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Coming over from laptop gaming, need advice!

SemiGamer

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Hey guys, I've been a laptop user for awhile and finally decided to get a gaming desktop as well.
Currently I have a m18xR2 with a 7970m and 3720qm, 16gb 1333mhz RAM and 1920x1080 18in display.


So I want something that will top that by a little for now, and upgrade to even higher later (Giving my girlfriend my laptop if I build a desktop)

Heres what I've come up with:


And for the case:
http://www.xoxide.com/aerocool-strike-xgtblackedition-midtowercase.html

I have an SSD and 500gb HDD to put in it already. My budget is around $1400.
Are all of those components the best I could get for my budget? And those specs should out perform my m18xR2 by a little bit, correct?
Also am I missing any components? (Don't need a DVD / floppy / etc drive right now)

Thanks guys!

EDIT:
Also is the Sabertooth nessasary or should I go with this one to save $30?
ASUS P8Z77-V PRO Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com
 

de.das.dude

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those are pretty nice. if you dont want to overclock, dont buy the K edition processor, and go for a cheaper motherboard if you dont plan on dual GPU ing it.

dont know about asus ATM, but dell makes some really great IPS monitors at the moment.


and not sure if it will outperform the dual 675 in your alienware.

dvd drive wont cost more than 20$, and get an aftermarket CPU cooler as well. The Hyper 212 EVO is a cheap and good choice for your 77W CPU.
 

SemiGamer

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those are pretty nice. if you dont want to overclock, dont buy the K edition processor, and go for a cheaper motherboard if you dont plan on dual GPU ing it.

dont know about asus ATM, but dell makes some really great IPS monitors at the moment.


and not sure if it will outperform the dual 675 in your alienware.

dvd drive wont cost more than 20$, and get an aftermarket CPU cooler as well. The Hyper 212 EVO is a cheap and good choice for your 77W CPU.

Hey thanks for the reply!
You might've misread my OP a little though :) My laptop has a single (1) AMD 7970m in it. And I plan to eventually add another 670 to the desktop build to make it SLI 670 in the future when I have the cash.

I added that CPU cooler to the cart, looks like alot of people like it so might as well.

As for the case I posted, it should fit everything including that CPU cooler, correct?

As for the motherboard, I was thinking of just going with this one:
ASUS P8Z77-V PRO Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com
It supports dual GPU's for a future SLI setup as well, correct?
 
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For $20 more I just bought a HP 23xi IPS 23" monitor
 

SemiGamer

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For $20 more I just bought a HP 23xi IPS 23" monitor

Is that one better than the Asus in clarity? They're both at $169.99 on newegg right now.
I notice the HP is 10,000,000 to 1 and the Asus is 50,000,000 to 1, that doesn't matter?
 

MxPhenom 216

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Is that one better than the Asus in clarity? They're both at $169.99 on newegg right now.
I notice the HP is 10,000,000 to 1 and the Asus is 50,000,000 to 1, that doesn't matter?

The Asus is a TN panel monitor. The HP is an IPS and itll have better color reproduction and clarity regardless of the contrast ratio. Research a bit on IPS vs. TN.

Both monitors are 1000:1 Native contrast ratio which is the number you want to pay attention to. Other ratios are dynamic.

Its a no brainer. Get the IPS. The IPS is also 10% off with promo code DSKBNCE17
 
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If you live by a Microcenter, you can save almost $100 on the 3770K(In store only)
 
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I would recommend a seasonic gold/plat or specially corsair gold/plat as you have a shiny rig might as well get something shiny too.

or get a h100i or something to match things up a bit ^_^
 

SemiGamer

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The Asus is a TN panel monitor. The HP is an IPS and itll have better color reproduction and clarity regardless of the contrast ratio. Research a bit on IPS vs. TN.

Both monitors are 1000:1 Native contrast ratio which is the number you want to pay attention to. Other ratios are dynamic.

Its a no brainer. Get the IPS. The IPS is also 10% off with promo code DSKBNCE17

Thank you, helped a bunch!

If you live by a Microcenter, you can save almost $100 on the 3770K(In store only)
Yeah I wish I had one but the nearest is 7hrs away :\

I would recommend a seasonic gold/plat or specially corsair gold/plat as you have a shiny rig might as well get something shiny too.

or get a h100i or something to match things up a bit ^_^
Isn't the PSU I listed a Corsair gold? Not sure what you mean if thats not what you're talking about.

As for the h110i I do plan on going liquid cooling later on but its over my budget right now :\
 

MxPhenom 216

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Thank you, helped a bunch!


