Hardware newbie here...

[1337]

Hello again and sorry for the trouble to ask for the professional advice again. And apologize again if this is in the wrong thread, please help me move this, thanks.

So recently, I want to upgrade my current PC which is in a pretty bad condition atm, I was thinking to build one on my own due to budget. I have found some parts from my local store but I am not too sure if all the parts can 'work' together like if I go for this mainboard, will the graphics card works, etc. I am pretty bad here so I would like your advice.

I have found out the price from my local store and here are the parts I would to get. However, I have a budget of $1200 and want it to support playing D3 in all high settings.


Mainboard + Processor – Gigabyte Z77-D3H + Intel® Core™ i7-3770 - $589
Graphics Card – nVIDIA GeForce GTX560 (2GB) - $272
RAM – Kingston PC1600 HyperX (2 x 4GB) - $80
HDD – Western Digital Green SATA (2TB) - $159

I have set aside $200 for chassi and power supply. Since I don't need cool looking chassi.

I would like to ask, are those parts compatible with each other since I am choosing base of my friend's recommendations. Is there any other better/cheaper alternatives when I comes to those parts? I would like to play D3 with all high settings.

Sorry for the long and poor English and thanks in advance for all advices.

 

[Baddcog]

Hey 1337,

You can probably do better price online. I like newegg.com, they have always done good for me.

You can get an i5 2500 (K if you intend to Overclock). It's the best bang processor for the buck. Great performance and a lot cheaper than the i7, I doubt you'll notice the difference. Get a sandy bridge version imo, sounds like the ivy's are running hot.
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
$220

giga byte z77 mobo
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$189
(just saved you a hundred bucks

You can also get 8 gigs of ram cheaper. it's 1600 clock, but most comps can't do more than 1333 without OC these days anyway.
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
($55)
there's another $30

Here's the best mobo bang for the buck ($120)
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
That's what I went it (and the other items listed). Runs greats. This one is a bit odd and they were aiming more for the business market (hence the odd serial ports on the back)
And it can only run one GFX card at 16x, but you get a nice one and that's all you really need.
It's a z68 but the z77 aren't any different really (I forgot the difference but it's a very minor thing that you won't notice)

gtx560
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$240 with a $20 rebate

------
For gaming do NOT get a green HDD. That will be the bottleneck, go ahead and get a full power HDD. You can get an alright case for $50 or a nice one for $100-120

I'm running D3 at 1440x900, all high but I bumped shadows down to medium (not that I have to) (ati 5850 1 gig)
--------

looks like I need to update my specs...

 

[1337]

Hey 1337,

You can probably do better price online. I like newegg.com, they have always done good for me.

You can get an i5 2500 (K if you intend to Overclock). It's the best bang processor for the buck. Great performance and a lot cheaper than the i7, I doubt you'll notice the difference. Get a sandy bridge version imo, sounds like the ivy's are running hot.
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
$220

giga byte z77 mobo
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$189
(just saved you a hundred bucks

You can also get 8 gigs of ram cheaper. it's 1600 clock, but most comps can't do more than 1333 without OC these days anyway.
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
($55)
there's another $30

Here's the best mobo bang for the buck ($120)
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
That's what I went it (and the other items listed). Runs greats. This one is a bit odd and they were aiming more for the business market (hence the odd serial ports on the back)
And it can only run one GFX card at 16x, but you get a nice one and that's all you really need.
It's a z68 but the z77 aren't any different really (I forgot the difference but it's a very minor thing that you won't notice)

gtx560
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$240 with a $20 rebate

------
For gaming do NOT get a green HDD. That will be the bottleneck, go ahead and get a full power HDD. You can get an alright case for $50 or a nice one for $100-120

I'm running D3 at 1440x900, all high but I bumped shadows down to medium (not that I have to) (ati 5850 1 gig)
--------

looks like I need to update my specs...

Hello, sir. Thank you for the information and effort on helping me to locate those parts. They are good references for me. However, I live in Asia and I don't think Newegg can ship them to me so, I have to buy them off local stores and the price that I have mentioned above are SGD. (My very bad for not mentioning)

The stores here are like 'forsaking' i5-2500K series from the price-list I have gathered, they are all revolving around other parts. I was wondering, what difference does it make if I take:
1.) i7-2600, i7-2600K and i7-2700K?
2.) i7-3770 and i7-3770K? (Did a comparison at Intel site and thinks that the i7-3770 has more features? I have no idea what they are but no harm having.)

