Desktop Gaming Build help/review

[TheAdam]

Howdy, I am in the process of piecing together a new gaming desktop. I currently have an Alienware MX15 laptop (i7 920), but, this desktop will be my "deployment" present when I make it back into the states in a couple of weeks. I haven't built a computer in probably 5 years, so I am a bit rusty. Money isn't too big of a concern, but I would like to keep it under $2000.

I will use this exclusively for gaming. I play TF2, SC2, and will be playing SWTOR. I don't really know if I'll be overclocking this or not. I have no experience with that. Does anyone have any suggestions to help improve this build? Does anyone have a similiar build and can comment on it? Thank you.

Mobo:MSI P67A-GD55 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Processor:Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

Video card:EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

Memory:G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive

HDD:SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

PSU:PC Power and Cooling Silencer 910W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply

Case: Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Unbeatable Gaming Case

Optical Drive:ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

Extras:
VIZO VIZO-SCB-YL Cable Binding Kit (UV Yellow)
ARCTIC COOLING Arctic Cooling MX-4 AC-MX4 4 gram (g) All-Around Thermal Compound
APEVIA CF12SL-UBL 120mm Blue LED Case Fan
COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler Intel Core i7 compatible
TOTAL PRICE w/ MIR and excluding shipping: $1519

 

[wwischerath]

you dont need the i7 2600k for gaming. go with the i5 2500k. Use the saved money to get a more powerful graphics card. SLI 560 Ti's would be cool. Also, skip the SATA 3 HDD. Even 7200 RPM HDD's cant max out a SATA 2 connection. Samsung makes an excellent 1TB 7200 HDD. Think its the F3.

You leaving OIF or OEF? ( I am in OIF right now)

 

[TheAdam]

Thanks bud. I'll definitely look into those right now and see what I can come up with.

I'll be leaving OEF. I spent 6 months at Joint Base Balad about a year and a half ago. Now I'm in an undisclosed location in NW Afghanistan. Hell of a lot more exciting than Iraq.

 

[wwischerath]

I was in JBB about 18 months ago myself. And after the excitement here this week, I could use some more boring.

If you scale your build down in size you get what I built. I just wish I could fit a stronger GPU in my case. But since I carry it with me, its good for now.

and side note: till you overclock your CPU, you can skip the aftermarket cooler. These new Sandy Bridge processors dont get hot.

 

[TheAdam]

Alrighty, I swapped out processors for the i5 2500k. That brings the total price down to $1692. Now, time to look into video cards a bit further.

Let's see, I was at JBB from Sep09-Mar09? My unit is slotted to head out there again in April for another 6 months, but I'll be out of the military by then. That place has to be dead now.. they were pulling out when I was there.

*edit*
Figured as much in regards to that aftermarket cooler. Pulled that off my list and opened up an extra $90. Still researching these video cards. Next I'll look into the HD you mentioned. Thanks for all of the help so far.

 

[tiraides]

Where are you buying parts from? You'd be better off with something along the lines of the following:

$220 - Intel Core i5-2500K processor
$155 - MSI P67A-GD55 P67 ATX motherboard
$30 - Xigmatek Gaia SD1283 120mm CPU cooler
$70 - G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB DDR3 1333 dual-channel kit
$230 - Crucial m4 128GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD
$65 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB SATA 3Gb/s HDD
$20 - Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS SATA DVD burner
$260 - XFX Radeon HD 6950 1GB PCI-E 2.1 (x16) video card
$110 - Corsair TX750 V2 750 watt power supply
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX mid-tower case
$95 - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM
=====
$1315 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

The long story short is that most of the parts in your build were largely overkill -- you didn't need them. I went with lower-priced alternatives in my build and used some of the "savings" to pick up a better video card. (Are you buying a 1920x1080 monitor?)

 

[hossdaddy]

Where are you buying parts from? You'd be better off with something along the lines of the following:

$220 - Intel Core i5-2500K processor
$155 - MSI P67A-GD55 P67 ATX motherboard
$30 - Xigmatek Gaia SD1283 120mm CPU cooler
$70 - G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB DDR3 1333 dual-channel kit
$230 - Crucial m4 128GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD
$65 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB SATA 3Gb/s HDD
$20 - Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS SATA DVD burner
$260 - XFX Radeon HD 6950 1GB PCI-E 2.1 (x16) video card
$110 - Corsair TX750 V2 750 watt power supply
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX mid-tower case
$95 - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM
=====
$1315 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

The long story short is that most of the parts in your build were largely overkill -- you didn't need them. I went with lower-priced alternatives in my build and used some of the "savings" to pick up a better video card. (Are you buying a 1920x1080 monitor?)

Nice Build tiraides. Maybe show him an nvidia option like a gtx 560, like this one since he chose one in his original list;

EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB $239.99 - $25 mir + fs

 

[tiraides]

TheAdam, please answer the following questions:

Will your gaming be limited to TF2, SC2, and SWTOR? Are there any other games you'd like to play?

