The Ultimate 'Build-A-PC' Thread. Complete With Pricings & Recommendations (06/06/10)

That setup will play all current games on high settings no problem.

As for PSU I have only have experience with Cooler Master, Cosair and now Seasonic.

Just recently purchased this guy on sale for $90

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087

Based on the stats, the Apevia looks like it will do you just fine. What I am wondering is why you don't just use your old Rosewell 650W. Either way your build looks pretty good. Make sure to take that list to other sites than just CAG to get a look over!
 
[quote name='clonesniper666']Is this basically the build you would recommend: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C4wd

If you have any advice on the PSU I would appreciate it. I originally had a Rosewell 650W PSU but it is about 2x as much as the listed one and if it would not make a big difference I would try the Apevia brand.

I believe this may be the build I stick with since it is within the price I want to spend and seems to be able to play the game I originally listed.[/QUOTE]

That mobo seems out of date/ over priced. Is the $105 accurate? You could get a 990FX ATX board for about the same price with better features, more room to upgrade, etc. Or you could buy another similar micro-atx board and probably save about $25-40. Also, I've found unless you are an audiophile the sound card is not worth it anymore. The vast majority of decent motherboards have 5.1 or 7.1 and unless you are really into your music or recording something it's just as well to save the money.

Other than that I have a very similar setup built about 2+ years ago with older AMD components (different processor, had a 6870, etc.) but I really like it and so far it has kept up very well IMO.
 
[quote name='clonesniper666']Is this basically the build you would recommend: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C4wd

If you have any advice on the PSU I would appreciate it. I originally had a Rosewell 650W PSU but it is about 2x as much as the listed one and if it would not make a big difference I would try the Apevia brand.

I believe this may be the build I stick with since it is within the price I want to spend and seems to be able to play the game I originally listed.[/QUOTE]

I'd do a little more research on the MOBO. You have a Micro ATX listed. So you're getting the small form factor which you don't need with your case listed.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872

This is cheaper and gives you same feature set.

For the Vid Card I would spend $10 more and grab this 7870. Its actually running a 7950 GPU with some Stream Proccesors turned down (but more than stock 7870) Plus it has higher memory bandwidth over typical 7870. AMD really should have classified it a 7930.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202024

Also I'd either drop the SSD at 60gig or drop the Sound Card and put it into a 128 ssd. 60 gig will get you OS and not much else. 128 will at least allow you to get your top games installed on it as well.
 
[quote name='abwly45']I'd do a little more research on the MOBO. You have a Micro ATX listed. So you're getting the small form factor which you don't need with your case listed.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872

This is cheaper and gives you same feature set.

For the Vid Card I would spend $10 more and grab this 7870. Its actually running a 7950 GPU with some Stream Proccesors turned down (but more than stock 7870) Plus it has higher memory bandwidth over typical 7870. AMD really should have classified it a 7930.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202024

Also I'd either drop the SSD at 60gig or drop the Sound Card and put it into a 128 ssd. 60 gig will get you OS and not much else. 128 will at least allow you to get your top games installed on it as well.[/QUOTE]

Actually the mobo I have is cheaper at Newegg( where I will probably order from). Here is the list on NewEgg. i will witch the video cards out since you say the sapphire is better and is the aame price on NewEgg and may or may not change mobo since I sorta wanna try the micro form factor ones out( never really dealt with them before.

The 60 GB SSd is fine for me since all I really want on it is the OS.
 
I'm following this build from YouTube. Going for a budget gaming build. Thoughts?

Processor: Intel Core i3-3220
Graphics Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850
Motherboard: Asus P8-H77-I
RAM: 8GB Samsung DDR3 1600MHz
Hard Drive: 500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue
Bitfenix Prodigy Case
Power Supply: 430W Corsair CX430
Sony DVD Drive
Windows 7 Home Premium

http://youtu.be/fX_QxnuG1XM
 
[quote name='clonesniper666']Actually the mobo I have is cheaper at Newegg( where I will probably order from). Here is the list on NewEgg. i will witch the video cards out since you say the sapphire is better and is the aame price on NewEgg and may or may not change mobo since I sorta wanna try the micro form factor ones out( never really dealt with them before.

