New Gaming System

D

dblinkhorn

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
Messages
100
Hello everyone,

I just put together my new gaming PC, but I haven't ordered anything yet except for the video card. I would appreciate any tips on the hardware in general, if you think everything's up to snuff, so to speak. Specifically, will the PSU listed be enough power with the video card--I plan on doing light overclocking on the CPU as everyone says its basically standard procedure for the i7 920. Any advice or approvals would be helpful, thanks!



LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal
CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage
ASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler - Retail
ASUS RADEON HD 5970
 
It would help if you answered the stickied 'ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.

But yeah I can see a few things wrong with that setup but won't know for sure until you answer the questions.
 
Sorry, thanks for the tip:

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Primarily gaming, but pretty much all the other normal stuff, too.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I'd like to stay under $2100 if possible, but anywhere in that general area is okay.

3) Where do you live?
California, USA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, RAM, Optical Drive, HDD, MOBO, PSU, GPU, case, heatsink+fan

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
The only thing I will be reusing are my monitor mouse and keyboard.

6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes I will likely be overclocking but nothing drastic--light overclocking.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
23" Samsung LCD 16:9

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Yes

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Crossfire for the future would be a nice bonus, but I would be fine without it. At most I will probably only ever have 2 HHDs in this computer so RAID doesn't interest me. Firewire would also be nice, but I can go without it if having that feature will cost over $50 extra. Can't think of any other non-standard features I want or need.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Yes. Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate
 
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First, I would go fot the i7 930 instead of the 920
2)I would go for the WD black drives, because segate drives have a reputation for failing
3)motherboard: you might want a motherboard with USB 3.0 and sata 3, but that is your opinion here are the mothreboards with this feature
4)you should get memory @ 1.5v, in order to overclock hem sufficiency
 
and also you don't need a 5970 for a single 23" display, single 5850 would be more than enough for your needs.
 
Heh, with a single 23" 1080P monitor and an HD5970, I doubt you'll ever need Crossfire before the next gen single vidcard comes out that will be cheaper and outperform the HD5970's in CFX. But hey, its up to you. If you don't plan on getting a 30" 2560x1600 monitor anytime soon, nor adding more 23 inchers for eyefinity, you can drop the PSU down to a good quality 620W - 650W and it will be more than enough. If and when you do decide to go CFX, upgrade the PSU and sell the old one to help offset the cost.

I'd avoid OCZ mainly because of their reputation for needing higher voltage, and Intel specified max is 1.65v (or you may damage your CPU); therefore, I'd suggest G.Skill Ripjaws instead.

Ditch the Freezer 7 Pro. It was fine for Core2Duo's, and minor OC's on Core2Quads, but definitely not good enough for Core i7 LGA1366. The lowest end cooler I'd suggest is the Cooler Master Hyper 212+ -- it's cheap, easy to find (AMZ, $30 no tax for cali peeps), and pretty good for decent overclocks (around 3.8Ghz or so, YMMV of course).

Oh, and I agree, ditch the cuda.12. The CavBlack and Samsung F3 1TB drives are much faster/better.
 
How'd you get an order through for the HD 5970 in the first place? But yeah I concur: the HD 5970 is a tad overkill for a 23" monitor.

Do you happen to live near a Microcenter?

Also you didn't answer question 8 correctly. Read the question again and answer correctly please.

Also best deal right now for a HDD IMO:
$57 - Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
 
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Danny Bui said:
Also best deal right now for a HDD IMO:
$57 - Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Click to expand...

Except that this is one of WD's older drive designs - only 320GB per platter. As such, the maximum sequential transfer rate barely tops 100 MB/s on the outer tracks whereas other drives can sustain over 130 MB/s. However, the Black has one of the quickest access speeds of any 7200 rpm hard drive on the market.

As for the Cuda 12, it is a fine performer although there are better choices. Although some of Seagate's drives are now made in China, the two 1TB drives in my main rig are made in Thailand.
 
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Thank you all very much for the excellent advice.

