Building new gaming PC - advice

[davel]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Mostly Gaming - BF3, SWTOR, Skyrim for example.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$1500

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

US

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Intel for the most part never bought AMD

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

*
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K7B - will keep
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
OCZ Platinum 4GB DDR2 1066
XFX GTX 260 OC
WD SE16 7200 RPM SATA 640 GB - will keep
Samsung 1 TB Spinpoint 7200 RPM 32MB Cache (have two of them) - will keep
SAMSUNG 22X SATA DVD Burner - will keep
CORSAIR 750TX PSU - want to keep
Samsung 20 inch LCD 1680x1050 - replacing with Asus 25 inch





7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

A little but not a hardcore overclocker.

8. What resolution will you be using?

1920x1080

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.

*

Very soon, within 2-4 weeks.

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

No





I do want to get a GTX 680, and hoping to max out settings on BF3 if possible with just the one monitor. I am really unsure of which motherboard / cpu / SSD / ram.


Thanks

 

[TheAdvocate]

i5 2500k
CM Hyper 212+
8 GB GSkill
Z68 mobo of your choice
GTX680

With that much of a budget, this is easy. You likely will be under $1k unless you overkill the mobo. Personally, I'd pick your favorite Asus offering and move on.

That will be a beast of a machine on single monitor gaming. You can expect an OC to about 4.5GHz on the CPU, using Asus' wonderfully easy BIOS.

 

[lehtv]

You're keeping a lot of components, which is good, but it means you really don't need to spend that much to get excellent 1080p performance.

2500K $220 + Hyper 212+ $20 AR
Asrock Z68 Pro3 Gen3 $105
Mushkin 2x4GB DDR3 1600 $45
GTX 680 $500

Optionally, add an SSD to your system to speed up general use and loading times:

Crucial M4 128GB $165 or Samsung 830 128GB $180

Total = $900 without the SSD

 

[davel]

Thanks guys!

I never heard of Asrock, I guess for mobo, which one is the most stable and very easy to install? I guess I need one that has room for the Hyper 212 or should say enough clearance, I never installed an aftermarket cooler so not sure how difficult? Also should I get the extra fan for that 212?


I read some of the newegg reviews on some of the asus boards, and hard to tell, mix of negative with positive.

 

[lehtv]

Any mobo will have clearance for 212+, and the RAM is low enough profile that it'll fit in fine with 212+ as well. You won't need an extra fan for the 212+.

The Asrock board is great price/performance, and as far as I can tell it's just as stable as Asus boards. Asus P8Z68-V LE (the closest thing they have to Asrock Pro3) boasts 1 year longer warranty though.

 

[TheAdvocate]

asrock is related to Asus (budget brand). It uses a similar bios. Thats a great board that lehtv linked. His recommendations are all solid, though I find he pinches pennies harder than I would.

That issue with the 212 and other coolers is height. I couldnt use a 212 in my Silverstone case (HTPC case). It'll fit fine in most tower cases.

For your GTX 680. I'd seriously consider the EVGA card. They have a great warranty/exchange program and those are all reference cards, so no benefit going with another brand.

 

[davel]

Thanks all...yeah I wanted to go EVGA...waiting for newegg to get more in.

I think I will order all at once to save on shipping

 

[lehtv]

asrock is related to Asus (budget brand). It uses a similar bios. Thats a great board that lehtv linked. His recommendations are all solid, though I find he pinches pennies harder than I would.

Yeah, true. It makes sense to me though to seek the most economical solution. I do also recommend parts that don't have the best price/performance - GTX 680, for instance. 7870 is slightly better bang for buck but 680 will better achieve what the OP aims for and his budget is big. And with regard to the motherboard, the only thing the Asus board provides is 1 more year of warranty, as the OP's case can't take advantage of the internal USB3.0 ports (which Asrock lacks). Given the small difference in cost, he'd be fine with either; I just choose to recommend the less expensive alternative.

I didn't take SLI into account though as 680 is such a strong card for 1080p. But maybe the OP will want to pursue that some day and would like it as an option (his PSU already supports GTX 680 SLI). For SLI: Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 $135 AR (same price as the single-GPU Asus P8Z68-V LE)

For your GTX 680. I'd seriously consider the EVGA card. They have a great warranty/exchange program and those are all reference cards, so no benefit going with another brand.

Agreed. Since the cards are all reference-cooled at this point, EVGA is pretty much the only right choice.

 

[davel]

To be honest I never considered SLI, maybe it has gotten a lot better now, but I remember a few years back, I always read about issues with SLI with certain games.

I figured it might be better to just upgrade the video card itself instead of adding another one. Then again since only using one monitor figured one should be good.

It is nice to have that option I guess.


I was not even thinking about my case not supporting USB 3.0, good point..then again i hardly use USB, not saying it would be great but the times I use it that is not a big deal.