And, with so many mainboard to choose from, which do I usually look out for? I see what they have tons of similar specs but they differ in price so I am guessing they have to be different in some way. Is it the way they perform, etc?

I guess, I will stick to GTX560 as it is within my budget of SGD$300 range.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I have a budget of $1200 and want it to support playing D3 in all high settings.


Mainboard + Processor – Gigabyte Z77-D3H + Intel® Core™ i7-3770 - $589
Graphics Card – nVIDIA GeForce GTX560 (2GB) - $272
RAM – Kingston PC1600 HyperX (2 x 4GB) - $80
HDD – Western Digital Green SATA (2TB) - $159

I have set aside $200 for chassi and power supply. Since I don't need cool looking chassi.

I assume you are buying parts in Singapore? What you can get depends entirely on your vendor's stock.

You certainly wouldn't need that processor to play the game you desire, but if it fits your budget, OK.

I'd steer you to a Western Digital Black hard drive, rather than Green.

I'd get an SSD for the operating system and applications if possible, perhaps 80 or 120 GB. I'd cut back on the processor if I had to in order to get the SSD into my budget.

Try to get a name brand power supply rather than some no-name cheap brand. Preferably Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, or XFX, in the range of 500 to 600 watts.

 

[1337]

I have a budget of $1200 and want it to support playing D3 in all high settings.


Mainboard + Processor – Gigabyte Z77-D3H + Intel® Core™ i7-3770 - $589
Graphics Card – nVIDIA GeForce GTX560 (2GB) - $272
RAM – Kingston PC1600 HyperX (2 x 4GB) - $80
HDD – Western Digital Green SATA (2TB) - $159

I have set aside $200 for chassi and power supply. Since I don't need cool looking chassi.

I assume you are buying parts in Singapore? What you can get depends entirely on your vendor's stock.

You certainly wouldn't need that processor to play the game you desire, but if it fits your budget, OK.

I'd steer you to a Western Digital Black hard drive, rather than Green.

I'd get an SSD for the operating system and applications if possible, perhaps 80 or 120 GB. I'd cut back on the processor if I had to in order to get the SSD into my budget.

Try to get a name brand power supply rather than some no-name cheap brand. Preferably Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, or XFX, in the range of 500 to 600 watts.

Yes, sir. Firstly, thank you for the information. I understand that so I am looking at the mainboard from their price-list since I have no idea what to look out for on mainboard, etc. I think they will have the stock given that it is in their price-list.

I am capping a budget of 600 for the mainboard and processor and I am not sure about the specs of the processor as well. I have heard many reviews saying that an i5 would be more than enough to handle games in high settings.

The price of SSD here is really expensive. a 64GB SSD would cost almost twice as much than a 1TB Black WD HDD. So, I think I will still get a Black WD HDD as many people has recommend on that.

Yeah, I am getting on Cooler Master brand for casing and PSU since I have no idea about their stuffs, just saw some of my friends using. I will keep a lookout for 500 to 600 watts PSU, thanks.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Can you provide a link to your vendor so we can see what they have in stock?

The i7-3770 CPU requires a socket 1155 motherboard, as do most recent Intel processors.

A few of the newest Intel processors require a socket 2011 motherboard.

Yes, cheaper i-5 processors would be more than powerful enough to run your game.

 

[1337]

Can you provide a link to your vendor so we can see what they have in stock?

The i7-3770 CPU requires a socket 1155 motherboard, as do most recent Intel processors.

A few of the newest Intel processors require a socket 2011 motherboard.

Yes, cheaper i-5 processors would be more than powerful enough to run your game.

Hello, sir. Thanks for the help again. Here is the link for the pdf download.
Download Section - Bizgram Pricelist - PC Components - Bizgram Asia Sim Lim Square Pricelist May 29th 2012
Sorry, I couldn't attach the pdf for proper viewing. I am browsing this on phone. Sorry and thanks.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I am looking over the price list.

2 questions for now:

Which of these components do you need to include in your $1200 budget: Operating system, keyboard, mouse, DVD drive, monitor?

Are you certain you need a 2 TB hard drive rather than 1 TB?

 

[1337]

I am looking over the price list.

2 questions for now:

Which of these components do you need to include in your $1200 budget: Operating system, keyboard, mouse, DVD drive, monitor?