Firstly, I chose the HD5970 simply because I saw that it performed so much better than any other single-card option, even in 1080p settings, that I figured I'd get the most life out of this card. In other words, I could go longer without a needed upgrade than if I went with a 5870 for example. I realize that at this point in time the main benefit of the HD5970 is that it's great at high-resolution applications, but I assumed that in the future that benefit would extend itself to more standard (1080p) resolution for future game graphics demands. Again, this is what I assumed to be the case, but I could very well be wrong and please correct me if this is wrong. The 5870 is considerably cheaper and if there's really no reason to get the 5970, even future performance, then I won't get it.

NOTE: I ordered an ASUS 5970 from some web site called FuturePowerPC out of NY. Their web site claimed it was IN STOCK, and the price was right $623, so I figured I better bite. However, my order status now tells me that they are waiting for the card to be shipped from the manufacturer from their web site, so I will probably cancel my order, because the only reason I ordered from them was because they said it was in stock.

Secondly, thank you for the tip on USB3.0 and SATA3 and for the tip on the HDDs. I will take those and act on them. However, of the list of those motherboards you gave that are capable of USB3.0 and SATA3, does it matter which one I pick or does it basically come down to a price-to-extras point. As long as a mobo offers a few USB ports and maybe a firewire, and will allow me to do light overclocking, and doesn't have a reputation for excessive DOA or random dying/other problems, then I personally would just prefer the cheaper. Basically I'm looking for a specific recommendation if anything comes to mind that sounds like the right choice for my situation.

Thank you all again very much. You are all so helpful and I look forward to any more advice you could give me.

P.S. I don't want to sound contrary I just want to make sure I'm understanding everything.
 
E4g1e said:
Except that this is one of WD's older drive designs - only 320GB per platter. As such, the maximum sequential transfer rate barely tops 100 MB/s on the outer tracks whereas other drives can sustain over 130 MB/s. However, the Black has one of the quickest access speeds of any 7200 rpm hard drive on the market.
Click to expand...

I do have the WD 500GB Blue single platter version though and I do have to admit it is faster than the WD 640GB Blue or Black:


VS the WD6400AAKS:
http://www.alphaq.org/enginurd/hdd/HDTune_Benchmark_WDC WD6400AAKS-00A7B.png

I'll leave it up to the OP if he wants 140GB more storage or a faster drive. Though I'm not too sure about the WD Black having better access speeds.

dblinkhorn said:
Firstly, I chose the HD5970 simply because I saw that it performed so much better than any other single-card option, even in 1080p settings, that I figured I'd get the most life out of this card. In other words, I could go longer without a needed upgrade than if I went with a 5870 for example. I realize that at this point in time the main benefit of the HD5970 is that it's great at high-resolution applications, but I assumed that in the future that benefit would extend itself to more standard (1080p) resolution for future game graphics demands. Again, this is what I assumed to be the case, but I could very well be wrong and please correct me if this is wrong. The 5870 is considerably cheaper and if there's really no reason to get the 5970, even future performance, then I won't get it.

NOTE: I ordered an ASUS 5970 from some web site called FuturePowerPC out of NY. Their web site claimed it was IN STOCK, and the price was right $623, so I figured I better bite. However, my order status now tells me that they are waiting for the card to be shipped from the manufacturer from their web site, so I will probably cancel my order, because the only reason I ordered from them was because they said it was in stock.
Click to expand...

The fastest depreciating part in a PC is the video card since newer and faster video cards are generally released every 6 to 8 months. So in other words, spending $640 on a video card will not make it last longer than a $400 video card. Especially for 1080P resolution. So yeah, cancel the order and switch to the HD 5870. Use the savings towards a newer video card in the future.

dblinkhorn said:
Secondly, thank you for the tip on USB3.0 and SATA3 and for the tip on the HDDs. I will take those and act on them. However, of the list of those motherboards you gave that are capable of USB3.0 and SATA3, does it matter which one I pick or does it basically come down to a price-to-extras point. As long as a mobo offers a few USB ports and maybe a firewire, and will allow me to do light overclocking, and doesn't have a reputation for excessive DOA or random dying/other problems, then I personally would just prefer the cheaper. Basically I'm looking for a specific recommendation if anything comes to mind that sounds like the right choice for my situation.
Click to expand...

Personally, I'd go for the the GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R since it has the better price to performance ratio AND free shipping.
 