The 60 GB SSd is fine for me since all I really want on it is the OS.[/QUOTE]

One thing I forgot to point out was your SSD and HD are Sata 6.0gb/s, but the board only has Sata II. Not that it will make a huge difference, SSD boot drive will already make everything feel snappier. but if you want to get the most out of your SSD
 
i need some PSU advice.
here is my future build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CbZA
i have everything except currently running 1 gtx 670.
I will pick up another one in the future for sli. My i7 is also overclocked to 4.4 GHz.
Right now, I am second guessing my choice on a 850 watt PSU if I want to sli gtx 670s in the future. I am not sure if I am calculating my required supply correctly. The Asus site says I need 1000 watts while Newegg says I only need about 700 to 750 watts. At the same time, Outervision's calculator says I need around 650 watts.
I am worried that I flushed money down the toilet by buying a less than sufficient PSU. Can someone check or advise what my PSU wattage should be?

and does anyone know if i need to register my Maximus V Formula with Asus to get warranty?
 
[quote name='clonesniper666']Is this basically the build you would recommend: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C4wd

If you have any advice on the PSU I would appreciate it. I originally had a Rosewell 650W PSU but it is about 2x as much as the listed one and if it would not make a big difference I would try the Apevia brand.

I believe this may be the build I stick with since it is within the price I want to spend and seems to be able to play the game I originally listed.[/QUOTE]

I know this is nitpicking but dvd drives are available for $16 (at microcenter)about 99% of the time. Also why the H212+ instead of the Evo?
 
[quote name='sinned47']i need some PSU advice.
here is my future build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CbZA
i have everything except currently running 1 gtx 670.
I will pick up another one in the future for sli. My i7 is also overclocked to 4.4 GHz.
Right now, I am second guessing my choice on a 850 watt PSU if I want to sli gtx 670s in the future. I am not sure if I am calculating my required supply correctly. The Asus site says I need 1000 watts while Newegg says I only need about 700 to 750 watts. At the same time, Outervision's calculator says I need around 650 watts.
I am worried that I flushed money down the toilet by buying a less than sufficient PSU. Can someone check or advise what my PSU wattage should be?

and does anyone know if i need to register my Maximus V Formula with Asus to get warranty?[/QUOTE]

When I did research on it, an i5 stock with 670s SLI needed at minimum 750W. You probably need at least 800W, probably safe at 850W. Someone with more OC experience than me could tell you more, I'm sure.
 
[quote name='sinned47']i need some PSU advice.
here is my future build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CbZA
i have everything except currently running 1 gtx 670.
I will pick up another one in the future for sli. My i7 is also overclocked to 4.4 GHz.
Right now, I am second guessing my choice on a 850 watt PSU if I want to sli gtx 670s in the future. I am not sure if I am calculating my required supply correctly. The Asus site says I need 1000 watts while Newegg says I only need about 700 to 750 watts. At the same time, Outervision's calculator says I need around 650 watts.
I am worried that I flushed money down the toilet by buying a less than sufficient PSU. Can someone check or advise what my PSU wattage should be?

and does anyone know if i need to register my Maximus V Formula with Asus to get warranty?[/QUOTE]


670's are fairly power efficient. Here's a review with SLI showing power consumption at load. They said 850w would be the starting point for tri SLI.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_670_2_and_3way_sli_review,4.html

Your PSU listed should be good.
 
[quote name='sinned47']i need some PSU advice.
here is my future build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CbZA
i have everything except currently running 1 gtx 670.
I will pick up another one in the future for sli. My i7 is also overclocked to 4.4 GHz.
Right now, I am second guessing my choice on a 850 watt PSU if I want to sli gtx 670s in the future. I am not sure if I am calculating my required supply correctly. The Asus site says I need 1000 watts while Newegg says I only need about 700 to 750 watts. At the same time, Outervision's calculator says I need around 650 watts.
I am worried that I flushed money down the toilet by buying a less than sufficient PSU. Can someone check or advise what my PSU wattage should be?

and does anyone know if i need to register my Maximus V Formula with Asus to get warranty?[/QUOTE]

PSU is never something to try and get by on. Just buy a very good 750/850 watt and your good to go.
 
