Advice On First Computer Build?

Hello, I am looking to build my first computer, I am a huge gamer and wanted to build my own to make it the specs I want and such. My uncle recommended this site so I figured I would ask some questions. My budget is $2,000 and here is a list of parts that I have so far:

Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair V Formula AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Gaming Motherboard with 3-Way SLI/CrossFireX Support and UEFI BIOS

Video Card: EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi)

Processor: AMD FX-8120 Zambezi (Eight-Core)

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM (x2 For 32GBs)

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1

Power Supply: NZXT HALE82 HALE82-650-M

Hard Drive: Samsung by Seagate HD502HJ/ST500DM005 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive(x2

Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS

Sound Card: ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional

On Newegg.com this comes to just over $1,900.

Please leave your input, advice, what you think I should keep, change or anything I might be missing. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by EchoVG

Hello, I am looking to build my first computer, I am a huge gamer and wanted to build my own to make it the specs I want and such. My uncle recommended this site so I figured I would ask some questions. My budget is $2,000 and here is a list of parts that I have so far:
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Please leave your input, advice, what you think I should keep, change or anything I might be missing. Thanks.

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Welcome to Sharky's Echo!

Right now, sadly in the world of consumer gaming PC's, Intel beats the pants off of AMD when it comes to performance per $ and performance per watt. That means not only will an Intel CPU be faster, it will consume less energy both during idle/sleep times and during full load.

You obviously are trying to build quite the beast of a rig for your first time out. I commend you! :)

A couple of notes:
1. Most modern motherboards only accept 4 DIMM's of memory. High end Intel boards take 8 DIMM's, and older (X58 chipset based) ones take up to 6 DIMM's. You're 4x4GB DIMM kits x2 would probably not be worth it.

2. Hard drives are much more expensive than they used to be. 500GB x2 is commendable, but probably not worth the price vs. the performance boost you might get. (Unless you are running RAID1 for data security, in which case.... Still not sure if it's worth the price. ;))

3. Most motherboards have decent-to-high quality sound cards onboard. They aren't perfect but might be worth starting with before you spend the money on a dedicated sound card.

4. Finally, if you aren't in a huge rush, Ivy Bridge (new generation Intel CPU's and their attending chipsets) are due to be launched sometime between April and June. If you can wait, this will push existing solutions down in price, and does offer the chance at the absolute bleeding edge if you want to go that route.

If I might counter offer what you have proposed, here is a rig that will tear through all of your games with ease, and should only require video card upgrades over the next few years. Keep in mind: This is my recommendation based on quality components, but there are a few personal preferences included as well. you can always modify it to suit your tastes.


http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=19819166

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Case & PSU:
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100        Fractal Design Arc Midi ATX mid-tower case
211        850w Seasonic X-850 PSU


Components:
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350        GTX570 EVGA Superclocked video card
325        i7-2600K Intel CPU 4C/8T @3.4GHz
190        Asus P8Z68-V/Gen3 motherboard
78        16GB (2x 8GB [2x4GB] kits) DDR3-1600
269        240GB Mushkin Chronos SSD (SATA3)
115        1TB Seagate 7200rpm hdd (SATA3)
80        Lite-ON Bluray burner (SATA)

Software:
----------------------
140        Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM

======================
1858        Total before shipping.
30        Shipping & Handling
1888        Grand Total

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*Edit: As an explanation: You will find that an SSD will radically shift the way you interact with a lot of your daily tasks, including gaming. :)

Case: Antec DF-85 - $129.99
PSU - Antec CP-1000 - $149.99
CPU - Intel Core i7-2600k - $324.99
CPU Cooler - EVGA Superclock CPU Cooler - $49.99
Motherboard - ASUS Maximus IV Extreme - $$289.99
Memory - Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600 - $98.99
Video Card - ASUS ENGTX580 1.5GB - $499.99
SSD - Crucial M4 128GB - $174.99
HDD - Seagate Barracude 6.0GB/s 2TB - $119.99
DVD Burner - Lite On Combo Drive - $17.99
Blu Ray Drive - Lite-On Internal 12x Drive - $59.99
Monitor - ASUS VS248H-P 24" LCD - $199.99

$2116.88. Couple hundred more than what you had, loads better in performance. You could always go with a pre-fabbed water cooling kit such as the Swiftech H20-X20 kits, they look nice.

Agree with 2x8 gig memory. DDR3 is so cheap right now. Hard drive prices are so high right now. I am guessing they will try to keep them up there as long as possible. I know it is only about 40USD difference but why does he need Win 7 professional over home edition to game?

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Originally Posted by drdoom

Agree with 2x8 gig memory. DDR3 is so cheap right now. Hard drive prices are so high right now. I am guessing they will try to keep them up there as long as possible. I know it is only about 40USD difference but why does he need Win 7 professional over home edition to game?

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The main reason I recommend Pro vs. Home to anyone is the ability to do backups to network drives. Even if you just have a cheapo 1-2 drive NAS on the network, it's still worlds easier than constantly having to connect a USB drive for the backup. (In my mind.)

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Originally Posted by Trunks

Case: Antec DF-85 - $129.99
PSU - Antec CP-1000 - $149.99
CPU - Intel Core i7-2600k - $324.99
CPU Cooler - EVGA Superclock CPU Cooler - $49.99
Motherboard - ASUS Maximus IV Extreme - $$289.99
Memory - Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600 - $98.99
Video Card - ASUS ENGTX580 1.5GB - $499.99
SSD - Crucial M4 128GB - $174.99
HDD - Seagate Barracude 6.0GB/s 2TB - $119.99
DVD Burner - Lite On Combo Drive - $17.99
Blu Ray Drive - Lite-On Internal 12x Drive - $59.99
Monitor - ASUS VS248H-P 24" LCD - $199.99

$2116.88. Couple hundred more than what you had, loads better in performance. You could always go with a pre-fabbed water cooling kit such as the Swiftech H20-X20 kits, they look nice.

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Great system, but I would change one thing, the vid card. Either max it with a GTX680 2gb or go for a lower priced HD7950 3gb (~$460 @newegg). The HD7950 trades more wins against the GTX580 plus it has 3gb of VRAM. I honestly believe that more and more games would require more VRAM to max them out @1080P.

I'd pay the 30 more for the 680. It is quite a bit faster than the 7950.

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Originally Posted by James

The main reason I recommend Pro vs. Home to anyone is the ability to do backups to network drives. Even if you just have a cheapo 1-2 drive NAS on the network, it's still worlds easier than constantly having to connect a USB drive for the backup. (In my mind.)

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I would have to say, get the SSD as the primary and install another internal hard drive(s) for data storage and backups.

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been away from the forums awhile lol. Thank you all for the advice, I will take most of it into consideration :)

My vote on the 680, I would like AMD to win but can't recommend them here.

If you are going Win 7 Pro, then it doesn't make sense to waste the RAM slots like that. Stick with Home Premium if you are only going to max out at 16GB. But your mobo supports 32GB and as people have said RAM is cheap. I would get Gskill Ripjaws at 8GB sticks.

I've always have been an intel fan. I would say go i7. I also agree with the GTX 680. If you are a serious gamer, then it only makes sense to go with the best gaming materials. Having a good power supply is very important so I would say go with this one:

CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 (CMPSU-850HX) 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

the 650W IMO is not going to be strong enough.

What you can do is start low on the RAM and build up as time goes on.