I will make those changes. I also saw your tip to order as much as I could from Amazon to avoid the state tax, which I will also do (I'm just concerned about Amazon's realistic return policy, I know NewEgg returns are a pleasure).

Thanks for the tip on downgrading the PSU a bit, I will do that. And thanks for the tip on the RAM and cooler option, will the 212+ be a problem fitting on the GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R? I'd like to avoid blocking any RAM slots. Will this RAM work "G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000)"? It's $200. Also, with the mobo I chose, will this ram actually run at 2000 speed once installed?

Really get the 930 over the 920?

Also I will probably go with a mid-tower now that I won't be using that extremely long video card, and save some more cash there. I've always liked the Antec 300, it looks nice and the price is nice.

I don't live near a Microcenter and the answer to question 8 is basically ASAP or as soon as I figure out exactly what I'm getting.
 
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dblinkhorn said:
Considering that I will be getting the 5870 now, do you think I could afford to downgrade my PSU from the 850w? If so, how low can I go. Your analysis of the future prospects for GPU investment probably negates any likelihood that I will ever use Crossfire, so what's a good wattage rating with this in mind, but that will still facilitate some slight overclocking.
Click to expand...
You can go down as low as the Corsair 650TX 650W PSU

dblinkhorn said:
And one more thing. I don't know much about overclocking, but before I try doing anything I will be doing extensive reading and research. I've read that a lot of people are doing something called "D0" or "DO" which I guess pushes it up to about 3.4Ghz or thereabouts. The heatsink/fan combo that I originally listed...will this be sufficient to cool a 920 with this kind of overclocking? And, are there any consideration I need to take into account if I buy your recommended motherboard (i.e. will certain cooling solutions not fit well on this mobo or perhaps block one of my RAM slots?). Would you recommend any particular cooling option (no water cooling).
Click to expand...
D0 refers to the stepping or version number of the i7 920. You don't have to worry about that. As Enginurd pointed out in post # 7, the AC 7 pro is not sufficient enough for a Core i7 nor does it have a deecnt price to performance ratio. No consideration AFAIK in regard to the Gigabyte mobo I recommended. Go with the HSF that Enginurd recommended.

And yes, get the Core i7 930 as it's slightly easier to OC and can reach higher overclock.

dblinkhorn said:
Also I will probably go with a mid-tower now that I won't be using that extremely long video card, and save some more cash there. I've always liked the Antec 300, it looks nice and the price is nice.
Click to expand...
I would not go with the Antec 300 since for $10 more, you can get the roomier, easier to cable manage, and better quality Coolermaster RC-590 case:
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
 
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Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't "carry" G.Skill, so go with the egg:
$180 - G.Skill PI Series 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI 7-8-7-24-2N 1.5V

What does your build list look like now? Got room for an SSD? :D
 
Best answer ever ...
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Yes
Click to expand...

do have the WD 500GB Blue single platter version though and I do have to admit it is faster than the WD 640GB Blue or Black:


VS the WD6400AAKS:
http://www.alphaq.org/enginurd/hdd/H...AAKS-00A7B.png

I'll leave it up to the OP if he wants 140GB more storage or a faster drive. Though I'm not too sure about the WD Black having better access speeds.
Click to expand...

Are there snigle-platter versions of the 640gb drives? I'm also in the market for a new HD and I want something that is going to be fast but also quiet.
 
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antec 300 is a no no with anything longer than a 5850. it will be to big to fit inside the case.
 
Biggrich76 said:
Are there snigle-platter versions of the 640gb drives? I'm also in the market for a new HD and I want something that is going to be fast but also quiet.
Click to expand...
nope. No single platter 640GB drive is out yet.
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Thank you all again for your help with this computer. This is what I ended up getting (unfortunately I ordered before I saw your specific RAM recommendation. Will the RAM I got be okay for light overclocking considering the rest of my system?)

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
CASE: COOLER MASTER Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP Black
OPTICAL: LITE-ON Black CD/DVD Burner
MEMORY: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
CPU: Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V
GPU: XFX HD-587X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5870 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
HS/F: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus

Grand total with shipping and tax was just under $1500.

I think that's everything.
 
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