Rate my gaming rig!

I

iricexbanditi

n00b
Joined
Sep 12, 2005
Messages
36
Hi guys I'm in the process of building a new rig for Starcraft 2. I was hoping I could get some input from you guys.

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423

CPU: Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225&cm_re=i7_930-_-19-115-225-_-Product

RAM: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

HDD: Primary: Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167023
Secondary: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148337

Optical Drive: LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm having some trouble deciding on the: Video card

Graphics Card

For the video card, I am torn between the

nVidia GTX 260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434&cm_re=gtx_260-_-14-130-434-_-Product

versus the

nVidia GTX 465
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121383

My predicament is that I just want a rig that is sufficient enough to run SC2 at the ultra settings, but I don't need anything that is overkill. So which do you guys recommend?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for taking the time to look through my system specs! I appreciate any advice you guys can give me.
 
Is there any reason you are only considering nvidia gpu's?

I would think a 5850 would be great for this.
 
You're missing a PSU as well. Do you need a recommendation for that as well or are you reusing a PSU? Also, please answer the following questions:

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
3) Where do you live?
6) Will you be overclocking?
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Though some notes right off the bat:
- Ditch the Antec 900. There are better cases for the money:
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$80 - Cooler Master CM690 II ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922M RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-E8B ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window

- You can shave off some money with this CPU + mobo combo:
$474 - Intel Core i7-930 CPU + Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58 ATX Motherboard Combo

- No matter what, the GTX 260 is a shitty buy for the money. There are significantly faster cards for the money. In addition, the only cost effective Nvidia card now is the GTX 470 when it's around $330 to $350.

EDIT: Oh, the HD 5770 performs about the same as the GTX 260 but uses less power and costs about $160. In the $200 price bracket, you can find the faster HD 4890 card. In the $300 price bracket, the HD 5850 is the better buy over the GTX 470. If the GTX 470 exceeds $350 in any way, it's a piss poor buy since the faster HD 5870 can be had for around $400.
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Thank you guys for your responses! I think I had forgot to mention that I have already have most of the parts because I got some really amazing deals for them.

I got the Antec 900 for only 50 bucks + a free DVD drive! (It was a newegg deal)

The only parts that I actually need are the Video card and both hard drives. (waiting for SSD drives to drop prices)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

xveganx: I only suggested nVidia gpu's because I've never worked with ATI cards before. I don't have much experience with them. But I am willing to invest some time into ATI cards if they're worth it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Danny Bui: Sorry, I totally forgot to post my PSU, as I was trying to write up the system specs ASAP.

PSU: Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply - ATX, SATA-Ready, SLI-Ready, 135mm Fan, Lifetime Warranty
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276567&SRCCODE=WEBLET03SHIP&cm_mmc=Email-_-WebletMain-_-WEBLET03SHIP-_-03ship

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
-So far I have spent about $600-700 dollars on my build so far. This includes: psu, mobo, cpu, ram, case, dvd drive.

My budget for the video card ranges from $150-300 dollars. I hope that i have allotted enough for a sufficient GPU.

And I am just waiting for a slight price drop in SSD drives.

3) Where do you live?
-I live in CA

6) Will you be overclocking?
-No, I am simply building this computer mostly for Starcraft 2 to be played on max settings

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
-I currently have a 19 inch Viewsonic but I plan on upgrading to a 22+ monitor after I complete this build.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
-I was hoping to have this PC completely built by late July, but there's no rush.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

lt_shiro: Thank you. I will look into this more.
 
Well you're gonna have to get a new PSU now. That Ultra PSU is a piece of shit. Barely capable of 350W of power under the best case scenarios. $15 would have been a more reasonable price than the $80 off Tigerdirect.

So I recommend the following combo:
$140 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU + Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive Combo

You get a fast 1TB drive as well as a high quality PSU that's more than enough power for a Core i7 setup + HD 5850. Speaking of which, the only video card worth buying in that $300 range is the HD 5850:
$290 - XFX HD-585X-ZNFV Radeon HD 5850 1GB PCI-E Video Card

Whatever you do, do not use that Ultra PSU with any kind of gaming system. It's just a stupid idea.
 
Ultra has some good power supply units... but for the most part, avoid them if you're building a gaming system (heh, or any system, lol).
 
Thanks guys for the heads up on that crappy PSU. I got rid of it asap.

I figured out what I wanted to go regarding my video card. A recent deal allowed my budget to get dual video cards: :D
XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Now I'm back to the question. What PSU should I get?
A single 5770 requires a minimum of 450 watts. If I Crossfire two of them, how much power would I need? As always, any recommendations are greatly appreciated!
 
I recommend this PSU:
$100 - XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W Modular PSU

More than enough for HD 5770 Crossfire
 
I had a 5850 and there were some boot issues, also theres problems with the catalyst 10. i went back to nvidia, less headaches but ati is the best bang for the buck when its working
 
Thanks everyone for your advice and input. I decided on this PSU

I'll be sure to report back and update you guys on my build. And again, thanks for all your help!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top