New Gaming Buld

[Draiko333]

Hello,

I'm currently looking to build a new desktop computer and was hoping to get some recommendations from those more experienced than myself.

First of all, I don't know anything about overclocking, and therefore probably will not bother attempting it. The sole purpose of this computer will be for gaming. As of right now I mostly play SC2, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins, and World of Warcraft. I'd like to get as much as I can out of these games without spending every last dollar I own.

Basically I'm looking for some suggestions. I have an idea of what I'm looking to order, and some opinions would be very helpful. For example: Intel vs AMD CPU? HD6870 vs. EVGA 460 FTW? Case recommendations (I'm really lost when it comes to case selection), etc.

Here is what I currently have planned to order:


ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black $27.99

Antec Six Hundred Mid Tower Gaming Case 600 ATX
3X5.25 6X3.5INT 1 SATA Hot-Swap Bay No PS $89.99

Patriot Viper II Sector 7 6GB 3X2GB DDR3 1600MHZ
PC3-12800 8-8-8-24 1.65V Triple Channel Memory Kit
$104.35

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA3 6GB/S
7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
$74.87

Microsoft Wired Desktop 400 English OEM Single Pack
(Random crap keyboard/mouse combo) $18.99


ASUS MS238H 23IN Widescreen Ultra Slim LED LCD Monitor
1920X1080 2MS 10000000:1 HDMI DVI VGA
$201.49



ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA1366 DDR3
3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 PCI Motherboard
$219.99



Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition
64BIT DVD OEM
$123.77

OCZ GameXStream 850W ATX12V 24PIN
SLI Ready Active PFC ATX Power Supply 120MM Fans
$119.99



Intel Core i7 950 Quad Core Processor LGA1366
3.06GHZ Bloomfield 8MB LGA1366 4.8GT/S
$349.99


Cyber Acoustics CA-3001 Black 2.1
Speaker System 8W RMS
$23.98


ASUS Radeon HD 6870 913MHZ 1GB 4.2GHZ GDDR5
2XDVI 2XMINI DisplayPort HDMI PCI-E Video Card
$266.67
___________


Total: $1622.07


I'd like to stay within this price range, no more than $1700. If I can save money without really sacrificing performance I'm definitely interested in doing so. I usually tend to run with my computer until it's incapable of playing anything out there, as is the state of this computer, so being prepared for future games is certainly a plus.

I've taken these prices from NCIX (I live in Canada). They do price matching so if you build a cheaper/better machine from a different Canadian website that's fine as well.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my post!

 

[muskie32]

For a gaming rig, go with a i5, it has a higher turbo than the 950 and also the bench favors it more in games.

It has been recommended many times not to buy OCZ psu's on here.

I would go with G.SKILL ram, it has a lower voltage (1.4v), is cheaper. You also do not need 1600 ram unless you are benching, or heavily overclocking, otherwise you will not see any performance difference.

As for the HDD get a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB, and a SSD (for os and apps) You will see better performance going that rout.

 

[Blain]

Thank you all for taking the time to read my post!

If you take the time to read some of the threads started in this forum asking about "new gaming builds", you will learn much more than what people will post in this thread alone.

 

[mfenn]

If you take the time to read some of the threads started in this forum asking about "new gaming builds", you will learn much more than what people will post in this thread alone.

Blain, you might be onto something here. I do feel like a broken record sometimes.

OP, you're spending your money in all the wrong places for a gaming build. $1700 should be enough for a 6870 Crossfire rig, assuming you spend your money wisely.

i5 760 + free game $210
Sabertooth 55i $170
G.Skill DDR3 1333 4GB $62
6870 x2 $480
Samsung F3 1TB $80
Samsung DVD Burner $20
650TX $90 AR
Antec Six Hundred $84
Total: $1196

Add in your same accessories and you should get to about $1564 which is cheaper than your other rig and this one has nearly twice the graphics performance. If you want to spend closer to $1700, I would recommend getting 8GB of DDR3 or an SSD.

 

[Draiko333]

Thank you guys for your informative replies! I also apologize for having you repeat information. I'll spend some more time browsing for information on these forums before finishing my build, but what I have here now was such an eye-opener! I find it easier to really see where I'm going wrong when someone can critique my own build. Obviously I'm not well experienced with this (first time actually) so your opinions have been very helpful.

