[caitlynboutros]

Hi there Thanks for opening!

I'm building a computer for the first time and I would love to know if the parts I have selected will be compatible.
If you could help, that would be superb!

Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast Series Modular TX 650M Power Supply - 650Watt - ATX / EPS - 80 Plus Bronze

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H Motherboard - Intel Z77 Chipset - Socket 1155 - 4x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM Socket - 1x PCIe x16 3.0, 1x PCIe x16 (x4 mode), 3x PCIe x1, 2x PCI Slots - AMD CrossFireX Ready

CPU: either:
Intel Core i7 3770 Quad Core 3rd Gen Processor - Socket LGA1155 - 3.4GHz

Intel Core i5 3470 Quad Core 3rd Gen Processor - Socket LGA1155 - 3.2GHz

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x 4GB) Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit

Video Card: ASUS Radeon HD 7750 V2 Video Card - GDDR5 1GB 128-bit - 820MHz / 1150MHz Clocks - PCIe 3.0 - DVI, HDMI & DisplayPort - AMD HD3D - AMD Eyefinity - AMD CrossFireX

Optical Drive: Lite-On IHES312 12X Speed Internal Blu-Ray Combo - 2MB Buffer Size - SATA

Storage: Western Digital WD Red 3.5" 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s IntelliPower 64MB Hard Drive (HDD)


Thanks a Million!!

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What case and Operating system are you looking to use? I just notice you do not have them listed.

[Zolton33]

What case and Operating system are you looking to use? I just notice you do not have them listed.

[phillpower2]

caitlynboutros

Not sure about the Ram as it is not on the MBs QVL list (see canned text below)

Other than ensuring that the Ram is compatible with the MB the other parts are ok, but to ensure you get the best build for your money if you let us know what the computers main use will be, what your maximum budget is for the build and where in the world you will be purchasing the items we will put you an alternative list of parts together to consider and save you money in the process.

For the best and most stable performance you should where possible purchase a CPU and Ram that have been tested and approved by the motherboard manufacturer, this is referred to as the QVL ( qualified vendors list ) understand though that there are too many products released for them all to be tested so other hardware will be compatible but not proven to be.

The MBs QVL http://www.gigabyte....spx?pid=4140#ov the CPUs are listed but the memory is not.

One item that I would change is the video card as a 256-bit video card would be better.

[caitlynboutros]

What case and Operating system are you looking to use? I just notice you do not have them listed.

Thanks for your quick responses!

I am still deciding on a case, but maybe this one.

I will also be probably using Windows 7.

[caitlynboutros]

caitlynboutros

Not sure about the Ram as it is not on the MBs QVL list (see canned text below)

Other than ensuring that the Ram is compatible with the MB the other parts are ok, but to ensure you get the best build for your money if you let us know what the computers main use will be, what your maximum budget is for the build and where in the world you will be purchasing the items we will put you an alternative list of parts together to consider and save you money in the process.

For the best and most stable performance you should where possible purchase a CPU and Ram that have been tested and approved by the motherboard manufacturer, this is referred to as the QVL ( qualified vendors list ) understand though that there are too many products released for them all to be tested so other hardware will be compatible but not proven to be.

The MBs QVL http://www.gigabyte....spx?pid=4140#ov the CPUs are listed but the memory is not.

One item that I would change is the video card as a 256-bit video card would be better.

Thanks for the fast response!!

I will be mainly using the computer for gaming. I might also be doing some video editing down the track, but thats not important right now.

I am hoping to spend under $1000 [my old budget was $500, but I'm realising how unrealistic that is!]

And I am based in Australia. I keep finding all these good American websites, but I can't be bothered paying and waiting for postage.

[Zolton33]

Personally i do not like cases with a fan on top of the case (although my current case has just that) as it is so easy to spill some thing into it or some thing gets dropped into it. If it is in your budget i would recommend the 922 http://www.mwave.com...rsion_3x_525_8x or the 912 http://www.mwave.com...l_6x_35_Interna in the coolermaster series they are also quite popular with many system builders. But i could understand if you prefer the other coolermaster you chose.

