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Gaming Build Opinions

A

aeauvian

n00b
Joined
Dec 24, 2008
Messages
6
Hey all. It's been quite a while since my last build, and I wanted to do a fresh build for gaming. I went through and made a build, but wanted any suggestions on it before I pulled the trigger.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming/Programming/Web browsing
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I was looking at about $1500 not including the case (which I already have). I have ShopRunner and live in Washington, so Newegg will be tax/shipping free.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Seattle, WA. Prefer to buy from Newegg.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
I currently have a case, 1TB WD Black for storage, and a DVD drive. I'm looking for: CPU, mobo, ram, PSU, SSD, video card, RAM, and a CPU cooler.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Re-using my DVD drive, storage drive, and I already have a case. Re-using my monitor for now as well.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Very little. Probably just a basic overclock (4.0 GHZ if I go with a 2600k, for example).
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Currently 1680x1050, but I plan on getting a Dell 2412 when they hit $300 again.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Tomorrow if all goes well.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? etc.
Going for a single video card right now. I would like to have USB 3.0 available, as well as eSATA. PCI 3.0 and Sata 3 would be fun, but I'm guessing I'll be upgrading the motherboard before they become really useful. Integrated graphics are a plus. I've had terrible luck with video cards in the past, so a backup during RMA periods is nice.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 x64


I've done some research and picked out some initial components. So far:

CPU: $299.99 i7 2600k. An i5 would be plenty for gaming, but since I do miscellaneous programming/VM type stuff, i thought I could use the hyperthreading.
Video Card: $499.99 AR EVGA SuperClocked GTX 580. SLI might be an option in the future.
PSU: $159.99 AR HX 850
RAM: $35.19 AC G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
Motherboard: $199.99 ASUS P8Z68-V PRO. This one might be a bit overkill--I was looking at a P67 but I thought the integrated graphics would be nice if I needed to diagnose any video issues.
SSD: $194.99 Crucial M4 128GB
CPU Cooler: $19.99 AC CoolerMaster Hyper 212+

So far this comes in to around 1400 after rebates, and 1450 before rebates. My budget is somewhat flexible, so if there are any suggestions they would be much appreciated.

I thought about waiting on the new nvidia cards and possibly the i7 die shrink, but I'm currently running on a 9800GT and an Opteron 165, so I think an upgrade is definitely in short order.

Thanks in advance!
 
Do note that the $20 off price for the 2600K is only for today I believe. So might want to buy that ASAP.

Besides being a tad pricey, that setup looks fine to me.
 
Danny Bui said:
Do note that the $20 off price for the 2600K is only for today I believe. So might want to buy that ASAP.

Besides being a tad pricey, that setup looks fine to me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I can always order the processor early, so that shouldn't be an issue.

As far as the pricey note--is there anything there that would be worth saving a bit on? the most obvious contender for me seems to be the motherboard, but that would only be saving me about 50 bucks to switch to a lower end Z68 or a P67.
 
The -V Pro only adds 1394 and 2 extra SATA 6GB ports, so you can safely drop down to the vanilla -V if you want (although that's only a $10 savings if you stick with the Gen 3). The biggest price break would be from changing out the GTX 580 with a 6970. Saves you more than $150, and at 1080p (or 1920x1200) you aren't really going to see much performance difference. This XFX card is only $299 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150517
 
Well unless you do a ton of multi-threaded programming, I don't think HT will help out that much with your programming use. So you could save money by dropping the CPU down to the Core i5 2500K.

The GTX 580 is a good choice if you're just looking for the fastest Nvidia card available at whatever the price. But if you're aiming for a best bang for the buck value with Nvidia, I'd look at the eVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 Core instead:
$295 - eVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW 1280MB PCI-E Video Card

Though if you're willing to go AMD, the HD 6970 2GB that Forceman recommended is a solid choice.

If you're just sticking with a single GPU, you honestly do note need a 850W PSU. You would be fine with this modular 620W PSU instead:
$90 - SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W Modular PSU

Again, if you're just sticking with a single GPU, then you would be fine with this mobo instead:
$133 - Asus P8Z68-V LE Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard
 
Forceman said:
The -V Pro only adds 1394 and 2 extra SATA 6GB ports, so you can safely drop down to the vanilla -V if you want (although that's only a $10 savings if you stick with the Gen 3). The biggest price break would be from changing out the GTX 580 with a 6970. Saves you more than $150, and at 1080p (or 1920x1200) you aren't really going to see much performance difference. This XFX card is only $299 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150517
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks for the info on the V vs. the V Pro.

I looked a bit into the 6970. It's tempting, but I'm not sure about ATI. I've heard of issues with drivers, and if I decide to add another card in the future it seems like ATI is slow to update for crossfire.



Danny Bui said:
Well unless you do a ton of multi-threaded programming, I don't think HT will help out that much with your programming use. So you could save money by dropping the CPU down to the Core i5 2500K.

The GTX 580 is a good choice if you're just looking for the fastest Nvidia card available at whatever the price. But if you're aiming for a best bang for the buck value with Nvidia, I'd look at the eVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 Core instead:
$295 - eVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW 1280MB PCI-E Video Card

Though if you're willing to go AMD, the HD 6970 2GB that Forceman recommended is a solid choice.

If you're just sticking with a single GPU, you honestly do note need a 850W PSU. You would be fine with this modular 620W PSU instead:
$90 - SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W Modular PSU

Again, if you're just sticking with a single GPU, then you would be fine with this mobo instead:
$133 - Asus P8Z68-V LE Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard
Click to expand...

Alright, I might switch over to the 2500k then.

How is the performance between the 560 ti and the 570? Looking at the prices, it was thinking going with a single 570 and then moving to SLI later would be better bang for the buck than the 580.
 
Last edited:
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