New Build i7-3770 ivy bridge

I just bought the below and was wondering if I should also invest in a graphics card or not? Can anyone tell me their thoughts on the following.


Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GXM

Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Corsair Graphite Series 600T CC600TM Mid-Tower Gaming Case

1ASUS Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS

D-Link DWA-566 Dual Band Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11a/g/n PCI Express Up to 300Mbps Wireless Data Rates

Also, should I buy Thermal compounds? The CPU came its a CPU cooler but didn't have any thermal paste.

You definitely need thermal paste of some type if it is not pre-applied to your CPU as purchased.

You should probably have some on hand anyway in case you ever have to remount the CPU.

The on-processor graphics on the CPU is plenty good enough for ordinary use. I have HD 2000 graphics and no video card and do not miss it at all.

If you are a serious game-player, then you would want a separate graphics card.

Not serious. Just occasional. Love watching hd movies on it as my tv will be connected to it.

f1andy83 said:

Not serious. Just occasional. Love watching hd movies on it as my tv will be connected to it.

I think the HD 4000 will handle movies fine.

I'd go without a video card temporarily and see what you think.

You can later add a video card if not satisfied.

Arctic Silver 5 is a good thermal paste that is easy to find.

This is also my first Ssd drive. What do you guys think overall? Not bad

The system should honk.

I've got an Intel 320 series SSD, no regrets.

You could have saved some money with a smaller PSU circa 500 watts, but the Corsair is a good brand.

f1andy83 said:

Also, should I buy Thermal compounds? The CPU came its a CPU cooler but didn't have any thermal paste.

I haven't seen one of the new chips, but in the retail packages Intel traditionally includes a TIM (thermal interface material) that is pre-applied to the heat sink (not the CPU's heat spreader).

It's supposed to practically glue the heat sink to the CPU once it has been used, so I'd replace the Intel TIM with some third-party product.

I'm not sure that the latest diamond based pastes (Antec Formula 6 or Formula 7; diamond has a higher thermal conductivity than pure silver) offer practical advantages, but they aren't expensive. Sounds classy, no?

Indeed. I am excited about the Ssd drive I keep on hearing huge performance advantage. I am also planning on using xp with virtual pc for web browsing in order to keep pc clean. Not sure I like the idea of the fan getting glued to the CPU so the diamond paste sounds good.