New/first build!

[besweeet]

I've always wanted to build my own gaming PC. Now, I'm going to do so.

Here's a list of components:

• Motherboard MSI Z68A-GD80 Newegg.com - MSI Z68A-GD80 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $229.99 FREE
• Processor/CPU Intel Core-i5 2500K @ 3.3GHz Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K $224.99 NEWEGG
• Video Card (GPU) MSI N560GTX Twin Frozr II/OC Newegg.com - MSI N560GTX Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $216.99 FREE
• Memory (RAM) G.SKILL Ripjaws 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM $99.99 NEWEGG
• Power Supply (PSU) Rosewill Xtreme RX750-S-B 750W Newegg.com - Rosewill Xtreme Series RX750-S-B 750W Continuous @40°C ,80 PLUS Certified, ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91, SLI Ready CrossFire Ready, Active PFC Compatible with Core i7, i5 Power Supply $89.99 NEWEGG
• SSD OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SATA II Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $79.99 NEWEGG
• HDD Samsung Spinpoint 1TB 7200RPM 32MB Cache 3Gbps Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $59.99 STORE
• Case Thermaltake Armor A60 Newegg.com - Thermaltake Armor A60 Gaming Mid-Tower Chassis With Cable Management Water Cooling SSD Support And Tool-Less Installation VM20001W2Z $59.99 NEWEGG
• DVD Lite-On DVD Burner Newegg.com - LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - CD / DVD Burners $25.99 STORE
• WiFi Encore ENEWI-2XN42 Wireless N300 Newegg.com - ENCORE ENEWI-2XN42 IEEE 802.11b/g/n PCI Express Wireless N300 Adapter, 2dBi Up to 300Mbps Wireless Data Rates 64/128-bits WEP Encryption
  [*]WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, WPA, WPA2 $19.99 NEWEGG
• Card Reader LOGISYS FP528BK Newegg.com - LOGISYS FP528BK All-in-one USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader $8.99 NEWEGG

TOTAL $1,116.89

MSI was nice enough to provide me the motherboard and the GPU.

Any thoughts on it? Can't wait to get everything!

 

[pparks1]

I would always lean towards a Corsiar, Seasonic or Antec power supply.

 

[besweeet]

Yeah, I should have, but oh well. Looks good, decent price. I think I've used their PSUs before when doing some small repair work for some people. I think 750W was a bit too much. Wasn't sure, so I went for 750W anyway .

 

[Skulblaka]

*shivers* Don't like the case... ...

 

[JaidynM]

I'd go for a Cooler Master case and perhaps a bit more memory. The memory isn't needed but the gaming computers I've seen tend to have 16+GB RAM.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Computer Cases, Computer Cases, Cooler Master

 

[johnwillyums]

Looks good. Like Skulblaka, I'm not so keen on the case, but you gotta build it.
Hope you've got a decent IPS panel monitor in mind to do justice to all this goodness. See: Viewsonic » VP2365wb

 

[besweeet]

I'm still rocking my Acer P244W. Love it . Don't really feel the need for a better display.

I was a bit hesitant with the case, but maybe it's one of those products that look better in person . Just wish it didn't have the USB 3.0 cable hanging out of the back. Wish it used an internal header or something.

 

[besweeet]

UPDATE! Just finished getting everything put together. Working on getting all the drivers and whatnot installed onto Windows 7 Professional (x64, SP1).

Here are a few pics:


For being my first build EVER, I'd say that I did pretty good . Cables could've been neater if I used a modular PSU, but I shoved all the extra crap behind the other side panel.

 

[Skulblaka]

Looks good for your first time, what I have learned is that the foundations of the system is pretty important. Meaning, you want to have the space and capacity of the hardware for future upgrades.

 

[Sardonicus]

Going forward, just so you know, Rosewill is the Newegg product brand.
Hopefully the PSU, will last as long as some of the name brands.

 

[johnwillyums]

Looks great besweet. Well done
All you need now is a good monitor to do it justice

 

[LiquidSnak]

Looks good. I personally love the armor series cases. (I have the A90)

Getting a side fan will help your temperatures quite a bit. I dropped about 2 degrees across the board after that.

 

[besweeet]

I bought a Ultra Carbon X7 from CompUSA yesterday. Installed fairly easily. Doesn't help my temperatures much. With Prime95, my CPU temps will hit a max of 65C. I think the stock cooler did slightly worse.

I'll probably return the cooler and get something else.

CompUSA had the Cooler Master N520 and the Cooler Master V6 GT. Wasn't sure which one to get (lol), so I went with the Ultra.

If I use the OC Genie button on my MSI board, my max temps will hit 95C, which is way too high.

Would water cooling be worth it? I wouldn't mind giving it a try. But overall, I'm not very satisfied with the Ultra cooler.

 

[LiquidSnak]

With a cooler master sink and proper heat compound you should be OK

 

[besweeet]

Just a little update...

Did some overclocking. Overclocked the 2500K from 3.3GHz to a stable 4.5GHz (high 60's, low 70's). That's with the Ultra Carbon X7. I ordered a Cooler Master Hyper 212 earlier this morning, so hopefully that will bring some temps down a little bit.

ALSO! I ordered a Core i7-26ooK . Will sell the 2500K eventually. Will definitely overclock the 2500K.

Also overclocked my GTX 560 Twin Frozr II/OC a little bit to 950 core, 1900 shader, and 2200 memory (all with 1.037 core voltage). Never gets more than 80C under load.

 

[pparks1]

I'd go for a Cooler Master case and perhaps a bit more memory. The memory isn't needed but the gaming computers I've seen tend to have 16+GB RAM.

16GB in a gaming computer is an utter waste of RAM. There isn't any game that takes advantage of that. Heck, anything more than 4GB is unneeded for gaming.

ALSO! I ordered a Core i7-26ooK . Will sell the 2500K eventually. Will definitely overclock the 2500K.

So, you upgraded the CPU in under 2 weeks? Any reason you didn't just go with the 2600K in the first place?

 

[besweeet]

Not sure why I didn't get the 2600K initially. But, I'm happy to know that I'm upgrading to one. Should help a little bit with video editing.

 

[JaidynM]

Once again, looks great. I also have a msi GTX 560 (the crappier version though), and it's great. Everything's good except, maybe the PSU. As I'm sure has been said above, try getting a brand like Corsair or Cooler Master.

16GB in a gaming computer is an utter waste of RAM. There isn't any game that takes advantage of that. Heck, anything more than 4GB is unneeded for gaming.

Read it. The memory isn't needed but a lot of the gaming computers I've seen have 16+GB RAM.

 

[pparks1]

Read it. The memory isn't needed but a lot of the gaming computers I've seen have 16+GB RAM.

So what, if it's useless it's spending money for the sake of spending money. Putting 16GB of RAM in a gaming computer doesn't scream "uber elite", it screams "I might not have really known what I was doing when I built this computer or had it built".

 

[JaidynM]

Yes, pretty much. But the OP said he was building a gaming computer, and I merely stated what gaming computers I seen have. I was wrong to recommend more memory, but all I can do at the moment is apologise. So, I'm sorry.