2 part question.

1) Volunteered for the "building a rig for a friend" position this week. His graphics card budget is about $150-$170. I told him for that he should probably go for a Radeon HD 7850, he was thinking about getting a GTX 570 from Microcenter I guess. As far as I know they are pretty similar but the 7850 has the newer tech. Any have experience/opinions on these cards?

2) The parents' computer PSU is dying a terribly loud death i think. Literally runs the fan like it's pulling a full load all the time and doesn't ever stop. They have a fairly old HP (like 2008 maybe), but I am probably going to swap out the PSU for a decent Antec I have that is extra. However given that their HP case has god awful airflow, dvd door sometimes sticks, etc. I was thinking about just throwing it all in a new case as I could probably get a decent one for $30-50. Anyone done this before? worth it? It looks like some of the headers for front USB and so forth maybe proprietary which is no fun...
 
[quote name='Duo_Maxwell']2) The parents' computer PSU is dying a terribly loud death i think. Literally runs the fan like it's pulling a full load all the time and doesn't ever stop. They have a fairly old HP (like 2008 maybe), but I am probably going to swap out the PSU for a decent Antec I have that is extra. However given that their HP case has god awful airflow, dvd door sometimes sticks, etc. I was thinking about just throwing it all in a new case as I could probably get a decent one for $30-50. Anyone done this before? worth it? It looks like some of the headers for front USB and so forth maybe proprietary which is no fun...[/QUOTE]

I don't know if it's worth it. OEM computers from HP etc. usually have stuff you don't expect to find, which makes moving it to a normal case a pain in the ass. You'll probably have to do a lot of little stuff, like replacing the cables to the hard drive, cause they might have mounted the HDD so close to the motherboard that the cable in use is like an inch long, and stuff of that sort.

Your best bet is to probably clean 5 years of dust out of it, and replace the PSU with something cheap. Any more money than that, and you might as well buy a new one.
 
[quote name='Mako1215']2. Can any extra fans be added to the case?[/QUOTE]

To the HP case? No I don't think so. There is a side vent that I could maybe mod and put a fan on, but nothing made for it. I cleaned it out then muddled around doing some testing and it seems like all the components and everything in the case stays relatively cool. But for some reason, even right after a cold boot up the PSU sounds like a helicopter is getting ready to take off from their office.

[quote name='elessar123']I don't know if it's worth it. OEM computers from HP etc. usually have stuff you don't expect to find, which makes moving it to a normal case a pain in the ass. You'll probably have to do a lot of little stuff, like replacing the cables to the hard drive, cause they might have mounted the HDD so close to the motherboard that the cable in use is like an inch long, and stuff of that sort.

Your best bet is to probably clean 5 years of dust out of it, and replace the PSU with something cheap. Any more money than that, and you might as well buy a new one.[/QUOTE]

Yeah that seems to be the case as the front usb/firewire/audio etc appear to have a connector that's exclusive to the HP case & mobo. Memory card reader is also not a typcial 5.25 bay. I've thought about telling them to just get a new one, but I don't think they are yet savvy enough for Windows 8... I'll just throw the extra Antec PSU I have in there and wait for something else to go bad in it, replace the whole PC and reclaim my Antec PSU then. I'm fairly certain the Antec will outlast the HP computer at this point.


Edit: Anyone have any opinions on question 1? A 1gb GTX 570 vs. a 1gb Radeon HD 7850 (neither is overclocked I don't think)?
 
I game about 20 hours a week but I also do a lot of work with Excel and Access. I'll play on and off a few different games; Skyrim, Civ V, Torchlight II and Starcraft II among a few others.

I'm about 90% done putting my new rig together. i7 3770k + 2 EVGA 670 FTW 2G SLI

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/F9Fy

This machine replaces a three year old i5 2.66 Ghz with an HSI 5770 card that has served me pretty well.

