Advice on Sandy Bridge Build for gaming

[luciousleet]

Hello,
I am looking in building a pc since my last one just died after exactly 4 years (psu failure resulting in mobo and ram failure).
I am left with no choice other than building from scratch, intend to keep only the case Antec 900 and my xfx gtx8800.

Main purpose will be gaming on a 24' Dell monitor @ 1920.
Other uses will be hd playback, maybe some photo editing, music, nothing as demanding as the gaming I guess.
Will probably O.C. modestly not beyond the point were a medium aircooler would not be enough

My budget is between 700 and 1000€ or 800 to 1150 $ roughly taking into account the higher prices here compared to US.
Other than the budget restriction there is also the retailer restriction. I will be buying everything from a greek online store so I would really appreciate 2 or 3 proposals for each part in case something is not available.

I have been doing my research for the last 3 weeks and I am leaning towards something like this:

CPU: i-5 2500k no idea on price yet

Mobo: no idea on price or model yet, not more than 200$
looking for something with sata III, usb3.0, good PCI lanes for future gpu upgrade to single 6850 and later 2x6850 in cfi

RAM: 8gb of value modules, was thinking of this
Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3-1333 Ram Kit (2x4GB, PC3-10666, 9-9-9-24, CMX8GX3M2A1333C9) for 178$
Nothing fancy since it is not needed for the O.C., it is all on the CPU right?

PSU: CoolerMaster Silent Pro Gold 700W Modular PSU for 190$
Is this enough for future cfi?

SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 Series 120GB SSD w/Bracket (2.5", Sata II, OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G)
Unfortunately no sata III ssd available and some PCI ssd are out of my budget.
Even this one is too much at 229€ or about 280$ and I am thinking going for this one for half the price:
OCZ Agility 2 Series 60GB SSD w/Bracket (2.5", Sata II, OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G)
I was thinking 120gb would be enough to have the OS, apps and games installed on the ssd, is it worth it or should I go for 60gb?

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD2001FASS 2TB HDD 3.5" (64MB Cache, 7200RPM, SATA 3Gb/s) for 209$
To be used for storage so did not bother with sata III good call?

That is it, really long post with many questions, sorry about that.
I'll be very happy if I get an answer in half of those and would be more than gratefull if I did get your opinions since I am not really experienced, I do my research every 3-4 years but there so much I can figure out before I get a headache with the complexity of choosing the right parts for the job

 

[mnewsham]

well first off, 8Gb RAM is too much for gaming (you want 1.5V RAM btw), also 60GB SSD is fine for OS and a few games, 120 should fit most of your stuff but 60 is fine. Also do you think you will need a 2 TB hdd? i have 2.25 TB atm but it took me almost a year and a half to get this, might take the extra money and get a better GPU instead of 2TB i think 1 TB is more then most people NEED. if you need it go back when you need it and buy it. Your PSU is looking expensive (not sure about prices where you are tho) and do you need modular? you can usually take a big chunk out of a PSU if it ISN'T modular (yes i know it is useful but hey money is money)

for motherboard look at the P8P67 Deluxe or the P8P67 Pro. Not sure on prices but in USA the P8P67 Pro is about $185-200. And the P8P67 Deluxe is running about $230

That's all i can think of at the moment any questions just ask.

 

[Davidh373]

you're a little off, but not bad.

CPU: i-5 2500k no idea on price yet

Mobo: no idea on price or model yet, not more than 200$
looking for something with sata III, usb3.0, good PCI lanes for future gpu upgrade to single 6850 and later 2x6850 in cfi

mmmmk, you're gonna want to be buying this morning of launch. Who knows how long they will stay on shelves...

RAM: 8gb of value modules, was thinking of this
Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3-1333 Ram Kit (2x4GB, PC3-10666, 9-9-9-24, CMX8GX3M2A1333C9) for 178$
Nothing fancy since it is not needed for the O.C., it is all on the CPU right?

No go on the XMS3 I'm afraid. it apparently has a range from 1.5V-1.65V?! I've never seen a range before. If you want a good (and for sure) 1.5V 8GB kit go for GSkill 1333Mhz.

SS OCZ Vertex 2 Series 120GB SSD w/Bracket (2.5", Sata II, OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G)
Unfortunately no sata III ssd available and some PCI ssd are out of my budget.
Even this one is too much at 229€ or about 280$ and I am thinking going for this one for half the price:
OCZ Agility 2 Series 60GB SSD w/Bracket (2.5", Sata II, OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G)
I was thinking 120gb would be enough to have the OS, apps and games installed on the ssd, is it worth it or should I go for 60gb?

You'll be fine with the 60GB, install OS and vital Apps, but no games. Install games on the storage drive.

HD Western Digital Caviar Black WD2001FASS 2TB HDD 3.5" (64MB Cache, 7200RPM, SATA 3Gb/s) for 209$
To be used for storage so did not bother with sata III good call?