In regards to windows 7 are you planning on buying the oem version? Or the full? The oem version is tied to your motherboard so no upgrading your motherboard later on without buying another oem key/disc. Only exception seems to be if your motherboard dies but then you have to replace it with the same exact motherboard or the same socket. While the full version is fine so long as it is only installed on one machine at any given time. Just some thing to consider.

Edited by Zolton33, 03 October 2012 - 08:50 AM.

[Zolton33]

A $500 type build is doable. But you can not always run most games on their max settings and such. A $1000 build is quite easy with a gaming pc. I myself am considering an a10 5800k 3.8 quad core Integrated Radeon HD 7660D GPU runs at 800 MHz and has 384 Radeon cores and uses the latest fm2 socket (just released so not sure if it is over there yet but here it is just shy of $130). It supports crossfiring with the igp for pushing the gpu to the max plus allows for over clocking to help push the cpu performance. Although you will not achieve the max fps an intel chip with a gpu will get you will get some good fps in most games.

I'm not sure on your knowledge on builds but will point out you will get a better over all fps with a more expensive gpu and a cheaper cpu then you will with an expensive cpu and a cheap gpu as most games utilize far more of your gpu then your cpu. So it is some thing to keep in mind when choosing parts for your build. Do you plan to crossfire or over clock in the near future? The fx line of amd cpu's is a mixed receive to be honest. They were expected to dethrone the intel cpus but people forget that amd has clearly stated that they do not plan to compete with intel at the high end cpu market. Their biggest baddest fx was designed to compete with the i5 2500 sandy bridge. The ivy bridge cpus are about a 6% or so increase over the sandy bridge cpus. So if you can find a sandy bridge that compares to the ivy but a bit cheaper you will not be losing much at all by going with the cheaper sandy (although sandy and ivy are almost equally priced in most circumstances). And the sandy bridge cpus seem to over clock better (assuming you plan to oc some time).

Next year will see the release of the haswell cpus from intel (they will be a different socket from the 1155) so that may bring down prices on the ivy/sandy cpu prices. Plus in December we will see some new amd fx cpus sets as well. Not sure when you plan on ordering but if it is not in the immediate future it may be worth checking out.

In gaming you will not see a huge fps advantage to the $299.99 i7 you chose over the $192 i5 you chose. For gaming without trying to max out every thing an i3 2100 does quite well (and even allows max setting on most games). The extra $107 bucks is not worth it for gaming for the i7 and that extra money can easily be put to where it would help more with the gpu. Also on a side note not a lot of games out right now call for a dual core let alone a quad. So you do not need much more then a quad to play games even on maxed settings. The one main word with gaming is the gpu. So long as your cpu can handle the gpu (not bottle neck) then the gpu is where the majority of your cash can be spent. So i would keep these things in mind when choosing your parts.


http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jf0x That is the build i would probably go with if i had your budget. The i5 2500k can over clock quite easily. You can probably shop around and mix and match to get the best bang for your buck but this build has been recommended on multiple sites for almost a year now. But if you do not over clock you can drop out the extra cpu cooler and go with a cheaper i5 quad core and put even more into a better gpu. That build ordering from the best possible sites hits around $858.65. Also you can use that tool to help you find what you are looking for from mwave the site you linked to so you can know your rough total costs and move pieces up and down to adjust it to your budget or best possible costs.

http://www.tomshardw...epler,3280.html

That is something tomshardware does once in a while a build by price. Not the end all beat all answer but is a good place to start in considering your build and your budget.

Edited by Zolton33, 03 October 2012 - 10:41 AM.

[iammykyl]

AMD Trinity, still no good for for serious gaming. AMD A10-5800K and AMD A8-5600K
> http://www.tomshardw...mance,3304.html

For selecting parts, register, so you can save your build, select your country in the top left window.

> http://pcpartpicker....parts/partlist/

CPP is very good but a little limited in vendors. when you have your final selection, go > http://www.staticice.com.au/ use advanced search where you can select results by State.