Are you certain you need a 2 TB hard drive rather than 1 TB?

Thank you very much for the help.

The initial plan was;
Mainboard
Processor
Graphics card
Chassis
PSU
1TB HDD
RAM

The rest like OS, I can obtain from school with cheaper student price. Keyboard and mouse will be reused.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Thank you very much for the help.

The initial plan was;

Mainboard
Processor
Graphics card
Chassis
PSU
1TB HDD
RAM

The rest like OS, I can obtain from school with cheaper student price. Keyboard and mouse will be reused.

I just spent about 90 minutes looking over that price list.

Here is what I would buy if I walked into that store with $1200 and wanted that graphics card you mentioned.

RAM: G Skill Ripjaw X 1600/9 2 x 4 $78

Graphics Card: nVIDIA GeForce GTX560 (2GB) $272

HD: WD Black 1 TB $198 or WD Blue 1 TB $138; there isn't much difference between these.

SSD: Intel 330 60 GB $125

PSU: Seasonic S12ii 520 $88 or S12ii 620 $102; high quality brand; 520 watts is enough.

775 to this point with most expensive components; 701 with the least expensive.

Leaving $425 to $499 for the case and motherboard/CPU; choose from these 3:

Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3 with i5 2320: $414; leaving up to $85 for the case;

Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3 with i5-3450: $425; leaving up to $74 for the case;

Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3 with i5-3550: $448; leaving up to $51 for the case;

Case: your choice for the remaining budget; up to $85, depending on which CPU you choose.

Total: $1200 or less.

I would think any of those i5 processors would run your game at maximum level, but you might want to get confirmation.

In my opinion, you will have a much better overall experience if you get an SSD. You can certainly install your games on the HDD if you need to save space.

Motherboard details: full ATX; Realtek sound; PS/2 port; HDMI port; 4 USB 2.0 ports; 2 USB 3.0 ports; DSUB and DVI ports; 4 SATA 3 gbs ports; 2 SATA 6 gbs ports; 2 PCI slots; supports 32 GB RAM up to DDR3 2133

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

[1337]

Thank you very very much for all the help in assisting me. I have learnt many new things here. Thanks again, I cannot thanks enough. Will get the stuffs checked and call for availability and also the i5 on D3. Thanks again. Truly the best tech forum.

 

[Baddcog]

You've probably got all the info you need now...

I think the i5's ignatzatsonic posted would be ivy bridge. New yes, but I've heard they are running hot. Personally I'd rather try and find a Sandy Bridge (proven, runs well). Might not be able to get that from your vendor though...
Ivy Bridge second Gen will probably have heat issues worked out.

As far as the mobo, if you do go with that one (I do recommend it) you can plug an ssd (64 MB - laptop style) onto the mobo itself for you OS.
However all the research I did showed it to be more expensive than just paying a few dollars more and getting a 128 sata version. Too bad, it's a cool feature of the mobo, just doesn't seem like it turned out to be as great as they had planned (it's time passed before the board was released). It also uses over rides a sata3 connector...

Another thing. It has onboard graphics with HDMI plug. I don't have an HDMI, only DVI, so I had a bit of an issue getting past the black screen at start, took a few reboots to see Bios flash really fast. You have to be ready to select BIOS, then change the input to PCIE so your video card will show the monitor.
It was frustrating because I had been through computer issues for awhile, and thought it was going to continue.
But as long as you are aware of this it is only a very minor frustration for a couple minutes, lol. (and only if you don't have HDMI monitor, if you do just use onboard graphics for first boot, change the BIOS, install card and switch monitor to it)

(seems a lot of new mobo's have some weird BIOS issues these days anyway)

SSD is a performance upgrade for sure, but it's not required. I don't have one yet and my system is still fast and stable. I think you can save that for an upgrade at a later date.

I'd rather buy two 1TB HDD's than one 2TB. If one dies you still have one...
---------
again, major things to watch for. Any of these wrong and it won't go together.

mobo socket type matches CPU socket.
PSU has enough Watts for chosen GPU
DDR3 for mobo and ram
case is full atx, mobo is full atx

 

[1337]

You've probably got all the info you need now...

I think the i5's ignatzatsonic posted would be ivy bridge. New yes, but I've heard they are running hot. Personally I'd rather try and find a Sandy Bridge (proven, runs well). Might not be able to get that from your vendor though...
Ivy Bridge second Gen will probably have heat issues worked out.

