Gaming Computer Build Advice

SPF1

SPF1

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Apr 30, 2011
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Below I'm going to layout my "WISH" list of components for my next gaming rig.. please feel free to critique and give advice on what you would do differently. Lots of you are WAY more computer savy than I am and your advice would be greatly appreciated.

MOBO: ASRock P67 Extreme 3rd Gen P67 SATA 6 Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX $160.00
CUP: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core $220.00
GPU: EVGA DS Superclocked 015-P3-1587-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $500
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $55.00
Memory:
SSD: Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F120GBGT-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive $214.00 (Optional)
HHD: Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32Mb Cache SATA 6.0GB/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $60.00
Optical Drive: ASUS SATA 24x DVD Burner/Reader $21.00
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Full tower $132.00
Power Supply: OCZ 1000w ProXStream Power Supply (Refurb) $90.00
Cooling:
CPU Cooling Fan: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler $28.00
GPU Duct Fan: Panaflo 120mm X 38mm $16.00

_______________________________________________________________________________________
$1282.00
 
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Not a problem. Make sure you post a budget, and since you said "wish" make a budget that is realistic and one that is winning the lottery or something. We could give you advice to build a decent gaming rig for 500 - 1000 no problem.
 
Budget I'm attempting for would be around $1500-$2000.. but I'd prefer to spend a few extra dollars now to avoid being outdated in 8 months.
 
Where I think I can save some now are in the areas of:
CASE... do i really need a full size tower? I like the extra airflow and possibilty of alternative cooling methods later.
MEMORY.... is a seperate SSD necessary or could I atleast step down to a smaller one. i'd like to be able to put my OS and a select game or two on there for quicker loads.
SOUND CARD... I ALWAYS wear a headset.. so is a dedicated card necessary?
RAM... is 16 gigs overkill?
VIDEO CARDS... this is the budget killer for any build.. any suggestions would be great.
 
SPF1 said:
RAM... is 16 gigs overkill?
Click to expand...

16gb of ram is super over kill lol, but listen to these guys cause they know what there talking about, they helped me pick the parts to my current build.
 
Same here. I just posted pics of my build, which these guys helped me on. So they really do know what there talking about.
 
SPF1 said:
Where I think I can save some now are in the areas of:
CASE... do i really need a full size tower? I like the extra airflow and possibilty of alternative cooling methods later.
MEMORY.... is a seperate SSD necessary or could I atleast step down to a smaller one. i'd like to be able to put my OS and a select game or two on there for quicker loads.
SOUND CARD... I ALWAYS wear a headset.. so is a dedicated card necessary?
RAM... is 16 gigs overkill?
VIDEO CARDS... this is the budget killer for any build.. any suggestions would be great.
Click to expand...


16 is overkill. Dedicated sound is not required, really depends on what you want. I didn't get one cause I as on a small budget, but with your budget might not hurt.
 
I built mine for around $2,000. 16GB of RAM is overkill. 8GB should be your max.
 
I would go with SATA III; 100-120GB for your OS & a larger 1TB for everything else.
 
Case will be needed if the cards do not fit. These Vid cards today are close to 12" in length. The 6950's are close to 11" in length. They do fit in some Mid Tower cases either naturally or with modification, but you really should take advantage of a bigger and much better case for looks, cooling, and functionality. HAF 932 series is a little cheaper ($50.00) than what you posted and is an incredible case.

Curious about the vid cards too. Most of the forums/reviews I have read say there is no real gaming advantage to the 2 gig cards in stock configuration over the 1 gig cards. Do you plan on flashing the BIOS on these or just looking to future proof here. Also I'm not the biggest fan of the ASRock brand in general, but many believe they are a quality product. I however tend to stick to Asus or Gigabyte. Personal choice really so take what I say on brands of mobo's with a grain of salt.

I personally never use an external sound card, but that is because I'm part deaf and don't really care about the quality of the sound any longer. However if you do care about the sound it will benefit you to get one. There are some other advantages to using an add on sound card too. 16 Gigs of RAM is way too much for a gaming rig, 8 is more than enough.

SSD while great and extremely fast for loading OS and applications is not totally necessary. You could save some money there by sticking with traditional HDD's. SSD's are the future in my opinion, but they have a few more years before they start replacing traditional HDD's completely. Can't argue with there performance though.
 
1.I'd go with the HAF 932-less money same cooling and internal space. Avg. price $159
Also, Thermaltake Element V case, same size as HAF 932 and cooling same price but with more features.

