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Gaming Desktop - What should I go for now?

S

Sdg

Junior Member
Currently I am trying to build a great gaming PC, the only things I bought so far are I7 3.4 ghz 2600k processor, and crosair 8gb ram 2000mhz.

I would really like your guys input on what parts I should go far and what mix well together so I can avoid any issues. I have been thinking of going for dual nvidia geforce gtx 580, and as for SSD I was thinking intel sata 3 120gb. As for mother board, HDD, power supply, and whatever is left I have no idea... (not really a tech guy 😛)

So im trying to go for a beast gaming pc... I would really appreciate your input, for the parts that are left I am willing to go up to another $1000-$1200.
 
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* Have you ever built a PC from the ground up before?
* Do you have any friends close that can assist in assembling the components?
* I would have advised you to buy memory rated at 1.5v or lower.
* Have you read through similar threads on building a gaming PC?
 
I would recommend returning that 2600K and replacing it with the cheaper 2500K, there is really no appreciable difference between those two in gaming. I would also return the 2000Mhz memory and just get 1333-1600MHz CL9 1.5V. Sandy Bridge doesn't noticeably benefit from fast memory.

Put the money saved towards your GPU setup, for instance.
 
Try www.xtremesystems.org for good build ideas. My buildlog is there too.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?248797-Project-Blue-on-Black

I would use this for the power supply:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139014

I'd probably go with this for the gpu, assuming water cooled system.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130601

Maybe something like this for the motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131700

And this for the case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112244

A good web site for custom builds and water cooling is:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php

I've had good results with ordering parts from them, and they've been helpful on the phone, too. You could consider one of their "all-in-one" water cooling setups, especially if this is your first build. Maybe something like one of these:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...782fc0a4f9ddd2

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=30737

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=30738

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=26505
 
lehtv said:
I would recommend returning that 2600K and replacing it with the cheaper 2500K, there is really no appreciable difference between those two in gaming. I would also return the 2000Mhz memory and just get 1333-1600MHz CL9 1.5V. Sandy Bridge doesn't noticeably benefit from fast memory.

Put the money saved towards your GPU setup, for instance.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't return either of those, I'd keep the 2600K and the 2000MHz Corsair Dominator. If you're going for the "ultimate high end rig", then stick with the best.

HOWEVER... if budget is an issue, then yes, spend your budget on gpu first, ssd second, cpu third, power supply fourth, motherboard fifth, and memory sixth.
 
He's not building an "ultimate high end rig". He's building a high-midrange gaming desktop with a budget of $1000-$1200 in addition to the parts he's bought. His budget isn't unlimited. 2600K is a waste of money for gaming, but if he actually used hyperthreading on a daily basis (i.e., not gaming), it could be justified spending that $100 on the CPU instead of a better GPU setup. The fast RAM is a waste of money whether it's for gaming or not.

Also, these should be answered http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=80121
 
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thanks for the response guys, as for assembling the pc an experienced friend who does this on daily basis will be assembling it for me, as for my $1000-1200 budget, this does not include SSD and videos card (as for video card brand i prefer nvidia)
 
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What resolution are you gaming at?

And the i7-2600K and 2000MHz ram is pretty much just a waste of money. You'd be getting 95% of the gaming performance from a simple i5-2500K and 1333MHz/1600MHz ram for only 2/3 of the price - or half, for the ram.

Anandtech article - Sandy Bridge Memory Scaling: Choosing the Best DDR3
There wasn't even at least 1fps difference from the slowest 1333MHz memory to the fastest 2133MHz memory in the gaming benchmarks.



lehtv said:
aphelion02 said:
Return the dominators and get 16gb of 1333 ram instead.
Click to expand...
8GB is more than enough for all games out now, and will probably be enough for a long time.
Click to expand...
For the price of those Dominators... he could very well get 16GB of plain vanilla ram, and that sounds more useful than 8GB of faster ram.
 
fffblackmage said:
For the price of those Dominators... he could very well get 16GB of plain vanilla ram, and that sounds more useful than 8GB of faster ram.
Click to expand...
Why does he need to pay the same price as for the Dominators? The whole point of my recommendation to return them was that he could put the money on something useful. 16GB for gaming isn't useful
 
Bolas said:
Try www.xtremesystems.org for good build ideas. My buildlog is there too.
... lots of expensive parts ...
Click to expand...

Uhh, did you check the OP? His budget is $1000-1200.

I'm gonna have to agree with the rest of the old GH hands on this one. Return that CPU and RAM, they're dead weight budget-wise that can be better spent on other things.

OP, two things that you should definitely do are update this thread with the answers to the questions in the sticky as lehtv suggested (saves us from having to play 20 questions) and check out the midrange builder's guide (shameless plug :awe🙂.
 
lehtv said:
Why does he need to pay the same price as for the Dominators? The whole point of my recommendation to return them was that he could put the money on something useful. 16GB for gaming isn't useful
Click to expand...
Yeah, but it just sounded like OP wanted to spend money.
 
BTRY B 529th FA BN said:
The main things I would invest in for a gaming machine are the CPU, the Vid card, and the input devices, and the rest is according to variables.
Click to expand...

Reality is you would invest more all around if building from ground and you plan on gaming on it for a while. PSU will go to next build if its solid. Mobo will be kept until next socket upgrade and will see lots of different cpus and gfx cards.

HTC Evo 4G | Deck AOSP 2.3.7 | Tiamat 4.0.5-sbc
 
Not really. $950 + $100 + $200 + $60 ~ $1300. If you go for the cheapest 580's and the bare minimum PSU then maybe
 
Pantalaimon said:
Is $1000-$1200 enough for 2 GTX580s + case + power + hard drive?
Click to expand...

You should be able to squeak all of that into $1200. However, you're still missing a motherboard, optical drive, and SSD. You also need to consider the monitor. Buying all of that without at least having a 2560x1440 screen is beyond silly IMHO. That's another $1000 on top of the $1200 you mentioned.

I would strongly consider that you think long and hard before dropping $900 on video cards (or $3000 on a gaming rig). You realize that that you're basically $1800 of your total budget to get that last 15% of performance?
 
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