Yeah I wish I had one but the nearest is 7hrs away :\


Isn't the PSU I listed a Corsair gold? Not sure what you mean if thats not what you're talking about.

As for the h110i I do plan on going liquid cooling later on but its over my budget right now :\

The PSU you chose is fine. Don't worry about it.
 

SemiGamer

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The PSU you chose is fine. Don't worry about it.

Thanks!
Based off of you guys' feedback, this is the updated cart:


With the case I posted in the OP from xocide.

Does this seem like the best choices for my budget or do you guys have some more suggestions before I purchase?
NOTE: The rubix cube is a gift for one of the components, its free when I go to check out, not $20.

Thank you all for the great help. Glad to see this forum is much like the laptop forum I'm used to.
 

MxPhenom 216

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Thanks!
Based off of you guys' feedback, this is the updated cart:
http://i48.tinypic.com/2qta3jr.png

With the case I posted in the OP from xocide.

Does this seem like the best choices for my budget or do you guys have some more suggestions before I purchase?

Thank you all for the great help. Glad to see this forum is much like the laptop forum I'm used to.

Go even cheaper on the motherboard.

I really like Gigabyte boards. Far more then Asus right now.

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX Intel Motherboard - Ne...

And I recommend getting the MX-4 paste.

ARCTIC MX4 Thermal Paste - 4gram - Newegg.com
 

[Ion]

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Thanks!
Based off of you guys' feedback, this is the updated cart:
http://i48.tinypic.com/2qta3jr.png

With the case I posted in the OP from xocide.

Does this seem like the best choices for my budget or do you guys have some more suggestions before I purchase?
NOTE: The rubix cube is a gift for one of the components, its free when I go to check out, not $20.

Thank you all for the great help. Glad to see this forum is much like the laptop forum I'm used to.
If your goal later on is real watercooling and you're considering SLI, I really think you'd be well off to spend the extra $20 or $25 for the 3770k so you have a CPU that can be overclocked (with a custom loop 4.5GHz wouldn't be a challenge in the slightest)

The amount you could save by going with the Gigabyte board that Phenom suggested will nearly buy you the 3770k ;)

Otherwise, a very solid build :toast:
Go even cheaper on the motherboard.

I really like Gigabyte boards. Far more then Asus right now.

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX Intel Motherboard - Ne...

And I recommend getting the MX-4 paste.

ARCTIC MX4 Thermal Paste - 4gram - Newegg.com

I have this Gigabyte board in my 3770k cruncher and I've been very happy with it :toast:
 

SemiGamer

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Go even cheaper on the motherboard.

I really like Gigabyte boards. Far more then Asus right now.

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX Intel Motherboard - Ne...

And I recommend getting the MX-4 paste.

ARCTIC MX4 Thermal Paste - 4gram - Newegg.com

If I'm not mistaken, that Mobo will downclock the RAM I have chosen, no?
Thats no big deal since I can just switch the RAM to the 1600mhz option, but will that MB support SLI when I upgrade in the future? I believe so since its 3x PCI Express 3.0 x16, which means it will hold 3 graphics cards, Right?
Sorry, still trying to get used to PCI slots instead of MXM cards and such that I'm used to on laptops. <.<
 

MxPhenom 216

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If I'm not mistaken, that Mobo will downclock the RAM I have chosen, no?
Thats no big deal since I can just switch the RAM to the 1600mhz option, but will that MB support SLI when I upgrade in the future? I believe so since its 3x PCI Express 3.0 x16, which means it will hold 3 graphics cards, Right?
Sorry, still trying to get used to PCI slots instead of MXM cards and such that I'm used to on laptops. <.<

Downclock? No, your going to have to manual set/overclock your memory on which ever board you get to get it to run at 1866 anyways so. Ivy Bridge default memory clock is up to 1600mhz so any memory you get that's over that speed you are going to have to overclock anyways, or atleast its considered overclocking.

You can also set XMP profiles in the bios to run the memory. Sometimes that won't work though, so sometimes you have to manually set speeds and timings.
 

[Ion]

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If I'm not mistaken, that Mobo will downclock the RAM I have chosen, no?
Thats no big deal since I can just switch the RAM to the 1600mhz option, but will that MB support SLI when I upgrade in the future? I believe so since its 3x PCI Express 3.0 x16, which means it will hold 3 graphics cards, Right?
Sorry, still trying to get used to PCI slots instead of MXM cards and such that I'm used to on laptops. <.<

Yes, it supports 3 GPUs when using an Ivy Bridge CPU (i3/i5/i3 3-series) and does PCIe 3.0 on at least the first two slots.