The Corsair 650D case is larger (taller) than I expected but pretty sweet.

Almost ready to install Windows 7..maybe tomorrow after work. I don't think is is as much fun to do as when I was younger. I'm still in possession of a Packard Bell 486 33 that still works :).

pcbuild1.jpg
 
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Thats a very nice rig ! I cant decide if I want the i5 2500K or the i5 3570k :/

after promo code the 3570k is $5 cheaper on newegg, but I just dont know enough about processors to know the difference. I know the 2500k is sandy bridge and the other is Ivy Bridge but thats about it.
 
[quote name='iKilledChewbacca']Thats a very nice rig ! I cant decide if I want the i5 2500K or the i5 3570k :/

after promo code the 3570k is $5 cheaper on newegg, but I just dont know enough about processors to know the difference. I know the 2500k is sandy bridge and the other is Ivy Bridge but thats about it.[/QUOTE]

4th gen is coming out.
 
I bought a Radeon HD 6850 for my current desktop back in August 2011 when I built it. My friend is building a computer and I asked if he'd be interested in buying it from me. He doesn't game much and mostly needs a computer for Photoshop (and why he needs 16GB of RAM).

What's the best way to figure out the price I should ask? I checked eBay and most are $80 tops. I have the full box with everything that came with it (cut out the UPC for the rebate).

I would probably get a Radeon HD 7850, is the upgrade from the 6850 worth about $100?
 
Can someone help me with my PC?
I just got parts that I ordered a few days ago and they don't seem to go together. After putting it together, the computer turns on but nothing appears on the screen. I have this mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130662
and this psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153174
After a bit of googling and looking at the manuals, it seems like it's because the GPU in my CPU isn't working. I have the AMD A10 with a Radeon HD 7660D in it and the plug I'm missing is for the APU, so I need to find an adapter. It should be something like this http://i.stack.imgur.com/S4WBe.jpg but I can't seem to find one anywhere.

I'm also thinking of getting a graphics card instead of using the one that's in the CPU. My laptop has a Intel 4000 HD and a GTX 660M and it switches around to save power. Is it possible to do this on a desktop with the HD 7660D and another card?
 
[quote name='chickenbutt']Can someone help me with my PC?
I just got parts that I ordered a few days ago and they don't seem to go together. After putting it together, the computer turns on but nothing appears on the screen. I have this mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130662
and this psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153174
After a bit of googling and looking at the manuals, it seems like it's because the GPU in my CPU isn't working. I have the AMD A10 with a Radeon HD 7660D in it and the plug I'm missing is for the APU, so I need to find an adapter. It should be something like this http://i.stack.imgur.com/S4WBe.jpg but I can't seem to find one anywhere.

I'm also thinking of getting a graphics card instead of using the one that's in the CPU. My laptop has a Intel 4000 HD and a GTX 660M and it switches around to save power. Is it possible to do this on a desktop with the HD 7660D and another card?[/QUOTE]

You don't need that adapter. Your PSU comes with a 4x4 cpu power adapter. It will be stuck together to look like 8 pins, but it should separate out into 4x4 according the specs on Newegg. Then just plug the correct 4 pin setup into your MOBO. The other 4 pins will just be extra.

Your MOBO only requires a 4 pin CPU adapter.
 
[quote name='abwly45']You don't need that adapter. Your PSU comes with a 4x4 cpu power adapter. It will be stuck together to look like 8 pins, but it should separate out into 4x4 according the specs on Newegg. Then just plug the correct 4 pin setup into your MOBO. The other 4 pins will just be extra.

Your MOBO only requires a 4 pin CPU adapter.[/QUOTE]

Holy crap LOL I just took my time looking for it and found it. Everything was all black and I couldn't see any plugs. It works now. Thanks :D
Would it be a good idea to buy some computer case fans? I don't have any atm. Thinking of getting 2. Nevermind, I just ended up buying 2.
 
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Ello guys, my friend needs some help. I tried doing all the math in my head and also used a PSU calculator but it just doesnt seem right to me (I didnt think his PSU would be powerful enough)....

