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Gaming Computer for the Missus

S

soulesschild

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Messages
6,176
Building a gaming computer for the missus to play games with me :D

Give me some thoughts or changes you guys think is appropriate.

Games: DCUO (primary), Diablo 3 (eventually), WoW

Max resolution: Currently on a Dell Ultrasharp 20" and will probably stay that way for awhile and maybe a few years down the line upgrade to a 24" but by then newer video cards should be out anyway. It doesn't have to play games on max settings, medium settings is perfectly fine.

I'd prefer a micro ATX or mini-ITX since I don't want ANOTHER full tower to lug around so hence why I chose the Lian-Li V354.

I also forgot to add in a Corsair H70 so I have that too. Hopefully it'll all fit into the case, if anyone has a Lian-Li 354 and a H70, let me know how the fit is. Or if anyone has better case recommendations please feel free to let me know!

XP5oX.png
 
I cannot recommend that build at all: It is too expensive for such older technology, especially since the new Sandy Bridge CPUs are now out. Here's why:

1) The case, at $150 shipped, is way too expensive for a small microATX case. A full ATX case is a much better value - but choose carefully. Or, if you don't want another full case, you can buy a case that has nearly an equal level of cooling performance (when equipped with a sufficient number of fans to fill up the fan openings) for less than one-third of that price, such as a Cooler Master Elite 341 case with an extra 120mm fan (that case comes with only one 120mm fan). In other words, that Lian Li microATX case does not provide sufficiently better cooling to justify its 200-plus percent price premium.

2) The i7-870 is no longer a good value (or put it this way, it has already become obsolete as of last week): At $280 shipped, it costs nearly as much money as the significantly faster i7-2600 or i7-2600K.

3) If going with an i7-2600(K), forget about any H55 or P55 motherboards: The CPUs will not fit those LGA 1156 sockets at all. The i7-2600(K) requires a new Socket LGA 1155 motherboard with an H67 or P67 chipset.

4) The WD6401AALS is overpriced and slow by current standards. It still uses a two-platter design - but in this case, one whose data fills up the entirety of both platters. This results in a relatively slow sequential transfer speed by current standards.

5) Although the RAM you chose is competitively priced for RAM at this speed, you don't really need it: There is very little, if any, practical performance difference between DDR3-1333 and DDR3-1600 RAM.
 
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Hrm I figured I'd have to buy a sandy bridge CPU. I guess with that it's better to go with just a full size ATX case? Maybe one of the CM cases or an Antec 300.

What HDD do you recommend then?
 
Actually, you can get the microATX Lian Li V354 case after all since it is the only microATX case that I know of that has two 120mm front fans (other uATX cases have only one front fan). There are several H67 and about three P67 motherboards available in the microATX form factor. It might be worth the $150 shipped price if you are trying to squeeze in a very high-end GPU into such a small case.

Speaking of the HDD, the 1TB Samsung F3 hard drive costs just $5 more than the 640GB WD Black SATA 3 Gbps drive yet performs significantly faster in sequential transfers.
 
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To reemphasize E4g1e's main point, you're either looking at an Intel Socket 1155 (not 1156) build for performance or an AMD AM3/AM3+ build to save money. (AMD's AM3+ socket, which will arrive later this year, is reportedly backwards-compatible with socket AM3 processors, but not vice versa.) Sandy Bridge has made ALL of Intel's earlier chipsets and processors obsolete, and more Sandy Bridge-based boards and processors are expected to arrive throughout this year.

Please answer the sticky questions so we can help you pick out better parts.
 
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Slightly updated build. Not sure if the RAM is the right part. Minus the Samsung F3 which I'll probably go with.

@tiraides

The only other questions really are I plan to build within the next 2-3 weeks, but hopefully sooner. I can order parts tomorrow if I wanted to. Budget is around 1200 but preferably around the 1000 mark. I probably won't OC or just a slightly OC, nothing hardcore. The H70 is just to keep things quiet and cool, especially in a smaller case which may or may not matter now due to the slightly larger case.

I guess I might build AM3+ if it's going to be a significant cost saving factor.
 
Going AMD will produce enough of a noticeable price difference:

$230 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition & Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H combo
$50 - G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2GB DDR3 1600 kit
$55 - Samsung F3 HD103SJ 1TB HDD (included $15 discount code HARDOCP112C, expires 1/19)
$180 - Gigabyte GV-R685D5-1GD HD 6850
$17 - Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS SATA DVD burner
$50 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU (included 10% discount code PSUJAN2011)
$40 - Cooler Master Elite 341 mATX tower case
=====
$622 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

Though the Core i5 2500k is faster than the X4 955 BE, overall gameplay will be more affected by the video card than the processor. With your current monitor, there's no reason to go with anything greater than the 6850 (or GTX 460) at this point. No, neither processor will produce a performance bottleneck.
 
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@tiraides

That looks pretty good. I might switch over to the AMD build. Though, I'll probably stick with the Corsair PSU since I prefer Corsair's modular cables. Would you say 8GB of ram would be a worthwhile investment? Ram seems pretty cheap at the moment.

OS would be Win 7 x64 ult.
 
The HX650 is overkill for the HD 6850, but I understand your logic regarding the cables.

You don't really need more than 4GB of RAM for the games that your wife plans on playing. The only reason I could see you going with 8GB now is because the prices are the lowest they've been in a while. And even then, I wouldn't recommend going with 8GB for a gaming machine.
 
tiraides said:
The HX650 is overkill for the HD 6850, but I understand your logic regarding the cables.

You don't really need more than 4GB of RAM for the games that your wife plans on playing. The only reason I could see you going with 8GB now is because the prices are the lowest they've been in a while. And even then, I wouldn't recommend going with 8GB for a gaming machine.
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I figure it never hurts :p But to cut cost I can save on the cost. Any logic as why to get the 940 over the newer thubans other than price?
 
Hey, I chose the X4 955 Black Edition processor, not the X4 940. The BE's unlocked multiplier will allow you to overclock any time you wish.

The reason why I didn't go with a hex-core (aka, the Thubans) is simple: Your wife doesn't need it.
 
soulesschild said:
I figure it never hurts :p But to cut cost I can save on the cost. Any logic as why to get the 940 over the newer thubans other than price?
Click to expand...

Actually, tiraides recommended the 955 BE, not the 940. The 940 is only a Socket AM2+ CPU that supports only DDR2 memory. And DDR2 prices are now about $20 more than DDR3 memory per 4GB.
 
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