Maximum PC

Hey everyone. I am making a new thread here because the old one has a lot of old information in it and I don't people to have to read through two pages of conversation and changes to give me their input on this.

I think I have it figured out what I want now, please let me know what you think.

CPU
BX80623I52500K
Intel CORE I5 3.30G 1155 8M BX W/HD GRAPHICS 3000

Ram
CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9 (2 of these)
CORSAIR DDR3 4GB 1600MHZ 9-9-9-24 VENGEANCE SERIES

Motherboard
P8Z68-V LE
ASUS SKT.1155 Intel Z68 ATX 4D.DDR3-1600,2X PCIE X16,2X

DVR-R
GH24LS70
LG 24X DVD-RW WITH LIGHTSCRIBE

CPU Cooler
RR-B10-212P-G1
Cooler Master HYPER 212 PLUS UNIVERSAL COOLER

PSU
CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX)

Case
CC-9011011-WW EA 1 N/C
Corsair Carbide 400R System Cabinet

Video Card
025-P3-1579-AR
EVGA 025-P3-1579-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi)
HD 2560MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

Hard Drive
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Looks nice, only comments I'd make are

-If you're running less than 2500x1600, the 2.5GB VRAM is overkill. You could save $50 by picking up the 1280MB version.
-Along the same lines, you could save a bit by moving from the Professional series PSU to the enthusiast series.

So, those 2 things would save you ~$100, which you could put toward a 64GB SSD to take advantage of the SRT technology and speed up the system overall.

The only reason I went with the 2gig version. Is for whatever reason that is the only version of an EVGA 570 card that has the lifetime warranty my local computer shop can order for me.

For some reason they are pretty restricting on which parts are available to them, and it has made this whole process a little frustrating. I wish I was able to just build it myself and order it all from NewEgg, but I'm not confident enough in my ability to assemble the computer on my own.

It's like legos, just more advanced. You are probably going to have to do it one day, why not now? Plus, like you said, your computer shop is holding you back.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/featur ... _explained
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/featur ... s?page=0,1
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/featur ... p?page=0,1
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... =how+to+bu

You CAN do it.

I just did my first build about two weeks ago. In the past, I have pretty much had everything out of the computer that could be taken out and put back in, so I guess the next step in the progression was to join the ranks of builders. Wasn't difficult at all. I only had two hiccups. I put my 200 mm Intake fan in the wrong way so it was exhaust ( no biggie ) and I had one connection ( Hdd LED ) reversed, so the Hdd Light was on all the time. Those are minor issues and no biggie and easy to fix ( the fans do have directional arrows if you take the time to look ). That looks like a good build from where I sit though.

I watched a few videos on it, NewEgg actually had a pretty good tutorial using almost the exact same parts I am using.

Putting the cpu on the motherboard scares me a bit, but it looks pretty simple.

Mounting that after market cpu cooler scares me for sure, making sure the thermal paste is done right and what not.

Not to mention all the while you have to make sure you're grounded or the static electricity could damage your components.

Mounting the motherboard to the case seems like I could screw that up. Lol I don't know I might be being paranoid. I'm just scared of damaging the components and having to rebuy them. I don't want to have to buy it twice. ><

I'll read those articles you linked though, who knows maybe I'll give it a shot.

Yes, the build looks good. Those How-To's should tell you almost all. It's fairly easy.
Making everything pretty and routing all the cables takes the longest.
Installing the O.S. is now quicker than ever. You can read the text on your opening post-boot splash screen by hitting the "Pause|Break" key. You should see all the devices that have thus far been recognized (like HDD and DVD-ROM). But an important reason for hitting the "Pause|Break" key is seeing the options at the bottom of the screen. Look for: "press the F8 key for boot order" or "hit delete (del) key to enter set-up". Or this could be the F2 key. By setup, they mean BIOS. Then you press the Escape (Esc) key to get out of the pause boot mode.
By just hitting F8 (or whatever key it is) you can choose from a list what device you want to boot from first. You can choose the DVD-ROM. Then when the text on the screen says, "press any key to boot from DVD drive" do that. Then the machine will start reading the bootable DVD disc and start installing your O.S.

The one thing to emphasize is on the motherboard install. Have the metal stand-offs only in places where they line up with the holes. If you have one in a wrong place it will hit the electrical connections on the bottom of your board and ground it out, short it out, possibly ruin it.
Use the stand-offs that come with the motherboard. A few motherboards have taller than standard stand-offs. If the case provides those you have to use them or else the motherboard won't be high enough to reach the I/O plate that you pressed into the opening on the case.
Don't over-tighten screws in the case. Snug is good enough. The threaded holes are fairly thin, so be gentle.

The case will also provide the top screws that hold the motherboard tight to the stand-offs.

