This is my first PC build, going to be used for pretty much everything, though 1080p video and gaming will be the most intense tasks. Micro ATX seemed more appealing to me, plus I'm not going to use SLI/Crossfire or more than 2-3 HDDs.

CPU: Intel i3 2120
Motherboard: ASRock H77M
RAM: 2x4GB G.Skill DDR3
HDD: WD Caviar Blue 1TB
GPU: Gainward GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core Limited Edition
Power Supply: Antec HCG 520W Modular
Case: Silverstone TJ08-E

Any suggestions or changes that could be made? Would noise be an issue?

If you budget allows, get a Crucial M4 128GB, and for storage get a Green low rpm drive like Western Digital Green Caviar, Hitachi 5k3000 or Samsung F4. If you are in a budget and to make some room for the SSD, you can also save some by going with Silverstone Micro-ATX PS07B, similar to TJ08-E but has some cosmetic changes, and it uses 2x 120mm front instead of 1x 180mm, but its easier to replace the 120mm.

128G is an indulgence for most purposes. So of it doesn't fit the budget, look at the 64G model... or even a smaller, older model if the budget is really tight.
I guess even a single of your games might not fit on a small system drive but you can install games over several drives for the best performance with NTFS junctions.

I hope you're not going to pay real money for an inferior power supply (I don't know how much that one costs in your locale).

Other than that, I'm afraid I'm clueless when it comes to cooling gamer cards...

Hi and welcome to SPCR. Things that would be helpful to know: your budget, monitor resolution, the games you want to play, and whether or not you want to turn all the effects up to maximum.

That said, the 560 Ti 448 is an older and power hungry card. The HD 7850 is slightly faster, uses half of the power while gaming and costs about the same. Here's a review thread. MSI's Twin Frozr IV has potential for the quietest OEM solution of the cards so far.

I do have some reservations about the PSU. Do you have any other alternatives?

You would also need to swap out the stock Intel CPU cooler if you want a quiet computer. The Core i3 only dissipates very little heat, so you don't need a very big & expensive cooler. Something like an Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 would easily suffice. Or better yet, the Scythe Katana (3 or 4) or the Scythe Samurai ZZ.

I have a 120GB Intel SSD that I can move in to the build. I'll switch the HDD to a Caviar Green. Thanks!




What's wrong with the power supply?



The budget is as low as possible, I'm aiming for <$800. I plan on playing games on high-max settings at 1920x1080. I don't want to run Crysis or BF3 maxed out, but I will be playing stuff like The Witcher 2, Deus Ex, Diablo 3 and Skyrim. I don't mind having to adjust the settings to get a smooth framerate, but I don't want to play anything on low.

I chose the 560 because it was faster than the 7850 in benchmarks, cheaper and I have had issues with AMD cards in the past. I personally would rather go with nvidia.



Again, what's wrong with the power supply? I've seen lots of positive reviews for it, it's basically a rebranded Seasonic OEM.

I'll look into getting a cheap cooler. The Arctic Cooling one looks good.

The Antec MCG looks like it could be similar to the M12II series from Seasonic if it is a rebranded model. It's certainly a lot cheaper than an X series but is a Seasonic M12II more expensive or unavailable in your locale?

Graphics card wise that 560 is not going to be that quiet. It puts out too much heat. Latest generation cards are a lot cooler which explains the 7850 but if you can wait a little then Geforce GTS660 cards might be a much better option. I would not be surprised if a passive cooler becomes an option with a GTS660. They would also allow you to run a smaller wattage PSU.

These power supplies are typically inferior to the offerings of some less popular brands priced in the same range, that's all. I can't comment on the prices you're getting.

The Seasonic M12II costs $10 more than the Antec over here, and as far as I can tell, they're basically the same thing. Is there really a difference that's worth $10?

For the graphics card I was considering upgrading the CPU to an i5 and using the integrated Intel HD 4000 until I could afford something better like the GTX 670 or the 660 when it comes out.

Witcher 2 and Deus Ex will benefit from the quad core, the other 2 not as much...however, if you run other apps in the background (music, skype/teamspeak, etc), having the 2 extra cores are useful. Stay above 3GHz base rate on the CPU and you'll be fine. You can overclock a bit with IVB using stock voltage, as well.

Those 10 bucks will give you 5 years of warranty instead of 3.

Also it will bring you the better fan controller and supposedly a better fan.

Nobrainer imho.