Building new gaming PC - advice

[lehtv]

@davel

Neither is in stock. ETA 4/4 for the green cable, TBD for the blue.

I wouldn't buy a right angle cable for Asrock Z68 Pro3. As you can see on the newegg photos, the SATA ports aren't very well placed. It's better when they're aligned with the motherboard length axis. Though it's a minor issue, a right angle cable would probably make bending the cable to the side even more awkward than it would be with a normal cable.

Not quite true. New spec calls for retention clips on new connectors.

You mean new SATA cables have retention clips on connectors due to SATA rev. 3 specification, but nothing stops you from using an older cable?

 

[davel]

Yeah I will go normal ones..only one they have is green..yuck but oh well..

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10226&cs_id=1022602&p_id=4544&seq=1&format=2

That should work I think...buy.com already shipped out SSD should be here thur...man they are fast. Good thing I jumped on that price back up to $155 today

 

[lehtv]

Why do you have to buy from monoprice.com...? newegg has SATA cables for $4 with free shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812123172

 

[davel]

Didn't think of it...so use to ordering monoprice for all my cables in the past whether HDMI or PS3 / Wii, last time I got the 2 new samsung drives I got the sata cables from there.

But that works out to the same price..and actually i need to order that mounting kit so may as well do it from all one place..thanks =)

 

[Topweasel]

You mean new SATA cables have retention clips on connectors due to SATA rev. 3 specification, but nothing stops you from using an older cable?

Correct. I was just notating that there have been some changes to the cable spec (like spacing of this internal wires, and the retention clip), but its all cosmetic. A 5 year old sata cable should work just as well as bought yesterday.

Edit:
Oh I figured where I went wrong. Excuse my grammar and half spoken setences. I meant to say the new new specs calls for retention clips on the connectors of new cables.

 

[mfenn]

You mean new SATA cables have retention clips on connectors due to SATA rev. 3 specification, but nothing stops you from using an older cable?

Actually it was revision 2, but yeah you are basically correct. I highly recommend throwing out any cables that don't have retention clips, they're just not worth the headache.

 

[davel]

So my SSD will be here along with new monitor...but GTX 680 still out of stock everywhere.


I am thinking at this point I just wait for Ivy bridge I just saw a leaked announcement that had prices and they were literally the same for Sandy Bridge

 

[azeem40]

So my SSD will be here along with new monitor...but GTX 680 still out of stock everywhere.


I am thinking at this point I just wait for Ivy bridge I just saw a leaked announcement that had prices and they were literally the same for Sandy Bridge

You're lucky you have that kind of patience. 😛

 

[davel]

I dont really have patience..been waiting since 2008 to upgrade LOL

if i can get the gtx680 today then i would get sandy..otherwise dont want to buy it and have it sitting here that long.

On another note I got my ssd drive today from buy.com...wow they shipped it with the worst packaging I ever seen. I hope the drive still works, I think if this was a traditional drive it would be dead...but i heard SSD are a lot more durable

 

[mfenn]

if i can get the gtx680 today then i would get sandy..otherwise dont want to buy it and have it sitting here that long.

You can just pop your Core 216 in the new system while you wait. Changing video cards, especially Nvidia-to-Nvidia is far less disruptive than say, adding an SSD.

 

[davel]

I wanted to let you know guys I finally built my system this is my final build total cost with shipping and everything was $1475, I got some good deals with cpu/mobo/ram with sales. Thanks everyone for the guidance.

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H
Intel i5-3570k
Thermalright True Spirit 120
G.Skill 16 GB Ram DDR3-1600 4x4
EVGA GTX 680 SC
Crucial M4 128 GB SSD
2x Samsung 1 TB Spinpoint 7200 RPM SATA HD103SJ
WD SE16 7200 RPM SATA 640 GB
SAMSUNG 22X SATA DVD Burner
CORSAIR 750TX PSU
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K7B
Asus 25 inch VE258Q
Win7x64


So far this system totally rocks and had no issues and been solid stable but only been a week, I was playing BF3 last night @ 1080P with every setting on Ultra and maxed, and was smooth, no stutter, looked phenomenal. I got anywhere around 75-98 FPS while playing online.


With this build a few things I realized I will do in the future, buy a much better case, the case I had was easy to put together 4 years ago when I had no aftermarket cooler, and I did not realize the mobo I had was a bit smaller then the standard ATX that the one I have now. It was really difficult to install since I could not use removable motherboard tray with the cooler I bought. also the SATA cables are all facing towards the right and extremely close to the hard drive cage. It was really difficult to plug them in.

Second thing I will do when I need a new power supply is buy a modular one. The PS I have is great in terms of stable and giving me what I need, but just way too many cables.

If I took a pic of my case you guys would laugh, I just don't know what to with the cables.


The last thing I would have done is get a bigger SSD drive, I am already down to 73 GB left, with just Win 7, bf3/batman 2

But I can save for all this overtime and maybe end of year holiday can get a better case/ new psu and the way prices of SSD dropping maybe get a bigger one to add.




So I did have one more final question, this ud5h mobo supposedly has a very good sound chipset on it. The Realtek ALC898 and also came with Creative XF-I software.


Right now I realized I have crappy speakers, just a left and right, that is probably 10 years old and gets crackling every once in a while, and a standard headset with mic, nothing special.

I really cannot setup any of these 5.1/7.1 speakers, I have no where to put the back ones where I sit, so I was thinking of getting a really good headset.

I was looking at this one

Corsair Vengeance 1500

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...corsair%201500

It got a lot of great reviews, but I realized it uses its own audio sound chip built in, which would defeat the purpose of having great audio on the motherboard.

Should I go ahead and get this anyway? Or is there better headphones that will use the sound on my motherboard instead and maybe not be as expensive.

 

[mfenn]

The last thing I would have done is get a bigger SSD drive, I am already down to 73 GB left, with just Win 7, bf3/batman 2

73 GB is over half the drive remaining, so don't get worried yet. You should also decrease the size of the page file and turn off hibernation to get a lot of space back.

 

[davel]

73 GB is over half the drive remaining, so don't get worried yet. You should also decrease the size of the page file and turn off hibernation to get a lot of space back.

Yeah I did that, I followed someone guide @ I think overclocking forum to install Win 7 optimally on an SSD

When I first installed win 7 and after all the drivers, I was down to 109 GB free, so Win 7 only used about 11 GB install which is not bad.

I just I like seeing bigger numbers...LOL

All my other apps I have been installing to my other HDD, to save space.