Maximum PC

Hi! So i've decided to try and build my own PC. I'm aiming for a system that can run games like Starcraft 3 and Civ 5 on high settings without slowing down. I'm still fuzzy on some of the technical data that are in product descriptions and have a lot to learn. Anyways I picked out these parts for a possible build. I was hoping that someone could look it over and let me know what you think and that I didn't overlook anything major or even minor.


Raosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, come with Five Fans, window side panel, top HDD dock
Model #:BlackHawk
Item #:N82E16811147107

Intel BOXDZ77GA70K LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Model #:BOXDZ77GA70K
Item #:N82E16813121605

ASUS HD7850-DC2-2GD5 Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Model #:HD7850-DC2-2GD5
Item #:N82E16814121623

Rosewill Stallion Series RD500-2DB 500W ATX12V Power Supply
Model #:RD500-2DB
Item #:N82E16817182044

Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770
Model #:BX80637I73770
Item #:N82E16819116502

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A2133C11B
Model #:CMZ8GX3M2A2133C11B
Item #:N82E16820233300

Western Digital RE4 WD5003ABYX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:WD5003ABYX
Item #:N82E16822136697

LG Black 12X Internal Blu-ray Drive 3D Playback & M-DISC Support SATA Model UH12LS29 LightScribe Support - OEM
Model #:UH12LS29
Item #:N82E16827136246


Any help is greatly appreciated!

Looks like a solid build. But for games like you stated. Even a core i3 for half the price can play but if you can price/budget wise.. get the i7, it'll be worth it in the end. The case is nice, its also nice for coming with all the fans for good air flow. All this should be a great build for most current and past games. Good to see someone else playing civ games. I still like civ 4. I haven't really gotten into playing 5. I think since I bought it a while back I've played it twice.. maybe. good luck with the system, be sure to let us know if you need more help!

Good Hunting..

crap PSU

recommend thisas the cheapest acceptable in >=500W Note additional promo discount

RE4 HDD great for servers, not so much for on/off PCs. Recommend Black as comparable. Blue for budget.

Rest looks fine...as was stated CPU is overkill but good long term satisfaction.

You might consider changing two parts...

> Processor - A 3770 is way overkill for gaming, unless you're going to be running folding at home, or doing video editing, I'd go with the i5-3570, it will give you identical gaming performance for $100 less.

> Power Supply - Last thing you want to skimp on is the power supply, the Seasonic mentioned is decent, but in that price range (after mail-in-rebate) I'd suggest this one instead: OCZ ModxStream Pro 600Watt Modular PSU though personally, I'd get this one (actually I did get this one): PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750 Watt PSU yes, it's a bit more expensive, but at 750 Watts, it gives you plenty of headroom for later expansion.

Yes, its best not to skimp on your power supply! But would they really need a 750 for just one graphics card? For two maybe that much.. But with the specs I wouldn't think more than a 600W would really be needed. 500W would work but would be bare minimum and would need to be replaced if they decided to crossfire or something.

Need? Not right now. I don't need any more than a good 400 Watt PSU, but I have the Silencer Mk II 750 Watt. If by some miracle I were able to upgrade from my single GPU to a pair of GTX-670's for SLI next month, or if the OP adds another 7850 next year for Crossfire, there's no need to worry about getting a new PSU to handle the added power requirement Spend the extra $30-50 now & save $100 later on down the line. Buy the minimum you need & in the long run, you'll spend more money overall.

I started using 550 Watt PSU's a decade ago... by following this method/philosophy, I average one new PSU for every 3 re-builds, following a 3 year re-build cycle. The PSU that powered my AMD Athlon XP 2500+ & Athlon X2 4400+ rigs, was the PSU I used when I built my current rig. I only upgraded it because I was looking at the possiblity of Bulldozer + SLI. Though with things happening IRL the way they are, & Bulldozer being such a steaming pile... that's no longer on the horizon. Still, this PSU should last me for at least the next decade. Just wish I could say the same about GPU's & CPU Heat Sinks...

Well...

The problem with multi-GPU setups is that most people don't have the monitor setup to match. If you're driving a 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 monitor, getting SLI on high end cards is pointless. You'll already be pushing past 60FPS on most games with a GTX 670 or HD79xx card at that resolution. So adding another one down within a month or even a year (assuming devs get off their asses) would be a waste because you're going to be asking for performance you'll never really appreciate. I wouldn't recommend SLI on high end cards unless you're packing a 27" monitor or better. Or doing something like EyeFinity or whatever NVIDIA's equivalent is.

If you were doing this on a midrange card, then I would be all "yeah, go ahead." At least, with the GTX 560 Ti, since two of them performed slightly better than the GTX 580 and cost the same.

EDIT: I noticed OP picked 7850. Well, a few tweaks could go towards budgeting a better card.

For the most part: true, but that doesn't stop people from doing it anyway... How about 2560x1600, or 3240x1920 I'm just saying that with a high quality 750W PSU like the PC P&C, that option doesn't require a new PSU purchase where-as a 500W or 600W would... Besides, you never know when the next GPU killer video game is going to hit the streets.

I don't have high hopes considering the video game industry has given PC gaming the cold shoulder in terms of actually developing stuff for available technology. Sure we could say that Epic has proven that PCs could be relevant with the Unreal Engine 4 showcase, but Epic has pretty much told PC gamers to go f-themselves.

So yeah, I don't see any "GPU killer" video game on the horizon any time soon. At least, not enough to warrant investing in hardware you may not use.

LatiosXT, We meet again haha but this time I for the most part agree with you. Devs are just not pushing the systems like they were 6+ years ago. The last game that I can really think of that pushes systems was crysis then it went down hill after that. Also for high end cards there really is not point to SLI or Crossfire them. if say they were two cards from the past with the Geforce GTS 430 or the ATI/AMD 3870. with lower end cards I'd say yes to crossfire or SLI if you already had one card and can't afford a newer card to replace both of them just buy an old card and do that. Otherwise that tech is kinda useless but some people seem to like it even with cards that can handle whats out there games wise now by themselves.