I know there are other topics about it and i can check guides to how to choose and so on but i want the opinions to be personal to my build.
So my computer has some years now and limit me on on playing games at their full potential, so i thought that it's time at least to think at what can i get instead.
For now I tried to choose some pieces that seems to be good but this is the first time i build a computer and I haven't a good knowledge about hardware(I never cared before).
This is what i chosen so far:
-CPU: Intel i5-3570k, using the stock cooler
-MOTHERBOARD: AsRock z77 extreme 4
-GRAPHIC CARD: evga Nvidia Geforce GTX 660 TI EDIT: now i'm changing idea and going, maybe, to an hd7950(but which of them?)
-RAM: CORSAIR VENGEANCE DDR3 1600mhz cl9 2 x 4GB
-HARD DISK: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
-PSU: Corsair Enthusiast TX650 v2
-CASE: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer EDIT: maybe i've change idea also on the case now i'm more for a corsair 500r(I like his design, what do you think?)

It's a good build? Am i missing or can i change something?
The price of this would cost me about 866 euro.
What do you think about it, can you give some hits?

EDIT(after the comments): i would prefer to not use AMD and ATI pieces in my computer cause i've always had problem with those.

11 years ago*

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i like everything but your cpu since i prefer amd over intel amd's 8 core cpu looks realy nice 4.0ghzx8 might need a diffrent motherboard if you wanted to choose that though

11 years ago
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Having more than 4 core is quite useless just for gaming, and AMD processor use a lot of power without being much more powerful than Intel's ones (often are behind Intel in the same price range, while still demanding more Watts).
The i5 he wrote is very good and can even overclocked if he want.

Overall it will be a great computer at a good price.

11 years ago
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Don't go AMD 8 core cpu over a third generation Intel i5 or i7! They are still first generation pcs and completely bottlenecked - your'll get 60-80% more performance out of the i5, seriously... AMD 8 core is rubbish these days until they can catch up. Intel maxed out cpu performance so did 2 gen (sandy) and 3 gen (ivy bridge) which removes some bottlenecks by having the redesigning the entire motherboard and cpu to work together as one - direct access from cpu to memory and cpu to graphic card, boosting performance. As for 8 cores, your games will never use them, unless you like application development.

11 years ago
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Intel CPU are more powerful than AMD.

11 years ago
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in general they are yes, everyone knows the best intel cpu trump the best amd cpu, but in terms of value for money no

11 years ago
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also get a solid state hard drive they are awesome

11 years ago
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i'd like to have one but i don't want to make the price rise too much

11 years ago
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Wich is more useful for quickening system boot than playing because SSD have a "limited" number of writings, even if quite big, which would be depleted quite quickly if used for games.

11 years ago
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That's an old myth (because the first ones actually had a small limit, and worst technology that wouldn't allow them to remap the data efficiently to less used cells). But with today's drives you can write continuously to them for several years non-stop without "depleting" them.
The problem is more with size, since anything >128GB gets quite expensive, and games use several GB each.

11 years ago
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^ this. Also, old (and pretty bad) Sandforce controllers causing issues helped keep this story alive.

Original point is far more important - for gaming, all an SSD does it help load files faster. However, a loading game uses CPU to load assets etc and prep. them for display and so on. Having an SSD would often just cause files to be loaded to memory so fast they'd just sit there waiting to be processed, not speeding the whole shebang up that much. Unless you value a precious 1 1/2 - 2 seconds, max.

11 years ago
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Highly recommended getting SSD - a small one will do, just use as cache on top of your Black Edition HDD (Setup Raid 0 Acceleration from Intel Rapid Storage / Smart Cache). Intel Smart Response Technology - your motherboard should support it nicely.

11 years ago
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My opinion: do NOT get and AMD processor (reference to the first reply) and maybe add some more ram. But it looks pretty good for that price, doesn't look like you'll need to upgrade it for quite a while (other than the ram if you're sticking to 4 gigs)

11 years ago
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He's getting 8GB. 2 x 4GB

11 years ago
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sorry, haven't slept in like 15 hours :D

11 years ago
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Isn't the 7950 better than a 660 Ti?
Other than that it looks fine.