Thank you again. Any more recommendations would still be appreciated.

 

[mfenn]

Thank you guys for your informative replies! I also apologize for having you repeat information. I'll spend some more time browsing for information on these forums before finishing my build, but what I have here now was such an eye-opener! I find it easier to really see where I'm going wrong when someone can critique my own build. Obviously I'm not well experienced with this (first time actually) so your opinions have been very helpful.

Thank you again. Any more recommendations would still be appreciated.

We're just having a little fun with ya. I'm glad that I was able to help.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I remember reading that 1366 was better for dual GPUs

 

[betasub]

I remember reading that 1366 was better for dual GPUs

What, like 1-2% from being able to run 16x-16x instead of 16x-8x on the 1156 platform? There are only a very few cases where PCIe2 at 16x is significantly faster than PCIe2 8x, yet 1366 still get touted as much better for dual GPUs.

 

[Draiko333]

We're just having a little fun with ya. I'm glad that I was able to help.

Haha okay thanks.

I have one question for you though: The Samsung hard drive you mentioned... it has a smaller cache size than the Western Digital I was going to buy. Is there some advantage the Samsung has that I'm missing? A lot of people recommend the same hard drive but I can't see why.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

The Samsung F3 is faster and runs cooler.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

That's going to be a sweet setup. The i5 760 has a turbo of 3.46Ghz!!!

Right now at Micro Center they are on sale for 169$ - this is way too tempting for me

 

[betasub]

A nice price to be sure, but you already have three solid rigs containing quads, BtryB. Can't you hold out until SandyBridge for your next build?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

That 95w TDP looks really sexy

 

[mfenn]

Haha okay thanks.

I have one question for you though: The Samsung hard drive you mentioned... it has a smaller cache size than the Western Digital I was going to buy. Is there some advantage the Samsung has that I'm missing? A lot of people recommend the same hard drive but I can't see why.

Cache size really doesn't matter all that much, it is mostly a marketing gimmick. (Oooh bigger numbers are better!) The 500GB platters of the F3 versus the 320GB platters of the WD do matter that much. As BRTY B said, the F3 is faster and cooler.

 

[Draiko333]

Okay after getting a lot of recommendations from various people to use an i5 760 CPU with 4GB of DDR3 1333 RAM and doubling up on my video cards with either 2x Radeon 6870 or 2x NVidia 460 GTX (OC'd); I've been trying to select a new motherboard.

I'm having difficulty deciding which is best for me however.

I originally planned to go with the ASUS Sabertooth 55i to match my original choice of the Sabertooth x58. But after looking around I came across a feature on other boards which as far as I know, the Sabertooth lacks. That feature being Auto overclocking.

I have 0 experience with overclocking, and I originally had no intentions of doing so as I was afraid I might fry something on my computer, and I can't afford to be doing that.

BUT... some of the boards seems to have built in OC capabilities that the motherboard takes care of by itself. I assume this auto overclocking is safe to use 24/7; which means I get a faster computer with no risk.

So here are the boards I had been looking at:

MSI P55A Fuzion ATX LGA1156 P55 = $204.06
MSI P55A-GD65 P55 ATX LGA1156 = $149.99
ASUS P7P55D Deluxe LGA1156 P55 = $218.99
ASUS P7P55D Evo LGA1156 P55 = $199.99
ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA1156 P55 = $192.30
ASUS Maximus III Gene LGA1156 = $149.99 (micro ATX - I'm not sure if this is an issue or not)
ASUS Sabertooth I55 LGA1156 P55 = $164.44

Prices are based on the NCIX website as that is likely where I will be purchasing my computer seeing as they can build it for me, saving me the hassle of having to return defective parts and ensuring I have a properly built machine.

So basically I'm wondering if this Auto OC feature is worth it for someone who otherwise will probably not be doing any OCing. Or is the Sabertooth 55i still a better board for me regardless of OCing or not?

There could possibly be better boards than any of the boards I've listed here as well; but based on what NCIX has available, and considering price, these seemed to be the best options for me.

Thanks again for any input!