And it's fully SLI/Crossfire compatible :)
 

SemiGamer

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If your goal later on is real watercooling and you're considering SLI, I really think you'd be well off to spend the extra $20 or $25 for the 3770k so you have a CPU that can be overclocked (with a custom loop 4.5GHz wouldn't be a challenge in the slightest)

The amount you could save by going with the Gigabyte board that Phenom suggested will nearly buy you the 3770k ;)

Otherwise, a very solid build :toast:


I have this Gigabyte board in my 3770k cruncher and I've been very happy with it :toast:

Thank you! Sorry I didn't see your reply when I responded to Phenom, I think you posted as I was posting as well lol

Downclock? No, your going to have to manual set/overclock your memory on which ever board you get to get it to run at 1866 anyways so. Ivy Bridge default memory clock is up to 1600mhz so any memory you get that's over that speed you are going to have to overclock anyways, or atleast its considered overclocking.

You can also set XMP profiles in the bios to run the memory. Sometimes that won't work though, so sometimes you have to manually set speeds and timings.

I'll just grab the g-skill 1600mhz RAM chips than and save a few bucks, if its anything like laptops there isn't much of a difference anyway right?

Yes, it supports 3 GPUs when using an Ivy Bridge CPU (i3/i5/i3 3-series) and does PCIe 3.0 on at least the first two slots.

And it's fully SLI/Crossfire compatible :)

So the only thing that the ASUS has better is some extra USB ports and WiFi? I believe the Gigabyte has LAN only, correct?

First time comparing desktop mobo's. Hope I'm doing it right LOL
And I believe you meant i3/i5/i7, right? Just making sure the i7 is compatible in that list. :p
 

SemiGamer

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(Sorry for double post)
I was reading the reviews of that gigabyte board and some mention they wish they had gotten this one for the small price increase:
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H ATX Intel Motherboard - Newe...
But its on sale currently and less than the first Gigabyte you guys showed me.
Which one would be better? The UD5H or UP4 TH? From my understanding the UD5H has an mSATA and extra sata ports while the UP4 TH has a Thunderbolt port or two? Never even heard of a thunderbolt, don't think I'd need it though?
 

MxPhenom 216

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(Sorry for double post)
I was reading the reviews of that gigabyte board and some mention they wish they had gotten this one for the small price increase:
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H ATX Intel Motherboard - Newe...
But its on sale currently and less than the first Gigabyte you guys showed me.
Which one would be better? The UD5H or UP4 TH? From my understanding the UD5H has an mSATA and extra sata ports while the UP4 TH has a Thunderbolt port or two? Never even heard of a thunderbolt, don't think I'd need it though?

Id take the UP4 still. And you can get the 1600mhz memory, but memory speeds might default to 1333 regardless when you power up. So you are going to have to do some setting changes manually(Switch XMP profile on or manually set speeds, timings, and sub-timings) to get really any memory to run at its advertised clock speed correctly.

The 1866 memory will probably default to 1333. Ivy Bridge Memory controller native memory speed is up to 1600 but it can handle way above that over 2000 generally.
 

[Ion]

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Thank you! Sorry I didn't see your reply when I responded to Phenom, I think you posted as I was posting as well lol



I'll just grab the g-skill 1600mhz RAM chips than and save a few bucks, if its anything like laptops there isn't much of a difference anyway right?



So the only thing that the ASUS has better is some extra USB ports and WiFi? I believe the Gigabyte has LAN only, correct?

First time comparing desktop mobo's. Hope I'm doing it right LOL
And I believe you meant i3/i5/i7, right? Just making sure the i7 is compatible in that list. :p
Yes, I meant i3/i5/i7, apparently I can't type :p
It's thoroughly compatible--I have my 3770k @ 4.2GHz on that board (Lazy OC, got to that point while I was using the stock cooler and haven't bothered to push it further even with the Corsair H50 on it now)
(Sorry for double post)
I was reading the reviews of that gigabyte board and some mention they wish they had gotten this one for the small price increase:
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H ATX Intel Motherboard - Newe...
But its on sale currently and less than the first Gigabyte you guys showed me.
Which one would be better? The UD5H or UP4 TH? From my understanding the UD5H has an mSATA and extra sata ports while the UP4 TH has a Thunderbolt port or two? Never even heard of a thunderbolt, don't think I'd need it though?

Either way I think you'll be happy. I think that Thunderbolt is more appealing on laptops where otherwise your options for expansion are limited, but I guess it can't hurt to have.

