Very first build, NEED HELP!

[Triciablo]

Hey guys! Well, my old rust bucket of a computer finally took a dump on me (10 years of use) and a friend of mine has persuaded me to look into building my own computer. He has also helped me put together the complete list for the build based on what he "thinks" is the best for my budget.

I will be honest, I am completely nervous and actually a bit scared of building this thing. The whole "I don't want to mess it up and fry everything to oblivion." keeps racing through my mind, but I am adamant to say the least about this learning process.

The focus of this build is GAMING. I plan on playing games like BF3, Skyrim, ME3 and a couple of online games, all at ultra high settings. So please, feel free to look over the list, critique and suggest your own helpful feelings on what you would think would make my rig the most worth my budget! Thanks!

Budget: $2000 USD

Preferred Seller: Newegg.com, Other leading providers

Overclocking? Yes (probably mid-range OC to 4.0GHz)

Crossfire/SLI? Yes (Trixx OCing both)


CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k SandyBridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 Quad-Core

Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 ATX LGA 1155

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600

Video Card: CFX 2x Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB

HDD: Western Digital RE4 500GB 7200RPM 64MB Cache

SSD: OCZ Agility 3 120GB

Case: Thermaltake Armor A60 ATX Mid-Tower

PSU: Corsair HX750 Modular ATX12V/EPS12V

ODD: LG GH24LS70 DVD/CD-ROM Writer

Monitor: Samsung P2770HD 27" 5ms 300 cd/m2

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit

Keyboard: Saitek Cyborg V5

Mouse: NZXT Avatar S


Current Total: $1877

 

[IAntDemo]

It's a nice setup, but don't overclock it, you shouldn't overclock it at first, only when games start to get more intense , as for your setup, it's a freakin sweet machine alright haha and it'll play all latest games so don't overclock it.

Don't be nervous on the build, you'll get a set of instructions with the mobo, they will be diagrams also, it's actually easy to build a computer, I don't think you need to worry, my first build went very well after following the diagrams, I build it from scratch, like I had to even put all the mainframe of the heatsink on under the mobo, all first try 10years ago, still remember to this day, what a great learning process it was for me, so I wish you luck and don't worry to much, it'll be fine.. anyway, kick ass machine right their!

 

[Dragonslayer1]

Looks good. But what kind of monitor do you have

 

[IAntDemo]

Looks good. But what kind of monitor do you have

He is buying the: Monitor: Samsung P2770HD 27" 5ms 300 cd/m2

 

[Triciablo]

He is buying the: Monitor: Samsung P2770HD 27" 5ms 300 cd/m2

I think he meant what the resolution of it is. It is 1920x1080.

Also, thank you InventD45 for the encouraging words. My friend also said that the diagrams with the mobo are VERY helpful. I think my biggest worries with building is not so much putting everything in place as it is wiring the entire system together. I am very glad that you approve of the machine btw. I was a bit worried (because yet again, I am new to this process) on what products to use.

With the help of my friend and reading reviews and such, I kind of threw it all together. Honestly, he wanted me to get a 6970, but someone from another forum suggested boosting my GPU output for around the same price with the CrossfireX.

Question though.

You mentioned not to OC the machine, that it would be fine. That is fine, because honestly, I don't know the first thing about overclocking except that there is software out there to help flash the GPU and BIOS for the CPU. Would you suggest even using the Turbo Boost technology with the Intel chip?

EDIT: Would you also suggest unlocking the shader clocks for the GPU? It comes with a BIOS switch on both cards near the CFX bridge port, or would that just be flashing it to 6970s?

 

[Dragonslayer1]

Ya sorry I didnt phrase my question right.

 

[Triciablo]

Ya sorry I didnt phrase my question right.

Yeah that is fine, I thought I knew what you meant by the question. Yeah, it is a single HDTV monitor w/ built in speakers (though I will be hooking up a surround system to it). Here, I will give what specs of it I can:

Samsung P2770HD HD LED Monitor

Color: Rose Black
Size: 27"
Widescreen: Yes
Resolution: 1920x1080
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Contrast: 50,000:1
Response Time: 5ms
Connectors: 1 HDMI, 1 DVI, 1 D-Sub
Compatibility: Analog, Digital, Composite, Component
Speakers: Dolby Digital Surround
Tuner: HDTV Tuner

 

[IAntDemo]

Right, ok when you put it all together I'm guessing Skyrim is what you are going to go on straight away?

Have everything default and play skyrim at mid settings , see how it handles it.. if it doesn't go aswell as expected then I suggest maybe doing what you said with the turbo boost, enable it..

Try again, if no luck you can play around with the shader but theirs 3 settings for it as I have heard

http://www.overclock.net/t/909086/6950-shaders-unlocked-vs-full-unlocked-tested

In all honesty tho, I really can't see no problem with that graphics cards and weather it can handle skyrim or other games, it can handle alot...

Take the gtx 580 for example, it only beats it by 2fps and that's a $400 graphics card

Heres your graphics card

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS4uoLsHXGU

Don't forget he's also recording aswell

 

[Triciablo]

Right, ok when you put it all together I'm guessing Skyrim is what you are going to go on straight away?

Have everything default and play skyrim at mid settings , see how it handles it.. if it doesn't go aswell as expected then I suggest maybe doing what you said with the turbo boost, enable it..

Try again, if no luck you can play around with the shader but theirs 3 settings for it as I have heard: (I know yours is the 70)

6950: Shaders Unlocked vs Full Unlocked Tested

In all honesty tho, I really can't see no problem with that graphics cards and weather it can handle skyrim or other games, it can handle alot...

Take the gtx 580 for example, it only beats it by 2fps and that's a $400 graphics card

Heres your graphics card

The Elder Scrolls Skyrim Gameplay Full HD (Sapphire 6950 2GB) - YouTube

Don't forget he's also recording aswell

I looked at the link you gave me and he made some very obvious common sense remarks about the card itself. It is a very good benchmark review of the card and I greatly appreciate you sharing that with me. I will take your advice and leave things stock until they seem to give me a problem.

Skyrim will be my main concern (since as of lately I have heard people are having serious fps problems with it). BF3 from what I have seen can still run smoothly on a GTX 480, which is good news for me. ME3 unfortunately as limited reviews due to the Beta version only being released (game release was extended till Q1 2012, March I believe).

If it comes to be overclocking, I will definitely be consulting some help with it (i.e. this forum, videos, reviews, guides, etc). That way I can correctly OC both cards and CPU whether with shader clocks or not and keep the system stable without resulting in damage to it.

Thank you so much again and please, continue to add comments and suggestions to this thread. While you continue to say it is a solid, top-notch rig, there is always room for improvement!

 

[IAntDemo]

Haha 1more thing, if you do overclock it you're going to need some serious cooling equipment, here's my advice, check your CPU on other sites to see how well they did with overclocking and what cooling they used for it!

YES GET A GOOD COOLING HEATSINK