6 replies to this topic

[poh123]

Just a good PC for gaming etc.

Absolutely no knowledge of computers so please don't judge.

Stumped between picking the Intel core i7-3820 with the Asus p9x79-LE mother board (2011 socket) or the intel core i7-3770K with the AsRock z77-Extreme 4 Intel z77 (1155 Socket)

Prices differ by like 40 bucks, where the 1155 is cheaper.

I hear things about overclocking etc. but i don't know if it's easy to do and maintain etc. Also the 2011 cpu doesn't come with heatsink so i need to add another 20 bucks for a fan/heatsink cooler.

[Geranium_Z__NL]

why would you want to overclock?

Is it to get any advantage? (which you already have if you buy one of those processors)

next to that I would go with 1155 socket (but thats because I am familiar with 1155)

[Luc2k]

If gaming is your focus, there's no point of going over the i5 3570K. Just use the extra money on the GPU(s). As for overclocking, should be quite easy once you give it a shot. You'll may need a better cooler depending on how high you want to go.

[UseLess]

it depends completely on how much you want to spend. Personally i think a "sweet spot" for a solid computer is about $1000.

Assuming you're Mr Joe Average (you don't do RAW video editing, or play crysis with eyefinity on 3 Full HD monitors). Im also assuming you don't have over 6 HDDs.

Few points i believe in:

• No need for the top of the line CPU
  
• Zero point in overclocking (unless you want to overclock for the sake of it)
  
• Never buy the 'latest' tech - you pay a premium for a small performance gain
  
• Get an SSD and a HDD, partition - back up that SSD!
  
• Cable management? Right on!

Anyway, to business.

CPU: $200 Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2GHz (3.6GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop
Motherboard: $120 GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
RAM: $50 CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
SSD: $130 SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD128BW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive
HDD: $100 Western Digital WD Green WD20EARX 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Power Supply: $120 SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Case: $100 Anything =) I like small, but that's just me.
Graphics: $250 GIGABYTE GV-R787OC-2GD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

TOTAL: ~$1070

Summary:
Mid-range CPU - does most things great. Simple motherboard, gigabyte makes good, stable boards. Standard RAM - nuffsed. Can get any SSD, but a 120GB Samsung is good =). WD Green - power efficient and cooler. Gold certified power supply for power efficient goodness. Case...get anything =) I like small! Graphics...i like spending $250...can spend anything, but again...double the cost is NOT double the performance!

People will poke holes in my suggestions i think, but this will be a very...solid build =)

Hope it helps!

[poh123]

Thanks for the suggestion guys. Seeing I've never overclocked before i probably won't as you guys stated it really isn't necessary.

Right now I'm thinking of going the 1155 path, may or may not change processor to i5 3750K

16 GB G.Skill Ripjaws-X, <== Probably gonna go 8gb instead- any suggestions? I heard sniper is good.

the Gigabyte 3GB 7950 VGA card,

Antec EA-650 Platinum 650W PSU,

Coolermaster K380 gaming case,

coolermaster hyper-212 EVO universal cpu cooler,

samsung 840 series 120G SATA SSD and Seagate 2TB Barracuda for HDD.

Not sure if the ram is necessary.

Also im planning to buy a Toshiba Satellite L850 (PSK9GA) with 8 gb ram for 899 dollars, is this a good buy?

[LaP]

Personally i would aim for a 7950 or a 660ti. Maybe cut on the PSU no need for a 120$ Seasonic PSU. They make good but overpriced PSU imo.

[technician27]

Stay away from Asrock. If you want to build solid pc get asus motherboard, corsair ram, thermaltake PSU, intel processor, Asus silent cooler, XFX Nvidia Graphics Cards.