[Zolton33]

AMD Trinity, still no good for for serious gaming. AMD A10-5800K and AMD A8-5600K
> http://www.tomshardw...mance,3304.html

For selecting parts, register, so you can save your build, select your country in the top left window.

> http://pcpartpicker....parts/partlist/

CPP is very good but a little limited in vendors. when you have your final selection, go > http://www.staticice.com.au/ use advanced search where you can select results by State.

You failed to mention that they were talking about gaming at 1980 x 1080 and to link to the latest review http://www.tomshardw...iency,3315.html Its about as equal to an i3 ivy bridge and at times surpasses it plus it is a quad core. So i would not say they are bad for gaming by any stretch of the imagination. And so far they have not really been bench marked in gaming using the igp or with a newer gpu (just utilizing the cpu) or by crossfiring (using the igp or without).

At its stock settings, the company’s flagship A10-5800K is generally faster than Intel’s Ivy Bridge-based Core i3-3220/3225 in heavily-threaded applications and slower in x86-oriented tasks that only run on one core. Some of our benchmarks fall somewhere in between, and the results reflect as much.

f course, now we have pricing details to consider as well. AMD plans to sell its A10-5800K for $122 and its A8-5600K for $101. The Core i3-3220 sells for $130 and the -3225 is $145. Frankly, neither Intel option is very attractive to us. We’d rather go for a Pentium G2120 for $100 with entry-level discrete graphics. On the AMD side, the A10-5800K touches the performance we’d want from an on-die GPU to feel comfortable recommending to a friend with modest gaming ambitions. The A8-5600K gives up too much ground in that regard, and the A8-3870K couldn't quite get there last generation, either.

So not bad for a budget or low budget build. Will it touch fps of a i5 quad and a newer gpu? No but it also will not cost as much either. And you may not get as many fps but you will not be very low either (most want fps at or above 30-60). And even the bench marks you showed at stock speed (not over clocked in any way) showed the a10 5800k kicking the snot out of the i3 3225 and the 3220 in fps (although admittedly that was just utilizing the igp on their cores). For a htpc and light gaming this cpu is more then adequate for its price. But if you want to max out games and get the top fps you can then hands down an i5 is what you want. All i am saying and was saying is that an amd apu can game and game well. Although it may not break any fps records it will allow you to play most games on low to medium settings.

[iammykyl]

Correction to CPP instruction. Country selection window, top right.


A build for you to consider. > http://pcpartpicker.com/au/p/jjsY



There is a more limited choice of Radeon cards here in OZ. Have selected the HD 7870, this may need further research.
Benchmarks, GPU.
> http://www.videocard...h_end_gpus.html
> http://www.anandtech...duct/548?vs=660

[phillpower2]

I like the parts put together by iammykyl

One advantage that the Cooler Master case has over the Antec 900 though is the front USB 3.0 ports.

[caitlynboutros]

HI GUYS!!!

Thanks for all the input.
I've put together this one:
http://pcpartpicker.com/au/p/jSiz
And I was about to go ahead with it, but my brothers say I have to get one of my guy friends to approve it.
But you guys are just as good

Thanks a million for all your help so far
Please let me know
Thanks!

[Zolton33]

http://www.mwave.com...ss_x16_30_830MH $118.30 a cheaper but newer and better gpu. I would change to that over the 6850 for $209

[caitlynboutros]

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-42060851-MSI_AMD_Radeon_HD_7750_Video_Card_1024MB_128_bits_GDDR5_PCI_Express_x16_30_830MH $118.30 a cheaper but newer and better gpu. I would change to that over the 6850 for $209

Thanks heaps!! Always looking for cheaper but still good parts

[phillpower2]

Sorry but the benchmarks show that the HD6850 is better than the HD7750, the 6850 has a 256-bit interface compared to the 128-bit interface of the 7750 which will give better all round performance.

See benchmarks @ http://www.videocard... HD 7750&id=321 an example HD6850 @ http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B008Z4S5GO (ranked 51 - the HD7750 is ranked 75th) or for a small increase in budget over the HD6850 http://www.newegg.co...ID=3962334&SID= ranked 19th.