Are you buying a monitor at the same time as this build, or do you already have one handy? Are you planning on using multiple monitors?

What resolution(s) are you going to use? What level of visual quality?

 

[TheAdam]

First off, thank you for all of the help and information.

To answer your questions:
My gaming will not be limited to the games that I previously mentioned. I listed those because they are (excluding SWTOR) the games that I spent the most time on. I do understand that these are not graphically intensive games, however, I would like to be prepared for new releases, (BF3, etc).

I currently have a decent HP monitor that I usually hooked my laptop up to. It's native resolution is 1920x1080. If I am going to run a multiple monitor setup, it won't be for a while. I don't have much need for multiple displays. I would like to have a very high (fluid!) level of visual quality.

I have listed the parts exclusively from Newegg. I have not comparison shopped yet. I like Newegg and I've yet to have any issues from them. Although, I am very open minded towards alternatives.

 

[wwischerath]

tiraides put together a nice build. Just consider which graphics card you will like the most. Same money gets a GTX 560 Ti that performs similarly. till you go multiple monitors, stick with one GPU. Then it comes down to SLI vs Xfire.

Or with the money saved, get a GTX 570/580 or HD 6950 2gb or HD 6970. Could pretty much stay with one GPU at that point. Or unlock HD 6950 to HD 6970.

After you get done being thoroughly confused I bet you build an awesome gaming machine.

Newegg works well (built mine with there stuff) Be sure to check Amazon as well.

And I was at JBB the same time you were. And they are still there, just made the base smaller. I was there 11/2009-04/2010. Been at 8 different bases in 3yrs (yeah, I am a contractor)

 

[TheAdam]

So glad that I came here.. I've chopped so much money off of my original build. Cheers!

Now, time to figure out this video card fiasco. If I get a nice enough card, SLI or Xfire really isn't all that necessary?

I met a few contractors when I was out there.. you didn't happen to work with the mail there, did ya? I met a pretty cool guy when I was getting ready to ship my stuff home (Far shot, I'm sure..)

*Edit* Added a EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB.. This build is shaping up pretty nicely!

 

[tiraides]

For most games, you won't need more than one card.

Stick with the DDR3 1333 RAM that I picked out earlier. You don't need any faster RAM as you'll overclock the processor using its unlocked CPU multiplier. (Plus, if you order the RAM this weekend, you can use a promo code to save $15 instantly.)

Since you're looking at NewEgg, you should try to find a few combo deals or promotion codes to help drop the price down even lower. (I intentionally didn't provide any deals at the time as I didn't know which retailer you would be using.)

 

[wwischerath]

I have been considering the GTX 570 for my next build. Should kick some butt. Unless you are going with multiple monitors I think you'll find that one card is more than enough for your gaming. And the advice on sticking with 1333 memory is pretty good. I have heard that from several sites including some professional builders. Unless you're going for some kind of Overclocking competition there isnt much advantage.

No, I dont work for KBR. I fix Route Clearance vehicles, but I have been I told I can be a pretty cool guy. (Also been told I am an As........)

 

[bonnev659]

some good ideas here, your orginal built and tiraides built.

when I built mind, I got some items from tiger direct and ++++ (US site) to save a some coin here and there. for example I saved $30 along on my H70. and also as mention above, sometimes you can get lucky with a combo deal or a code to save some money as well.

good luck on your build!

 

[TheAdam]

Stick with the DDR3 1333 RAM that I picked out earlier. You don't need any faster RAM as you'll overclock the processor using its unlocked CPU multiplier. (Plus, if you order the RAM this weekend, you can use a promo code to save $15 instantly.)

The only problem with this.. The 1600MHz ram that I've got up there is only a few dollars more. I won't be able to order the ram this weekend unfortunately, so I'll miss out on the $15 promo. I moved out and threw all of my stuff into storage before my deployment. I'd rather not hassle anyone and mail it to them and then have them mail it to me when I get back to the states. For shame I say.

Thank you again everyone for the advice. I definitely came to the right place. I'm going to keep looking around and see if I can continue to shave a few more dollars here and there. Really looking forward to getting this thing off the ground.

 

[bonnev659]

I moved out and threw all of my stuff into storage before my deployment. I'd rather not hassle anyone and mail it to them and then have them mail it to me when I get back to the states. For shame I say.

have a safe deployment

 

[tiraides]

The only problem with this.. The 1600MHz ram that I've got up there is only a few dollars more. I won't be able to order the ram this weekend unfortunately, so I'll miss out on the $15 promo. I moved out and threw all of my stuff into storage before my deployment. I'd rather not hassle anyone and mail it to them and then have them mail it to me when I get back to the states. For shame I say.

That's a moot point. My point is that you don't need DDR3 1600 RAM; in most cases, it's actually cheaper to go with DDR3 1333 RAM.