New Gaming, Video Editing, General Purpose Build

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Xaeon

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 11, 2004
Messages
453
It's been (I believe) over four years since I built my current computer. The Q6600 and Radeon 4870 have been sufficient, if slightly frustrating at times, until recently. But I've found lately that my computer really can no longer do what I need of it. It's too slow, has too little RAM, and the video card isn't even sufficient to run WoW well anymore. It's time for a new build.

The Hard Forum has never lead me astray in the past, so I've come back once again for help. Last time I came around for build help, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to buy. This time, I haven't been able to make a lot of time for my own research, so I don't have a list to start from, but hopefully I've provided enough details that you fine folks can help me put something together.


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

I'll be playing games (WoW, Minecraft, D3, other newer games). I'll also be recording video with Fraps, editing with Premiere, doing some Photoshop and After Effects work. I also use Google Sketchup. I would like to be able to use this build to rip movies as well (both Blu-Ray and DVD).

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

My budget is around $2000 Canadian as a maximum. I'd prefer to spend between $1000 and $1500. Pricing should be very similar to US pricing. This does include tax and shipping.

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

I live in Western Canada.

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.

I need a CPU, motherboard, RAM, CPU cooler, power supply, storage (the standard fast SSD for OS, applications and I need quite a bit of space for recorded video), Blu-Ray drive, video card. I might also look at investing in a sound card that can accept and XLR microphone input if it's reasonably priced and still works well for gaming on a 5.1 speaker setup.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

I'll be using my Corsair 800D. Want to turn the rest of my current computer into a server.

6) Will you be overclocking?

I'd like to do as much easy-mode overclocking as possible. I'd like to avoid anything that gets into voltages or can cause stability issues.

7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

I use a 1900x1080 TV as my main monitor. I have a 1400x1050 secondary monitor I'd like to start using.

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

I'd like to buy and build within a month (complete before mid-June).

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)? UEFI? etc.

I'd probably like to RAID my storage drives. Beyond that, I'm not sure. I just need something that will give me good performance for several years. I don't upgrade often.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

I own a copy of Windows 7 Pro that I have not installed on any machine yet.


Additional info:

-I'd like to buy all the parts from the following three sites/stores if possible:
Newegg.ca
MemoryExpress.com
NCIX.com

-I was recently doing something that taxed my current computer to the absolute limit of my 4 gigs of RAM. It was at the point where it was locking up for several minutes before I was able to close things to free up some memory. I realized I'd like to be able to do way, way more than I was even doing then, so I think I'll need at least 16 gigs of RAM.

-Unless there's some very compelling reason to go with Ivy Bridge, it seems likely to me that I'll get much more for my money out of a 2600k.

-I like what I've seen out of Nvidia lately, so I think it's a GTX 600 series card for me. Not sure which to go with though. I've heard that the latest Adobe Premiere, which I plan to purchase, has some sort of GPU acceleration in it now. I don't know how much video card will effect performance.

-Where possible, I'd like to go with EVGA products. I and others I know have had excellent experiences with them in the past.

-Where possible, I'd like to avoid OCZ products. I had a very bad experience with them once and do not wish to give them more business.

-I currently am using a PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750. It's a fantastic PSU, but I really want something modular this time around. I understand the importance of getting a quality unit here.

-I really prefer to have quiet components, especially since I am going to be doing a lot of voice recording. I am intrigued by the self-contained water cooling units such as the H100.


Thanks very much for taking the time to help me out.
 
Xaeon said:
I really prefer to have quiet components, especially since I am going to be doing a lot of voice recording. I am intrigued by the self-contained water cooling units such as the H100.
Click to expand...

You might want to look at a Nofen system - totally silent.
 
A rough list:
$325 - Intel Core i7-2600K CPU
$170 - Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard
$210 - 2 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series F3-10666CL9D-16GBXL 2 x 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$400 - GTX 670 from preferred manufacturer
$130 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2BAA 2.5" 128GB SSD
$140 - Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 HDS723020BLA642 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$60 - Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W PSU
$35 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
---
Total: $1470 CAD plus tax and shipping

Thats 32GB of RAM by the way. That should definitely make sure that you don't run out of RAM.
 