He has :

Core2Duo e7600 @ 3.06Ghz
4x 2GB DDR2 (totaling 8GB)
Radeon HD 5770
2x 200mm fans
Corsair CX500 power supply (38a on the +12V rail)

He just bought another radeon 5770 off of craigslist for $35 and he wants to try and put it in the system....He is just afraid that it could do damage if his PSU isnt powerful enough.

What are your opinions on this ?

He doesnt overclock anything as far as I know if that helps.

Can he run crossfire with a 500w PSU or is he going to need to buy a bigger one ?
 
[quote name='iKilledChewbacca']Ello guys, my friend needs some help. I tried doing all the math in my head and also used a PSU calculator but it just doesnt seem right to me (I didnt think his PSU would be powerful enough)....

He has :

Core2Duo e7600 @ 3.06Ghz
4x 2GB DDR2 (totaling 8GB)
Radeon HD 5770
2x 200mm fans
Corsair CX500 power supply (38a on the +12V rail)

He just bought another radeon 5770 off of craigslist for $35 and he wants to try and put it in the system....He is just afraid that it could do damage if his PSU isnt powerful enough.

What are your opinions on this ?

He doesnt overclock anything as far as I know if that helps.

Can he run crossfire with a 500w PSU or is he going to need to buy a bigger one ?[/QUOTE]



anyone know ?
 
[quote name='iKilledChewbacca']anyone know ?[/QUOTE]

I have an i7-3770k Overclocked to 4.5Ghz and 16GB Ram with a GTX 670 4GB on a 600 Watt PSU (PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III). I think your friends rig would be fine with his current 500w PSU.
 
This isn't building a PC necessarily, but I'm hoping to buy a cheap already built desktop from HP with a Core i5, and add a nice graphics card, such as an AMD Radeon 7850, will I run into problems with motherboard connectivity or cooling issues? I asked, and they said it has a 300W power supply, so I'll need to upgrade that.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Desktops/HP-Pavilion/C9D25AV;pgid=QT5wGfjcGRlSRpIqjWpHvRV30000QKT4fpVE;sid=X36ZQazaGBgbRf2QXRsxyXTVVaUU6qYB0tXIrzDGVaUU6mqr0kualx9h?HP-Pavilion-p7-1520t-Desktop-PC
 
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[quote name='StickyWaffles']This isn't building a PC necessarily, but I'm hoping to buy a cheap already built desktop from HP with a Core i5, and add a nice graphics card, such as an AMD Radeon 7850, will I run into problems with motherboard connectivity or cooling issues? I asked, and they said it has a 300W power supply, so I'll need to upgrade that.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Desktops/HP-Pavilion/C9D25AV;pgid=QT5wGfjcGRlSRpIqjWpHvRV30000QKT4fpVE;sid=X36ZQazaGBgbRf2QXRsxyXTVVaUU6qYB0tXIrzDGVaUU6mqr0kualx9h?HP-Pavilion-p7-1520t-Desktop-PC[/QUOTE]

No, but your better off buying from avadirect or some company that offers similar services. At least you can upgrade or customize from the get go if you're not comfortable building your own PC.
 
[quote name='StickyWaffles']This isn't building a PC necessarily, but I'm hoping to buy a cheap already built desktop from HP with a Core i5, and add a nice graphics card, such as an AMD Radeon 7850, will I run into problems with motherboard connectivity or cooling issues? I asked, and they said it has a 300W power supply, so I'll need to upgrade that.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Desktops/HP-Pavilion/C9D25AV;pgid=QT5wGfjcGRlSRpIqjWpHvRV30000QKT4fpVE;sid=X36ZQazaGBgbRf2QXRsxyXTVVaUU6qYB0tXIrzDGVaUU6mqr0kualx9h?HP-Pavilion-p7-1520t-Desktop-PC[/QUOTE]

For the cost of upgrading that thing, you should just build your own or pay a friend to do it. Microcenter has great deals on CPU/ Motherboard combo's and I am sure your university has a deal on getting a copy on an OS. It would be cheaper and upgrading something like that is going to be as much if not more of a PITA.

