I7 Gaming Build

[Frontrunner]

Hey guys,

I don't post much but I lurk and read alot. I value the opinions here because alot of you guys know your stuff. I'm building a gaming unit starting tonight and want to post my specs to see what you guys think.

Thanks for your time.

1. Rosewill THOR Gaming ATX Full Tower Computer
2. Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz Quad-Core Processor
3. ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58
4. Kingston HyperX 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
5. EVGA SuperClocked 015-P3-1582-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Future Duel Cards)
6. Western Digital RE3 WD1002FBYS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache
7. ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW
8. ASUS Internal Blu-ray Burner Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1LT
9. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
10. AeroCool Touch 2000 Controller, Panel
11. Kingston HyperX KHX-FAN Fans
12. CORSAIR Hydro H70 CWCH70 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler
13 Thermaltake - 850-Watt TR2 RX Power Supply - Black
14. Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

Im at around $1856 on parts

 

[Krenum]

man that graphics card has got to go.

Basically I think you should scrap your whole build and let us help you. The parts you currently have are way overpiced and just bad. Let us help you build a computer thats going to give you the best bang for your buck.

Do a lot of research here on the forums and read the Newegg reviews. Don't be afraid to ask for help here. You don't want to make any hasty decisions when spending this kind of money on something your going to be using for years to come.


Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115071 or you could go with an i5 2500k

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157217

Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2914&cm_re=radeon_6950-_-14-102-914-_-Product Dont know what resolution your gaming at but this one should be good up to 2560

Operating System
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...dows_7_ultimate_64-bit-_-32-116-762-_-Product

 

[Steelgrave]

man that graphics card has got to go.

Why dont you spend less on the motherboard and buy a good graphics card.


Basically I think you should scrap your whole build and let us help you. The parts you currently have are way overpiced and just bad. Let us help you build a computer thats going to give you the best bang for your buck.

Last I checked, a GTX 580 is a pretty good video card. Price/Performance maybe not the leader, but the OP didn't mention price being an object.

 

[Krenum]

Last I checked, a GTX 580 is a pretty good video card. Price/Performance maybe not the leader, but the OP didn't mention price being an object.

Its all a matter of opinion really, I say the 6900 series is better because its more efficient has a bigger supply of VRAM and uses less power and is half the price. IMO the GTX 580 is a waste of money. But if money is not an issue by all means indulge yourself.

 

[piscian18]

youd get better responses posting here

http://hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=40

 

[Zero82z]

Whoops, wrong thread.

 

[Dangman]

Yeah as it stands now, that entire setup is not good. Do not buy. There's way too many things wrong with that setup

If you want better help, please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.

 

[E4g1e]

Hey guys,

I don't post much but I lurk and read alot. I value the opinions here because alot of you guys know your stuff. I'm building a gaming unit starting tonight and want to post my specs to see what you guys think.

Thanks for your time.

1. Rosewill THOR Gaming ATX Full Tower Computer
2. Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz Quad-Core Processor
3. ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58
4. Kingston HyperX 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
5. EVGA SuperClocked 015-P3-1582-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Future Duel Cards)
6. Western Digital RE3 WD1002FBYS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache
7. ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW
8. ASUS Internal Blu-ray Burner Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1LT
9. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
10. AeroCool Touch 2000 Controller, Panel
11. Kingston HyperX KHX-FAN Fans
12. CORSAIR Hydro H70 CWCH70 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler
13 Thermaltake - 850-Watt TR2 RX Power Supply - Black
14. Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

Im at around $1856 on parts

I agree with Danny Bui: That setup is just a very poor value, and already obsolesced. I can provide four reasons why:

First, unless you are going to put in a hardware PCI-e SATA RAID card with eight or more hard drives connected to it (in addition to whichever drives connected to the onboard SATA ports), I would not bother with the LGA 1366/X58 platform at all.

Second, your choice of a Western Digital RE3 hard drive is a poor choice if you are not going to be using a parity RAID (RAID 3, RAID 5 or RAID 6, especially on a hardware RAID controller card). The RE3 drives use older, lower-density platter designs to begin with; in fact, the WD1002FBYS uses the exact same platter setup as the original WD Black WD1001FALS (three 334GB platters). In addition, these RE-series drives have TLER permanently enabled, which is a must for RAID 3 / 5 / 6 / 3+0 / 5+0 / 6+0 but will actually degrade performance in single-drive (or JBOD/non-RAID) setups.

