Need a little help looking at a Cyberpower PC.

[Redkinn]

Here is the load out:

• BLUETOOTH:None

• CAS:Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid-Tower Gaming Case [+33]

• CASUPGRADE:None

• CD:Sony 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive [+4] (BLACK COLOR)

• COOLANT:Standard Coolant

• CPU:Intel® Core™ i5-3570 3.40 GHz 6MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 [+16]

• CS_FAN:Maximum 120MM Case Cooling Fans for your selected case [+9]

• FAN:Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) (Single Standard 120MM Fan)

• FREEBIE_CU1:FREE! Tribes: Ascend Promo Pack ($60 value) [+0]

• HDD:2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+0] (Single Drive)

• IUSB:Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

• MB_SRT:None

• MEMORY:8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory [+3] (Corsair XMS with Heat Spreader)

• MOTHERBOARD:* [CrossFireX] GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H Intel Z77 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ IRST, Lucid Virtu MVP, Ultra Durable4 Classic, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, 2x Gen3 PCIe x16, 3x PCIe x1 & 2 PCI (Extreme OC Certified)

• MOUSE:AZZA Optical 1600dpi Gaming Mouse with Weight Adjustable Cartridge

• NETWORK:Onboard Gigabit LAN Network

• POWERSUPPLY:750 Watts - Thermaltake Smart Series SP-750M 80 Plus Bronze Modular Power Supply [+69]

• SERVICE:STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

• SOUND:HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

• VIDEO:NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card [+374] (EVGA FTW [+10])

WNC:None

_PRICE+1217)

_view_:{A46E1BDA-FCF4-452F-9564-D49D4CBEA3FE}

While I REALLY appreciate any and all suggestions here are my criteria/question:

I do not want to assemble a computer myself (variety of reasons, mostly that I'm tired after assembling a few already, and finding that I suck at cables, it takes forever, and I'm super busy recently and can't afford the 3-5 months to find the best/cheapest parts).

I have two places where I'm torn: Liquid Cooling vs Cooler Master V6 GT CPU Cooler And GeForce GTS 670 EVGA FTW 2GB vs Radeon 7970 3GB (Radeon $23 more but thats a joke at this point).

I will run only 1 card, and unlikely to run over 1900x1200 resolution (even if I find a good monitor that handles more, it will still be a 1 monitor set up).

I need a computer to game for the next 3-5 years or so (I'm okay at high/medium settings, but my current Gateway laptop with a GeForce 9800 GTS no longer does the job). Thanks guys!

 

[DaveSimmons]

FYI, for the GTX 670 a good 600 watt PSU is enough, I use a Seasonic X-650 for my GTX 680.

You don't need to pay extra for liquid cooling for an intel CPU, unless you plan to try to massively overclock it. There isn't any reason to do that for playing current and near future games. Even then a big air-cooled heatsink should be fine.

2 GB video RAM is all you need for 1900x1200.

I'm happy with my GTX 680, so I'll recommend the 670 to you. It's almost as fast and is $100 less. The GTX is actually pretty quiet even while gaming, much better than my old Radeon 4870.

The Radeon uses a lot more power, and unless you get a special version with custom cooler it's also louder than the 670 and 680.

The biggest improvement you could make is adding a SSD drive (Crucial M4 and Samsung 830 are good). Ideally one big enough for Windows and some games -- 120/128 MB is enough if you don't mind keeping fewer Steam games installed at once. It will speed up Windows boot, and the load time for areas or levels.

 

[Redkinn]

Right.

They have a 650 Watts - Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2 80 Plus Power Supply for like $8 less after rebate. (figure $8 more...may as well for the future)

And its $23 extra bucks for the 7970 which made it hard. (its literally only $23 more)

The liquid cooling is actually "free" ie their cheapest variant that's why I kept it after reading that theirs is usually hassle free.

I can plug in an SSD myself, and Techbargains usually has better deals than them so I kept it simple with the cheapest hard drive options.

