$3000 gaming rig

[lobbleotn]

What would you guys do with $3000 for a gaming rig? Monitor included.

 

[Davidh373]

Honestly? I would buy 3 computers specifically for lan with my friends...

In your case though I'll give you a build that is a little more modest, but not modest enough to buy 3. Put the rest toward upgrades to stay somewhat current.

Coolermaster Elite - $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-161-_-Product

Coolermaster 80+ 650W PSU - $69.99 + $1.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-052-_-Product

Intel i7 860 - $289.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-214-_-Product

ASUS 1156 - $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-634-_-Product

Corsair DDR3 Dual Channel - $224.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-279-_-Product

EVGA GTX 470 - $299.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-550-_-Product

LG Blu Ray Burner - $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-181-_-Product

64GB SATA III SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148357

Caviar Black 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-533-_-Product

Windows 7 Pro X64 OEM - $139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-758-_-Product


Total: $1538.88

 

[mikeford]

$1500 for at least a 55 inch screen, with a preference for a larger front projection system. $500 for a used receiver and a decent set of full sized speakers, like the Klipsch RF series, maybe $200 more for used killer subwoofer, then I would add a typical midrange PC with a good graphics card and chip set supporting Dolby Digital Live for a spdif connection to the receiver.

 

[Sp12]

Instead of a larger screen go for a higher resolution or multiples. A larger one just means each pixel is larger, not that you see more of your game.

 

[Blain]

What would you guys do with $3000 for a gaming rig? Monitor included.

I would post a thread asking others how I should spend my $3000.

 

[mfenn]

Honestly? I would buy 3 computers specifically for lan with my friends...

In your case though I'll give you a build that is a little more modest, but not modest enough to buy 3. Put the rest toward upgrades to stay somewhat current.

Coolermaster Elite - $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-161-_-Product

Coolermaster 80+ 650W PSU - $69.99 + $1.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-052-_-Product

Intel i7 860 - $289.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-214-_-Product

ASUS 1156 - $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-634-_-Product

Corsair DDR3 Dual Channel - $224.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-279-_-Product

EVGA GTX 470 - $299.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-550-_-Product

LG Blu Ray Burner - $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-181-_-Product

64GB SATA III SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148357

Caviar Black 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-533-_-Product

Windows 7 Pro X64 OEM - $139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-758-_-Product


Total: $1538.88

This is pretty good, though I would swap

• the PSU + HDD for this combo,
• drop the BD-RW for a normal DVD burner (unless the OP really wants Blu-ray),
• Swap the 860 to an 870
• Swap the mobo to the MSI P55A-G55

OK, so I ended up swapping out like half the parts, but I like the overall idea (buy a $1500 system, save the rest for monitor and/or upgrades).

I also like Mike's suggestion of getting a real speaker system.

 

[Davidh373]

What about a nice gaming headset as well? I know I mostly reserve my speakers for when friends come over, and use my headset when I game. A nice surround sound headphone or headset is a great compliment to gaming. Especially since it seems more and more devs seem to realize they have the bandwidth to allow realtime voice instead of crappy Push to Talk.

 

[lobbleotn]

Ok this is what I have come up with. Let me know what you guys would add or subtract.

Samsung 120hz LCD
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/...ZA/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=features
Lian Li PC-A77F Tower
EVGA X58 FTW3
EVGA GTX480
Three WD 7200 RAID 0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
Windows 7 x64

Not sure about a processor, PSU or RAM.

What do you guys think?

 

[Sp12]

Specific links/model number on the hard drive and monitor would be nice. Is image quality or refresh rate of more importance to you?

I'm going to say 'no' to the hard drives in raid 0. If you want performance get an SSD. Raid 0 is kinda silly for the risk of failure it brings.

For a single or even dual card setup that mobo is probably overkill. Processor for an X58 build is the i7 930.

 

[lobbleotn]

Specific links/model number on the hard drive and monitor would be nice. Is image quality or refresh rate of more importance to you?

I'm going to say 'no' to the hard drives in raid 0. If you want performance get an SSD. Raid 0 is kinda silly for the risk of failure it brings.

For a single or even dual card setup that mobo is probably overkill. Processor for an X58 build is the i7 930.

Image quality is important. Main thing I'm looking for is 120hz.

SSDs are too overpriced for me at the moment. The WD are plenty fast. Not too concerned about fault tolerance as I back everything up frequently and reinstall the OS quite often.

I am getting the X58 for future upgrades. The eVGA P55 boards I've seen are not that much cheaper.

 

[Sp12]

Image quality is important. Main thing I'm looking for is 120hz.

Then I hate to break this to you -- you're going to have to choose. 120hz is currently only possible on TN panels, which are a 6-bit panel tech. The best current panel type is IPS, but that tops out at 60hz.

Some reading:

http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides...anel-types.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP7C00BIzH8

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/specs.htm

SSDs are too overpriced for me at the moment. The WD are plenty fast. Not too concerned about fault tolerance as I back everything up frequently and reinstall the OS quite often.

Well, I assure you an SSD is ~250x faster than a mechanical hard disk at random accesses, and for a build in your budget it's almost crazy to leave out. It's the single biggest component upgrade you can do (and anand agrees). Obviously, the price/gigabyte is high but you buy an SSD for the OS+apps and a HD for storage. At the very least consider a single higher capacity HD over a triple raid 0 array.

I am getting the X58 for future upgrades. The eVGA P55 boards I've seen are not that much cheaper.

I agree for a 3000$ build X58 is the way to go. I just think compared to say, the ASrock X58 extreme or the Gigabyte X58A-UD3R it doesn't have a lot to justify the pricetag.

 

[Davidh373]

Well, I assure you an SSD is ~250x faster than a mechanical hard disk at random accesses, and for a build in your budget it's almost crazy to leave out. It's the single biggest component upgrade you can do (and anand agrees). Obviously, the price/gigabyte is high but you buy an SSD for the OS+apps and a HD for storage. At the very least consider a single higher capacity HD over a triple raid 0 array.

For your price range an SSD is a must buy. Sure, you may not get price/GB but everyone is raving about them. I am officially upgrading from a Velociraptor within the next 2 weeks.

I agree for a 3000$ build X58 is the way to go. I just think compared to say, the ASrock X58 extreme or the Gigabyte X58A-UD3R it doesn't have a lot to justify the pricetag.

Agreed.