Third, your choice of a Thermaltake TR2 RX 850W PSU is just plain crappy. Current versions of that PSU are now manufactured by HEC - and from one of their crappier lines, at that. You'd be paying way too much money for a PSU that's no better than mediocre overall in quality.

Fourth, you don't need Arctic Silver 5 with that H70: The stock thermal paste that comes with that CPU cooler is more than adequate. Plus, AS5 requires at least 200 hours (more than eight days) of curing (intermittent cycling on for several hours, plus shutting off for a few hours) in order to achieve optimal performance. Other thermal pastes require no curing or a much shorter curing period. In other words, AS5 was excellent when it was first started shipping to resellers - but now, it is a bit past its prime.

 

[Frontrunner]

WOW.... I guess I should have posted before I ordered....lol.... Well its too late now but I do see where you guys are coming from on some of this stuff....... I cant believe its a real bad set up for gaming. (Money was not the issue with this build I had gift cards for most of it) I have all the parts sitting here in the floor right now and plan to start putting it together tonight. The power supply was a last min decision and the best I could find in the store to build my system tonight. I know its not a very good one but I purchased it with gift cards and it was the biggest they had in stock. The HD I was really surprised to hear is a bad performer but out of everything, I know the least about hard drives other than I wanted to get the 7200 RPM and the video card I read up on alot from different people doing reviews and it was 50/50 on being the leader with benchmarks so I just picked it based on previous years of use with GEforce.

I thank you guys for your words of wisdom but I have to go with this now and make the best of it. I think the differences in performance will be hard to see but I could be wrong.

Is there a big difference with Windows 7 pro and Ultimate? I have always used XP and resisted even going to Windows 7 at all.

Thanks, Frontrunner

 

[E4g1e]

The HD I was really surprised to hear is a bad performer but out of everything, I know the least about hard drives other than I wanted to get the 7200 RPM and the video card I read up on alot from different people doing reviews and it was 50/50 on being the leader with benchmarks so I just picked it based on previous years of use with GEforce.

And as I stated earlier, the three-platter design of that WD1002FBYS can barely sustain 105 MB/s on the outer tracks compared to the 140+ MB/s that two-platter 1TB hard drives can achieve. And the features that are needed for complex parity RAID on that drive actually hinders performance in non-RAID setups, in particular access speed and much-higher-than-normal CPU utilization.

I repeat what I stated about the PSU: It cannot realistically provide anywhere near its full 850W rating. In fact, it's more of a 550W to 600W PSU.

 

[Dangman]

WOW.... I guess I should have posted before I ordered....lol.... Well its too late now but I do see where you guys are coming from on some of this stuff....... I cant believe its a real bad set up for gaming. (Money was not the issue with this build I had gift cards for most of it) I have all the parts sitting here in the floor right now and plan to start putting it together tonight.

You sure it's too late to return all those parts? I'm sorry but those were REALLY bad parts no matter what way you look at it.

The power supply was a last min decision and the best I could find in the store to build my system tonight. I know its not a very good one but I purchased it with gift cards and it was the biggest they had in stock.

All right here's the deal: That TR2 PSU won't be able to power a single GTX 580 for long let alone two of them. So return that PSU and pick up a better PSU, especially if you're planning on a SLI setup. Something like the Corsair 850TX should do the trick. So even if you stick with the rest of those parts, the one part you have to replace is the PSU. Otherwise, zero reason to build that PC at all. It's gonna eventually die as a result of that TR2.

The HD I was really surprised to hear is a bad performer but out of everything, I know the least about hard drives other than I wanted to get the 7200 RPM

Yeah as E4g1e noted, that WD drive is a really really bad buy.

I thank you guys for your words of wisdom but I have to go with this now and make the best of it. I think the differences in performance will be hard to see but I could be wrong.

Unfortunately you're wrong. I'm 1000% sure that I could have made a build list that would have provided a significant increase in performance for the same price.

