Just some last minute advice for my first gaming rig.

[chuckey]

Hi,

I'm building this [http://pcpartpicker.com/user/chuckey/saved/1r8o] computer as my first gaming rig and I'm wondering if there are any suggestions to replace parts or cut back on the price by at least a $100. Overall I am happy with what I have and I just want to see if any of you think it's a good build as well.

Thank you.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I reckon that is a good build. As for dropping the price you could really only just downgrade the CPU and Mobo but you'd be better off leaving it as is.

 

[DoPo]

Erm, if you really really need those 100$ less, then maybe get an i3 rather than i5. But I'd advise against it. Alternatively, you could scrap the Windows copy - that would get you down by $129.98... Or wait and pray for a price drop - seems the build was pretty cheap around 22-23 of May or so, then the price spiked up.

 

[SnowyGamester]

You could save some by getting a cheaper case and shopping around for your copy of Windows (you can get it 7 Pro for under $90 on eBay and some 8 Pro for under $80). You could probably stand to get a cheaper motherboard too unless you're planning on SLI or something. Could also save $10 by getting the non-K version of the 3570 unless you are going to overclock it.

 

[Archangel768]

As far as the video card goes, you could go for a 660 instead of the TI.
I have the 3770k and the 660ti Asus and compared to my brothers computer with a 2500k and a gigabyte 660 I get at MAX 5fps higher than him. I don't know what the price is like for you but I could have saved about 200$ all up just going with the 3570k and the 660. I wish I had have done that. If you're gonna go anything higher than the 660 I'd just go to the 670 to see any real performance gains but the 660 is plenty powerful enough unless you're one of those picky types that want absolutely every game out there on max graphics. The 660 manages either max graphics on most games or at the very least high on the occasional more demanding game. Anyway, that's just something to think about, in my opinion with actual experience I'd just go with the 660.

 

[AWAR]

Nah, I'd advice against downgrading the graphics card. You should however just get the basic 2gig model. It's 20 dollars cheaper and unless you are playing at higher than 1080p resolutions, the performance would be the same.
You could save another 50 dollars by getting the cheaper NZXT source 210 case.
Also there are much cheaper Windows versions than the one you picked.

 

[Longstreet]

Well, there are a couple of ways to save money, some easier than others.

First off, here in the Netherlands we got a few sites that you can use for a certain product,in this case pc parts, and it will give you a list of shops in your country, then you can just look at which is cheapest. Sometimes the price difference between the highest and lowest is around 100 bucks. (you do have to calculate if that is a smart decision, you might spend more on gas if you want to pick it up from a store far away and you save nothing) I don't know where you are from, so you might not have such a site, then you just gotta browse local stores.

Second, haggle. If you buy a lot of stuff at the same store, especially with expensive parts, you might have a chance of talking him down a hundred or so bucks. You do need to go to the physical shop in this case. This of course is not possible with all shops.

Third, and most easiest, wait for a nice summer sale. Usually around the june / july period there are some nice sales. So if you could hold out for a while, do it and see what happens.

Pro tip; right when you are tired of waiting and think, i am going to the store RIGHT NOW, wait a few days more. It is ALWAYS then the stuff you need goes on sale. Seriously, it happens to me and my folks a lot that we buy something after waiting a bit and the next day it's 20% off.

On actually saving on the build itself i wouldn't have a clue, from what i know (from reading these forums) It's a pretty nice build. Acctually gonna do something similar

 

[Archangel768]

Nah, I'd advice against downgrading the graphics card. You should however just get the basic 2gig model. It's 20 dollars cheaper and unless you are playing at higher than 1080p resolutions, the performance would be the same.
You could save another 50 dollars by getting the cheaper NZXT source 210 case.
Also there are much cheaper Windows versions than the one you picked.

Not looking to get into an argument but I'm curious to see why you wouldn't downgrade from the TI. From my real world experience the price difference (Australian pricing making the 660 and TI $100 apart)is huge compared to the performance difference (2-5fps) with the 660 even running with a 2500k as oppposed to the TI with a 3770k all at stock speeds.

 

[AWAR]

-

When you are looking to save money on a build, the last thing you want to downgrade is your graphics card. It's true that the performance difference isn't that great, depending on what you are playing and what settings you are using though the performance can vary between 3 to 20 fps compared to a stock 660. Both of these cards have amazing value of money but you should also take into account that 5-10 fps will someday make the difference between playable and unplayable.

 

[OneCatch]

Hi,

I'm building this [http://pcpartpicker.com/user/chuckey/saved/1r8o] computer as my first gaming rig and I'm wondering if there are any suggestions to replace parts or cut back on the price by at least a $100. Overall I am happy with what I have and I just want to see if any of you think it's a good build as well.

Thank you.

That's really similar to mine! And yeah, it's looking good generally.

You can knock about £30 off the case by getting a cheaper one - but that depends of your tastes obviously.
I have the Corsair Carbide 300r, which is pretty good, and a lot cheaper. I tend to go for function more than looks though - I'm so boring I don't even have any case lighting.

You can get a cheaper motherboard if you don't want to SLI. Can't remember the model, but I think there was a sub $100 gigabyte one. I'd keep the 3750k and the RAM - Corsair is relatively expensive, but it's legendarily good.

 

[Archangel768]

-

When you are looking to save money on a build, the last thing you want to downgrade is your graphics card. It's true that the performance difference isn't that great, depending on what you are playing and what settings you are using though the performance can vary between 3 to 20 fps compared to a stock 660. Both of these cards have amazing value of money but you should also take into account that 5-10 fps will someday make the difference between playable and unplayable.

True, that could make up the difference in making it playable. I guess I was just disappointed in the performance gain I got. But if I could do it again, I'd just go the 670 or higher and skip the TI altogether.