Advice needed for new PC Build!

[madhardy4]

Hi guys!

My OEM HP of 4 years is dying and am planning on getting a DIY PC this month.

I have read through many guides and have come up with this and I need you experts to help me with some of my queries and my proposed build

Will not be into overclocking and am having a budget of around $1k, thus, am not going for Z77 and k series CPU.

Asus P8H77V-Pro + i5 3470 - $423
G-Skill RipJawX 1600MHz CL9 8GB - $85
Sapphire 7850 2GB OC - $255
Antec EarthWatts 550Watts - $135
TP-Link Wireless PCIE N/2 TL-WN881ND - $42
Case (I will just reserve $100 for this as I have no idea what to choose, but also am looking at the Sharkoon REX3 Value.)

TOTAL: $1040

Re-using:
OCZ SSD + WD Black (only used for 3 months)
DVDRW Combo Drive

My queries:
1. Is the PSU enough to run the whole system? I have no idea how to calculate amperage and stuff like that.

2. Which shop should I get to assemble my computer? Can I buy parts from different shops and bring them all to one shop to get them assembled?

3. Are there any improvements to my above plan without further expanding my budget or am I good with it?

Thanks in advance!

 

[nippp0n]

CPU & Mobo: i5-3470 & Asrock B75 Pro 3M @ $334
Can consider Asrock mobo which is currently the most value for money mobo and use the savings to get a better gpu for more significant improvement in gaming.
Ram: Kingston 1600mhz value ram 8GB @ ~$72
GPU: Powercolor 7870 Myst @ $311
Performance is better than 7850, rather close to 7950 but at the expense of much higher power consumption.
Case: Asgard Midgard II @ $87
Budget case with ample fan slots to cool your rig.
PSU: FSP Platinum 550W @ $125
Highest efficiency PSU that comes with 7 years warranty.
Wifi: TP-Link Wireless PCIE N/2 TL-WN881ND @ $42

Total: $974
Buy and build at Tradepac.

Some things to take note when dealing with Tradepac:

• Be firm with your decision when buying from Tradepac. Don't be swayed by their sales assistant to upgrade and buy more expensive components which you don't require.
• Check all the components you plan to purchase are correct before you make payment.
• Stay at the shop and supervise them as they assemble your rig and make sure they return all spare chassis parts. You might want to take note that Tradepac cable management skills may not be up to your satisfactory level.

 

[m3 th3 last]

CPU & Mobo: i5-3470 & Asrock B75 Pro 3M @ $334
Can consider Asrock mobo which is currently the most value for money mobo and use the savings to get a better gpu for more significant improvement in gaming.
Ram: Kingston 1600mhz value ram 8GB @ ~$72
GPU: Powercolor 7870 Myst @ $311
Performance is better than 7850, rather close to 7950 but at the expense of much higher power consumption.
Case: Asgard Midgard II @ $87
Budget case with ample fan slots to cool your rig.
PSU: FSP Platinum 550W @ $125
Highest efficiency PSU that comes with 7 years warranty.
Wifi: TP-Link Wireless PCIE N/2 TL-WN881ND @ $42

Total: $974
Buy and build at Tradepac.

Some things to take note when dealing with Tradepac:

• Be firm with your decision when buying from Tradepac. Don't be swayed by their sales assistant to upgrade and buy more expensive components which you don't require.
• Check all the components you plan to purchase are correct before you make payment.
• Stay at the shop and supervise them as they assemble your rig and make sure they return all spare chassis parts. You might want to take note that Tradepac cable management skills may not be up to your satisfactory level.

Jilat le at this rate you recommend Asrock will be sg number one motherboard, AMD can quit the sg market. Powercolour will be number one grahpic card.
.

 

[madhardy4]

Thanks for the quick and professional response!

I see others recommending PC Themes for assembly too, which is better?

As for B75 and H77, what are the main differences?

 

[nippp0n]

Jilat le at this rate you recommend Asrock will be sg number one motherboard, AMD can quit the sg market. Powercolour will be number one grahpic card.
.

Recommending only mah. They can choose not to buy. But I believe some people won't mind paying more for reputable brands like Asus.

