New gaming build advice needed

[Ranulf]

So my quad core system has finally decided to just randomly die again after 6+ weeks of running fine. A new cpu sink/fan has done squat. The system just shuts down with no warning and doesnt even try to reboot. Power is there, the board now seems the culprit or who knows. Im tired of trying to figure it out.

Long story short, I need advice on a new gaming setup for cpu/mobo/ram. I have everything else I need except maybe a bigger case but that isn't much of a priority atm.

Budget would preferrably be 500-700 for those three. Something that will run wow, ToR, and upcoming games.

TIA

 

[R4in]

GTX 560 Ti/570
Asus P8Z68-V LE
G-Skill 2x4GB

Total Price: $460 on newegg

 

[Ken g6]

He said CPU, not GPU:
i5 2500k $220
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 $133 (Personal preference for overclocking; you can go with cheaper ASRocks for $95-$105.)
There's a shell shocker on G-Skill RipJaws today. $35.

All under $400.

Edit: Throw in a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ if it fits your case.

 

[R4in]

oh my mistake, that asus board i listed is only 130 right now, but yes the i5 2500k would be ideal

 

[lehtv]

Would rather get Asus P8Z68-V LE over Asrock Extreme3. Same price, 1 year more warranty, don't really need SLI, has USB3 front panel header.

Asus P8Z68-V LE $130
2500K $180 from microcenter or $220 from newegg
Coolermaster Hyper 212+ $25
2x4GB G.skill 1333 $40

Subtotal = $375-415

Could add a 64GB Crucial M4 SSD for $95. Add taxes + shipping and it's well under $700 either way

 

[mfenn]

But the ASRock is black! That means it is faster. But seriously OP, either one would be fine. The 2500K, 8GB of G.Skill, and Hyper 212+ are right on as well.

 

[R4in]

But the ASRock is black! That means it is faster

Spray paint it red. Cops will give you speeding tickets

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Spray paint it red. Cops will give you speeding tickets

lol

 

[Ranulf]

Thanks all for the advice. Looks like I will be upgrading this week. The quad core system just died again. It looks like its the gigabyte mobo, sytem wont even power on now. 3 video cards... same damn problem.

 

[R4in]

You are sure its not an issue with the PSU?

Just hate to see you spend $500 vice $60.

 

[Ranulf]

Tried both the 520 and 750w corsairs in the system. Both PSUs test fine using a basic coolmax tester. I have a third never used raidmax 530w cheapo that tests fine and I see no real reason to bother trying that one.

Tried a different set of 2x2gb gskill ram I have (slower speed cl5 vs cl4 ddr2) and with the 750w let me at least boot into windows/bios. The 750w lets the system power up now but its constantly losing power, just shutting down and rebooting, usually crashing while windows is loading/in safe or regular mode or trying to repair. There are no indications its the hard drive, I need to find my hd smart programs to try and test that outside of windows I guess or on a reliably working system.

Other option I have is trying to install the whole deal in another case, see if that helps. Any suggestions on a new mobo? I like the gigabyte, dunno if I can find another one for a q8400.

 

[mfenn]

It looks like P43/5 motherboards are still going for around $60-80. At that price point, I don't think it's worth it to replace rather than upgrade. You may be able to find a used one for cheap though.

 

[Ranulf]

Yeah, I think an interim upgrade will be a low end AMD system that I can then use as a backup to something more powerful down the road. I just found one of the cheapo mobos I picked up for my old dual core can run quad core chips. Might try that one first. I could live with a 2+ year old dual core sitting idle (still not sure if its what died on last system) but a working quad core... so if the zotac 610 is no go, i'll look for a used one maybe.

 

[mfenn]

What happened to the $500 budget? Lehtv had a pretty good build up in post #5.

 

[Ranulf]

I'll probably end up with both at this point.

Thoughts on this mobo? Difference between p67 and z68?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265

 

[Shikyo]

So my quad core system has finally decided to just randomly die again after 6+ weeks of running fine. A new cpu sink/fan has done squat. The system just shuts down with no warning and doesnt even try to reboot. Power is there, the board now seems the culprit or who knows. Im tired of trying to figure it out.

Long story short, I need advice on a new gaming setup for cpu/mobo/ram. I have everything else I need except maybe a bigger case but that isn't much of a priority atm.

Budget would preferrably be 500-700 for those three. Something that will run wow, ToR, and upcoming games.

TIA

That's normally either an overheating or a PSU error. I'd suggest you to try to troubleshoot some more before giving up like that. Try cleaning all the dust from everywhere and get a temperature measurement program like HWmonitor, also if the PSU is a cheap no-name brand it's likely that it could be the problem as well.

You need no Graphics Card?

For CPU for gaming purposes, 2500k is the overwhelming winner if you have the budget for it. It's the best gaming CPU available and is quite affordable.