Thank you for the prompt response.

PS: I can also get GTX 570 1.2GB 16X PCIe Video Card MSI Twin Frozr II OC 750 Mhz Powered by NVIDIA for $200 less, and just upgrade it later when it becomes not enough and get a new card.

 

[EliteRetard]

One potential option, buy the system without GPU. This system has an IGP so it will function without for temporary. AMD just reduced the prices of their video cards so you can get a 7970 retail for under $400 and 7950 $300. I configured a system exactly like yours without the OS/GPU and the price was $750 (you did opt for the K CPU yes?). Its stupid easy to add your own card, 15 minutes with driver install. You'd save $100 adding your own 7970, and doing a 7950 would save you $200.

That $200 or so could get you a nice ~250GB SSD (M4 or 830 as suggested) and the free 2TB should have you totally set in the storage department.

As for the cooler, I think the Asetek 510 is OK (they make the Corsair units). Not great, but they work well enough and haven't been to problematic. The main advantage though is the reduced weight on the MOBO so there's less chance of it breaking something or jostling loose during shipping. If you wanted an air cooler, I would recommend the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO...one of the best bang for the buck out there (I think the best option they offer for air).

 

[Redkinn]

Is there any benefit to the K CPU?

I'm veeeeery unlikely to OC , so from what I saw on benches it worked worse than the regular?

 

[EliteRetard]

Both versions are the same, except the K version has a better IGP and is fully unlocked. The K will always be as good or better than the regular non K...never worse. Normally people recommend the K version because the price difference isn't that high and there's those few benefits as well as a higher resale value. But...

You can in fact still overclock with a non K chip (its much more limited), so if your really not planning to OC or sell the chip in a few years then maybe the non K will be fine for you. In the case of the 3570 the non K should max at 4.2GHz while the K can theoretically go to 6.3GHz (not sure if anybody has ever gone that far).

Its pretty simple to get basic overclocks with these chips (change the multi from 38 to 42 [or more]), so either way you go I think its worth a try...free performance is good.

Imagine there were only 2 car manufacturers, Intel and AMD. Intel is like 10 times the size of AMD and has tons of money and fancy factories...they have developed a series of cars that are faster than anything AMD has and they charge a premium for them. But they have no other competition, so they choose not to make the cars as fast as they really can. It saves them money, and allows them room to grow for future products. But they realize that there are a few people out there who really want something faster...for those few people Intel decided to put a button inside the engine bay that adds 10-20% more power (1-2% less gas mileage).

They don't really advertise this function...its just there to keep the enthusiasts happy and to encourage them to buy the most expensive models (since the cheaper ones don't have this button). If you were an average Joe and didn't know about this it wouldn't bother you at all (since your car is already as good or better than the competition)...but if you had one of these fancy models and just found out about the button you probably would go ahead and press it wouldn't you?

That's pretty much how it is with overclocking nowadays. Some people can go crazy with it, and it'd be like buying performance kits (K model) and tuner parts (fancy MOBOs cooling ect) for your car...you don't need to go that far, but its worth taking the free performance that's there.

 

[Redkinn]

was a duplicate

 

[Redkinn]

Does anyone have experience with Cyberpower can tell me if:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card EVGA FTW

VS

AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card Major Brand Powered by AMD ($23 more expensive)

Is worth it?

I actually got a 2560x1440 display with a DVI Dual-Link.

My main question is the "Major Brand" on the card.

 

[EliteRetard]

If you haven't decided already and the choice is only between those...then I'm thinking the EVGA FTW card has a slight lead since its cheaper and your unlikely to OC the 7970 and we don't know the brand of the card.

At the same time the 7970 generally pulls ahead at the higher resolutions partly because of the extra VRAM. If your willing to do a little OC (should be easy even with default software) I think the 7970 takes the lead. If your lucky and get a good 7970 even better.

Either way, they're both pretty fast cards.