First Time Builder Needs Opinions..

[l3radrocks]

Hey guys, before I start just let me give a bit of background info. First off, I am an avid gamer, but i have a problem; my computer is a Mac. As most of you probably know macs are not for gaming what so ever. So I decided to build myself a PC. Secondly I do not claim to have any idea what I'm doing. I have read a couple guides and think I have a very basic idea of what to do.
So yea, I have decided to build myself a computer and have come up with this system. The price of it come up to around $ 1,000.

Case : Corsair Carbide Series 500R White Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Storage (Hard drive) : Western Digital WD Green WD30EZRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - OEM

Motherboard : ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

CD Drive : LG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo Drive Model UH12NS29 - OEM

Proccesser : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Memory : G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR

Heatsink Fan : ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2, CPU Cooler - Intel & AMD, Multi-Directional Mount, 92mm PWM Fan

Power Supply : SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

GPU : EVGA SSC 01G-P4-3652-KR GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Ok so here are my problems. First of all, I don't even know if all these products are compatible with each other. With the research I have done, I think they are, but I want to be safe. Secondly I just want to know if this rig would server as a good gaming PC.

I would love if you guys could recommend other parts instead of these, but please also tell me why. By the way, my budget is about $ 1,200.

Thanks In advance, Brad.

 

[SethWilliams]

What games are you going to be playing? If your computer can handle them, I would install Parallels (which allows you to run other operating systems) or something comparable that would allow you to play games without spending lots of $$$ on a new computer.

 

[Branjo]

I would personally add another hard drive (or 2), the trouble with 1 is that the drive will be forced to do a lot of work. Ideally you want 1 (small and fast) for your OS, 1 for Pagefile/storage, and one for your games/programs. That way there is no slowdowns when accessing data. A single 3TB is (in my opinion) complete overkill, they are great for storage but that's about it. If I had the cash I would love nothing but large capacity SSD's in my Rig, (but then who has that kind of cash? lol)

Also the Arctic freezer is a good cooler but I would definitely go with something like a Tuniq or Xigmatex, something you can have a push/pull fansetup with. These are quite big coolers (height wise) but they pay off in the long run, so you would need to check the measurements on your chosen case to be sure.

You might require a lot more amps on the 12v rails than you have allotted for with that PSU but G/cards aren't the power hungry demons they were when I built my Rig many moons ago, so pinch of salt with that one.

I went with a modular PSU too, but here's the funny thing, I ended up needing all the connectors anyway...lol. So something to think about if you want to get the price down a little.

Just make sure you read all the 1 egg and not just the 5 egg comments, some are just silly people complaining about the postman, but a lot of times there are genuine problems with things like compatibility and longevity.

Anyhoo, its always a buzz building a new rig, I am green with jealousy.

 

[l3radrocks]

What games are you going to be playing? If your computer can handle them, I would install Parallels (which allows you to run other operating systems) or something comparable that would allow you to play games without spending lots of $$$ on a new computer.

I do not plan on staying with my mac, end of story. Thanks anyways.

I would personally add another hard drive (or 2), the trouble with 1 is that the drive will be forced to do a lot of work. Ideally you want 1 (small and fast) for your OS, 1 for Pagefile/storage, and one for your games/programs. That way there is no slowdowns when accessing data. A single 3TB is (in my opinion) complete overkill, they are great for storage but that's about it. If I had the cash I would love nothing but large capacity SSD's in my Rig, (but then who has that kind of cash? lol)

Also the Arctic freezer is a good cooler but I would definitely go with something like a Tuniq or Xigmatex, something you can have a push/pull fansetup with. These are quite big coolers (height wise) but they pay off in the long run, so you would need to check the measurements on your chosen case to be sure.

You might require a lot more amps on the 12v rails than you have allotted for with that PSU but G/cards aren't the power hungry demons they were when I built my Rig many moons ago, so pinch of salt with that one.

I went with a modular PSU too, but here's the funny thing, I ended up needing all the connectors anyway...lol. So something to think about if you want to get the price down a little.

Just make sure you read all the 1 egg and not just the 5 egg comments, some are just silly people complaining about the postman, but a lot of times there are genuine problems with things like compatibility and longevity.

Anyhoo, its always a buzz building a new rig, I am green with jealousy.

