Gaming system x 12 help/critique

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Incramus

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
Messages
325
Ok guys, I'd like some advice... I'm playing with the idea of opening a gaming lounge in my area and I'd like to have at least 10-12 mmorpg computer systems.

Including monitor, keyboard & mouse I have a system budget of $1000 per system (Cheaper would be better as I could get another system or two out of it) I've been using a laptop and have been out of the hardware market for a while (as you can tell by my sig...lol)

I went to Miro center and picked up some parts for a test build, I'm pretty happy with how it runs swtor total cost with taxes and BEFORE rebates was $760 (minus a mouse as I already had one.)

The build went a little like this:

Thermaltake V3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094

GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-S2P
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128504

AMD FX 4100 Black Edition (comboed with the mobo for $109)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0376784

Kingston HyperX blu 8GB DDR3-1600
http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.phtml?N=4294966965+4294964086+4294957208

XFX HD-685X-ZCFC Radeon HD 6850 (Note: I'd like to stick with a Radeon Card)

COOLER MASTER eXtreme
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171039

Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

ASUS 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

accessories:

Logitech G510
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126100

Logitech G500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104318

Samsung 23.6" SyncMaster LCD Monitor
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0371557


I was extremely happy to be under budget :) So the question is can I do even better? should I have used better items with-in that price range?

Thanks in advance.
 
You could have done better.

Here is the conclusion of one of the better professionally-done reviews of that Cooler Master PSU: You spent way too much money for a PSU that cannot handle more than 450W in realistic conditions. Plus, it is based on an old Seventeam platform that's now no longer in production (in fact, even Seventeam rated this platform at only 500W, making this PSU's "600W" rating a false one). As a result, that PSU is worth no more than $30, maximum - but you paid a whopping $76 shipped.

Also, the hard drive that you chose is actually one of the slower-performing 7200 RPM hard drives, even at its $97 shipped price. In fact, it is the slowest-performing 500GB 7200 RPM hard drive that's currently available, with its sequential transfer speeds failing to even reach 125 MB/s on the outer tracks. Other 500GB 7200 RPM hard drives from other brands can achieve at least 130 MB/s on the outer tracks. Plus, its random access speed is relatively slow for a 7200 RPM hard drive, at more than 15.5 ms (versus the 13.7 ms that's average for a 7200 RPM hard drive). Worst of all, the WD Caviar Green and Blue series drives are no longer warrantied for three years - but they are now warrantied for only two years as standard. And buying the extended warranty from WD will make that drive even more overpriced than it already is.

Finally, the DVD burner that you selected costs all of $28 shipped. That's too high, considering that other brands of bulk/OEM DVD burners cost significantly less than $25 shipped.

And I do want to comment on the CPU and motherboard: Although the combo is cheap at $110 plus tax, you picked a motherboard with an outdated chipset: It has no SATA 6.0 Gbps capability (all six SATA ports are of only the 3.0 Gbps type), nor does it have any USB 3.0 ports or a USB 3.0 controller whatsoever - and adding those capabilities via an add-in PCI-e x1 card would have added to the total cost of that system. However, these limitations are significant only if you're going to use one of the newer SSDs and/or external USB devices that have a sequential transfer speed of greater than 35 MB/s (such as the newer external hard drive kits).
 
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Thanks for the info/link on the PSU ;) Oh yeah I guess I forgot to mention those prices listed are not what I actually paid but a ball park. I think the PSU ended up being $49.99 (still to high I guess) DVD burner was 18.99 + tax from micro center.

Being that they are going in a gaming lounge and most of their life will be spent running mmorpg's is a
SATA 6.0 going to do me any good? I mean I don't see much data transfer going on.
 
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Incramus said:
Oh yeah I guess I forgot to mention those prices listed are not what I paid but a ball park. I think the PSU ended up being $49.99 DVD burner was 18.99 + tax from micro center.

Being that they are going in a gaming lounge and most of their life will be spent running mmorpg's is a
SATA 6.0 going to do me any good?
Click to expand...

Well, even $50 plus tax is much too high for that PSU. In fact, I would have spent the extra $10 to $15 for an Antec High Current Gamer 520W PSU if I were buying from MC.