11 years ago
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I was thinking the same thing

11 years ago
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If you're going to overclock, get a good cooler. If you don't plan to overclock (and thus the stock cooler), get the non-K version.

Everything else looks fine. If you can afford it, get an SSD, you won't regret it.

11 years ago
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also, this ^

11 years ago
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the problem is that i don't know if I want to overclock, for now I don't think but maybe later i'll change my mind so for those 15 euro of difference i prefer to take the k version.

11 years ago
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When the cpu and motherboard work together on the third gen pcs, the biggest bottleneck now ends up actually at the hard drive speed and graphics card. System memory isn't an issue as it's directly accessed and boosted via the motherboard. Graphic card memory and performance on the other hand is where it all ends up. I can easily get min 60fps+ on all the latest games in hardcore action at ultra settings, overclocking is a think of the past, it's redunant now except for power users who want to benchmark 120fps to 130fps, lol. SSD cache is a good investment as well as a really good graphics card - 680GTX if you can, you won't regret it.

11 years ago
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Looking good, but I think you should get a better GPU and a PSU with more watts, just to be safe.

11 years ago
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Im thinking about building almost the same, exept i will not ever buy asrock motherboard again, i always go for asus and im thinking of buying the 7870 instead since its about the same price.

11 years ago
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Pretty much the same build as I did for my friend, apart from PSU and GPU, since I got him just 660 cuz of lower budget and only 550W PSU. 650 seems like just too much of an overkill.

11 years ago
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maybe you are right, using some psu calculator i found that the pc would use about 400w so i could take an tx550m, it's cheaper and modular so i could have a better cable management.

11 years ago
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That looks scarily similar to my build O_o

The only different things are the GPU, case and PSU

11 years ago
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I'm doing some research and i'm now more confused than before. I get into the i5 2500k that apparently is very similar to the 3570k but it's cheaper and it is better for overclocking. So it's the 3570k a good choice, can you feel the his impact in the gaming or it's better to take a 2500k?
In case the 2500k would be a better choice, the motherboard would be good anyway or i have to look for another?

11 years ago
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Holy balls that's the same build as mine except for the case. O.o

11 years ago
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And you are happy with it? Are there some games where you feel limited by the performance of your pc?

11 years ago
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Very happy with it, 200+ fps on Bf3, the only problem is that the graphics card overheats on games like Bf3 alot, so get another fan.

11 years ago
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I'm a big fan of the 660 Ti. Put the MSI 660 Ti Power Edition in my friend's build, runs like a beast.

11 years ago
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Looks good. I'd rather get a 7950 but that's just me. Also, get a controller because why not?

11 years ago
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Ew no.

11 years ago
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Stick to your ponies.

11 years ago
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Why would you want a controller?

11 years ago
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To play Dark Souls and emulators.

11 years ago
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If you can, try putting a 2TB for the hard disk instead. You'll probably need the space.

11 years ago
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It is just as easy to add a second SATA drive later if he needs the space, 1TB will take a while to fill.

11 years ago
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While it is easy to, I rather play safe than wait to be running out of space to get another drive.

11 years ago
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i think the space will not be a problem since now i have a 320gb(290 real) hard disk and i'm used to have only few mb of space free. The jump from 320 to 1tb is big enough for me.

11 years ago
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This is a surprisingly solid build. Came into this thread, thinking it would be terrible, but it is not at all. I would make some recommendations though.
Do yourself a favour, dont use the stock intel. Even the Hyper 212 or something similar will be much better. Buy some decent fans for it and you are good to go. Bitfenix for instance, corsair or cougar.
Buy a modular PSU. It is much cleaner looking, better for airflow and makes it easier to clean and maintain.
Buy an SSD. I know, they seem expensive, but you will only thank yourself. They are cheap in comparison to the performance you get. 60GB is enough for OS!
Thats it really.

11 years ago
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I was thinking of changing the stock cooler with an other but where I buy, there isn't the Hyper 212 so I thought that maybe a hyper 412s would be the alternative, the problem is that maybe is bigger what do you think, it will fit in the computer? If no what alternative, under 40 euro, can you recommend that, if possible, is sold in the shop where I want to buy(e-key.it or/and amazon.it)?

