New Builder Needs Help!

[Selectt]

Hey guys
So I've been waiting for a new tech report guide to come out, and I was super excited when I saw this new Memorial Day Guide.
I mixed and matched and made what I think would be the perfect computer for myself.
I am looking to be able to run WoW with fraps on at pretty high settings, playing Diablo 3 with nice settings with no lag and also Heroes of Newerth on high settings with no lag.
I really want an Ivy Bridge processor as well, because I feel like I won't need to upgrade for a very very long time if I get one of those.
This is the build I have so far.

Motherboard -Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H
Video Card -PowerColor Radeon HD 7770
Storage - Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB
DVD Drive -Asus DRW-24B1ST
Case -Antec Three Hundred
PSU - Antec EarthWatts Green 380W
Memory - Mushkin 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Processor - Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz

I want to know if this build will even work, if every component is even compatible.(x
It's pretty much the Econobox with the Sweet Spot's Processor, RAM, and Power Supply. Would this work? Would this be efficient for gaming and juggling ~30MB photoshop files? (I'm a graphic designer as well)
This all adds up to a total at Newegg with shipping of about 730 bucks, which is about the budget for my build since I still need to buy a monitor and keyboard.
I'm also wondering what kind of monitors are out there that you guys recommend that are the best 'value' and still produce a clean and crisp image.
Thanks in advance!

[JohnC]

For monitors - take a look at this link:
http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/s-ips-lcd-list.php
If you want the most accurate color reproduction you probably should avoid cheaper e-IPS monitors and go for H-IPS models, like Dell U2410.

[Selectt]

190 for a monitor seems painful for me. are all reasonably good monitors this price? :/

[ish718]

190 for a monitor seems painful for me. are all reasonably good monitors this price? :/

No. Just get a TN panel LCD monitor from newegg or something...

[Selectt]

alright, but would the difference be really big? i really don't understand how monitors and the quality of monitors work(x
But again, more help with the actual computer build would be appreciated you guys, thanks for the replies

[codedivine]

alright, but would the difference be really big? i really don't understand how monitors and the quality of monitors work(x
But again, more help with the actual computer build would be appreciated you guys, thanks for the replies

Your build looks fine to me, but wait a little bit for more people to comment
As for monitor, given that you mention you also do graphic design, investing in a good monitor is probably a good idea.

[Selectt]

Your build looks fine to me, but wait a little bit for more people to comment
As for monitor, given that you mention you also do graphic design, investing in a good monitor is probably a good idea.

You're totally right, thanks

[JustAnEngineer]

Trying to run Photoshop (or other software for photo color and level editing) on a nasty TN LCD monitor is an exercise in frustration. Even with a color calibrator, you cannot get consistent brightness, contrast or hue from a TN LCD panel when your viewing angle changes.

The Dell UltraSharp U2410 that JohnC suggested is an excellent 24" 1920x1200 H-IPS LCD monitor. You can occasionally find it on sale new for as little as 449 +tax +fs. I believe that I paid around $475 +tax when I bought one a couple of years ago.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod ... u=320-8277

If you're not willing to spend $500 on a decent monitor to run your $700 or $1000 photo-editing software, then I would suggest that an e-IPS or MVA/PVA LCD panel would still be much better than TN.

[vargis14]

I would definitely get the EVGA Superclocked gtx560 over the 7770. Evga has great warranty and a step up program. Plus It out performs the hd7770 in WOW by alot. @1080p with no aa the 560 gets 97fps the hd7770 gets 71fps ......1080p with 8x aa the gtx560 gets 67fps the hd7770 gets 39fps. Add this also the 560 frame rates are from a stock clocked model, not the superclocked Evga model and all for 20-30$ more, depending on what hd 7770 you were going to get Perhaps less.
Evga 560 superclocked link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130664
Here is the $100-$200 price page from NewEgg with the 1st 100 choices http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... gesize=100

Also for the same price as the 560 superclocked that surprisingly is the cheapest gtx560 available! You could also get a AMD HD 6870 that will perform much better then the HD 7770 even performing on par with the gtx560. For the same price as the 560 at 169.99 and many models to choose from right at that $169 Even the AMD HD 6850 has a little bit more backbone to the 7770 but the 560 ans 6870 have a good bit more. Plus they all have a 256 bit memory bus over the 128 bus the 7770 has which = more memory bandwidth.
I just would hate you getting a nice monitor and not having enough graphics power to not turn your eye candy on or run at the screens native resolution.

The only thing the hd7770 has that i like is low power use. Now if they would put out a low profile hd7750 for slim cases it would be a very attractive card for HTPC PCs that want a little gaming horsepower.
Good luck!

[Selectt]

Wow, thanks so much for the replies! I'll definitely consider getting the GTX560 because I've been a long term user of Nvidea and I hear that their driver support is a lot better than AMD's.
As for the monitor, there's no way I can spend ~500 on a monitor. That can be the next thing I save up for though! If anyone could point me in the direction of a equal or sub 200$ monitor that would work okay for my graphic designing, I would greatly appreciate it!