As far as MMORPGs, it depends more on the network connection than on drive performance.
 
Incramus said:
Being that they are going in a gaming lounge and most of their life will be spent running mmorpg's is a
SATA 6.0 going to do me any good? I mean I don't see much data transfer going on.
Click to expand...
For mechanical hard drives, really no point in getting SATA 6.0G/s. As E4g1e noted, SATA 6.0Gb/s is only necessary if you're using a SSD.

The real big issue with that said was the PSU: Even at $50 that was still a waste of money. For the other systems, grab at least the Corsair CX430 430W PSU.

GPU wise, hopefully you got that HD 6850 for well under $160. Otherwise, you got ripped off because the faster XFX HD 6870 is not that much more:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561

Luckily you didn't go with an Intel setup as the RAM you chose would have damaged an Intel CPU in the long run due to it being rated at 1.65V. Since you chose AMD, that RAM will be fine. Just don't get it for an Intel setup.
 
Ok so I'm pretty happy with the way the budget lounge system turned out, with the exception of a better/cheap PSU... but now its time for MY system build and rather than starting a new thread I'll just post in here. I have a few holes that I some recommendations on so I come to ask the guro's :)


Thermaltake V3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094

FX 8120 Black Edition Bundled with Asus Sabertooth
http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundlePROMO.html

XFX Radeon HD 6970 (Got a deal off a buddy)

Crucial SSD 128GB (Already have)

ASUS 24X DVD Burner

PSU ???? I'm thinking 750 watts, I'd like something reasonably price and doesn't have to be but modular would be nice.

RAM ?? (Been a fan of G-skill, but I open)


Thanks in advance!!
 
Incramus said:
Ok so I'm pretty happy with the way the budget lounge system turned out, with the exception of a better/cheap PSU... but now its time for MY system build and rather than starting a new thread I'll just post in here. I have a few holes that I some recommendations on so I come to ask the guro's :)


Thermaltake V3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094

FX 8120 Black Edition Bundled with Asus Sabertooth
http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundlePROMO.html

XFX Radeon HD 6970 (Got a deal off a buddy)

Crucial SSD 128GB (Already have)

ASUS 24X DVD Burner

PSU ???? I'm thinking 750 watts, I'd like something reasonably price and doesn't have to be but modular would be nice.

RAM ?? (Been a fan of G-skill, but I open)


Thanks in advance!!
Click to expand...

*A 750W psu is overkill for a single GPU system. IRL, you will probably max out at 500-550W at full load, depends on what else is in the box.

*Unless you're video coding there are faster, cooler running, and cheaper CPUs you can buy for the coin than an AMD Bulldozer.
 
Since you are near a MicroCenter you'd be much better off going with the i7 2600k and mobo combo deal. Or even a i5 2500k and motherboard (no combo deal right now on it). Just make sure whatever ram you get is rated at 1.5v. Some of the ram at MC is rated for 1.65 and that will damage the CPU.

MC has rather poor prices on power supplies. However, every now and then they have the Corsair models on sale. Go for a 500-600w range model. The GS series is OK, but only if at the right price. You're probably better ordering one online, same with the ram. However, for CPU and motherboard MC can't be beat!

PS. I've used that V3 case before for a build and it's rather flimsy and doesn't have good air-flow or cable management options. MC has the Corsair 400R and 500R on sale and both are great cases.
 
If you can afford it, go for the Intel seutp that K1tty recommended. It's gonna be the better bang for the buck choice, expecially if you're overclocking. If you can't afford it, go with the FX-8120 + the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 or Asus M5A97 bundles. I do not recommend going higher-end for the AMD motherboard as it will negate whatever's left of the AMD's bundle's price to performance ratio.

As for the PSU, if you want modular, that Seasonic is your best bet. If you can stand not having a modular PSU, I recommend this PSU:
$73 - Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W PSU
 
Incramus said:
I thought the 6970 needed a 550 watt PSU?? I I thought 750 would be on the safe side??

How does these guys look:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139031

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

I guess I could go cheaper if I went non-modular...

