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Build Feedback |
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circleofravens 
AVADirect Noob 
Joined: 10 Aug 2012 Posts: 3 |
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 Topic: Build FeedbackPosted: 10 Aug 2012 at 11:32pm |
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I'm ready to replace my five year old AvaDirect Gaming PC which has served me extremely well with a new one and am leaning toward the below BUT I'd really like to get a GTX 670 into the build without breaking the bank. Any feedback on places where it might make sense to downgrade in order to be able to afford the better graphics card?
INTEL, Core™ i7-3770 Quad-Core 3.4 - 3.9GHz TB, HD Graphics 4000, LGA1155, 8MB L3 Cache, 22nm, 77W, EM64T EIST HT VT-d VT-x XD, Retail ASUS, P8Z77 WS, LGA1155, Intel® Z77, DDR3-2800 (O.C.) 32GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI CF /2+2*, SATA 6Gb/s RAID 5 /4, 3Gb/s /4, DVI, USB 3.0 /6, HDA, GbLAN /2, ATX, Retail CRUCIAL, 8GB (2 x 4GB) Ballistix Sport PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz CL9 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC EVGA, GeForce® GTX 570 Superclocked (KR) 797MHz, 1280MB GDDR5 3900MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, 2x DVI + HDMI + DP, Retail SEAGATE, 1TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache ADATA, 120GB S510 SSD, MLC SandForce SF-2281, 550/510 MB/s, 2.5-Inch w/ 3.5-Inch Bracket, SATA 6 Gb/s, Retail RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives SONY, AD-7280S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, OEM CORSAIR, Carbide Series™ 300R Black Mid-Tower Computer Case, ATX, No PSU, Steel/Plastic COOLER MASTER, Silent Pro M 850W Power Supply w/ Modular Cables, 80 PLUS® Bronze, ATX12V 2.3 EPS12V 2.92, 6x 8/6-pin PCIe, SLI® Certified, Retail MICROSOFT, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition w/ SP1, OEM |
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crypt
AVADirect Guru 
Joined: 25 May 2008 Location: AVA Forum :) Posts: 421 |
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Posted: 11 Aug 2012 at 12:14pm |
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First off welcome to the forum
The only suggestions I would make are:
Unless your in dire need to upgrade :). Hold off a bit and save alittle more money and get these parts you'll be glad you did :).
Switch SSD to crucial M4 128 or 256 gb
Get a GTX 670 video card
Just my 2 cents
Have a nice day :)
Edited by crypt - 11 Aug 2012 at 12:16pm |
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circleofravens
AVADirect Noob
Joined: 10 Aug 2012 Posts: 3 |
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Posted: 13 Aug 2012 at 3:52pm |
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Thanks for the reply and yes, no question I'd prefer to go with the additions you mentioned but I'm feeling a little rubbed by the fact that it's going to cost me $300 - $400 more for this build with those options than at one of AVADirect's competitors . . . albeit a less reliable one with questionable customer service. I was hoping perhaps someone would see an area where I had perhaps went a little overboard and could thus offset the costs for the other components.