Along with it you want a relatively affordable motherboard that has the features you need and nothing extra. This would be a decent, cheap choice which you can build upon if you require some extra features:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130571

As for the RAM, I'd usually recommend 1333mhz as the difference is minimal. A good price for that would be 40$ or less, just buy the cheapest one.

This is going to leave you with plenty of extra money. I'm not sure if you forgot the GPU? Well, in the case you did, 560 Ti and 6950 are both going to do well for you. 6870 is the best choice for you if you either play at a lower resolution than 1080p or don't require maxed graphics in every game like BF3 and Crysis and whatnot.

As for which one to buy, just pick the cheapest one. If you're planning on overclocking it, you might want to buy one with a good cooler. Read reviews online. Asus DirectCu is an especially good one and rather affordable for at least GTX 560 Ti.

You're also going to want an aftermarket cooler for the unlocked CPU as it'd be a waste if you didn't overclock it. The Hyper 212+ is going to do great for its price, and would be my primary recommendation for almost everyone.

 

[Shikyo]

I'll probably end up with both at this point.

Thoughts on this mobo? Difference between p67 and z68?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157265

Difference between z68 and P67 are SSD caching and the ability to use the CPUs integrated graphics. Basically if you don't know if you need z68's features, you won't need them. P67s are cheaper so just go with them.

Oops, double post on this new forum.


As for a second cheaper setup, just go with a Celeron G530 and the cheapest H61, it's going to cost around 100$ total and the performance is going to be a lot better than that of your old dual cpu. Not to mention the upgradeability is there.

 

[Sebec]

I kind of had a similar problem once with a PC that kept shutting down with no warning. This may not help you at all, but it's something to consider.

I figured the problem to actually be the power switch on the case. The case was fairly cheap. Somehow it was sending errant signals to the board to shut down. I tested it by using the reset button connector as the power switch connector, and not using power switch connector. Bought a replacement switch from Newegg for $7 and been fine since.

 

[mfenn]

I'll probably end up with both at this point.

Thoughts on this mobo? Difference between p67 and z68?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157265

That mobo is fine, but a bit pricy. If you don't need dual-GPU (and you probably don't) you can get an ASRock Z68 Pro3 for $105.

 

[Ranulf]

I kind of had a similar problem once with a PC that kept shutting down with no warning. This may not help you at all, but it's something to consider.

I figured the problem to actually be the power switch on the case. The case was fairly cheap. Somehow it was sending errant signals to the board to shut down. I tested it by using the reset button connector as the power switch connector, and not using power switch connector. Bought a replacement switch from Newegg for $7 and been fine since.

Hmm, you know that might be worth trying. Its a lianli case but 4+ years old now. Thanks all for the info. Gonna test the HD tonight and then the power switch before I swap in an old zotec board I have.

Shikyo, I'm pretty sure its not the PSU at this point, having tried two corsairs in there. The problems started with the 750w then the system was fine with the 520w, now it barely will boot with either installed. I'm good on video cards, have a 560ti I was using the past 4 months, thats what really seemed to start the random crashes.

 

[Ranulf]

Ok so some new info as I'm determined to figure out what the problem is with the q8400 system.

The system seems somewhat stable with 1 stick of ram in slot1, I got it to run a mem test on both original sticks of gskill in slot 1. One for 10 minutes, the other for 40+ mins before the system just rebooted (only heard it from other room). The system does not want to do much of anything beyond post (may here a beep, may just die before that) with ram in slots 1/3 or 2/4. Tried the 2nd set of ram, same thing. Put one stick of that ram in slot one, it posts but it died about 30s into a memtest run. Made sure the dram voltages were correct manually for each set. System seemed more stable with manual settings. The hard drive seems fine, other than I found some low level nasty on it (avg missed 1) and its let me pull off 50GB of data to back up.

Any ideas? Temps seem normal in 30-40C range.

 

[mfenn]

So it sounds like your memory or DIMM slots are going bad. Test each stick stick in the working slot 1 and see which are the best and which are the worst.

 

[Ranulf]

Yeah, looks like its the dimm slots. I can get it to boot into win7 or run memtest with 1 stick of ram in slot 1. Tried 2 sets of ram. Best ram seems to be the slower cas5 sticks.

Man I forgot how bad win7/vista is with only 2gb ram.

 

[mfenn]

P45 boards are getting thin on the ground, but you can still snag a cheap one if you want to revive that machine.

 

[Ranulf]

So, update to the now neverending saga of cranky computers. Tuesday a new AMD system decided to crash on boot into windows7. And it would not reboot back up, as in power switch did nothing. So I figure its wall plug or surge protector, put it on a UPS. Nope, same problem, boots from cold and dies just as windows7 recovery mode starts. I yank out power supply and test it. No go on corsair hx520, it appears dead. Fan won't spin up for more than 3s before shutting down. Sad as it was working fine for 5+ days, gaming or min load stuff.

Starting to wonder if my house wiring or brown out etc. caused this. Thing is, old system would randomly die with 750w psu installed too. Trying a corsair cx500w now...

Sigh.