Just watch some videos on youtube of people putting stuff together and it should lessen your fear.
 
Does anyone know how to do crossfire? I'm trying to do it with a HD6670 and the HD7660D that came on the A10 Trinity CPU. On the box it says it works, but I can't seem to find the crossfire option on Catalyst Control.
 
[quote name='chickenbutt']Does anyone know how to do crossfire? I'm trying to do it with a HD6670 and the HD7660D that came on the A10 Trinity CPU. On the box it says it works, but I can't seem to find the crossfire option on Catalyst Control.[/QUOTE]

make sure you have the latest drivers.

In CC, go to performance tab, it will be in one of the option.

another note, I'm note sure if these will crossfire. rebranding on old series chip... yea maybe.
 
anyone have any opinions on how good this should be for gaming ? I was building a new PC for work purposes and figured I would make a few tweaks to get some gaming out of it as well.

Here are the parts I have that would affect it.

i7-3770k processor
16 GB 1600 DDR3 (2x8GB)
GTX 670 OC

I am thinking that I should be ok with it but I have not had time to get Steam installed and some games loaded to test it out. Was just curious as all my other game machines have just been factory models with a new GPU installed.
 
[quote name='AdvOfJet']anyone have any opinions on how good this should be for gaming ? I was building a new PC for work purposes and figured I would make a few tweaks to get some gaming out of it as well.

Here are the parts I have that would affect it.

i7-3770k processor
16 GB 1600 DDR3 (2x8GB)
GTX 670 OC

I am thinking that I should be ok with it but I have not had time to get Steam installed and some games loaded to test it out. Was just curious as all my other game machines have just been factory models with a new GPU installed.[/QUOTE]

Pretty much the peak of the mid-tier gaming rig, imo.
 
[quote name='elessar123']Pretty much the peak of the mid-tier gaming rig, imo.[/QUOTE]

Cool thanks. Thats what I was hoping for. I'm not one to go all out with SLI or Crossfire so I was trying to look for a decent layout that would work for my work needs as well.

My actual gaming machine was using a Q6600 with an HD 5850 and 6GB so this should at least be better than that I would think. I am just not that great at comparing these types of things without actually seeing the results with my own eyes.

Hopefully I will have it up and running by this weekend so I can play around with it.
 
[quote name='denze']No, but your better off buying from avadirect or some company that offers similar services. At least you can upgrade or customize from the get go if you're not comfortable building your own PC.[/QUOTE]Took your advice into consideration, and ordered a computer from ibuypower.com. Hoping an i5-3570 and 7870 video card work on the 500 Watt power supply I got since I'm not overclocking. It comes with decent cooling and a bigger case, so those concerns are gone for me now.

Made a mistake ordering though, as I went with one of the few promotions with free shipping (usually $75) Special-A, but the price is jacked up enough so that their Elite 8 promotion is better by about $100 for the exact same build, even with having to pay for shipping for the latter. Most frustrating is Windows 8 costing $104 on my order (so I went with no OS on my order), but $60 for every other build, including the Elite 8. Sent an email to try to change to the Elite 8 promotion, we'll see how it goes. If I can get this corrected, it'll be $900 for a decent setup. Not a great deal, but convenient, as long as they manage to get it to me within the next few weeks, which I hear can be a problem.
 
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How long do you guys think I can get away with using my current setup of Intel Quad Core 2.4ghz, 8GB ddr2 ram, and GTX 550ti video card before I can't play new games coming out at an acceptable level?
 
building my first PC with my tax refund. sick of gaming on a laptop i can't upgrade that i constantly keep plugged into my TV anyway. i'm very new to this and will be doing it myself. thoughts? anything i'm missing? tyia

http://amzn.com/w/DW06V4EG2TJM

btw- already ordered a 3rd party CPU fan and dvd drive
 
[quote name='vince_carter']building my first PC with my tax refund. sick of gaming on a laptop i can't upgrade that i constantly keep plugged into my TV anyway. i'm very new to this and will be doing it myself. thoughts? anything i'm missing? tyia

http://amzn.com/w/DW06V4EG2TJM

btw- already ordered a 3rd party CPU fan and dvd drive[/QUOTE]