Is there a big difference with Windows 7 pro and Ultimate? I have always used XP and resisted even going to Windows 7 at all.

Not really for the average enthusiast. Hell there's not a big difference between Windows 7 Pro and Windows 7 Home Premium for the average enthusiast.

 

[4LC4PON3]

If he returns his stuff tho he is going to lose. Shipping costs back & restocking fee's. The PSU needs to be replaced atleast for a high quality PSU. Im not sure why you asked for advice and Ordered before we could give any advice.

 

[Dangman]

If he returns his stuff tho he is going to lose. Shipping costs back & restocking fee's.

He's still gonna be better off. That setup is that bad.

If he bought the parts from Newegg, calling up or talking to Newegg customer support can get those restock fees waived if you're buying the replacement parts from them.

 

[4LC4PON3]

He's still gonna be better off. That setup is that bad.

If he bought the parts from Newegg, calling up or talking to Newegg customer support can get those restock fees waived if you're buying the replacement parts from them.

I can understand that especially since Sandybridge has been released. thats why i asked why he purchased before accepting help.

 

[E4g1e]

Yeah as E4g1e noted, that WD drive is a really really bad buy.

And that's not to mention that the RE3 costs a good $40 to $50 more than the same-capacity WD Black. By comparison, Samsung's F3R HE103SJ (the same drive as the F3 HD103SJ, but optimized for RAID 5) costs just about $10 more than the regular F3.

 

[PinataUT]

Yoinks, I wish he was just pulling our chains.

I mean if he'd loaded up on Raptors, it'd be a sure thing, right?

For sure, see about getting a return and start over. Even if $ is no object, you can put together a better system for less money. Or spend more money and we will get you a ridiculous beast. Or help you find out what would really help (e.g. you have a meh monitor and upgrading the monitor would help out more, etc.

 

[Frontrunner]

I never expected such a bad response from this set up. If I cant do anything else I will for sure take the PSU back and return the HD. I would think Best Buy would carry a decent one? I actually took the day off work tomorrow to play with my new build.....lol.... So I had the parts here and a day off work. The night and next day was supposed to be a fun relaxing stress free time for me. I just need to for now make the best I can of a bad situation.

All right here's the deal: That TR2 PSU won't be able to power a single GTX 580 for long let alone two of them. So return that PSU and pick up a better PSU, especially if you're planning on a SLI setup. Something like the Corsair 850TX should do the trick. So even if you stick with the rest of those parts, the one part you have to replace is the PSU. Otherwise, zero reason to build that PC at all. It's gonna eventually die as a result of that TR2.

Hey Danny Bui What about a Rocketfish™ - 900-Watt ATX CPU Power Supply.... I didn't buy this one because I have never owned a Rocketfish anything. They have this in stock at the place I bought the Thermotake

I can understand that especially since Sandybridge has been released. thats why i asked why he purchased before accepting help.

4LC4PON3....... I discussed this set up with a friend of mine who I trusted but I guess don't know as much as I thought and to tell you the truth I haven't been on the sight in some time, but thought I would get on here and read up on some stuff. I had already purchased everything and keep in mind I absolutely thought this was a great set-up so I didn't get on here to ask for help after I made bad choices. I thought they were good and just posted in general to see what you guys thought. I never expected almost every choice to be bad......lol

And as I stated earlier, the three-platter design of that WD1002FBYS can barely sustain 105 MB/s on the outer tracks compared to the 140+ MB/s that two-platter 1TB hard drives can achieve. And the features that are needed for complex parity RAID on that drive actually hinders performance in non-RAID setups, in particular access speed and much-higher-than-normal CPU utilization.

E4g1e...... I will bite the bullet on the HD and return it for the re-stocking fee but surly Best Buy carry's a decent Hard Drive? Will you look at the stock online and tell me a couple that would be good ones and I will just go buy one. I don't have to have 1Terabyte ........I could go with 500 gigs

Thanks guys for you input and help.