Thanks a lot for the reply, Danny. I sort of ditched this thread when Diablo III came out, but I'm still planning on doing this build. I've only slightly changed my parameters since May and I've been doing some of my own research working off of your suggestions. Here's what I've come up with so far:

$329.99 - Intel Core i7 3770k
$399.99 - eVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB
$109.99 - Corsair Vengeance 16GB 2X8GB DDR3-1600
$114.99 - Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB
$119.99 - Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 2TB
$149.99 - Corsair Professional Series Gold AX650 Power Supply
$57.99 - Asus BC-12B1ST 12x Blu-ray Combo Drive
$119.99 - Corsair H100

This comes to around $1,404.55 before tax, and shipping isn't much of a concern because it looks like I can get almost everything locally with a really good price match policy at a nearby retailer.

I first off wanted to ask if there were any obvious problems with these selections.

I went with the Corsair memory over the G.SKILL that was recommended simply because it's black instead of red, and I went with 16 rather than 32 gigs because, upon further reflection, 32 seemed like overkill. I based the selection of the Kingston SSD on what looked like better performance than the Crucial SSD in the HardOCP reviews of each, but I could be wrong about this, so let me know if I'm out to lunch. I went with the Corsair PSU because, like I said earlier, I appreciate how important a good PSU is. I also wanted a fully modular PSU even more than I wanted silence. Lastly, I added the H100 because I've thought for a long time that it's really cool and I just wanted one, but if there are compelling reasons why this is a stupid choice for me then I'd be happy to hear them.

The only thing I haven't gotten any closer to choosing is a motherboard, and I didn't even list one at all in the above list. I like the suggestion of the Gigabyte board, but I've decided since my original post that I'd really like all the visible parts to be black, and those blue heatsinks really bother me. I also thought I'd add that a board with some slightly higher end integrated sound hardware might be attractive, specifically anything to do with the microphone input. I'd really love any suggestions on motherboard because I'm just totally lost and overwhelmed on this part.

Thanks again for your help and consideration Danny Bui and anyone else who feels they can help me out.
 
Xaeon said:
I based the selection of the Kingston SSD on what looked like better performance than the Crucial SSD in the HardOCP reviews of each, but I could be wrong about this, so let me know if I'm out to lunch.
Click to expand...
I'm a little uneasy of the fact that the Kingston is a Sandforce SSD. So I'm still recommending the Crucial SSD.

Xaeon said:
I went with the Corsair PSU because, like I said earlier, I appreciate how important a good PSU is. I also wanted a fully modular PSU even more than I wanted silence.
Click to expand...
Why exactly do you want a fully modular PSU when the 24Pin, PCI-E, and 8Pin power connectors have to be connected at all times in order for the PC to boot? That's what fully modular means BTW. In any case, that PSU is still a good PSU.

Xaeon said:
The only thing I haven't gotten any closer to choosing is a motherboard, and I didn't even list one at all in the above list. I like the suggestion of the Gigabyte board, but I've decided since my original post that I'd really like all the visible parts to be black, and those blue heatsinks really bother me. I also thought I'd add that a board with some slightly higher end integrated sound hardware might be attractive, specifically anything to do with the microphone input. I'd really love any suggestions on motherboard because I'm just totally lost and overwhelmed on this part.
Click to expand...
The only mobos I know of that fits your all black color scheme requirement are AsRock mobos. However I generally don't recommend those since there aren't any HardOCP review of AsRock's Z77 mobos showing that they're actually good.

Disregarding color scheme and observing the fact that mobos with better integrated sound chips cost a lot more money than a regular mobo with an actual and more than likely better dedicated sound card, I recommend the Asus P8Z77-V Intel Z77 Motherboard.
 
Danny Bui said:
I'm a little uneasy of the fact that the Kingston is a Sandforce SSD. So I'm still recommending the Crucial SSD.
Click to expand...

What's the disadvantage of going with a Sandforce controller? Or perhaps I should ask what the controller in the Crucial SSD is called so I can do my own research. You've been a ton of help so far, I don't want to ask you to do everything ;)

Danny Bui said:
Why exactly do you want a fully modular PSU when the 24Pin, PCI-E, and 8Pin power connectors have to be connected at all times in order for the PC to boot? That's what fully modular means BTW. In any case, that PSU is still a good PSU.
Click to expand...

You're right, I don't need a fully modular PSU, but I do value some modularity over total silence, which is why I was looking for something other than the Antec Neo Eco that appears to have no modularity. If there's an equally good option that's only partially modular, I'm all ears.

