08-10-2012, 08:54 AM
Figured I'd share the details of my new build. Some pieces are ordered, some I'm still figuring out. Everything's all ordered now. Hoping to get this up and running by the end of the month! No defined budget, I'm just aiming to make something with quality and power.
Ordered:
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770k - $50 cheaper from Micro Center than Newegg, I'll be picking this up tomorrow. I know people say the i5 is more suitable for gaming, but I can't count out the chance that I might want this kind of power at some point in the next 4-5 years. Since I'm not on a tight budget, figured I'd go for the top of the consumer line.
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H - $50 off when combined with the CPU on Micro Center, also picking up tomorrow. Very nice on the features, maybe not some of the fancy extras that ASUS Z77 boards have, but I don't see myself using Bluetooth to justify the extra cost.
SSD: SAMSUNG 830 Series 128GB - It was $90 earlier in the week, I've heard great things about the stability of this. Sticking with 128GB for now, if I need to expand, I'll get another. Prices are dropping, so no rush on that.
RAM: 2x SAMSUNG 2x4GB DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) - $40 a pair with the promo code (still active until the 15th if anyone else wants to dive in). Rave reviews on this one and how overclockable it is. Incredible price-to-performance considering what this is capable of.
Heatsink: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus - $20 after instant savings and rebate. Pretty popular choice. Research showed the EVO really didn't have much to add, so this got the nod.
CD/DVD: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - The popular choice on Newegg, very trustworthy. Went down a dollar hours after I ordered it. :|
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200rpm - Love me some hard drive space. I'm mostly just holding out for another price drop before I have everything else ordered. If it doesn't happen, I'll probably just cave. [Edit: Changed link, found it $10 cheaper on Amazon compared to Newegg. That's probably the best I'll see, so went for it and moved this to the ordered section.]
Case: Corsair Carbide 500R - Awesome cooling options, flexibility for hard drives, cable management, some fan control...very impressive stuff. I think the white chassis looks pretty nice, too. Review said it's not a fingerprint magnet, so that leaves me little qualms about going this way.
Video Card: EVGA GTX 670 FTW Edition - Was between this and the 660Ti. I felt it was best to go with this one, it's a 680 in disguise, I've heard. I felt it was better to pony up some more since some of the specs on the 660Ti risk some bottlenecking (192 cores vs. 256 on the 670, for example)
PSU: Corsair TX750 v2 - Based on research, this should handle potential for SLI 670s, especially considering how power efficient they are. Not quite a Gold standard, but for a good deal ($20 rebate and $10 off code) for a Bronze standard from a company I've had great PSU luck with, I think it was the move to make in the end.
Thoughts? Suggestions? I'll likely take some pictures and all once it's building time and share those too.
Ordered:
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770k - $50 cheaper from Micro Center than Newegg, I'll be picking this up tomorrow. I know people say the i5 is more suitable for gaming, but I can't count out the chance that I might want this kind of power at some point in the next 4-5 years. Since I'm not on a tight budget, figured I'd go for the top of the consumer line.
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H - $50 off when combined with the CPU on Micro Center, also picking up tomorrow. Very nice on the features, maybe not some of the fancy extras that ASUS Z77 boards have, but I don't see myself using Bluetooth to justify the extra cost.
SSD: SAMSUNG 830 Series 128GB - It was $90 earlier in the week, I've heard great things about the stability of this. Sticking with 128GB for now, if I need to expand, I'll get another. Prices are dropping, so no rush on that.
RAM: 2x SAMSUNG 2x4GB DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) - $40 a pair with the promo code (still active until the 15th if anyone else wants to dive in). Rave reviews on this one and how overclockable it is. Incredible price-to-performance considering what this is capable of.
Heatsink: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus - $20 after instant savings and rebate. Pretty popular choice. Research showed the EVO really didn't have much to add, so this got the nod.
CD/DVD: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - The popular choice on Newegg, very trustworthy. Went down a dollar hours after I ordered it. :|
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200rpm - Love me some hard drive space. I'm mostly just holding out for another price drop before I have everything else ordered. If it doesn't happen, I'll probably just cave. [Edit: Changed link, found it $10 cheaper on Amazon compared to Newegg. That's probably the best I'll see, so went for it and moved this to the ordered section.]
Case: Corsair Carbide 500R - Awesome cooling options, flexibility for hard drives, cable management, some fan control...very impressive stuff. I think the white chassis looks pretty nice, too. Review said it's not a fingerprint magnet, so that leaves me little qualms about going this way.
Video Card: EVGA GTX 670 FTW Edition - Was between this and the 660Ti. I felt it was best to go with this one, it's a 680 in disguise, I've heard. I felt it was better to pony up some more since some of the specs on the 660Ti risk some bottlenecking (192 cores vs. 256 on the 670, for example)
PSU: Corsair TX750 v2 - Based on research, this should handle potential for SLI 670s, especially considering how power efficient they are. Not quite a Gold standard, but for a good deal ($20 rebate and $10 off code) for a Bronze standard from a company I've had great PSU luck with, I think it was the move to make in the end.
Thoughts? Suggestions? I'll likely take some pictures and all once it's building time and share those too.