 

[mfenn]

A few points:

• Don't go spending $200 on a P55 mobo because that would be throwing away one of the key advantages of the P55 platform. The 55i itself is even pushing it.
• Won't NCIX pricematch Newegg.ca (not counting combos and such)?
• No, auto overclocking is not worth it. If it were me I would learn how to OC because I wouldn't want the BIOS doing something that I didn't understand and couldn't undo. A stock i5 760 is plenty fast enough while you learn to OC.
• You'll need something more than the stock HSF if you want to OC.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

#1 I wouldn't trust auto overclocking. Manually doing it is a little safer because things are not AUTO volted which can be bad.

 

[Draiko333]

A few points:

• Don't go spending $200 on a P55 mobo because that would be throwing away one of the key advantages of the P55 platform. The 55i itself is even pushing it.
• Won't NCIX pricematch Newegg.ca (not counting combos and such)?
• No, auto overclocking is not worth it. If it were me I would learn how to OC because I wouldn't want the BIOS doing something that I didn't understand and couldn't undo. A stock i5 760 is plenty fast enough while you learn to OC.
• You'll need something more than the stock HSF if you want to OC.

Yes NCIX will match the prices; I was just using those prices as an example for comparison with the one site. I'll be price matching whatever board I choose to the best deal I can find.

Okay wasn't aware the auto-OC was a bad idea, so again thank you very much for the information. I'll stick with the Sabertooth 55i in that case... unless someone can suggest a cheaper board which is just as good?

I think I'll just avoid OCing altogether until further down the road when I learn how and actually need it to lengthen the life of my computer.

Thanks guys!

 

[Draiko333]

One more question comes to mind... should I buy a CPU Heatsink or is the stock Heatsink with the i5 760 enough?

 

[Davidh373]

One more question comes to mind... should I buy a CPU Heatsink or is the stock Heatsink with the i5 760 enough?

unless you're overclocking or looking at making a super silent build that's a no on the aftermarket sink.

 

[Draiko333]

Cache size really doesn't matter all that much, it is mostly a marketing gimmick. (Oooh bigger numbers are better!) The 500GB platters of the F3 versus the 320GB platters of the WD do matter that much. As BRTY B said, the F3 is faster and cooler.

Hi again,

I hope you're still browsing around here... or if not maybe someone else can help me here.

NCIX doesn't offer Samsung hard drives. How can I tell when something is a 500GB or 320GB platter? Is it safe to assume any 500GB or 1TB hard drive is a 500GB platter and therefore better than any other combination?

Thanks!

 

[mfenn]

Hi again,

I hope you're still browsing around here... or if not maybe someone else can help me here.

NCIX doesn't offer Samsung hard drives. How can I tell when something is a 500GB or 320GB platter? Is it safe to assume any 500GB or 1TB hard drive is a 500GB platter and therefore better than any other combination?

Thanks!

No, it is not safe to assume that. You just have to know which product lines have what size platters. The 1TB FAEX has 500GB platters.

 

[Draiko333]

No, it is not safe to assume that. You just have to know which product lines have what size platters. The 1TB FAEX has 500GB platters.

Hmm guess I'll really have to do some research then in that case. Unless that's the only 500GB platter hard drives NCIX has...

Is it a good idea to use the following website to judge performance of a hard drive?:
http://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/high_end_drives.html

Thank you again for all of your help. I'm getting ready to finalize my order now (finally) ha. I've made a number of changes and I think I got it right this time! Just need to figure out my hard drive now for the most part.

 

[mfenn]

Hmm guess I'll really have to do some research then in that case. Unless that's the only 500GB platter hard drives NCIX has...

Is it a good idea to use the following website to judge performance of a hard drive?:
http://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/high_end_drives.html

Thank you again for all of your help. I'm getting ready to finalize my order now (finally) ha. I've made a number of changes and I think I got it right this time! Just need to figure out my hard drive now for the most part.

Passmark anything is terrible. You should track down specific product reviews from enthusiast sites.

That being said, there are really only 4 HDD manufacturers: Western Digital, Seagate, Samsung, and Hitachi. WD has the FAEX with 500GB platters, I discount Seagate on general principles, you can't buy the Samsung from NCIX, and Hitachi has the 7K1000.C with 500GB platters.