 

[E4g1e]

E4g1e...... I will bite the bullet on the HD and return it for the re-stocking fee but surly Best Buy carry's a decent Hard Drive? Will you look at the stock online and tell me a couple that would be good ones and I will just go buy one. I don't have to have 1Terabyte ........I could go with 500 gigs

I cannot recommend buying a hard drive over there. First off, Best Buy does not carry any noteworthy hard drives for the prices that they charge; for example, all of their $100-or-less hard drives cost significantly more money than what those exact same hard drives sell for online or at more computer-specific stores. I simply cannot see myself paying $80 plus tax for a 1TB Seagate hard drive when everybody else charges $70 or less shipped.

As for the PSU, that Rocketfish 900W PSU is actually slightly better than the Thermaltake TR2 RX, but still not that great. All of the other PSUs over at Best Buy are way overpriced for their quality (including that $100-plus-tax Antec EA650). So in other words, Best Buy does not currently carry a PSU that can safely power such a high-end configuration like the one you have just gotten.

The component pricing at Best Buy is a perfect example of how they keep their profits up when they discount big-ticket items such as big-screen HDTVs heavily. Make large, heavy items relatively inexpensive, "nickel-and-dime you to death" on parts and accessories.

 

[Dangman]

Hey Danny Bui What about a Rocketfish™ - 900-Watt ATX CPU Power Supply.... I didn't buy this one because I have never owned a Rocketfish anything. They have this in stock at the place I bought the Thermotake

Yeah E4g1e covered that: Slightly better but still crap.

I
All of the other PSUs over at Best Buy are way overpriced for their quality (including that $100-plus-tax Antec EA650). So in other words, Best Buy does not currently carry a PSU that can safely power such a high-end configuration like the one you have just gotten.

Not sure about that:
$150 - Corsair 950TX 950W PSU

Granted, I'm not 100% sure if that's actually available in stores. OP, if you can find the Corsair 950TX in store, get it.

 

[E4g1e]

Not sure about that:
$150 - Corsair 950TX 950W PSU

I was actually judging by what is currently in stock at the particular store that I visit most frequently.

 

[Dangman]

I was actually judging by what is currently in stock at the particular store that I visit most frequently.

Ahh gotcha. Yeah I'd agree with you there: my local Best Buy has nothing but shitty and/or overpriced PSUs.

 

[Frontrunner]

Ok guys,

I returned the PSU and got a Corsair 950TX 950W. I purchased a Seagate Barracuda High Performance 1TB 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache (On Sale for $72 after tax.....lol..... I really appreciate all your help and concerns guys. I have to take what I have now and hope for the best but coming from the PC I'm currently using (Built 5 Years Ago) Its got to be better than that. I will take this as a learning experience and next time I will post in the Build thread for help.

Danny BUI and E4g1e........ Thanks so much for all the help!

 

[4LC4PON3]

Yeah just remember when you ask for advice dont purchase until you get the advice you need first. 2K is alot of cash to be tossing around & you always want to get the best for your money.

 

[E4g1e]

Second, your choice of a Western Digital RE3 hard drive is a poor choice if you are not going to be using a parity RAID (RAID 3, RAID 5 or RAID 6, especially on a hardware RAID controller card). The RE3 drives use older, lower-density platter designs to begin with; in fact, the WD1002FBYS uses the exact same platter setup as the original WD Black WD1001FALS (three 334GB platters). In addition, these RE-series drives have TLER permanently enabled, which is a must for RAID 3 / 5 / 6 / 3+0 / 5+0 / 6+0 but will actually degrade performance in single-drive (or JBOD/non-RAID) setups.

Revisiting this thread again:

I am glad that the OP has changed the HDD from his original choice. Had he gone with the RE3, he would have had serious issues with data loss and/or corruption with newer firmware revisions of that drive if that drive were used in a single-drive, JBOD or a RAID 0 configuration because recent versions of that HDD have the TLER feature permanently enabled and cannot be disabled at all whatsoever. And when the drive encounters an error, the drive with TLER permanently enabled will give up after only 7 seconds, resulting in data loss when used in non-RAID or RAID 0 configurations. As a result, if he were to get a recent RE-series HDD as the OS volume, he must get a second identical RE-series drive and configure the pair in RAID 1 in order to even use that model of drive at all.