Advices needed for a new pc

[Flying Wolf]

Hi everyone!

First of all, I'm Italian, so I apologize in advance for every and any mistake I might make in writing this post.

That said, after almost 7 years I decided to assemble a new pc and, as you can imagine, after such a long time I need advices.

The pc will be used mainly for gaming, although I also do some 2D and 3D graphics, photo and video editing, transcoding and so on.

I do not have brand preferences, and I won't use any current parts; max budget is € 2,000, and I want to buy ASAP.

I plan to do some overclocking, but not right away, only in a few months (or a year or so), and I might want to add a second VC (I'm thinking of a mid-life update with Ivy Bridge and a crossfire or SLI). Resolution for playing will be 1920x1080, I doubt I'll ever play above that.

One essential thing: I'd like this new system to last as long as possible; in other words, it has to allow me to play games (even if not at ultra-high quality with future games) for at least the next 4 years.

The current configuration: I'm going to buy from this shop, so, if possible, I'd like you to refer to HW that is sold in there.

CPU: Intel i7-2600k
MB: ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen 3
PSU: Enermax EMG900EWT MODU 87+ 900W
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile CML16GX3M4A1600C9B, 16 GB
SSD Corsair Force GT 120GB 2.5" SATA3 CSSD-F120GBGT-BK
HDD Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" Intellipower 64MB SATA3
Monitor: Lcd 24" Asus VK246H FullHD 2000:1 300cd/m² 2ms speakers Webcam VGA DVI-D USB HDMI Nero

My doubts:

SSDs: last time I built a pc, they weren't around. Now, I know that performance-wise, an SSD is the obvious choice, but, aside from the inherent problems of this technology (talking about the read/write limitation), reading on the web I saw that there are a lot of other troubles (Sandforce bugs, Crucial BSOD and so on). I want to have a stable system and no trouble, especially with the OS drive, so I'm wondering: is it better to buy a Velociraptor, or to take my chances with an SSD? And, in this latter case, which one? Beside the Corsair I listed above, what would you pick?

Case: I don't have a lot of room, so I'll stick with a mid tower; that said, the problem is, once again, which one? I'm looking for an enclosure that will give me the best compromise between cooling and lack of noise, ease of assembling, lot of room for new components to add. The candidates are: CM 690 II Advanced, CM HAF 922, CM Storm Scout, Corsair Carbide 500R, Corsair 650D (this one as last option, it's more expensive of the others).

Video card: Since it's on the market, I'll go with the Radeon HD 7970; the shop from which I'm going to buy just put 2 models on sale, today, a Powercolor and an XFX (both just reference models). Unfortunately, I'm afraid the shop have only a handful of them, so, as "backup plan", I still thinking about a GTX 580 to buy; as before, which one would you pick? I saw the the Gigabyte Super Over Clock or the MSI N580GTX TwinFrozr II/OC, but I'm open to suggestions.

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for your time and advices!

 

[PhoenixEnigma]

I do not have brand preferences, and I won't use any current parts; max budget is € 2,000, and I want to buy ASAP.

...

One essential thing: I'd like this new system to last as long as possible; in other words, it has to allow me to play games (even if not at ultra-high quality with future games) for at least the next 4 years.

Best way to do that is going to be to take half (or a third, maybe) of your budget, stick it in the bank for 2 years or so, let Moore's Law work its magic, and upgrade.

i5-2500k, 6950, 8GB RAM, ~600W PSU, cheaper motherboard. It'll play whatever you want at 1080 quite well indeed. Pocket the difference, and spend it in a couple years to get back to the latest and greatest. You'll get far, far more bang for your buck.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2192841
go there

 

[Flying Wolf]

Ok, I see your point: basically, I'm overkilling. I'll think about it, I like to have a lot of raw power just for the sake of it, but I'm no fool either: if I can have the same results with less money...

How about the cases and the disks? I do need some specific hint for them!

 

[mfenn]

Best way to do that is going to be to take half (or a third, maybe) of your budget, stick it in the bank for 2 years or so, let Moore's Law work its magic, and upgrade.

i5-2500k, 6950, 8GB RAM, ~600W PSU, cheaper motherboard. It'll play whatever you want at 1080 quite well indeed. Pocket the difference, and spend it in a couple years to get back to the latest and greatest. You'll get far, far more bang for your buck.

Agree 100%. A wise man (*cough* Ken g6 *cough*) once said that the only way to future proof yourself was to save money to spend on future products.

 

[mfenn]

How about the cases and the disks? I do need some specific hint for them!

For a case, I would go with a Corsair 400R or Fractal Design R3. Pick whichever one has a more pleasing aesthetic.

For the SSD, I would go with the Crucial M4 or Samsung 830. Sandforce drives have a whole litany of issues behind them.

 

[Flying Wolf]

For the SSD, I would go with the Crucial M4 or Samsung 830. Sandforce drives have a whole litany of issues behind them.

Since I'd like to avoid any issue with the HD, especially the one I will be using for the OS and programs, is it a good idea to stick with a HDD (a Velociraptor, specifically), or is it anyway better to buy an SSD? From a pure gaming POV is there a big difference?

 

[mfenn]

From a purely gaming perspective, you should get a normal 7200 RPM drive. The Velociraptor is barely faster than a current generation drive like the 7K1000.D and so is not worth the money.

 

[Flying Wolf]

is it a good idea to stick with a HDD, or is it anyway better to buy an SSD?

How about this part of the question, mfenn? Better to stick with traditional HD, or the SSDs are worth the possible troubles I might have?

And one last question, about the video card: better to buy a reference HD 7970 or a custom GTX 580? And, for the 7970, which AMD partner makes the better cards, Powercolor or XFX?

Thanks again for your time and patience!

 

[fffblackmage]

It's definitely nice to have an SSD anyways, but it's not necessary for gaming. Most games don't benefit from one, other than loading times, but there are just a handful that does some loading while you're in-game, like Fallout3, WoW, Oblivion... and I'm not sure if Skyrim is one of them.

If the 7970 is a reference card, then I don't think the brand matters (because they're all the same, it's reference...), other than warranty.

 

[mfenn]

How about this part of the question, mfenn? Better to stick with traditional HD, or the SSDs are worth the possible troubles I might have?

I don't think that you will have any issues and SSDs are amazing for improving the general responsiveness of the PC. They don't do much for gaming however.

And one last question, about the video card: better to buy a reference HD 7970 or a custom GTX 580? And, for the 7970, which AMD partner makes the better cards, Powercolor or XFX?

Neither, they are both wastes of money. So are the CPU, mobo, PSU, and RAM that you are planning to buy. See the first reply for more details.

 

[Flying Wolf]

Again, I see what you guys mean, but I'm afraid I'm more of a "hotrod" kind of guy! I'll stick with the CPU, Mobo and GPU I chose.

I did make some changes (RAM, PSU, disks) after talking to you guys, though, so thank you all for your advices, you helped me clear my mind!

 

[mfenn]

Your money to burn I guess. Enjoy the good feeling you get knowing that you paid twice as much for a mobo that gives you no benefit.