can easily do on your own.

Also is there a reason you're going mATX? Because if you aren't, then I'd suggest this [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130572&Tpk=p67a%20gd53] mobo, cheaper and ATX. It's P67 but imo you don't need Z68 if you already have a dedicated GPU.

I just kind of threw together a list to start a basis off of. I would've gone from that and started doing the lovely task of researching everything meticulously until I finally just cave in on something, but I figured I'd coming to the forums and consult the more tech-savvy on it. Pretty sure that case didn't even support mATX so that saved me a hassle. There a specific brand of RAM you'd suggest for me that you'd say is reliable? Of all the things I see crap out on a computer for my friends it seems to be RAM that goes first.

I actually got 16GB of the G-Skill ripjaws you have listed. I was originally skeptical due to their price point, but they've been nothing but great for me. I very much recommend them.

 

[Wolfram23]

Really good system overall. Just my 2 cents:

-Stay away from MSI motherboards. Go with Gigabyte or Asus perhaps. Oh and maybe Z68 instead of P67.
-Get a bigger case. The 300 will probably be sufficient but a 570 at high output does get rather hot.
-Consider a bigger HDD. 500gb isn't really that much once you get some movies, music, and games on there.

But yeah overall nice build it'll destroy games.

 

[Worgen]

I would go for a cheaper vid card, no more then 200 but a better cpu, its easy to switch out a vid card but a cpu will be something you want to last along time

also I would add a 2nd hard drive in there, I like having more then one drive, its nice in case something happens to one of them

 

[player3141]

Don't go down to 4gb, windows 7 likes to have a lot of ram. Also, make sure the OS is 64 bit, otherwise you won't be able to use all of your ram.

If you are going with gaming, AMD will usually give you more value if you are going mid range.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

Alrighty then.

I've updated the hard-drive to 1TB Caviar Black. Fairly certain that the copy of Windows 7 gives me the option of installing at 64 bit, which I will be doing. I took the recommendation and switched the motherboard from a MSI P67 to a GIGABYTE Z68. I decided to hold on to the 8GB G.SKILL RAM as I can always add more RAM later on if needed.

I saw a recommendation for a bigger case, so I've look up a few off of Newegg and here they are:

Case 1: Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066]
Case 2: RAIDMAX SMILODON Extreme Black ATX-612WEB 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156078]
Case 3: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197]

I'm leaning towards #2, personally. It's big, has a good amount of fans, and looks rather nice.

By all means post any cases you'd recommend.

Haven't seen anything about the power-supply mentioned, so I'm just assuming that is a good one unless anybody has any other recommendations.

 

[Irriduccibilli]

It looks pretty solid, although I myself am looking for a PC too, and to begin with I wanted an Intel i7 CPU, but it looks like i'll end up with an AMD Phenom instead since the intel i7 is only slightly better, but the AMD is alot cheaper.
Only weak point in your build seems to be your power supply. It dont leave you much room to improve later on without having to get a new power supply. I would go with 1000w power supply, that leaves you alot of room to improve your PC later on.
Also your case. I understand that people just want to get the cheapest case, but often you pay for what you get. I myself decided to get this case instead
Cooler Master Haf X [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225&cm_re=Cooler_master_Haf_x-_-11-119-225-_-Product]
It should have some great cooling, now I cant say myself because I havent got my PC yet, but I havent really heard anything bad about it, only good. Besides, it's HUUGE, and leaves you alot of room to build in.

 

[Wolfram23]

I'd probably take the HAF over the Raidmax, although the raidmax looks sweet.

Anyway besides that I'd say the build is really solid. Can't go wrong with a 2500k. As for the mobo, you should check to make sure the one you picked can do 8x/8x PCIe lanes for SLI, just to keep the option open. Some mobos do 16x/4x and it's definitely not as good.

The Corsair 750TX is a sweet PSU, definitely no worries there. You MIGHT want to get the 850 to give a bit more headroom for SLI 570s, but the 750 should power it if you don't overclock everything to the max. I'm using a 750TX myself with two 5850s (OCed), a GT 240, sound card, 2 HDDs, an SSD, i5 750 (OCed 4ghz), a water pump, and 7 fans plus the 2 fans on my aftermarket GPU heatsinks, as well as a fan controller.

 

[MrTub]

I would really recommend i5 2500k for gaming, AMD is currently way behind Intel (Untill they releases Bulldozer).

I used to have a Tx 750 and it was great, if you want to go 1000watt psu do not buy Hx1000. It's annoying to balance everything.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

I'm thinking the setup is looking pretty nice. I'll keep looking around at different motherboards and I might bump up the power-supply.

Suggestions are always welcome.