Danny Bui said:
The only mobos I know of that fits your all black color scheme requirement are AsRock mobos. However I generally don't recommend those since there aren't any HardOCP review of AsRock's Z77 mobos showing that they're actually good.

Disregarding color scheme and observing the fact that mobos with better integrated sound chips cost a lot more money than a regular mobo with an actual and more than likely better dedicated sound card, I recommend the Asus P8Z77-V Intel Z77 Motherboard.
Click to expand...

If there's no well-reviewed option for an all-black motherboard, I guess I'll just have to ignore colour and go with whatever's best. I threw in the bit about sound because I've been having a helluva time figuring out my best options there. In a nutshell, I need to be able to record myself speaking at as high a quality as possible. The twist is that I hate wearing headphones, so I've been looking for something that won't pick up feedback from my speakers. It's a very specific problem, but probably one best not addressed here. It sounds like my best route is just to choose a very good motherboard while disregarding the sound issue for the time being, then figure that part out later.

Are you recommending any board from that Asus line, or one specific model? It seems there are 9 boards that match your description on Newegg :D
 
Xaeon said:
What's the disadvantage of going with a Sandforce controller? Or perhaps I should ask what the controller in the Crucial SSD is called so I can do my own research. You've been a ton of help so far, I don't want to ask you to do everything ;)
Click to expand...
The Crucial uses Marvel controllers. Main issue I have with Sandforce SSDs is basically their past history of being rather unreliable, not actually as fast as they say are, or really random stability issues. While this current generation of Sandforce SSDs have been very impressive so far, that past is still a bit of sticking point with me. Not to mention that Kingston is still relatively new to SSDs IIRC. With that said, if it's a Sandforce from Intel, I have little problem recommending that as Intel tends to have a very solid track record when it comes to SSDs.

Xaeon said:
You're right, I don't need a fully modular PSU, but I do value some modularity over total silence, which is why I was looking for something other than the Antec Neo Eco that appears to have no modularity. If there's an equally good option that's only partially modular, I'm all ears.
Click to expand...
The Seasonic M12II series and Corsair HX650 PSUs are solid and cheaper modular PSUs.

Xaeon said:
Are you recommending any board from that Asus line, or one specific model? It seems there are 9 boards that match your description on Newegg :D
Click to expand...

I'm specifically recommending the ASUS P8Z77-V. No other designations at the end.
 
Thanks again. I'll do some more looking at SSDs and motherboards. Looks like I can get the Corsair HX750 on sale for $114.99 this week, which seems like a good deal, so maybe I'll jump on that.
 
I'm almost ready to buy everything, but I just had a couple more quick questions.

- I'm debating between an eVGA GTX 670 and a Gigabyte GTX 670 OC (the one with the three fans). I can get them for the same price right now. I've heard good things about eVGA in general, but I really don't know much at all about Gigabyte. Is the Gigabyte card a better buy?

- I've pretty much decided to go with the Asus board recommended by Danny Bui, but it seems like the on-board audio used by Asus just sucks in general for voice recording and VoIP-type applications. This matches my experience with my current board, an Asus P5Q-E. With this in mind, I've been doing some research on sound cards and it seems like the Asus Xonar DSX is my best choice for a good balance of sound quality through my 5.1 speakers and good voice quality through the mic input, all without breaking the bank. Is this a good choice for me?

Thanks.
 
Xaeon said:
- I'm debating between an eVGA GTX 670 and a Gigabyte GTX 670 OC (the one with the three fans). I can get them for the same price right now. I've heard good things about eVGA in general, but I really don't know much at all about Gigabyte. Is the Gigabyte card a better buy?
Click to expand...
The Gigabyte card should be roughly the same quality as that eVGA. The Gigabyte does also have better cooling and lower noise but it fairly large. Also, Gigabyte's customer support isn't as great as eVGA's support. With that said, Gigabyte's support is still pretty good compared to Asus.
Xaeon said:
- I've pretty much decided to go with the Asus board recommended by Danny Bui, but it seems like the on-board audio used by Asus just sucks in general for voice recording and VoIP-type applications. This matches my experience with my current board, an Asus P5Q-E. With this in mind, I've been doing some research on sound cards and it seems like the Asus Xonar DSX is my best choice for a good balance of sound quality through my 5.1 speakers and good voice quality through the mic input, all without breaking the bank. Is this a good choice for me?
Click to expand...
From the TechReport review I read, that appears to be a solid sound card
 
Danny Bui said:
The Gigabyte card should be roughly the same quality as that eVGA. The Gigabyte does also have better cooling and lower noise but it fairly large. Also, Gigabyte's customer support isn't as great as eVGA's support. With that said, Gigabyte's support is still pretty good compared to Asus.
Click to expand...