Just trying my best to squeeze the best out of their budget. For those with big fat budget, of course should go for more reputable and quality brands such as Asus, Gigabyte or MSI.

 

[enenyi]

Jilat le at this rate you recommend Asrock will be sg number one motherboard, AMD can quit the sg market. Powercolour will be number one grahpic card.
.

Asrock is the most value-for-money in their mobos wad. Asus, MSI and Gigabyte no fight with AsRock at the cheaper end of the motherboard spectrum. For higher end OC motherboards it will start boiling down to personal preference, no longer the cheaper AsRock Z77 boards dominate.

AMD CPU chips have been quite bad in local sales. For gaming, their most high-end APU chips cant even perform as well as an Intel i3 chip. In terms of raw computational power (for programming and other purposes), AMD fares a bit better but not as much as to compete with Intel chips. So technically yes, AMD is almost out of the sg market.

Powercolor cards are number one graphic card when it comes to pricing. If u not gonna do serious overclocking on the GPU (means your games playable enough liao), then the cheapest GPU will do. Powercolor and Leadtek selling reference GPUs are the most bang-for-buck in the AMD and Nvidia camps respectively. The other GPU brands justify their hefty price tags for GPUs by claiming better temps and lower noise than reference GPUs. So which means to say Powercolor is indeed number one when it comes to building a rig under tight budget constraints.

So u cant really blame nipppon for recommending almost the same rig every time. If it were me (if I had the luxury of time to continue recommending rigs), i would also recommend rig builds of ard the same. Coz it revolves around value-for-money proposition, not the branding.

 

[madhardy4]

Yeps Nippon's build is definitely good value for money but I'm just worried about the quality of ASRock mobos...

 

[madhardy4]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I have made changes to my blueprint and will head to SLS to purchase this weekend! (finally no more BF3 with avg 15 FPS)

ASRock Z77 Extreme3 + i5 3570k $465
Kingston Value RAM 8GB $77
Sapphire 7870 2GB OC $349
FSP Silver Raider 550W $89
TP-Link USB Wireless WN822N $42
Sharkoon Rex3 Value $75
TOTAL: $1097

Will not be getting an aftermarket CPU cooler for now as will not be overclocking.

 

[sanfong]

Whats is this for? If ivy b can satisfied our need and u can wait then wait haswell out liao then buy ivy b will be cheaper. just a reminder.

 

[madhardy4]

I can't wait anymore LOL my HP OEM BSODs every few hours everyday and on some days I can't even start it up at all! I mainly use it for gaming (BF3, CS:GO, TF2, Crysis 3, etc.) but my other family members require the PC for other more important business.

So I can't really afford to wait for Haswell already, which I was trying to wait for it.

 

[Crexzz]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I have made changes to my blueprint and will head to SLS to purchase this weekend! (finally no more BF3 with avg 15 FPS)

ASRock Z77 Extreme3 + i5 3570k $465
Kingston Value RAM 8GB $77
Sapphire 7870 2GB OC $349
FSP Silver Raider 550W $89
TP-Link USB Wireless WN822N $42
Sharkoon Rex3 Value $75
TOTAL: $1097

Will not be getting an aftermarket CPU cooler for now as will not be overclocking.

Just checking, why the Z77 board with K core if you're not overclocking?

 

[madhardy4]

Just checking, why the Z77 board with K core if you're not overclocking?

I'm looking at the future prospects of overclocking when I think there's a need for it.

 

[nippp0n]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I have made changes to my blueprint and will head to SLS to purchase this weekend! (finally no more BF3 with avg 15 FPS)

ASRock Z77 Extreme3 + i5 3570k $465
Kingston Value RAM 8GB $77
Sapphire 7870 2GB OC $349
FSP Silver Raider 550W $89
TP-Link USB Wireless WN822N $42
Sharkoon Rex3 Value $75
TOTAL: $1097

Will not be getting an aftermarket CPU cooler for now as will not be overclocking.

I will suggest changing your gpu to Powercolor 7870 Myst. Performance is better than 7870 and close to 7950 but at the expense of much higher power consumption.

Oh, and if you intend to overclock, you will need an aftermarket cpu cooler. Since you are on a tight budget, can consider CM Hyper Evo 212 @ $59.