Thread: Building New PC

I am working on building a new PC and was hoping I could gather some thoughts/recommendations on what I have put together so far. To be clear, I haven't bought the items yet (these are what I plan to purchase):

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $99.99

XFX HD-695X-CNDC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCIExpress 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $279.99

COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US 1000W ATX12V v2.3 /EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active $175.99

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600(PC3 12800) Desktop Memory $97.99

ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $179.99


Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost)LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K $219.99


SONY Black Blu-ray Burner SATA BWU-500S $129.99

I already have a HD.

Thank you in advance to any of you that share their thoughts.

Not an expert, but from what I learned building my rig, 1000 watts is probably overkill for your PSU, unless you plan to add a second video card later, but even then it may be too high. Can you drop back to say 750, then use the savings to get the i7? Plus, not sure where you are, but if they have a Micro Center close you can get the i5/i7 cheaper there, and they were running some nice specials on the CPU/mobo combo.

The i7 + z68 board deal is there and its really great. I'm not a expert either but 1000W is way too much if your not using two cards and your even overclocking you wouldn't need that much. As civil said, a 750 is great as it will support crossfire and some overclocking. And 16gb is also too much. 8 gb is fine. Save the money on the ram and psu and put it else where which would be the processor. Get the i7 and z68 mobo at Microcenter and then get a ssd to cache the hard drive.

I just built a new PC with an i7, and a 560ti, and I am using a 650W PSU. Not sure about that specific one, but 700 should be fine unless I am missing something.

Convinced on the i7 2600K

Looking for a good bundle:

Found one for the following:

i7 2600K
ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

It runs $489, but I have never used an ASRock motherboard before ... still partial to Asus.

hmmmm

All good suggestions ... looks like I will keep some of the old system (CPU case, PSU, HD, and possibly the DVD - don't recall if it is SATA or not). This leaves me with the RAM (gonna go with the 8 gig for now), CPU (will purchase the i7 2600K), Motherboard (?), and Graphics card (not settled but the one I looked into above appears to be a good one and meets my expectations).

I appreciate the advice. Thank you.

I calculated the watts necessary and it would seem that I would need nothing more than 550W, so y'all are correct. The 700W PSU should work okay.

Originally Posted by Amador +JP2+

i7 2600K
ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

I almost bought that board but I didn't need many of the features. The i7 2600k I think should last and its not worth upgrading to Ivy bridge with that board. Also, it has PCIe 3.0 support which is unnecessary now as there isn't a whole lot of 3.0 cards. I would look at a Gigabyte or a MSi board that has the features you need and will use.

Thank you. I'll give gigabyte and MSI another look. I'm not comfortable with the Asrock. I am partial to the Asus though (from experience).

Unfortunately, I do not live "near" a Micro Center; however, I have family in Dallas and Houston. I'll see if they can't stop in and grab the CPU and the motherboard and send it to me ... I'll have to see if they have a good price on the graphics card also.

Originally Posted by Amador +JP2+

Thank you. I'll give gigabyte and MSI another look. I'm not comfortable with the Asrock. I am partial to the Asus though (from experience).

Unfortunately, I do not live "near" a Micro Center; however, I have family in Dallas and Houston. I'll see if they can't stop in and grab the CPU and the motherboard and send it to me ... I'll have to see if they have a good price on the graphics card also.

ASRock is making some good mobos actually. In fact ASRock was originally ASUS' no frills budget line but has moved up into high end. I have built a few using their mobos and they are pretty solid. That extreme was my next upgrade.


As far as PSU, you don't even need a 700 watt PSU for dual 560ti's or whatever if you get a high quality PSU. Anymore my PSU is one of my most expensive components: My whole system is riding on it. A cheap PSU not only makes a system unstable, but also can take parts with it when it dies. Things to look for: Single rail, reviews from users report stable amperage and voltage, 80 plus (or higher; bronze, gold, etc) certified. Corsair and Seasonic are both making some nice PSU's right now. I have had problems with cooler master in the past. I would read the negative reviews for that one on newegg.

I have a Corsair TX650 and I have driven a 3.0ghz x4 and two 8800GTS's and 5 HDD's with it; it performed fine. It runs my single 560ti like a dream.

I have some more information abiout PSU's in recent build discussion threads with Civil and Webs, so if you are still looking for more info...

Anyway, your system should be solid. MSI is good too, but don't be turned off by ASRock; I was going to get one next and I have had nothing but ASUS for personal gaming rigs since 2001.