How does this computer look?

**iBlackSunday** · August 23rd, 2012, 04:58 PM

Alright, so my father came to me and told me he did not care about how much money he spent, as long as it was under $2500. I jumped on newegg and ran through a few things he would want and decided to make a list of the things I thought would work best for his needs. He wants to build the best and fastest computer he can right now and have it last at least 5 - 8 years, while upgrading and adding things to it through that time. Here are the specs and I would love if somebody would tell me if I was messing up on some things and what I should buy rather than what I have pieced together already.

CD/DVD Burner: Newegg.com - LG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model GH24NS90 - CD / DVD Burners

Case: Newegg.com - Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl w/ USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Silent PC Computer Case

GPU: Newegg.com - EVGA 02G-P4-2678-KR GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Power Supply: Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RS850-AMBAJ3-US 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

RAM: Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10

Motherboard: Newegg.com - ASRock Z77 Pro4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Processor: Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K

SSD/HDD: Newegg.com - Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F480GB3-BK 2.5" 480GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

**Whir** · August 23rd, 2012, 05:58 PM

Looks alright to me. I might put a BD capable optical drive in it and swap the case out to a Lian-li model, but otherwise I could live with that setup.

Depending on how much data he keeps, like movies, music, photos, etc, you might want to toss a normal platter hard drive in there. Will extend the lifespan of the SSD some and data recovery from failures is easier from platter drives. etc etc

**JPMiller** · August 24th, 2012, 12:18 AM

PSU is WAYYYYY overkill, a quality 600W which is still overkill would cost half that and be as good or better
You could save quite a bit on the case as well and get something a little more practical.
Your not building a server, so why waste drive bays?
Save some money, or put it toward upgrades that will matter.

**ShyguyXPC** · August 24th, 2012, 01:56 AM

To add to JP's comment, keeping it a Modular unit:

Newegg.com - OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom

Even this Seasonic would suffice: Newegg.com - SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

If you wanted a Tad more oomph... with a 650W this NZXT would be a good choice as well, as its just a rebadged Seasonic M12 II Series anyways:

Newegg.com - NZXT HALE82 HALE82-650-M 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Power Supply

10% promo code on it, so its the same price as the Seasonic 520W more or less.

**iBlackSunday** · August 24th, 2012, 10:38 PM

So I have taken every bodies advice and has thrown a 650 watt power supply in it (Just in case he wants to upgrade to another graphics card of the same model and type or a newer one in the future (Which I really have no knowledge on how 2 graphics cards work with the PSU)). I also had him get a 750gb hard drive and only run with a 90gb SSD. I threw in a NZXT case, the same one I got for my computer. He doesn't want a blu-ray drive despite the amount of stuff I have discussed with him on "blu-ray being the better of the 2". Oh well.

**JPMiller** · August 25th, 2012, 05:00 AM

Originally Posted by iBlackSunday

thrown a 650 watt power supply in it

What brand?
Wattage means nothing if it isn't a good model

**iBlackSunday** · August 25th, 2012, 05:47 PM

Newegg.com - NZXT HALE82 HALE82-650-M 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Power Supply

Also, while we are on the subject of Power Supplies, in my computer, I have this one
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER GX Series RS650-ACAAD3-US 650W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
and just recently it has been making a weird clicking sound. It is very faint and actually took me a bit to realize it was the power supply, but I believe it's the fan on it. Anybody have any information that would help me on what could be happening or any questions that I could answer.

**SoloCamo** · August 26th, 2012, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by iBlackSunday

Newegg.com - NZXT HALE82 HALE82-650-M 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Power Supply

Also, while we are on the subject of Power Supplies, in my computer, I have this one
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER GX Series RS650-ACAAD3-US 650W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
and just recently it has been making a weird clicking sound. It is very faint and actually took me a bit to realize it was the power supply, but I believe it's the fan on it. Anybody have any information that would help me on what could be happening or any questions that I could answer.

I have the 850w version of that power supply, and it's a great choice. AFAIK the 650w versions are rebadges of Seasonic as well.

As far as your power supply fan goes, it's more than likely the bearing. If it's clicking I would replace it before failure.

**KarmaKiller** · August 26th, 2012, 05:01 PM

Hate to break it to you Solo, but that PSU you have is not a Seasonic unit at all. In fact, the GX series from Coolermaster is probably one of the worst lines of PSU's they've come out with in some time. Here's a snippet of a GX 750watt review from JonnyGuru:

Summary

Coolermaster has a decent 600 watt unit here. The unit does pretty well for stability and efficiency, doesn't get very loud, and... what? It's a 750 watt unit?

Facepalm.

Past Coolermaster units have done pretty well here in the lab, and I'm puzzled that this one has done so poorly. I hope that next time, if there is a next time, we'll have something worth getting excited about.