HDDs don't saturate the 1.5GB/S sata yet lol. So yes, good call. I don't however know where you are buying this HDD, because on newegg I see the drive for $180

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-456-_-Product

and I think you may even be fine with a 5400RPM for a storage drive. You can save ~$80 if you get this samsung

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-245-_-Product

PSU: CoolerMaster Silent Pro Gold 700W Modular PSU for 190$
Is this enough for future cfi?

You don't want CFX... especially if you aren't getting it right away. By the time you factor in the extra cost of the motherboard and the graphics card's performance/ dollar being way to low at the time of purchase a year or two down the road, The extra cost of the high wattage PSU, and the inefficiency of the PSU while it's waiting for the second card, you'll be able to get a great single card that easily doubles performance of the 6850 by the time you want to upgrade.

Maybe, for now, you can get a 6870 and a 520W seasonic (much, MUCH more reliable than the Coolermaster) and save yourself a lot of grief and $150? You'll be thanking me down the road, believe me . Why is that PSU $209?! That's ridiculous!

6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-166-_-Product

520W Seasonic
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...94&cm_re=seasonic_520W-_-17-151-094-_-Product

 

[mnewsham]

^ agreed with most of that, remember tho he is ordering from a greek site so prices on newegg probably wont be representative of prices there.

 

[Davidh373]

^ agreed with most of that, remember tho he is ordering from a greek site so prices on newegg probably wont be representative of prices there.

Ahh, I didn't catch that...

 

[luciousleet]

Thank you so much for the great advice.
I'll change to the 60gb ssd and save 140$
Will also change to this storage HDD, although I expect to fill it in less than 8 months
Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB HDD 3.5" (64MB Cache, IntelliPower, SATA 3Gb/s) for 69$, saving another 150$.
Is this HDD acceptable? There is quite a big range on WD and Seagate HDDs available so feel free to suggest anything from those 2
RAM I have a choice between OCZ, CORSAIR, MUSHKIN, PNY and TRANSCEND, if I drop from 8 to 4gb I can save 50 to 100$, is it really not worth it going for 8gb?
For the PSU I have a choice between Chieftec, CoolerMaster, Corsair and some other crap.
If I went for for a 500W which brand would you propose?
Finally and most important, do you guys think that keeping the gtx8800 with this build would be a mistake?
There are no performance comparisons fot the gtx8800 vs. the latest cards so I do not know how much I will be falling behind.
If it is terrible I may look into the 6950, looks like a good price/performance ratio and good enough for my monitor resolution. If I make the changes above I will have budget to include the 6950

 

[mnewsham]

Thank you so much for the great advice.
I'll change to the 60gb ssd and save 140$
Will also change to this storage HDD, although I expect to fill it in less than 8 months
Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB HDD 3.5" (64MB Cache, IntelliPower, SATA 3Gb/s) for 69$, saving another 150$.
Is this HDD acceptable? There is quite a big range on WD and Seagate HDDs available so feel free to suggest anything from those 2
RAM I have a choice between OCZ, CORSAIR, MUSHKIN, PNY and TRANSCEND, if I drop from 8 to 4gb I can save 50 to 100$, is it really not worth it going for 8gb?
For the PSU I have a choice between Chieftec, CoolerMaster, Corsair and some other crap.
If I went for for a 500W which brand would you propose?
Finally and most important, do you guys think that keeping the gtx8800 with this build would be a mistake?
There are no performance comparisons fot the gtx8800 vs. the latest cards so I do not know how much I will be falling behind.
If it is terrible I may look into the 6950, looks like a good price/performance ratio and good enough for my monitor resolution. If I make the changes above I will have budget to include the 6950

go for WD caviar black, in gaming you will be hard pressed to find a difference in 8Gb vs 4Gb. also i would go for a 600Watt corsair or coolermaster. such as http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

gtx8800 is NOT a good video card (not a bad physX card tho) see if you can get a GTX 570 and pair it with the gtx 8800 (not sli) for PhysX processing.

Ram suggestion would be: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146748

that's what i would do.

 

[luciousleet]

go for WD caviar black, in gaming you will be hard pressed to find a difference in 8Gb vs 4Gb. also i would go for a 600Watt corsair or coolermaster. such as http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

gtx8800 is NOT a good video card (not a bad physX card tho) see if you can get a GTX 570 and pair it with the gtx 8800 (not sli) for PhysX processing.

Ram suggestion would be: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146748

that's what i would do.