THose How To's can be very helpful. The main thing is when you do your build, pick a suitable place to do it. I did mine on the kitchen table that has a ceramic tile top. Do Not wear something like a sweater that will generate static electricity. As long as you are in contact with the case at times, you should be fine. I actually installed the cooler before putting the motherboard in the case. Made things a bit easier. I had never done it that way as I always had a prebuild and so the cooler came out to do a processor upgrade. Installing the processor is not so bad, Just oay close attention to the notches on the sides of the processor and the Nubs on the socket that fit into the nothches. If they are lined up, then you are good to good and the processor is right. As for the Thermal compound, everybody has their own way of working with that stuff. One thing though, do not use your finger to spread it ( You can if you wrap your finger with Saran Wrap or wear a latex glove ). If yur using Arctic Silver 5, you don't need much. Maybe the equivalent of half a grain of Long grained rice in the center of the processor. Along with the How To' s on YouTube, there are any number of folks around here that will be more than willing to guide you thriugh any rough spots. As for being nice and neat and pretty inside, it does help with airflow to not have too much clutter in there. This is what mine looks like inside:

Well it might just be time for me to make the step into pc building.

I guess I am kind of stuck in the middle, I want to be able to customise my computer and choose every part, but I am not willing to build it myself. I am strongly considering taking that step now.

Thanks for the support guys. I will let you know if I need further help.

Starting with the case, just read through what comes with it and that should get you started. Some cases make the build easier than others in my opinion and that is where you should start. You want something that has good airflow and is easy to work in. The nest thing is deciding which CPU you want to use and selecting a good Motherboard. Next would be memory ( 8 Gb is plenty and best to go with either two matched sets of 2 x2 gb sticks or one matched set of 2 x 4 gb sticks. Next would be your graphics card and then your Power supply. Then you would need to select a good CPU cooler as well as any additional case fans you may want to use and an optical drive, Hdd, and Operating system. As for a card reader, you can save that for later, as it is easy to install at a later date.

I moderate on another forum that is similar in nature to this one ( google coastie65 and you'll find me ) and we have had quite a few first time builders and all have done well. I am on my very first build and I have been working on forums for quite a few years now. I felt relatively confident that I could do it because of that. I might add that there are two things you may find helpful ( I did ). One is a tool kit and the other is an extra parts box ( with various screws, stand offs and such ). I will come back and edit this and put in a link. One thing though, once you have built your first one, you will never buy another prebuilt.

This is the one I got: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=31722&CatId=1801

Also this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1024615&CatId=7269

One thing that has not been mentioned is that static electricity does NOT discharge to painted or anodized metal surfaces. Anodized aluminum, painted steal and I believe anodized steal is NOT electrically conductive. If you've built up an electrostatic charge by wearing a Hawaiian shirt and walking through a stream of air from a desk fan it will not discharge by holding onto a painted or anodized surface.
Unpainted screws and rivets are your best discharge point. A screw is dug right into the metal threads of the screw hole that goes through the metal of the case.
On dry days when you notice lots of static use a discharge wrist band that is clipped to a screw. You can even back the screw out a bit and clip to the threads of the screw for a more reliable grip.

I thought of that when I was posting and failed to mention it. Good point to bring up.

I think that because of how paranoid I am about the static thing i would wear a grounded wrist band no matter what.

Always a good idea. I have one, but rarely use it. Pretty poor example to set. Nothing wrong with a bit of paranoia. Could save your build. I do observe good habits in what I am wearing when working on my computer and where I work on it ( I have a table in the kitchen with a ceramic tile top ). I don't wear sweaters or fleece lined sweat shirts either. And either leather moccasins or sneakers. I don't think you really need to go that far, but always good to stay cognizant of things.

I'm just reading through all the reviews for the parts I selected.

Is the motherboard in my build good? It has 4 out of 5 on NewEgg but I have read a few bad things in some of the reviews.

It is a good board or is there something else anyone would recommend. Motherboards I the thing I probably know the least about.

I'm Running the P8Z68-VPro. That one is just another version and a good one. This would be a good option as well: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729

You'll find that the wrist band gets in your way or becomes uncomfortable to use. I just grab on to the case or have a metal desk lamp nearby.

As far as your rig is concerned, everything looks good unless you want to cut some corners and save some money (like for games).

Yup I think I am going to go back down to the 1gig version of the video card. Other then that I think everything looks good.

I might wait until just after Christmas to actually order everything, maybe hope for some boxing day sales. Do you guys think the price could drop much with in the next few months?

yes... its winter holidays, companies just survive till this quarter and do 60%+ of their sales in a 3 months span. Black Friday is always busy with crazy tech deals and now the new Cyber Monday right after BF has become very popular. I would not be surprised at all if basically a ton of computer parts go on sale for 30% off or more. Specially video cards.

If you can wait, wait. Deals just around the corner.

Also, if there is a microcenter near you, the 2500k is $179.