First time building custom gaming rig

[rapidriptide]

Hi guys,

I am totally new at this so I would like to ask for suggestion/help with regards to building a new set up.

I have set aside a budget of up to S$1.5k (flexible by a few hundreds) and would like to build a mini/ medium tower owing to space constraints. I am looking to build this as a gaming rig which could hopefully play 1900x 1080 reso for far cry and skyrim.

Welcome any recommendations/ set ups as well as good retailers to set this up! Thanks so much in advance

 

[nippp0n]

CPU & Mobo: i5-4570 & Asrock B85M Pro 4 @ $372
Ram: Kingston 1600mhz value ram 8GB @ $76
ODD: Samsung DVD RW @ $22
SSD: Plextor M5S 128GB @ $139
HDD: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB @ $80
GPU: Powercolor 7970 OC @ $505
Case: Sharkoon T28/ Asgard Midgard II @ $87
PSU: FSP Platinum 550W @ $125
OS: Windows 7 Home 64bit OEM @ $110

Total: $1516
Buy and build at Tradepac.

 

[rapidriptide]

Hi Nipppon,

thanks so much for your suggestion. After asking a few friends and doing some research on my own, i have come up with this finalised set. Basically decided to get a better GPU brand plus add in higher PSU and one more cooler. also decided to get a cheaper SSD. Wonder what do you think about it and if you forsee any problems in this setup?

CPU & Mobo: i5-4570 & Asrock B85M Pro 4 @ $372
Ram: Kingston 1600mhz value ram 8GB @ $76
ODD: Samsung DVD RW @ $22
SSD: Crucial M4 64GB SSD SATA3@ $110
HDD: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB @ $80
GPU: Sapphire HD7970 3GB (NO OC) @ $569
Case: Sharkoon T28/ Asgard Midgard II @ $87
PSU: Seasonic X Series 650W @ $158
OS: Windows 7 Home 64bit OEM @ $110
Cooler Master Hyper 412S @$68

 

[nippp0n]

Hi Nipppon,

thanks so much for your suggestion. After asking a few friends and doing some research on my own, i have come up with this finalised set. Basically decided to get a better GPU brand plus add in higher PSU and one more cooler. also decided to get a cheaper SSD. Wonder what do you think about it and if you forsee any problems in this setup?

CPU & Mobo: i5-4570 & Asrock B85M Pro 4 @ $372
Ram: Kingston 1600mhz value ram 8GB @ $76
ODD: Samsung DVD RW @ $22
SSD: Crucial M4 64GB SSD SATA3@ $110
HDD: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB @ $80
GPU: Sapphire HD7970 3GB (NO OC) @ $569
Case: Sharkoon T28/ Asgard Midgard II @ $87
PSU: Seasonic X Series 650W @ $158
OS: Windows 7 Home 64bit OEM @ $110
Cooler Master Hyper 412S @$68

For sdd, highly recommend to get a larger capacity. Plextor M5S has more capacity and is only $29 more.

You don't really need a after market CPU cooler if you don't intend to overclock. Intel stock CPU cooler works fine.

For a single gpu set up, 550W-650W psu is fine. So no need to go for 650W. Channel the savings to get a higher capacity SSD as 64GB will run out very fast. FSP Platinum has the highest efficiency, reliable brand and comes with 7 years warranty.

For gpu, both sapphire and powercolors and AMD budget brand makers. Personally prefer Powercolor because it has longer warranty and costs cheaper than sapphire.

 

[rapidriptide]

Hey nipppon,

Ok think I will stick with your original set up. Thanks so much for your help! Really appreciate it