Maximum PC

Hey there.

I'm in need of a new computer. Badly. So I've spent the last couple days speccing one out, and now I come to you guys to see if I've done a good job.

Where I could do better, what I did right, that kind of stuff.

So, without further adieu... Let's do this thing.

Budget Range: $2000-2500 After Rebates Before Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Web/IM, Photoshop, audio editing, video editing

Do you need to buy OS: No (already purchased)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, but I'm flexible. If there's a better deal available somewhere else, be it a brick and mortar store or another website, I'll go for it.

Location: San Diego, CA, USA

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe as a future upgrade?

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: Here are links to my Steam games and wishlist so you have an idea of the games I play.

Steam games
Steam wishlist

As an addendum, I also want to get some other games that aren't on Steam, like Battlefield 3.

Parts list:

Feel free to make suggestions, this is just what I've come up with. I'm here for a second opinion, after all.

Case:
NZXT Phantom 410 CA-PH410-B1 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

PSU:
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom

Motherboard:
ASUS P8Z77-V LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU:
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K

Heatsink:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+

RAM:
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CML16GX3M4A1600C9B

Graphics Card:
SAPPHIRE 100352-2L Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Hard Drives:
SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC064B/WW 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
2x SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256B/WW 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
2x Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Note: the hard drive setup may seem weird, but there is a method to the madness. The 64GB SSD is for Windows. The twin 256GB SSDs are for programs and games. I will run these in a RAID 0. The motherboard I chose DOES support RAID 0 TRIM, and I WILL be running Windows 7, so this DOES work. The twin 3TB drives will be RAID 1, and will be for everything that...isn't Windows or programs. Documents, videos I'm working on, etc, etc, etc. Down the line if I ever run out of room (I doubt this but, you never know), I may expand to a RAID 10 with four 3TB drives. Yes I know the case is one internal bay short for that. I'd probably mount it in the spare 5.25 bay.

Optical Drives:
Two, a Blu-Ray burner and a DVD burner I'm pulling from two dead computers. Can't go wrong with re-using old optical drives.

Imho, you have an overall solid build going.

I'd suggest going with 8 GB of RAM, but since RAM is cheap and since you may be able to use it for video and photoshop, 16 GB is a-okay. Unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise, do get 8 GB x 2 sticks though so not all your slots are taken. I can't really see the need for 32 GB in the near future, but imho it's just reasonable not to fill up all your slots if unnecessary.

I know you've explained yourself and I'm sure you pondered it much, but 3 SSDs really lol? I'd think most would be plenty fine with a single 256 GB SSD for OS and select games/apps, or a single 512 GB drive so raid is not an issue. Performance increases from SSDs in raid 0 will not benefit most users, too. I guess I'm really talking from a cost-effective perspective and am having a hard time justifying the cost and potential complications of three SSDs is all. But it's obviously your call

A solid 600 watt PSU will handle your Radeon 7950 fine, but will not be sufficient for Crossfire if you choose to add another GPU later. I don't think you'll need or want to Crossfire if you are gaming at 1920 x 1200 resolution, but it's just an FYI.

Actually, the two 256GB SSDs are $170 each, versus $530 for one 512GB of the same model.

Also, I was originally going to get a Corsair HX750, but someone said that was overkill. Since I may be adding a second GPU down the line though, I'll stick with it. Thanks for the heads-up.

Also, I'll probably end up overclocking this thing, so, I'm thinking I'll go with a Corsair H100 for the heatsink. Seems smarter, and means I can get the version of that RAM with the heat spreader, as well as switch to two 8GB sticks, meaning I can probably OC the RAM a bit more than if I went with the low-profile version. Actually, switching to two sticks instead of four is only $5 more, and the heat spreaders literally add nothing to the price.

Thanks for the advice.

RAM does not need a heat spreader. It doesn't even consume enough power to generate a lot of heat. So anything with a fancy heat spreader or heat sink should be avoided at all costs because it's just there as snake oil.

If someone wants to butt in, consider this: everyone's favorite Samsung memory that can be overclocked to hell? No heat sink or spreader needed.

Eh, it's the same exact part for the same exact price, just with a heat spreader. What can it hurt?

First, it looks like you've done your homework - well done. As to your HDD setup, I completely understand your thinking here, but I know from experience constantly managing program installations is a pain and having 3 "drives" (per se) will only add to the complexity. Personally, consider just using the 2x256 for the OS and programs and skipping the 64GB all together.

Just a heads up: 16GB RAM will setup up a page file of exactly the same size on your SSD. A 16GB page file seems excessive so you should be able to recover much of that by limiting the size to 8GB (or even 4).


Before you plunk down $100 for the H100 make sure it is compatible with the case you selected. I've never worked in the Phantom so I don't know (and I could really tell by looking at the specs), but the H60 & H80 only require a single 120cm fan location and would still give you the room around the CPU for your RAM. Just a thought.

Hope this helps.