Gaming Computer

Lightflash

Senior member
Oct 12, 2010
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1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
I will mostly be using the computer for gaming, I play Wow, SC2, and occasionally new FPS or RTS games.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Between $1,500 to $2,000 is the maximum budget.

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

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.
I have switched to basically whatever is going to get me the most performance/price.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I will be using keeping my 3007 Dell monitor, my sound card, and most likely my BFG 850w PS (AFAIK). I also have an Antec 900 case that might be kept, but I might want a bigger case that is easier to install and remove parts if something happens. Also have 1TB HDD that I would use with a new SSD (would like to have enough space for my Win7 and the main games I play).

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
I have looked around at many different sites and tried to figure out what to do, but nothing really seemed to be what I was looking for in a build.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Either would be fine with me, although I have not really done a lot of overclocking.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
Native 3007 resolution is 2560x1600 so I am planning on using it for most of the time.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Trying to wait until the 3rd generation SSDs, Sandy Bridge, and AMD 6xxx GPU series comes out, but if the deals are nice I could stop the waiting game.

Any help would be appreciated, just cannot decide on what I should get and thought others could give me some ideas.
 

Lightflash

Senior member
Oct 12, 2010
274
0
71
I would keep your PSU, case, and HDD. I also presume that you have an DVD drive worth saving So really, all you need is a CPU, mobo, RAM, GPU, and SSD. With that in mind, do you still want to spend $1500? You'll need a 120GB SSD if you want to fit Windows, WoW, and SC2 on it and maintain some breathing room.

i5 760 + GTX 480 combo $609 AR
GA-P55-USB3 $105
G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB $140
Vertex 2 120GB $230
Total $1084 AR

Yeah forgot to mention that I have a DVD drive that I will retaining. The higher budget range is just due to having been able to save up right now and wanting to open up more options.
 

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
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www.mfenn.com
Yeah forgot to mention that I have a DVD drive that I will retaining. The higher budget range is just due to having been able to save up right now and wanting to open up more options.

I mentioned the budget because while you could certainly spend more money, I'm skeptical of the extra value that you'd get over a GTX 480 + i5 760 setup.
 
Nov 26, 2005
15,197
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What is the difference between the 100 vs 120 Gb Vertex 2 SSD?

From what I vaguely remember researching, the conclusion I came to was that the 100g uses newer technology... I came to this when I was searching for my FW on the OCZ sight. I noticed a discrepancy with what FW went with my Vertex 100g LE when looking for FW for my Vertex 2, because I noticed the FW for the Vertex 2 100g didn't go with my LE. I even took a screen shot of the description and sent it to one of the admins and they changed the description within 30 minutes. Sounds like nothing wrong, right? Well it said FW update for ... Vertex LE... then it went on to say for drives with P/N OCZSSD2 -2xxxxx NOT OCZSSD2 - 1xxxxx Well even though the Vertex LE was listed, the part number of my LE was OCZSSD2 - 1xxxx ; which i think killed the drive. So the PN that is OCZSSD2 - 1xxxxx must be an older model and the 120g Vertex 2 uses this P/N - the 100g Vertex 2 uses OCZSSD2 - 2xxxxx
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
What is the difference between the 100 vs 120 Gb Vertex 2 SSD?

From what I vaguely remember researching, the conclusion I came to was that the 100g uses newer technology... I came to this when I was searching for my FW on the OCZ sight. I noticed a discrepancy with what FW went with my Vertex 100g LE when looking for FW for my Vertex 2, because I noticed the FW for the Vertex 2 100g didn't go with my LE. I even took a screen shot of the description and sent it to one of the admins and they changed the description within 30 minutes. Sounds like nothing wrong, right? Well it said FW update for ... Vertex LE... then it went on to say for drives with P/N OCZSSD2 -2xxxxx NOT OCZSSD2 - 1xxxxx Well even though the Vertex LE was listed, the part number of my LE was OCZSSD2 - 1xxxx ; which i think killed the drive. So the PN that is OCZSSD2 - 1xxxxx must be an older model and the 120g Vertex 2 uses this P/N - the 100g Vertex 2 uses OCZSSD2 - 2xxxxx

Actually, no the 120GB version is newer, though the only difference between the drives is the firmware. They have the same amount of flash onboard. The original Sandforce drives had quite a lot of spare area available, and over time they determined that that amount wasn't really necessary. Thus the release of 120GB drives.
 
Nov 26, 2005
15,197
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I'm not arguing this, i'm just stating this for thought.

While what you say makes sense, the P/N for the Vertex 2 100g (vs the Vertex 2 120g) chronologically uses the number 2 for the second part of the part number. Thus the logical thing would be it's a newer "sauce". I wouldn't put it past any company using up old stock as marketed like a new product to get rid of the over-stock of the older hardware. It's evident in other major component manufacturers. I would be suspicios of those Vertex 2 120 SSD drives using the OCZSSD2 - 1xxxxx part number. Yet on the other coin what you say would contradict my thoughts on the OCZSSD2 2xxxxx Vertex 2 100g being that it only uses 100g and saves the extra for garbage collection process. It's all interesting :)