It's listed as a 750watt unit, but it barely managed to put out 650watts. You can read more about it here: Coolermaster GX-750 750W Review

End of the day, steer clear of the GX line from Coolermaster, there are much better units out there for the same price.

EDIT:
I see your talking about the NZXT PSU..

**SoloCamo** · August 26th, 2012, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by KarmaKiller

Hate to break it to you Solo, but that PSU you have is not a Seasonic unit at all. In fact, the GX series from Coolermaster is probably one of the worst lines of PSU's they've come out with in some time. Here's a snippet of a GX 750watt review from JonnyGuru:

It's listed as a 750watt unit, but it barely managed to put out 650watts. You can read more about it here: Coolermaster GX-750 750W Review

End of the day, steer clear of the GX line from Coolermaster, there are much better units out there for the same price.

I don't have the Coolermaster, I've got the NZXT Hale82 850w

Originally Posted by KarmaKiller

EDIT:
I see your talking about the NZXT PSU..

LOL. Same exact time I posted you posted your edit.

**iBlackSunday** · August 26th, 2012, 05:24 PM

DAMN. Now I really wish somebody would have told me about MY GX Cooler Master PSU...I have to eRMA it and I am actually waiting for the status on the application. Also, how would I go about seeing how much my PSU puts out? Would I have to go about using a multi-meter?

**KarmaKiller** · August 26th, 2012, 08:14 PM

There really is no point in load testing any PSU unless your doing reviews, or unless you really just like buying new PSU's.

You most likely will never be loading out any power supply you have with most configurations, unless you've just really improperly configured it to begin with. Most PSU's peak efficiency happens at about 80% load of their rated output. (Not always the case, but most times)

If you just want to see what kind of wattage your system is using, your best/easiest option is a kill-a-watt.

**ShyguyXPC** · August 27th, 2012, 12:14 AM

can pick up one cheap if you have a Home Depot, Lowes or some other Home Repair type store near you as well (Kill-A-Watt), they make several models of them, but the most basic ones is all you really need.

I have one myself, but have yet to test my setups power with it.

I see your in Wisconsin, if you have a Menards near you, you could check them out, its where I got mine for around $12-15 if I remember, was either that, or Home Depot, since we have both stores in town now.

**iBlackSunday** · August 27th, 2012, 10:05 PM

Well, I did get the RMA processes accepted, so I will be sending in my power supply to get a new/better working one. Father said I could throw a few things in that list for me, was thinking about getting 2 of these power supplies which will have more watts for when we do want to run a second graphics card, what do you all think?

Newegg.com - NZXT HALE82 HALE82-750-M 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Power Supply

I also wanted to pick up a 250gb SSD for my computer (Since he said I could throw some stuff in, might as well take advantage of it). What should I be looking for to have a quality SSD that is 250gb?

**ShyguyXPC** · August 27th, 2012, 10:40 PM

unless your going to be doing some heavy overclocking, large Liquid cooling kits, or large number of Hard drives the 650W Hale82 or similar range PSU's will accommodate Dual GTX 670's easily.

Put this into perspective, using my current hardware, and extra hardware for that matter, using this PSU Calculator...

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

I could probably JUST get by on my 850W Unit, but even then, it'd be pushing it, since I do have the 560 Ti's Overclocked (or will have both once I get the 2nd one installed tomorrow).

but it leaves NO room for Overclocking the CPU really.

so with 2x 170W (+ or -) cards, a 100-120W card, and a 210-215W Card, on 3 HDD's, a DVD, 4 Case fans, 2 CPU Fans, Liquid Cooling kit, and CPU/Mobo/RAM needs, an 850W is barely enough.

the GTX 670's normally have the same Wattage as GTX 560 Ti's. 170-180W range.

so you would still be fine with a 650W PSU. Your i7 is a 77W CPU, my i7 is a 130W CPU. Subtract the 300+ Watts of the GTX 470 and 9800GT in my list (not that I plan to put them in my rig anyways), and your well under the bar with a 650W unit and Dual 670's.

Though if you feel you'd want the 750W units, you could certainly get those too, if their not that much more.

Save a bit more on the price of the 750W Modulars...

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750M 750W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Semi Modular High Performance Power Supply

Its the same hardware components under the casing as the NZXT and Seasonics, just Rebadged as Corsair.

This one, the NZXT Hale82 series and Seasonic's M12 II Series are all the same units, just different brands.

If memory serves me right, the XFX 750W Modular is also the same unit:

Newegg.com - XFX P1-750X-XXB9 750W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

So basically This: Newegg.com - SeaSonic M12II 750 SS-750AM 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Semi-modular Power Supply

This Newegg.com - NZXT HALE82 HALE82-750-M 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Power Supply

This Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750M 750W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Semi Modular High Performance Power Supply

and this Newegg.com - XFX P1-750X-XXB9 750W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

are all the same units, just sold under different brands, with Seasonic making all of them.