2. SSD-OCZ is not reliable in my opinion. You'd do better with something more reliable and less cost like theADATA S511 Series AS511S3-120GM-$189.00

3. Cooling-Silver arrow is overpriced. You can get the same cooling with a Megahalems for $59-69.00

4.RAM-8gb is plenty and in my experience Patriot memory is flaky-not running on the voltages or timings advertised. G.Skill has always done me right, or Crucial.

5. Sound cards beat the hell out of any onboard sound hands down. I love the ASUS ones-ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1 -$89.00

6.CPU is debatable. Some prefer the 2500k for virtually the same performance for way less money, depends on what you're doing with it besides gaming.

7. IMO-fan controllers are a waste of money and aren't needed on the HAF cases.

Last item-ATI is supposedly coming out with new video cards in September, so you might want to wait and see how that affects prices or if they come up with a killer card.
 
I would go with this SSD:
Newegg.com - Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F120GBGT-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

This HHD:
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

GPU: GTX 580; I've always prefered EVGA lifetime warranty & step up program; Nvidia has always had great driver support with BF3 coming up I wouldn't get my dick caught in the wind with ATi.

Like sixer said with fan controllers blahh; only for looks & waste of money; my mobo (Asus Rampage III) had Qfan right on the overclocking software.

If you need a CPU cooler the Hyper 212+ has always been the cheapest & most effective cooler out there, besides water cooling.
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

If you want it under water a lot of people use this:
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler

Another piece of advice is check other outlets; ebay, microcenter, newegg, tigerdirect, zipzoomfly & always do a google products (froogle.com) to find the best price out there. Shipping & handling really adds up also.
 
balls2dawall said:
If you want it under water a lot of people use this:
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler
.
Click to expand...

I feel like stepping in on the H50. Not only is it discontinued it is the one that atleast via public information with the most leaks. If the tubes and radiator stay intact, when the motor burns up it WILL leak out.

Good news is with ANY corsair water cooler corsair has always replaced the affected equipment. Just saw a recent case of a guy with an H50 not only did they replace his stuff they upgraded him to the new H80.

As far as the H50 or any model goes plenty of people have had great luck with them its just a matter of can you handle potential down time? With an air cooler if a fan goes up you could be up the same day, if down at all.

OH and the newer H60 is cheaper, quieter - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015
 
Don't forget Amazon, and Zipzoomfly is out of business.

Piss on corsiar H50 and 60. The Antec Kuhler 620 does a better job and for a better price.

Of course, Asetek made both the H50,H70 and the Kuhler 620 and 920, but I think they did a better job with the Kuhler versions vs the Hydro series.

If that motor burns out, you've either got a very rare lemon or have been running your pc nonstop for 5.7 years.
 
Wow! One day into my wish list and it's price has dropped by over $1000 and I don't see any HUGE performance drops anywhere. I've left somethings as an option like water cooling and SSD and the stand alone audio card.. but I always have the option of adding any of these later, while still being able to play bf3 on high res. The money saved can go to a new keyboard and video monitor... any suggestions there?
 
SSD while great and extremely fast for loading OS and applications is not totally necessary. You could save some money there by sticking with traditional HDD's. SSD's are the future in my opinion, but they have a few more years before they start replacing traditional HDD's completely.
Click to expand...
I disagree completely-SSD were for the future with X58 chipset or below, with the P67 and Z68 chipset to take advantage of their speed they are for right now and are bottle necked by SATA III speed limitations, not the SSD.

In game tell me who loads faster, the SATA or the SSD. SSD loads faster by about 30 seconds to a minute at the end of a round and that matters to a lot of players. $189-for a SATA III SSD 120gb is well worth the money.

Edit: Everyone seems to hold grudges against the SSD because of price, but ask anyone who is using an SSD if they have any regrets buying it and you'll hear a resounding no. When I hear people say they're for the future or not worth the money that just tells me they haven't used one yet. Ask Chuck, Soulzz, Beaver, Balls, anybody here who has one whether they think its worth having. For fuck sake, even Soulzz finally saw the light and got one and enjoys having the damn thing and he was very adamant about not getting one.
 
I would get the water cooling that sixer mentioned. I have an earlier model. You can OC with no problems. The SSD I would wait because prices are coming down as capacities are going up. Corsair unveiled the 180GB And 240GB Force Series GT SSDs‎.
 
Buy a PS3 :D, I will eventually...this will prevent me from having to update my rig every time a good game comes out bye bye PC.
 
meh i play PS3 when i am at my friend's house. Its boring as shit in my opinion. Online with only 12 players on a server for mw2. A joke.

Other than Netflix and the ability to play with your friends for co -op singleplayer missions its garbage.
 
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