As far as the mobo, if you do go with that one (I do recommend it) you can plug an ssd (64 MB - laptop style) onto the mobo itself for you OS.
However all the research I did showed it to be more expensive than just paying a few dollars more and getting a 128 sata version. Too bad, it's a cool feature of the mobo, just doesn't seem like it turned out to be as great as they had planned (it's time passed before the board was released). It also uses over rides a sata3 connector...

Another thing. It has onboard graphics with HDMI plug. I don't have an HDMI, only DVI, so I had a bit of an issue getting past the black screen at start, took a few reboots to see Bios flash really fast. You have to be ready to select BIOS, then change the input to PCIE so your video card will show the monitor.
It was frustrating because I had been through computer issues for awhile, and thought it was going to continue.
But as long as you are aware of this it is only a very minor frustration for a couple minutes, lol. (and only if you don't have HDMI monitor, if you do just use onboard graphics for first boot, change the BIOS, install card and switch monitor to it)

(seems a lot of new mobo's have some weird BIOS issues these days anyway)

SSD is a performance upgrade for sure, but it's not required. I don't have one yet and my system is still fast and stable. I think you can save that for an upgrade at a later date.

I'd rather buy two 1TB HDD's than one 2TB. If one dies you still have one...
---------
again, major things to watch for. Any of these wrong and it won't go together.

mobo socket type matches CPU socket.
PSU has enough Watts for chosen GPU
DDR3 for mobo and ram
case is full atx, mobo is full atx

Great information, sir. Thanks again.

I did some minor research on the SSD, do they come with a SATA3 cable or some sort? I heard that I have to plug it in and since this is my first SSD, do I need to do any additional settings to 'enable' it? Or just install it like a normal HDD then install OS in it?
Sorry, completely new to SSD and is really keen to learn about it.

I will be getting the nVIDIA GeForce GTX560 card and don't plan to use any onboard graphics, do I still need to worry about the issue on changing mode in BIOS? If so, this will be holding me back.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I did some minor research on the SSD, do they come with a SATA3 cable or some sort? I heard that I have to plug it in and since this is my first SSD, do I need to do any additional settings to 'enable' it? Or just install it like a normal HDD then install OS in it?

I will be getting the nVIDIA GeForce GTX560 card and don't plan to use any onboard graphics, do I still need to worry about the issue on changing mode in BIOS? If so, this will be holding me back.

I didn't realize you were going to assemble the PC yourself.

Retail versions of SSDs usually include cables. OEM versions may not.

SSDs take the same cables as an HDD.

Windows 7 installation on an SSD is just like it is on an HDD. Windows will recognize that it is an SSD and make a few adjustments that you can confirm after the installation is complete.

During the installation, you may be offered "AHCI" controllers. Say yes to that.

Intel SSDs include a "Toolbox" that you can use to access info about your SSD and check its health.

Install Windows with just the SSD connected. After Windows is installed, connect the HDD.

Your BIOS will probably have a setting where you can turn off onboard graphics, but installing a separate graphics card should not be a problem. They are normally recognized automatically.

 

[1337]

I didn't realize you were going to assemble the PC yourself.

Retail versions of SSDs usually include cables. OEM versions may not.

SSDs take the same cables as an HDD.

Windows 7 installation on an SSD is just like it is on an HDD. Windows will recognize that it is an SSD and make a few adjustments that you can confirm after the installation is complete.

During the installation, you may be offered "AHCI" controllers. Say yes to that.

Intel SSDs include a "Toolbox" that you can use to access info about your SSD and check its health.

Install Windows with just the SSD connected. After Windows is installed, connect the HDD.

Your BIOS will probably have a setting where you can turn off onboard graphics, but installing a separate graphics card should not be a problem. They are normally recognized automatically.

Thank you again, sir. That has cleared my doubt. I will take note of the additional options when installing Windows on SSD as it will be my first try. I guess, I am good to go and get the new rig for myself. Thanks a lot again, sir.

 

[Baddcog]

That mobo comes with 3 stat cables, so you're all set there.

The Bios issue really isn't too bad, only takes about 3 minutes and then it reboots. It's just something you should be aware of. My GPU wasn't recognized right away.

It's easy: boot, hit delete (when you see post screen come on for a second), advanced bios features>Init Display First>PCI. Save, reboot.
Funny, looking in the manual it says this is default, but it definitely wasn't for me.

Good luck with it.