Choose a better power supply. That 380 watt PSU will not effectively power everything you are throwing in there. Remember it powers everything in your system, so don't overlook it's importance. The recommended minimum with a GTX 660 Ti I think is like 450 watts. I'd use a least a decent quality 500-550 watt PSU just to be safe and you'd have a little extra power so if you add-on at some point you will not necessarily have to upgrade the PSU again. Plus, at least in my experiences, Antec PSUs are very good quality but kinda loud for my tastes (of course the Obsidian is sound dampening case I think so that may not matter at all).

Also unless you are using it purely for data I would also avoid the WD Green drives. They are good at conserving power, but sometimes too good I guess. They can occasionally be a bit slow or problematic when doing things like gaming or HD video playback, etc.
 
[quote name='Duo_Maxwell']Choose a better power supply. That 380 watt PSU will not effectively power everything you are throwing in there. Remember it powers everything in your system, so don't overlook it's importance. The recommended minimum with a GTX 660 Ti I think is like 450 watts. I'd use a least a decent quality 500-550 watt PSU just to be safe and you'd have a little extra power so if you add-on at some point you will not necessarily have to upgrade the PSU again. Plus, at least in my experiences, Antec PSUs are very good quality but kinda loud for my tastes (of course the Obsidian is sound dampening case I think so that may not matter at all).

Also unless you are using it purely for data I would also avoid the WD Green drives. They are good at conserving power, but sometimes too good I guess. They can occasionally be a bit slow or problematic when doing things like gaming or HD video playback, etc.[/QUOTE]

thank you my man

i was just about ready to order this stuff.... i changed a few things, look better now?
 
Do you 1) run Linux? 2) use graphics cards to do lots of scientific processing?

If you answer yes to either, get the 660. Otherwise, the 7950 is a better deal.
 
[quote name='vince_carter']i've heard so many bad things about AMD[/QUOTE]

What have you heard? Their GPUs are fine, it's only their CPUs that have lagged behind. The drivers for the Radeons used to be pretty bad, but that hasn't been true for years.

[quote name='paz9x']hierarchy shows it a couple rungs up and comparable with the 670[/QUOTE]

I guess it depends what sites you check. I've been going by benchmarks over at Anandtech where it seems like they trade blows: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/550?vs=647
 
[quote name='vince_carter']building my first PC with my tax refund. sick of gaming on a laptop i can't upgrade that i constantly keep plugged into my TV anyway. i'm very new to this and will be doing it myself. thoughts? anything i'm missing? tyia

http://amzn.com/w/DW06V4EG2TJM

btw- already ordered a 3rd party CPU fan and dvd drive[/QUOTE]

1) If the WD black is going to be used for games/music/videos, get a Seagate Barracuda instead. If the WD is going to be used for OS, stay with that.
2) The samsung 840s aren't very good so go with either the 830 or the 840 pro.
3) The i7-3770k is about $100 cheaper at Microcenter. (if you have one near you)
4) I can't speak for Gigabytes customer service but XFX's CS is extremely well known for warranty support.

For a first build, this looks extremely nice.
 
Yeah I second the MC suggestion. You do have one close according to your location. That is the place to get your mobo and cpu.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

I would probably get that PSU over the one you got. It is cheaper and it is a better brand. That said, if you plan on going SLI in the future, you might as well just spend the extra 40 and get an 850 watt PSU.


Also, the 7950 is a good deal, but it only is comparable to the 670 if you are going to overclock. With that said, price/performance wise it still is a much better deal. The drivers have gotten much better over this generations life cycle.
 
after some research i think i am gonna go with the AMD

and i've never heard of them but the only microcenter in NJ is like 15 mins from me, gonna check it out this week. thanks for the help fellas. much appreciated. will consider that corsair PSU since it's cheaper on amazon as well.

btw if anyone is wondering why i used amazon and not newegg it's because amazon is still tax free here.
 
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