New Gaming Build - Advice/Suggestions

[Jackhammer]

I've been considering upgrading my CPU/mob for awhile now and someone offered to buy my old CPU, mobo and video card (at that point, I'll probably give them the case and psu as well).


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mostly gaming - considering taking the plunge and trying out 3D gaming.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
No hard budget - going to attempt to stay around 1200 for everything except HDDs and monitor.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Atlanta, GA

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.
CPU
Mobo
Video Card
RAM
Case / Power / Cooling
Optical (blue ray/dvd burner/etc)


5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Primarily, just going to reuse the Intel X25M 80GB SSD(Win7 64bit boot) and WD 1TB 7200RPM (data); I might reuse my SB Audigy2 ZS Gamer (I've had issues with the 7.1 surround on the realtek sound cards).

6) Will you be overclocking?
I'd like to give it at shot.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Current monitor is old, it's next to be replaced - Dell 2409FPW (1920x1200).

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I'd like to do it this week - Merry Xmas to me!

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.
Probably SLI or Crossfire support for futureproofing. Potentially the ability to swap an IB cpu when the come available and down in price.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Currently running Win7 Home Premium 64bit with a legit key.

My current system is:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
4GB Patriot RAM 1333MHz
ATI 5770 1GB RAM
Antec Mid tower / 850W PSU (don't remember the brand)
Intel X25M 80GB SSD / WD Black 1TB SATA 7200RPM


I'm considering the following CPUs:
Intel I7-2600k @279 (Microcenter)
but I see lots of people say that for gaming, the I5 2600/2500 is cheaper for no noticeable improvement.

Considering the following mobo:
P8Z68-V PRO 219.99 (Microcenter) but 210@NewEgg

I'd like 8GB of RAM total and the ability to overclock the above CPU to 4000-4400MHz.

CORSAIR CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8(XMP) 8GB ( 2x 4GB )
or
CORSAIR CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9(XMP) 8GB ( 2x 4GB )
or
G.SKILL F3-12800CL8D-8GBECO(XMP)

Considering the two cards below - I'm currently running ATI but no brand loyalty. I would like to try out 3D gaming as my next upgrade after the system refresh.

EVGA 560TI or EVGA 570


Case, PSU, cooling - any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tsuyoi]

The people who say the I5-2500k is cheaper for no significant performance difference are right. Since you have a tight-ish budget, go for the i5 unless you get a great deal on the i7.

Do you need the P8Z68-v pro's extra SATA connectors? If not, the P8Z68-v vanilla is cheaper for the same performance.

With SB CPU RAM clocks are pretty much negligible, any 1600 ram will do. With that said, Newegg has a sale on Gskill 2x4GB 1600 blowout with the following promo: EMCJHHC23

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...C-122711-Index-_-DesktopMemory-_-20231314-L0E


IMHO, 3D gaming is way overrated and not fit for primetime. It might be fine for some light puzzle games or w/e, but any serious FPS/MMO will have you wanting to barf in an hour. YMMV, but for me the eye strain from current 3D technology makes it pretty damned impossible for me to do well in games.

The 560Ti will give you over 90% of the performance of the 570 for a cheaper cost.

PSU wise, Corsair and Seasonic are very good brands, anything in the 750W range will run you fine unless you plan on SLI/CFX in the future. If you do, the Corsair HX850 or Seasonic Gold/Platinum lines are what you would want. Case depends on what features you like, in terms of number of fans, number of HDD bays, cooling, LED lights, clear side panel, etc. For cooling, GELID fans are amazing in terms of making absolutely no noise even at max rpms, and move more air than standard fans. For HSF get a CM Hyper 212+

 

[Jackhammer]

Thanks a bunch.

 

[Dangman]

PSU wise, I recommend this:
$105 - Corsair 750TX V2 750W PSU

Case wise, I recommend the following:
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$65 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$98 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$120 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Arctic White ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$133 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$137 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$143 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$150 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$164 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case

 

[Jackhammer]

I ended up getting:

i5-2500k
ASUS P8Z68-V / Gen3
ASUS GTX560TI 1280MB (448 Cuda) Direct CUII
8GB (2x4) Corsair Vengeance (1600Mhz)
750W Modular OCZ Fatality PSU
CoolerMaster CM C90 Case
Antek Kuhler 920
Total cost $1050 with Tax (subtracting 25$ for a mail in rebate).

Reinstalled OS, installed all the new goodies and ran Prime 95 for 4 hours (everything stock). At full load, the CPU averaged 39c and the fan monitor on the Kuhler wasn't going above 650RPM / 15 dB.

On to the overclocking - I didn't install the ASUS AI suite, just changed the settings from the bios. Right now, running the multiplier at 45 (4590Mhz) and under full load from Prime95, we're sitting at 43c, 17dB and fans running only at 775RPM.

Windows Experience rates this at:


CPU = 7.7
Mem = 7.9
Graphics = 7.8
Gaming Graphics = 7.8
HDD = 7.6


The only issue I ran into was that the ASUS motherboard refused to recognize the video card in the navy blue (top / closest to the CPU) pcie slot. After trying a few different things and looking at a slew of forums, I moved the card to a different slot and it recognized just fine.

By the way, Skyrim looks so amazingly beautiful and smooth compared to my old machine. Now its time to try a few other games.

Thanks again - this forum and it's members are my first stop for PC hardware.

 

[Dangman]

Might want to think about RMAing the motherboard if the top PCI-E slot isn't working. Might be a sign of the motherboard's failing in the future.

Besides that, good to see the build is up and running!