That PSU is available at 122$, damn those prices, still I'll save 70$ over my first choice

The only 1.5v Mushkin available is this at 104$, saving 74 from my initial completely wrong choice, thanks for 1.5v heads up, I had no idea
Mushkin SilverLine ES 4GB DDR3-1333 Ram Kit (PC3-10666, 9-9-9-24, 996585ES)

About the gtx8800, can I keep it in sli with a gtx570 on a 500-600W PSU?
Does it need specific setup to use it for PhysX processing only? Sounds a bit out of my league
Was getting comfortable with the idea of a single powerfull 6950
Thanks again for all the help

 

[mnewsham]

That PSU is available at 122$, damn those prices, still I'll save 70$ over my first choice

The only 1.5v Mushkin available is this at 104$, saving 74 from my initial completely wrong choice, thanks for 1.5v heads up, I had no idea
Mushkin SilverLine ES 4GB DDR3-1333 Ram Kit (PC3-10666, 9-9-9-24, 996585ES)

About the gtx8800, can I keep it in sli with a gtx570 on a 500-600W PSU?
Does it need specific setup to use it for PhysX processing only? Sounds a bit out of my league
Was getting comfortable with the idea of a single powerfull 6950
Thanks again for all the help

You can't do sli it would need two of the same card, however physx would offload pyhsics processing to the 2nd card.

 

[luciousleet]

Edit: nvm about the sli, reread you post about not using it in sli.
No idea how to do that however, is it complicated?

 

[mnewsham]

Just plug in the 2nd card and in the nvidia settings just select the card and it should have an option to set it as physx

 

[Davidh373]

If you already have the card, you may as well use it as a PhysX card, if not, I wouldn't buy an 8800 for anything these days.

 

[mfenn]

Finally and most important, do you guys think that keeping the gtx8800 with this build would be a mistake?

Absolutely. I would just trash it altogether and get your GTX 570 or 6950 right away. The benefit that it would give you for PhysX is minimal and that only applies to like 3 real games anyway. Not worth the heat and power draw IMHO.

David is right on about everything else.

 

[luciousleet]

Absolutely. I would just trash it altogether and get your GTX 570 or 6950 right away. The benefit that it would give you for PhysX is minimal and that only applies to like 3 real games anyway. Not worth the heat and power draw IMHO.

David is right on about everything else.

Ok then, I'll spend the $$$ saved by making the changes you guys suggested on a 6950, the GTX570 is too expensive over here

Sapphire 6950 (PCI-Express, GDDR5, 2GB) for 377$

The GTX570 cards range from 464$ to 476$

Is Sapphire a good brand?

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

You can buy a 2TB F4 spinpoint for $80 on Newegg. If wou want to throw some games and apps on the platter and want a bit of speed a 1TB F3 spinpoint can be had for $60 and will be faster than the 2TB WD.

A Sapphire 6950 should be $300 if we are talking US prices here.

 

[mnewsham]

You can buy a 2TB F4 spinpoint for $80 on Newegg. If wou want to throw some games and apps on the platter and want a bit of speed a 1TB F3 spinpoint can be had for $60 and will be faster than the 2TB WD.

A Sapphire 6950 should be $300 if we are talking US prices here.

Greek. Newegg prices aren't representative.

 

[Davidh373]

Sapphire is a fine brand. The 6950 is a great card as well.

 

[Doggiedog]

Get a Corsair PSU then. I have one in my rig and it's the only I've never had fail. I've been using it for 3 years and it's going into my new rig this week. I believe my Corsair 520HX is a rebranded Seasonic.

 

[mnewsham]

Get a Corsair PSU then. I have one in my rig and it's the only I've never had fail. I've been using it for 3 years and it's going into my new rig this week. I believe my Corsair 520HX is a rebranded Seasonic.

Most psu's are rebranded seasonics these days.

 

[mfenn]

Most good psu's are rebranded seasonics these days.

Fixed.

 

[mnewsham]

Fixed.

thanks

 

[luciousleet]

Ok, so I pulled the trigger, this is the build following the great advice, some parts were the only choice, overall I was able to pick most of the parts I wanted

Kingston 2GB DDR3 1333MHz [KVR1333D3N9/2G] 22.76x2=45.52€
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black SATA III [WD1002FAEX] 70.72€
Corsair 60GB Force Series 2.5¨ SATA II Bundled Desktop Kit [CSSD-F60GB2-BRKT] 108.93€
Corsair Builder Series CX500 [CMPSU-500CXEU] 53.65€
Asus Radeon HD 6950 2DI2S/2GD5 2GB [C3CHD0-S0UAY0YZ] 237.39€
Gigabyte P67A-UD3 116.25€
Intel Core i5-2500K [BX80623I52500K] 178.85€

Total: 811.31€
VAT 23%: 186.60€
Total (inc VAT): 997.91€

Multiply by 1.225 to convert from Euro to USD,
Prices here are roughly higher by 22% so the prices per part in € (exc VAT) are comparable to US prices in $ (inc VAT)
Finally I managed to fit in both the 6950 and a solid ssd, thanks again for helping me get the most out of my budget

 

[Davidh373]

Kingston 2GB DDR3 1333MHz [KVR1333D3N9/2G] 22.76x2=45.52€

umm, you're gonna want 4GB... dunno who would have told you 2 would be enough...

The rest looks good.

 

[fffblackmage]

umm, you're gonna want 4GB... dunno who would have told you 2 would be enough...

The rest looks good.

He got two of those. The build looks good overall.

 

[mfenn]

Looks good to me!