[kumori]

I don't have any personal experience with this monitor, but this 21.5" ASUS is an IPS panel with an LED backlight. It only costs $163.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824236205

[Selectt]

I don't have any personal experience with this monitor, but this 21.5" ASUS is an IPS panel with an LED backlight. It only costs $163.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824236205

Thanks for that, it's on my list of consideration.
I was also wondering if you guys new of any websites that gave like, cheaper prices than newegg? that way maybe I can end up investing in a nice 60GB SSD or something for the main programs and windows.

[JohnC]

I hear that their driver support is a lot better than AMD's.

No, it's not. It can be better or it can be worse from time to time, just take a look at Nvidia's own forums and the problems many people are having right now with things like VSync on newer GTX6XX cards. Overall both ATI/AMD and Nvidia driver support are good.

I was also wondering if you guys new of any websites that gave like, cheaper prices than newegg?

Newegg's prices are very reasonable. If you can't afford something right now - maybe you should try working harder and wait until you can There's a website that posts discounts on various stuff, http://www.slickdeals.net, but those discounts are temporary and they don't always happen on the same sites/stores. You might try searching/browsing their forums for any particular item, some discount might still be available...

[Selectt]

I was also wondering if my power supply was okay? I'm probably going to be getting the Superclocked EVGA GTX 560 and I'm wondering if my 380 watt power supply from the econobox would provide enough power to run everything. If anyone could help point me to the right direction as far as power supply goes I would greatly appreciate it! Right now my total price is around 740$ and I would love to keep it under 800$

[ish718]

I was also wondering if my power supply was okay? I'm probably going to be getting the Superclocked EVGA GTX 560 and I'm wondering if my 380 watt power supply from the econobox would provide enough power to run everything. If anyone could help point me to the right direction as far as power supply goes I would greatly appreciate it! Right now my total price is around 740$ and I would love to keep it under 800$

Missed the part where you said you were a graphics designer. Well, that Asus IPS panel LCD looks fine.
I suggest you get a beefier power supply since you will be running a GTX560

$80 PC Power and Cooling 500w modular PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817703035
$50 Cooler master 450w PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817171060
$44 Enermax 450w PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817194090
$75 XFX Core Edition PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817207013

Anyone of these PSUs should be good enough

[UltimateImperative]

Or 450 W XFX Core Edition at NCIXus: http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=63238&vpn=P1450SX2B9&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1019 $49 - $10 MIR.

[JohnC]

For PSU I would go with something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-500-Watt- ... 220&sr=1-1
500w will more likely be enough for your build, the Corsair is a very good brand (in my own experience of buying dozens of them) when it comes to PSUs and the current price is $50 without any silly **** like "mail-in rebates".

Also, the shipping is free, since it's sold by Amazon themselves and costs more than $25.

[vargis14]

Here is a thread i started in inexpensive IPS 23 inch monitors, There is a viewsonic for like $179 but it's not a 10 bit panel.But you can read the customer reviews.
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=81793

I second that corsair psu they are good PSU's . I am not positive but a pretty sure seasonic might make them, plus 500 watts will leave you with plenty of power left over even with the 560 Super clocked...BTW it will probably overclock to 950mhz:)
I have the TI SC versions and they are pretty quiet up to 55% fan, it looks like the same body and fan setup and they run pretty cool. The 90mm fan can hit 5000+ rpms @100% so it can get very loud,But the stock fan profile keeps them quiet. I game with headphones and use afterburner to make a aggressive fan profile that makes my fans ramp up at lower temps. But not so much that just surfing or watching 1080p youtube or mkv/bluray videos will ramp the fans up. It takes a game to warm up the 560s.

[JohnC]

I am not positive but a pretty sure seasonic might make them

I believe the cheaper models are made by CWT, not Seasonic... But they are still a good quality, based on my experience.

[Selectt]

Alright, so this is what I have set up so far.
Mobo- Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H
Processor- Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz
Video Card- EVGA Superclocked GTX 560
Memory- Mushkin 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Storage- Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB & OCZ Agility 3 60GB SSD
DVD Drive- Asus DRW-24B1ST
Power Supply- Cooler Master GX 450W
Case- Antec Three Hundred
Monitor- ASUS Black 21.5" IPS Panel LED-backlit Widescreen LCD Monitor
Operating System- Windows 7 Ultimate

All for a grand total of $1045 with shipping, which is around exactly what I was looking for
Any other recommendations? Or if anything isn't compatible or won't really work together well I would greatly appreciate a comment.
Thanks a ton for the help guys!

