blowing up the piggy bank

[gnodab]

Hi,
so I have been saving money the whole year to get a completely new system, since my old rig is about 10 years old and there really is no way to keep him running any longer with incremental updates. So I read through the Hard Choices columns and did a bit of searching through the net and the end result is this below. I copypasted everything from alternate (currently living in germany and it seems to be the best online retailer). But after seeing the price I felt a little sick. I'll be able to afford it (next month). But still this is kinda expensive so I just wanted to make sure that the current config will be worth it.

So any suggestions? Did I do something horribly wrong? Will I regret not switching x for y? And do I really need to buy a Soundcard or should I stick with the onboard one?

Sorry to bother you all with this but the last PC I built myself was in 98 to play Unreal...



GPU MSI N680GTX Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC € 479,-^*





CPU Intel® Core™ i5-3570K € 204,^90*
be quiet! Straight Power E9 CM 680W € 124,^90*
Alpenföhn Brocken € 34,^99*
Mainboard ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 € 209,^90*




SSD Samsung 840 series 2,5" 500 GB € 334,-^*
HDD Western Digital WD20EARX 2 TB € 86,^90*
RAM Corsair DIMM 32 GB DDR3-1600 Quad-Kit € 162,^90*
Monitor BenQ XL2420T € 369,-^*
Midi Tower Corsair Graphite 600T € 164,^90* Blu-ray LG CH10LS28 € 69,^90*
Sound Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D PCIe € 58,^90*



incl. OS + Office € 2.586,^98* OMG why I feel sick




Many thanks in advance!!

[mrpier]

That is a pretty kick-ass rig. If you want to save somewhere, consider a cheaper/smaller SSD, skip the sound card and settle for 16GB RAM for now, unless you know you need 32GB for certain applications.

[Sakkura]

Get a GTX 670 instead of the 680. Over 90% of the performance, 80% or less of the price tag.

Get a cheaper motherboard, like the Asrock Z77 Extreme3.

Get a better power supply. I would get an XFX Core Edition PRO550W with your configuration, or the 750W version if you want to have the option of upgrading with a second graphics card later.

I would recommend a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooler.

That is a pretty kick-ass rig. If you want to save somewhere, consider a cheaper/smaller SSD, skip the sound card and settle for 16GB RAM for now, unless you know you need 32GB for certain applications.

I agree with those recommendations as well. Though i would suggest going all the way down to 8 GB RAM unless there's some particular reason to buy more. You could get faster RAM instead, if you do want something to spend the money on. Oh, and get RAM with low-profile heatsinks. All you get from those big heatsinks is the risk of clashing with the CPU cooler.

[Feldspar]

Yeah, the RAM is way over the top, I have no problems with 8Gb despite my habit of leaving programs running, you really won't notice the difference between 16 and 32 Gb in normal use except in the wallet department, and it is something that can be easily addressed later anyway.

The SSD does seem another great expense, and 250Gb or even 128Gb might suffice, you'd have to ask an SSD buff on that, though, I have yet to take the plunge on one.

You might want to cut the sound card, too, at least until you've worked out if you can live with the onboard sound, again, it is an easy thing to add after the initial build.

Nice choice on the case, BTW, I opted for one of those, and while it seemed expensive at the time, I think it was well worth it.

[Sakkura]

The SSD does seem another great expense, and 250Gb or even 128Gb might suffice, you'd have to ask an SSD buff on that, though, I have yet to take the plunge on one.

I'm doing alright with my 120 GB SSD (and an old 500 GB HDD). I definitely wouldn't mind having a 250 GB SSD, but 500 GB is overkill.

[gnodab]

Get a GTX 670 instead of the 680. Over 90% of the performance, 80% or less of the price tag.

Get a cheaper motherboard, like the Asrock Z77 Extreme3.

Get a better power supply. I would get an XFX Core Edition PRO550W with your configuration, or the 750W version if you want to have the option of upgrading with a second graphics card later.

I would recommend a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooler.


I agree with those recommendations as well. Though i would suggest going all the way down to 8 GB RAM unless there's some particular reason to buy more. You could get faster RAM instead, if you do want something to spend the money on. Oh, and get RAM with low-profile heatsinks. All you get from those big heatsinks is the risk of clashing with the CPU cooler.

Thanks for the suggestions, although I don't see why the XFX would be a better power supply. The specs don't seem any better than the beQuite, but it sure is cheaper, which is nice.

[gnodab]

Also if I settle for 16GB (or even 8gb) of RAM any suggestions which type I should look for? I really don't get the differences between DDR3-1600, DDR3-1333, etc. And if the Timings come into the mix I am completely lost...

[Sakkura]

Thanks for the suggestions, although I don't see why the XFX would be a better power supply. The specs don't seem any better than the beQuite, but it sure is cheaper, which is nice.

Don't get too hung up on specs, it varies how reliable they are. Some PSU manufacturers just plain lie about the capabilities of their power supplies, others bend the truth a little, and some are veritable saints.

The reason I recommend a different PSU is that the one you picked has had bad reviews. It can fail to adhere to the ATX specification in some circumstances.

Also if I settle for 16GB (or even 8gb) of RAM any suggestions which type I should look for? I really don't get the differences between DDR3-1600, DDR3-1333, etc. And if the Timings come into the mix I am completely lost...

The higher the frequency, the better; the lower the timings, the better. Frequency is the more important factor. Also, there are diminishing returns on faster RAM. Going beyond DDR3-1866 CL9 is not going to make a difference in most situations. Even the difference between DDR3-1866 CL9 and DDR3-1600 CL9 is pretty small.

Edit: I'd probably pick this kit from that retailer.

[gnodab]

Thank you so much Sakkura, you are my hero! You saved me at least 300€ so far. Have 9000 Internets on me ;)
Now I am thinking of downgrading the GPU to a 670 and upping the CPU to a 3770K. Is it worth it? I mean the 90€ difference suddenly doesn't seem so bad anymore...

[gnodab]

Nice choice on the case, BTW, I opted for one of those, and while it seemed expensive at the time, I think it was well worth it.

Glad to hear you say this, it sure looked pretty.

[Boris]

Can you read Dutch? If not, pull it through Google translate.

http://tweakers.net/reviews/2817/4/d...mesysteem.html

These guys are good at what they do, so I trust their judgment when it comes to building systems.

[gnodab]

Ja gelukkig wel, heb tenslotte in Nijmegen gestudeerd ;) Maar toetsenborden vind ik nog steeds schattig.
And they managed to get a pretty cheap set up.

[Sakkura]

Thank you so much Sakkura, you are my hero! You saved me at least 300€ so far. Have 9000 Internets on me ;)
Now I am thinking of downgrading the GPU to a 670 and upping the CPU to a 3770K. Is it worth it? I mean the 90€ difference suddenly doesn't seem so bad anymore...

You're welcome. Whether a Core i7-3770k makes sense depends on usage. For gaming, it makes practically zero difference.

[gnodab]

Before I abandon the thread and lit the fuse on my piggy bank, I wanted to say thanks a lot for all the feedback!
And now Imma burn all the money.

[Boris]

Ja gelukkig wel, heb tenslotte in Nijmegen gestudeerd ;) Maar toetsenborden vind ik nog steeds schattig.
And they managed to get a pretty cheap set up.

Yep. Do notice that you need to add the 300 euro monitor you want, and the 100 extra euros for the bigger SSD you proposed (although you might drop the 64g cache ssd then).

[bad guy]

Well all I can add now is: Excellent replies.
RPS dudes know their shit.