You guys are killing me with all this Intel talk, putting me in a tight spot...lol
Click to expand...

GPU manufacturers almost invariably make it sound like adequate components are barely enough. They presume you're buying crappy PSUs that cannot actually output their rated load, or perhaps even 80% of their rated load. A quality "550W" PSU rather could probably be strained to put out above its rated wattage and not get smoked. The one thing about Nvidia is that at least they actually post the actual electrical ratings that their cards at stock pull. AMD justs posts a PSU rec.

You can sleep sound with overkill, but it spends more money. And will probably be less efficient in operation.
 
I'm looking at this system as the final draft:


Thermaltake V3 case $28 after rebate
Samsung 22X DVD±RW Burner $16
Phenom II X4 965T $100 (or FX4100, same price)
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P $0 with CPU combo
8GB Kingston HyperX blu DDR3-1333 $40
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB $100
XFX 6850 $135 after rebate
Rosewill CAPSTONE 450w PSU $63 with 10% off code

total comes to $516 after taxes.

These rigs will be used for a gaming lounge, I'm guessing they with be mostly running SWTOR, WOW, Diablo 3 and shooters. If I can get by with 4gigs of RAM then knocks each rig down to under $500 I could be wrong but I don't think I can get it any cheaper with out losing some performance/quality ?
 
I don't see a budgeted dollar amount for the operating system. You're going to have to buy 10 copies of Windows (presumably that's what you'll be running), and that's likely going to cost you another $900-$1000!

Incramus said:
These rigs will be used for a gaming lounge, I'm guessing they with be mostly running SWTOR, WOW, Diablo 3 and shooters. If I can get by with 4gigs of RAM then knocks each rig down to under $500 I could be wrong but I don't think I can get it any cheaper with out losing some performance/quality ?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't recommend going down to 4GB of RAM if that video card has 2GB on it. With memory caching that's gonna' put a strain on your total memory usage, which could make things tight when running some of the newer shooters. 8GB should be fine and doesn't cost much, as you noted.

It's also worth noting (but probably not required) that some of the 2GB HDD's have been on sale for $100 or so, depending on the week. Not sure if you'll even fill 1TB with the limited selection of games you'll support (definitely install lots of F2P games as well, since it's easy to do and gives people more options/reasons to stay.)
 
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Yeah, that was just the hardware list. Windows 7 OEM is $99 and you can't really shop around for that, its always 99-109 I just bought a copy last week from New Egg it was $99 but came with a $20 gift card so a deal like that is probably the best option.

Good point about the RAM. 8GB it is.

That might not be bad if I can find a 2TB for about the same price, I just figured they wouldn't be storing music/movies on the rigs so 5-20GB a game should be 60-ish games?
 
Swap the HD 6850 for the HD 7770 since it's a slightly cheaper without having to deal with a rebate, is faster that the HD 6850 in most games, and uses less power.
 
An i3-2100 based system with an H61 motherboard would make more sense and be better bang for your buck.
 
Danny Bui said:
Swap the HD 6850 for the HD 7770 since it's a slightly cheaper without having to deal with a rebate, is faster that the HD 6850 in most games, and uses less power.
Click to expand...

I was planing to run Eyefinity set-ups and it might get tricky with that 7770.... But if I go with a single monitor I will use that card.

Thanks guys!!
 
Incramus said:
I was planing to run Eyefinity set-ups and it might get tricky with that 7770.... But if I go with a single monitor I will use that card.
Click to expand...

How would it be tricky? Also, for Eyefinity, I'd really wouldn't bother with it since the HD 6850 or HD 7770 would be too weak for Eyefinity.
 
Danny Bui said:
How would it be tricky? Also, for Eyefinity, I'd really wouldn't bother with it since the HD 6850 or HD 7770 would be too weak for Eyefinity.
Click to expand...


Because I'd be down a DVI port, so I'd need a converter (actually x2 ) or a monitor with an HDMI port so the price of the monitor(s) would go up.

I'm actually just waiting for the PSU to show up then I can run the test rig (with Eyefinity) and see how it goes, if it's not worth it I run with the 7770 and as I expand I'll use a better card with Eyefinity.
 
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