[ludi]

Alright, so this is what I have set up so far.
Mobo- Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H
Processor- Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz
Video Card- EVGA Superclocked GTX 560
Memory- Mushkin 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Storage- Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB & OCZ Agility 3 60GB SSD
DVD Drive- Asus DRW-24B1ST
Power Supply- Cooler Master GX 450W
Case- Antec Three Hundred
Monitor- ASUS Black 21.5" IPS Panel LED-backlit Widescreen LCD Monitor

All for a grand total of $1045 with shipping, which is around exactly what I was looking for
Any other recommendations? Or if anything isn't compatible or won't really work together well I would greatly appreciate a comment.
Thanks a ton for the help guys!

I don't think you'll be disappointed, although I didn't see you mention the OS. Are you re-using a copy from your existing build? If not, add $150 for Win7 Pro and see what that does for you.

Also, you mentioned being a graphics designer...is this a production machine? If so, I would still be a little leary of the OCZ drive even though the "3" version supposedly deals with all of the early troubles in that line. The Crucial M4 has earned a better rep and is not that much more expensive.

[gcrosier]

Maybe look at the antec three hundred two.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129180

instead of the older three hundred.

[Selectt]

I don't think you'll be disappointed, although I didn't see you mention the OS. Are you re-using a copy from your existing build? If not, add $150 for Win7 Pro and see what that does for you.

Also, you mentioned being a graphics designer...is this a production machine? If so, I would still be a little leary of the OCZ drive even though the "3" version supposedly deals with all of the early troubles in that line. The Crucial M4 has earned a better rep and is not that much more expensive.

I'd be using Win7 Ultimate, the same I'm using on my laptop right now, I have another copy.
Just to make sure though, what's Win7 Pro?

Yes, this would be my production machine as well, I don't have enough money for 2 separate machines.
I don't understand what you mean about the SSD, I know nothing of SSD's besides the fact that I hear they're a lot faster. XD

Maybe look at the antec three hundred two.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129180

instead of the older three hundred.

What is the difference, exactly? XD

It's out of stock, too. :/

[gcrosier]

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Three-Hundred-Two-Gaming/dp/B006TVQTHW

From what I can tell, it is improved

They added an intake filter for the power supply. So the power supply pulls air directly from outside of the case.

They upgraded to USB 3.0, instead of 2.0.

1 x 120 mm side exhaust fan behind motherboard, honestly not sure what this would do though.

I have a 300, and just with the power supply filter and the USB 3.0 i would want the 302 instead.

[Selectt]

I don't really see how the difference is significant. xD
But if you or anyone else has any other recommendations for a case I would greatly appreciate it. Hopefully something not so 'ugly' like the one I have set up right now, but I don't know if 'ugly' is usually because of better airflow or something like that. Anything would help (:

[ludi]

I'd be using Win7 Ultimate, the same I'm using on my laptop right now, I have another copy.
Just to make sure though, what's Win7 Pro?
I don't understand what you mean about the SSD, I know nothing of SSD's besides the fact that I hear they're a lot faster. XD

Er, that would be Professional. But if you've already got a spare Ultimate license then you're covered.

SSDs are a young technology and have undergone a lot of teething problems. When they fail, they usually just brick without warning, unlike conventional HDDs which often give warning shots or can be finagled into spooling up one more time. OCZ, in particular, has been first-to-market with a lot of SSD technologies and correspondingly the first on the market to experience serious problems. Using an OCZ Agility or Vertex as the system drive in a production machine is a bit risky -- there's a reason both of those drive series are at "3" and a "4" was just released.

Crucial makes a drive line called the "M4" which has proven to be pretty reliable and you can get the 128GB right now for less than $1/GB.

[Selectt]

Hey guys, so I'm going to be doing the building of my PC when I go on vacation to Maryland.
I realized that in Rockville, there's a Micro Center which is really close by to where I'll be staying.
I was wondering if there's any adjustments to this build that you guys would recommend, considering Micro Center's lower prices, still keeping the total cost under 1100$ (including monitor and keyboard)
Thanks in advance!
EDIT: Also, I was wondering if there was any good Cooler Master case that you guys would recommend, I've seen a few videos with really awesome looking cooler master cases. I was wondering if the shiny cool, and light-up cases were mostly for show, or if any of them are any good at around the same price of the case that I currently have selected.

[mdk77777]

I stopped using Antec cases for 3 reasons

1. they are not wide enough to allow you to use the Best AIR CPU coolers
2. their fans are crap. Loud and cheap.
3. often the hd cage interferes with longer graphics cards.

For coolermaster in the same price range I go with :

COOLER MASTER HAF 912

I also buy LIAN LI Lancool when on sale.

I have gotten several $50 cases with great fans, great cable management, and good HD cages.

[Selectt]

Awesome, thanks man

[integer]

I was wondering if there's any adjustments to this build that you guys would recommend, considering Micro Center's lower prices, still keeping the total cost under 1100$ (including monitor and keyboard)

You'd save $50 (excl. taxes) on the CPU.

Some options
- A better video card, like the HD 7850.
- A higher capacity (around 120 GB) SSD. The Crucial M4 and the Samsung 830 have had some good discounts recently.
- 16 GB RAM - 2 x 8 GB or 4 x 4 GB.