First ever gaming build, need suggestions.

[Atrocitus]

Hey there, am planning my first ever gaming PC build and was looking on opinions of my build so far;

Sapphire Radeon HD7970 Vapor-X GHz Edition 3GB
Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5Ghz
Asus Sabertooth Z77
Corsair HX750 v2 750W PSU
NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Chassis
Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler
Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 64MB 2TB HDD
Corsair Force Series GS 128GB SSD
G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 PC12800/1600MHz CL10 2x8GB RAM

any suggestions for how to improve upon this build would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[RedFury77]

Another 7970!  

 

Or maybe a slightly bigger psu for when you do go crossfire.  Might as well get a better cooler, from cooler master the 812 would be better I think, or go all the way with a Phanteks PH-TC14PE.

[Atrocitus]

Have switched the PSU out with a 1000W supply and changed the cooler to a Noctua NH-D14 also swapped the processor out with an i5 seeing as the i7 is over specced

[VaporX]

 

Hey there, am planning my first ever gaming PC build and was looking on opinions of my build so far;

Sapphire Radeon HD7970 Vapor-X GHz Edition 3GB

Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5Ghz

Asus Sabertooth Z77

Corsair HX750 v2 750W PSU

NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Chassis

Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler

Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 64MB 2TB HDD

Corsair Force Series GS 128GB SSD

G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 PC12800/1600MHz CL10 2x8GB RAM

 

any suggestions for how to improve upon this build would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

The i7 is a great chip but simply not needed for a gaming rig, get an i5 and get the same gaming performance for less money. Also do not buy an expensive board unless there is a real need, not sure there is such a thing BTW. A Gigabyte Z77-UD3H will give the exact same performance in everything except uber overclocking and saves you some cash for other parts that will make a real difference in system performance. I see below you moved to a 1KW PSU, no reason to in modern system, even crossfiring 7970 you can do on a 750 watt, anything more is bragging rights with no benefit. Finally on the 7970, what resolution will you be gaming at? If you are using a single 1080 display then a 7970 will give no benefit over a 7950.

 

Good build choices for sure but they seem based on pure benchmarks and not real day to day performance vs cost. Use the money saved for a nice Keyboard and Mouse and enjoy your games...

[d6bmg]

Good config, except there is chance of improvement in CPU cooler part.

As suggested by fellow member RedFurry77, Phanteks PH-TC14PEwould be a good choice, so is Noctua NH-D14.

 

Another thing I should mention is about PSU.

HX750 is more than enough for your system. But if you go for crossfire with 2x HD7970, then this PSU will rob you of any overclocking headroom. So a slightly better PSU of 850Watt or 1KWatt would be better, only if you plan to go in crossfire way in future.

Edited April 2, 2013 by d6bmg

[Atrocitus]

Thanks for the input guys was really helpful. Computer Ed I will be gaming on a standard 1080 TV at first but after my wallet recovers from the build I intent to invest in a 2560x1440 or a 2560x1600 monitor and in future perhaps a multi display setup. I have more or less just tried to setup a computer that will last as long as possible and have more grunt than I need in case I want to do more in the future, which is also why I have chosen parts with (by all accounts) great overclocking potential. day to day performance vs cost is not so incredibly important to me as I am more than willing to sink a tonne of money into this project.

 

Both you and d6bmg mentioned the power supply but were conflicting. Is there an equation or anything I can use to accurately determine the amount of power I am going to need?

 

Thanks again, being new to this is quite overwhelming, I thought I was relatively computer savvy. Then I started researching this and it just makes me realise how clueless I am lol.

[VaporX]

If you are not sure of what your PSU needs are then I suggest looking at one of the PSU Calculators on the web.

 

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

 

As a general rule of thumb I always go a little higher than the suggested. The good news is that even the suggested is more than enough because a PC seldom reaches 100% power load. To give an example my current ITX gaming rig shows a need according to the calculator of 366 Watts. Now for safeties sake I am using a 450 watt PSU, However under a game like Skyrim or Bioshock I am typically pulling around 245 watts. Even if I crank folding on hard with both GPU and CPU I am usually only pulling around 330 watts. (That's an i5 @ 3.9GHz with a HD 7950)

 

For grins I took your setup from the OP and did some numbers, you should be around 550 watts with the single 7970 and 730 watts with the second.  So he was correct you should get an 850 watt if you are planning to go crossfire. A simple drop back on those to 7950s however would drop your PSU needs to around 650, making the 750 viable and with a little overclocking would be close to the 7970. (This is assuming you are getting 3 gig cards)

[wevsspot]

You really don't need a 1000W power supply.  A high quality 750 - 950W unit would be fine for future proofing crossfire.

 

If you want a little extra 'breathing room" and future proofing for Crossfire here is one unit that would be at the top of my list;

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028

[Evergone_w]

The nzxt is a great case, as i own one though there plastic covers a little iffy and they are a pain to clean but i m sure most cases are

[d6bmg]

The nzxt is a great case, as i own one though there plastic covers a little iffy and they are a pain to clean but i m sure most cases are

 

And there are many users who will same NZXT chassis as nothing but a plastic, including me.

[d6bmg]

If you want a little extra 'breathing room" and future proofing for Crossfire here is one unit that would be at the top of my list;

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028

 

That PSU looks great, if you are willing to overlook the cable mess it is going to cause inside the chassis. Non-modular 950Watt PSU?

But I've to say, the price is very attractive.

Edited April 6, 2013 by d6bmg

[wevsspot]

Personally I don't get too hung up on whether a power supply is modular or not.  In a fully outfitted rig you'll end up using the majority of the power leads any way.  Don't get me wrong, modular has it's advantages in many situations, but I don't think it's the be all end all, especially on a high end rig in a large mid-tower or full tower case.

 

As for the Phantom - sure it might be a lot of plastic - but you can't argue the overwhelming positive feedback from users of that case.