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Jmundy
AVADirect Staff 
AVADirect Sales Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Location: AVADirect HQ Posts: 1337 |
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Posted: 14 Aug 2012 at 12:43pm |
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Hello circleofravens,
I do have a few recommendations to help you save some costs. INTEL, Core™ i7-3770 Quad-Core processor - If using the system for gaming, then there's no need to go with an i7 processor, it's complete overkill. Sure, if you had the money to spend, didn't care about the costs, and just simply wanted the best of the best then it's a great choice. Otherwise, you can save the money and invest more into you graphics card as you wish. ASUS, P8Z77 WS - Being a workstation class motherboard, it's not necessary at all for a custom gaming system. You could easily get away with the P8Z77-V models, even just that specific model, and still have plenty of functionality to look forward to. ADATA, 120GB S510 SSD, MLC SandForce SF-2281 - I must agree with crypt here and recommend the Crucial M4 series SSDS; by far the most reliable we have used yet! COOLER MASTER, Silent Pro M 850W Power Supply - unless there's potential for an SLI setup, based on your future interests, dropping to a Corsair 650w power supply will suffice for a single graphics card. All of these changes combined will allow you to upgrade to a GTX 670 or 680 graphics card. A 670 is only about $150 more, so I'm confident you can at least upgrade to that. As I see it, this configuration is more CPU power oriented (as it's built now) than a more gaming-oriented computer. Gaming systems need good CPU power, but it's not pertinent. Enough RAM is also needed, so I agree with 8GB of RAM for the sake of meeting current requirements and possible future requirements. If you really want to go as far as possible with this, you could drop the SSD. It will increase gaming performance slightly, but it's not a "make or break" situation. You could save yourself another $100 and invest it into the graphics card, to afford a GTX 680. If it's all about the gaming experience, then your main priority should always be the graphics card, power supply, and THEN the CPU. Feel free to post additional questions, if need be! |
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Joseph Mundy
Assistant Sales Manager 1-216-503-6361 joseph.mundy@avadirect.com |
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circleofravens
AVADirect Noob
Joined: 10 Aug 2012 Posts: 3 |
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Posted: 17 Aug 2012 at 12:47pm |
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Thanks for guidance . . . the below definitely gets me back in the price range I was hoping for . . . any further suggestions:
INTEL Core™ i5-3570K Quad-Core 3.4 - 3.8GHz TB, HD Graphics 4000, LGA1155, 6MB L3 Cache, 22nm, 77W, EM64T EIST VT-x XD, Retail ASUS P8Z77-V Pro/Thunderbolt, LGA1155, Intel® Z77, DDR3-2400 (O.C.) 32GB /4, PCIe x16 /2+1*, SATA 6Gb/s RAID 5 /4, 3Gb/s /4, TB + HDMI + DVI + VGA, USB 3.0 /6, HDA, Wi-Fi, GbLAN /2, ATX, Retail CRUCIAL 8GB (2 x 4GB) Ballistix Sport PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz CL9 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC EVGA GeForce® GTX 670 FTW 1006MHz, 2GB GDDR5 6208MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, 2x DVI + HDMI + DP, Retail SEAGATE 1TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache CRUCIAL 128GB M4 SSD, MLC Marvell 88SS9174, 500/175 MB/s, 2.5-Inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, Retail SONY AD-7280S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, OEM CORSAIR Carbide Series™ 300R Black Mid-Tower Computer Case, ATX, No PSU, Steel/Plastic CORSAIR TX650 V2 Power Supply 650W, 80 PLUS® Bronze, 24-pin ATX12V v2.31 EPS12V 2.92, 2x 8/6-pin PCIe MICROSOFT Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition w/ SP1, OEM |
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vikonic
AVADirect Admins 
Joined: 11 Nov 2011 Posts: 348 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 17 Aug 2012 at 6:07pm |
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circleofravens,
That's a great build you got there. Everything seems to be spot on for that budget. Depending on your space usage habits, the 128GB ssd may be inadequate. To help you get the most out of your SSD space, we have a guide on our forums that covers couple different methods of making more space available on your SSD. If you follow the guide you're likely to free-up about 10-30GB of space that Windows takes up by default for it's important processes. We cover safe methods as well as extreme methods of reducing the space these services take up. Since you're purchasing another large drive, you can do many things to off-load data onto that drive and keep space available on your SSD. I also recommend looking into recovery systems such as Acronis, or even integrated Windows backup that comes with Windows. It will allow you to have a complete image of your system saved in case your SSD ever fails. |
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Vedran Ikonic
Technical Support Manager 216-503-6374 Option 4 support@avadirect.com How To Guides - FREE Troubleshooting Help from AVADirect Problems with your Computer? - Post HERE |
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