First off, thanks for replying. So for my storage, your recommending 3 separate storage devices. What if instead I get one SSD for my OS, and a 1-2 TB hard drive for everything else? I'll keep in mind what you said about the fan also. And the psu, your recommending I get a stronger one? Also, I'm planning to stick with a modular one, but thanks anyways for that suggestion.
Thanks!

 

[Branjo]

I do not plan on staying with my mac, end of story. Thanks anyways.


First off, thanks for replying. So for my storage, your recommending 3 separate storage devices. What if instead I get one SSD for my OS, and a 1-2 TB hard drive for everything else? I'll keep in mind what you said about the fan also. And the psu, your recommending I get a stronger one? Also, I'm planning to stick with a modular one, but thanks anyways for that suggestion.
Thanks!

An SSD for your OS/Pagefile would be an excellent option. That way your Pagefile usage won't slow anything down. You're PSU would need to be on par with how many amps the G/card draws at load. I gave myself enough room with a 750w with 4 x 18A 12 volt rails, but at the time I had a 8800 GTS which was power hungry, I think it pulled 28 amps alone. Your PSU has 2 x 24A, just have to remember that your G/Card, HDD's, fans, lights etc will all pull from your 12v.

The one you selected should be fine though, its got pretty solid reviews.

You could use a PSU calculator but in my experience they all report back with really low PSU requirements, then when in the middle of a game you get freezes and crashes due to power interrupts.

 

[l3radrocks]

An SSD for your OS/Pagefile would be an excellent option. That way your Pagefile usage won't slow anything down. You're PSU would need to be on par with how many amps the G/card draws at load. I gave myself enough room with a 750w with 4 x 18A 12 volt rails, but at the time I had a 8800 GTS which was power hungry, I think it pulled 28 amps alone. Your PSU has 2 x 24A, just have to remember that your G/Card, HDD's, fans, lights etc will all pull from your 12v.

The one you selected should be fine though, its got pretty solid reviews.

You could use a PSU calculator but in my experience they all report back with really low PSU requirements, then when in the middle of a game you get freezes and crashes due to power interrupts.

Ok great, so SSD it is! Thanks for the reply by the way!

 

[Branjo]

No problem, glad to help.

 

[OhSnapWord]

Nice build. The PSU should be fine, although a 750W unit wouldn't hurt.

I see you decided to go with an SSD. The standard hard drive config would be a 240GB SSD and a 1TB drive for storage.

For about $50 more, you could go with a Radeon HD 7850 which offers better performance than the 650TI.

 

[DogSong]

Hey guys, before I start just let me give a bit of background info. First off, I am an avid gamer, but i have a problem; my computer is a Mac. As most of you probably know macs are not for gaming what so ever. So I decided to build myself a PC. Secondly I do not claim to have any idea what I'm doing. I have read a couple guides and think I have a very basic idea of what to do.
So yea, I have decided to build myself a computer and have come up with this system. The price of it come up to around $ 1,000.

Case : Corsair Carbide Series 500R White Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Storage (Hard drive) : Western Digital WD Green WD30EZRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - OEM

Motherboard : ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

CD Drive : LG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo Drive Model UH12NS29 - OEM

Proccesser : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Memory : G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR

Heatsink Fan : ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2, CPU Cooler - Intel & AMD, Multi-Directional Mount, 92mm PWM Fan

Power Supply : SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

GPU : EVGA SSC 01G-P4-3652-KR GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Ok so here are my problems. First of all, I don't even know if all these products are compatible with each other. With the research I have done, I think they are, but I want to be safe. Secondly I just want to know if this rig would server as a good gaming PC.

I would love if you guys could recommend other parts instead of these, but please also tell me why. By the way, my budget is about $ 1,200.

Thanks In advance, Brad.

Everything looks good minus your CPU and Motherboard. Go with an AsRock or ASUS with an 1155 Socket or 2011 Socket and get a Core i7. You can NEVER go wrong with Intel. Why so big of a Hard Drive?

P.S. If you could spend a little more, get an Intel Xeon! That freaking thing has 8 cores and is INSANELY fast

 

[Celery]

That's a pretty good list but the 3TB drive might be a little problem. Some system doesn't recognize > 2TB without some modifications. I don't know if that will be in your case.

As others said, an SSD and a 1TB HDD is a way to go.