And the UP4 TH also has mSATA, although I figure for a desktop you might as well use a full-sized faster/more reliable drive ;)
 

SemiGamer

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Id take the UP4 still. And you can get the 1600mhz memory, but memory speeds might default to 1333 regardless when you power up. So you are going to have to do some setting changes manually(Switch XMP profile on or manually set speeds, timings, and sub-timings) to get really any memory to run at its advertised clock speed correctly.

The 1866 memory will probably default to 1333. Ivy Bridge Memory controller native memory speed is up to 1600 but it can handle way above that over 2000 generally.

Reason being for taking the UP4?
Not doubting any of you guys' opinions at all, I'm just curious "why this" and "why that" so I know for the future.
And than for $5 I'll just stick with the 1866 in case I decide to overclock the RAM in the future.

So heres what the cart looks like now:
http://i47.tinypic.com/104gobo.png

The 3770 I'm undecided if I want to go with the K or not so its give or take $40.

That look about right?
Should out perform my mobile 7970m + 3720qm set-up in my laptop, correct?

Yes, I meant i3/i5/i7, apparently I can't type :p
It's thoroughly compatible--I have my 3770k @ 4.2GHz on that board (Lazy OC, got to that point while I was using the stock cooler and haven't bothered to push it further even with the Corsair H50 on it now)


Either way I think you'll be happy. I think that Thunderbolt is more appealing on laptops where otherwise your options for expansion are limited, but I guess it can't hurt to have.

And the UP4 TH also has mSATA, although I figure for a desktop you might as well use a full-sized faster/more reliable drive ;)

Yeah I think I'll be happy either way as well since the case I'm getting has more USB ports too which is what I'm mainly after.
Also I don't understand how that works for drives. The case has the slots for the drives but if the motherboard doesnt have enough ports for all the slots than some slots become useless on the case? Is that how that goes?
And I have my 2.5in 128gb Crucial M4 SSD that I'm going to be putting in it, does that go in mSata or ?
 

[Ion]

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Cooling Stock / Stock / 4x 1U G34
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If it really is $40 more for the 3770k then it's perhaps less worth it--your choice to make. I'd probably go ahead and get the 3770k just so I could OC it, but both will still be fast. And the HD7970M is like a lower-clocked HD7870, so, yes, this will be a good bit faster :)
 

SemiGamer

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If it really is $40 more for the 3770k then it's perhaps less worth it--your choice to make. I'd probably go ahead and get the 3770k just so I could OC it, but both will still be fast. And the HD7970M is like a lower-clocked HD7870, so, yes, this will be a good bit faster :)

God you guys are quick here lol. I edited my previous post to quote your previous post as well once I saw it.
But to add onto that drive question, I have a GPU question.
Is that 670m the best nVidia GPU possible for $370 price range?
 
Joined
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Processor Intel Core i7 3770K
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I would stay away from Asus Z77 boards. A lot of mixed reviews with their Bios Look at the MSI Z77 GD55 od MSI Z77 GD65. They both overclock great and I tested both boards plus Tested the P8Z77 boards. Go with MSI and save a few bucks. The MSI GD65 overclocked my 2600K to 5,2GHz and Asus boards wouldn't get that high.
 

[Ion]

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Processor i3 3240 / i7-3520M / 4x Opteron 6376 @ 2.86GHz
Motherboard BIOSTAR H61M / HP Q77 / Supermicro H8QG7
Cooling Stock / Stock / 4x 1U G34
Memory 1x8GB / 2x4GB / 4x4GB
Video Card(s) GTX260 / Intel HD 4000 / nVidia GT310
Storage 80GB Intel SSD / 256GB Intel SSD / 2x 60GB SSD (RAID1)
Display(s) Dell 3007 + HP 2245w / 12.1" 1366x768 / None
Case Antec NSK3480 / HP / Supermicro 1U
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Enermax 500W / HP 130W / Supermicro Gold 1400W
Keyboard IBM Model M
Software Windows 7 (Niedersachsen/Ribe) / Linux Mint 17.2 (Minsk)
God you guys are quick here lol. I edited my previous post to quote your previous post as well once I saw it.
But to add onto that drive question, I have a GPU question.
Is that 670m the best nVidia GPU possible for $370 price range?

To be honest I can't answer that one too well. As a college student, $370 is a bit above my usual GPU budget :laugh:

I would actually consider the HD7970 if you're thinking of adding a second GPU later--apparently Crossfire scaling w/ two HD7970s is supposed to be a good bit better than SLI scaling w/ two GTX670s/GTX680s (see W1zzard's reviews).
 
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