Well, size isn't an issue and I generally have pretty good luck with hardware not failing on me. Might have something to do with living in a cool, dry climate.

Thanks again for all the help, Danny Bui. I'm going to go try to get everything price-matched locally tomorrow. Wish me luck :)
 
I bought all my parts save for the storage drive. Here's a weird question though: I was taking a look at all the boxes (haven't opened anything yet) and when I picked up the sound card box I could hear something small rattling around inside. I would guess it to be around the size of a small piece of Lego. That just doesn't seem right to me for something that should have no moving or separate parts. Any advice? I've been considering either taking a video of myself breaking the seal and opening it up or just taking it back still factory sealed. I'm not being paranoid, am I?
 
Not sure myself: haven't bought that particular sound card yet. I'd err on the side of caution and return it.
 
Well, I got everything assembled, but it won't post. The first time I try to boot it up, the DRAM_LED stays lit solid red. I press the MemOK! button, it restarts, and then it stalls on the BOOT_DEVICE_LED solid red. The first try produces no beeps from the system speaker, the second try is a short beep followed by a longer one just as it stalls.

Steps I've taken so far:
Tried both sticks of RAM individually in the 2nd slot, as recommended by the manual
Disconnected all external devices (keyboard, mouse and monitor)
Cleared the CMOS via the jumper
Disconnected and removed the sound card
Disconnected the SSD
Reseated the CPU

Things I have not yet tried but am considering:
Disconnecting and removing the video card
Attempting to boot without anything but the CPU and CPU cooler installed, including without any RAM

I have not yet gotten to the BIOS. I've never encountered any problems like this before. Thanks for any help.
 
I went ahead and removed the video card and the RAM, then tried booting. I got a repeating pattern of 1 long beep, 2 short beeps. I'm not sure what it means when it does that with no memory installed.
 
Well, making progress. Put the RAM back in and got to the BIOS now without the video card installed.
 
Xaeon said:
I went ahead and removed the video card and the RAM, then tried booting. I got a repeating pattern of 1 long beep, 2 short beeps. I'm not sure what it means when it does that with no memory installed.
Click to expand...
Well it means that there's a RAM issue.

Any chance that you can try a different set of RAM? What's the specs of the PC you bought anyway? Also, double check that you installed the CPU correctly.
 
Asus P8Z77-V
3770K
Corsair Vengeance 16GB 2X8GB DDR3-1600
Gigabyte GTX 670 OC
Crucial M4 128GB
OEM Asus Blu-Ray drive
Corsair HX750 PSU
2TB 7K3000 Deskstar on order
Corsair H100

Currently in the BIOS with just CPU, CPU cooler, RAM, SSD and Blu-Ray drive connected. Everything seems fine except that it keeps telling me my RAM is running at 1334 instead of 1600. Is that normal? I haven't changed anything in the BIOS yet. I was going to flash it to the newest version.
 
Xaeon said:
Currently in the BIOS with just CPU, CPU cooler, RAM, SSD and Blu-Ray drive connected. Everything seems fine except that it keeps telling me my RAM is running at 1334 instead of 1600. Is that normal? I haven't changed anything in the BIOS yet. I was going to flash it to the newest version.
Click to expand...

That's normal. Wait, so it's posting just fine now?
 
It is now, yes. I've come to the conclusion that the old BIOS just really, really hated my RAM. After updating it just now everything seems much better. Before I had to use the MemOK! button every single boot just to get anything out of it. Once I finally got to the BIOS doing that it kept saying my memory was running at a much lower frequency than 1600. After I was able to update the BIOS it posted fine right away and now says my memory is running at 1600. The new BIOS is dated a week or so ago, the old one was from March. I guess that could make a pretty big difference.
 
That's normal for memory to default to 1333. You'll either have to use XMP prifile or set your timings manually in the bios. Nice system by the way.
 
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