EDIT:
Ok, the 412s require low profile ram so it's not my case, any alternative?

11 years ago
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It is rather slim. Just put the fan on the left and make it pull. Done.

11 years ago
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That's a good build for me! Just add a SSD :P

11 years ago
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I know i'm annoying but I can't find it anywhere. If i have on the motherboard 1 20pin usb 3.0 connector but both the front panel of the case and the card reader must be attached in a connector like that what I have to do?

11 years ago
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you could buy a pci card to get more ports also the card reader could use a usb 2.0 connector

11 years ago
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Im going to assume typo and hope you meant PCI

11 years ago
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Yeah, thanks for pointing it :)

11 years ago
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my motherboard didnt have any 20 pin usb 3 connectors only the 4 pin usb 3.0 connectors so I had to connect it using a pci adapter.

11 years ago
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Memory is so cheap compared to the other components, i would buy 2 pieces of 8 GB module. Probably some kit.

Also 2TB hdd is way better on the capacity/price. I got a WD 2000GB Caviar Green 5400rpm 64MB SATA3 WD20EARX
WARNING READ THIS:
http://www.ngohq.com/news/19805-critical-design-flaw-found-in-wd-caviar-green-hdds.html

and use this or the official WD version: http://idle3-tools.sourceforge.net/

11 years ago
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-CPU: Intel i5-3570k, using the stock cooler

Ok, not really necessary to get K if you wont overclock it.

-MOTHERBOARD: AsRock z77 extreme 4

Im not really fan of AsRock, anyway you can cut down some price there if you get something like MSI GD55, or even better get mATX board for even less with same "feature range" since FullATX is overkill nowadays.

-GRAPHIC CARD: evga Nvidia Geforce GTX 660 TI

Ok, but i would definitely prefer some non-stock cooling and evga is usually quite overpriced (especilly since theyre selling reference card, so there isnt really any reason for that).

-RAM: CORSAIR VENGEANCE DDR3 1600mhz cl9 2 x 4GB

Fine

-HARD DISK: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB

SSD dude

-PSU: Corsair Enthusiast TX650 v2

Overkill, you can run this system on decent 400w overclocked, and if youre still scared then get 500w Seasonic OEM.

-CASE: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer

Im not fan of plastic look of this, i would go for Fractal Design Define R3/4.

11 years ago
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Honestly I wouldn't get that mobo because it has bad mosfets. I would just go for Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H, Biostar Z77XE3/XE4, or MSI GD55/65 to give the best stability. For GPU, it would be better to get a nonref card by MSI or Gigabyte for best cooling and performance. For ram, it would be better to go with the Samsung ones since those OC to 2133 on air or the cheaper Mushkins Blackline/G.Skill Ripjaws X.

11 years ago
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maybe take the gigabyte GTX 660.

a different motherboard could be this
or a ASRock H77 Pro4-M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard

11 years ago
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Oh and ive almost forgot that it would be better to put this to ice for few months, Haswell is slowly comming (new socket) and AMD 8x.. graphics too.

11 years ago
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I have the same processor, RAM and graphics card, and they are fantastic.

11 years ago
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Your picks are great -

i5-3570k is ideal for gaming purposes, i7 has only a little boost more. I would suggest if your not overclocking, go ivy bridge motherboard / cpu, without the k, maybe even getting a i7 instead for around the same cost. If overclocking (which isn't really needed), get a sandy bridge cpu + 2nd or 3rd gen motherboard. The ivy cpu has overheating issues when overclocked and sandy will actually outperform it here. I would personally however not overclock, it's not required these days with a good machine.

1600Mhz 8GB Ram is optimal for gaming (no more / no less), as faster wastes money with not much as a 1% performance boost in games and slower might bottleneck.

Motherboard is a great pick for gaming, and pretty good layout wise.

Graphic card - leading at the moment is nVidia, great for gaming. Your's is a fine pick 660TI for mid/high gaming purposes.

PSU is fine, i suggest around 700W incase you want to SLI in future.

11 years ago
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For the processor, I am going to suggest the...

AMD FX 6-Core Processor Black Edition. It's a beast at overclocking, and for the price, works fantastic.

Good luck! (:

11 years ago
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Closed 11 years ago by ChiP.