 

[Smoblikat]

I5 2500K
CM 212 EVO
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
GTX 560Ti/HD6870

 

[mfenn]

You're keeping a lot of components, which is good, but it means you really don't need to spend that much to get excellent 1080p performance.

2500K $220 + Hyper 212+ $20 AR
Asrock Z68 Pro3 Gen3 $105
Mushkin 2x4GB DDR3 1600 $45
GTX 680 $500

Optionally, add an SSD to your system to speed up general use and loading times:

Crucial M4 128GB $165 or Samsung 830 128GB $180

Total = $900 without the SSD

:thumbsup: Looks good to me. I highly recommend getting the SSD, it will make more of a difference in general usage than the i5 2500K will.

 

[davel]

Well I ordered my Asus monitor since went on sale want to get the rest of build once gtx 680 comes back in stock. Hopefully very soon.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[nsafreak]

Sounds like a solid build from what everybody's proposed and what you're going with. I'm going to push even harder that you get an SSD. I purchased an OCZ Agility 3 for my old system (Core 2 Duo) to speed it up a bit and it definitely helped with load times and making the system as a whole feel a bit snappier. I didn't really get a chance to truly unleash it though until I put it with a new SATA 6Gbps capable system and it's even faster now. It's one of those components that really help improve your overall experience in a pretty big way.

 

[davel]

Thanks for advice.

I definitely plan on getting an SSD just for all the reasons stated..

I am just trying to figure out which one to get.

I read there are some issues with Intel ones? My biggest thing when buying any piece of hardware whether it be the mobo or SSD, is i rather sacrifice a little performance for more stability.


This system I currently have had for 4 years now has been rock solid stable. I think the gtx 260 card died in first 2 months, but got an easy replacement and other then that have not had any BSOD, or stability issues.

It is also why I keep going back and forth mobo, reading reviews on newegg it seems like it pot luck if you get a mobo that will not have boot loops / or other issues.

 

[lehtv]

Either of the SSD's I recommended is fast and very reliable. You won't be sacrificing speed there, and you'll still get top reliability.

 

[davel]

Yeah may as well get the crucial cheaper one i was looking at comments in newegg and says it does not come with a mounting bracket, do you know where I would get one? I think I need one

 

[lehtv]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817997013

 

[slpnshot]

You can also velcro the SSD to your case if you don't mind putting an adhesive attachment to your SSD(in case of reselling, etc).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there shouldn't be any issue with the velcro attachment to the stability/longevity of your SSD.

 

[davel]

Does anyone know if the SSD will work with my current Mobo? GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L

I know I have Sata ports but not sure if it the right ones,

I see it on sale here at buy.com for $139.99 plus free shipping..

http://www.buy.com/prod/crucial-128g...221150373.html

The reason I ask is I don't want to by it now and have it just sitting in box for 30 days until I get the rest of my part in case it has to be RMA, so figured I install just to test?

 

[lehtv]

It doesn't affect compatibility whether the port is SATA 1.5gb/s, 3.0gb/s or 6.0gb/s; that's just the available bandwidth. The SSD would work in your 3gb/s port, but it wouldn't be quite as fast as in a SATA 6gb/s port.

 

[davel]

Oh OK great will order when I get home.

Hopefully still in stock by the time I do get home.



Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[davel]

Cool I just ordered it got for $129.99 for being a first time customer, not a bad price, saved about $30 from newegg.

One question I realized, when I put together my new system and get the new mobo, should I buy all brand new Sata 6gb cables? Or only need to plug the SSD into a 6 GB channel?

I am really not sure if my original hard drives, the samsung and WD will take advantage?

 

[lehtv]

All SATA revisions use the same cables. If your existing hard drives are SATA II they will be limited to 3gb/s in a SATA III port. But a hard drive designed for SATA III will show little penalty in speed if connected to a 3gb/s port because hard drives just don't achieve high enough transfer speeds to actually saturate the SATA II bandwidth. So you won't need to plug the hard drives in 6gb/s ports.

 

[davel]

Sorry for all the questions..so i need to order at least 1 SATA cable for the SSD

Any reason to get this cable over the other?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10226&cs_id=1022602&p_id=8789&seq=1&format=2

this one says 90 - 180 degree

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10226&cs_id=1022602&p_id=2853&seq=1&format=2

Is one better then other or really doesn't matter? I dont remember exactly what I got i think it just straight cables with my 3 drives

 

[Topweasel]

All SATA revisions use the same cables. If your existing hard drives are SATA II they will be limited to 3gb/s in a SATA III port. But a hard drive designed for SATA III will show little penalty in speed if connected to a 3gb/s port because hard drives just don't achieve high enough transfer speeds to actually saturate the SATA II bandwidth. So you won't need to plug the hard drives in 6gb/s ports.

Not quite true. New spec calls for retention clips on new connectors. Electronically they are all the same (though I noticed new cables with my mobo were wider then then the original cables I had for my old system, but I think they are doing for noise sake by moving the wires farther apart.)