New Gaming Rig, Advice wanted/needed.

[35553]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

My PC will mostly be used for gaming.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

No defined budget as such, but from research so far it looks like it will be around
$2500 Aus mark.

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

Australia.

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 would prefer to use an Intel chip, Nvidia Video card, Corsair PSU unless there are better alternatives

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

I am going to be reusing my keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

Tax time - new gaming build ~$2500Aus


7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

I plan to overclock both my Cpu and Video card.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.

At this stage, 1920 x 1080. Possibly upgrading to 2560 x 1600 within the year.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

I plan to build it as soon as possible but i am waiting the availability of one part.

10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.

I want all the advice/recommendations i can get for this build as this the first time i am selecting parts and building the whole rig.


My preliminary build.
Cpu: i7 930. $355.00.

Cpu cooler: H70 cooler, Part not yet available in Australia that i could find. I'll most likely use the stock heatsink until then.

Motherboard: The motherboard is one i'm not too sure about. I don't really understand the jargon used. I am leaning towards this one for some reason Asus P6T Deluxe V2. 309.00.

Ram: Also not sure about this one. Is 12gb of ram overkill or is 6gb fine?

Video Card: MSI GTX460 1GB in SLI. $606.00. The make or break part of the build, read various reviews about this product. Room for overclocking due to its good heatsink + fan design compared to other GTX460's. Performance just below the 5970 but saves ~$150 or so.

Power Supply: Corsair TX-850 850W Power Supply. 190.00.

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB. 118.00. I'm unsure if i should get a SSD for my OS or stick with something like the velociraptor.

Case: HAF X case. 260.00.

Optical Drive: As with the motherboard and ram, not sure on this one.

Total: 1838.00 w/o ram,cpu cooler and optical drive prices and possible SSD.

Sorry for the long post but any advice would be appreciated.

 

[mfenn]

Once you factor in the additional platform and PSU costs of going SLI, you will find that an 1156 build with a GTX 480 is cheaper. You'll also not have to deal with the usual SLI BS like profiles, potentially no scaling, and microstutter. At 2560x1600, you're also going to find yourself quickly running out of VRAM with only 1GB per card.

The other guy wanted to 5 box, which is a much different workload that just normal gaming. You're much better off IMHO buying cheaper AMD or 1156 machine based around a 470 or so and then saving the rest of the money for an upgrade later on.

 

[35553]

Once you factor in the additional platform and PSU costs of going SLI, you will find that an 1156 build with a GTX 480 is cheaper. You'll also not have to deal with the usual SLI BS like profiles, potentially no scaling, and microstutter. At 2560x1600, you're also going to find yourself quickly running out of VRAM with only 1GB per card.

The other guy wanted to 5 box, which is a much different workload that just normal gaming. You're much better off IMHO buying cheaper AMD or 1156 machine based around a 470 or so and then saving the rest of the money for an upgrade later on.

Thanks for the advice, i was only reading the other thread because he is in Australia like me. I wanted a price comparison/guideline for a similar build. I'm quite hestitant with GTX470 & 480's because of the higher temps from what i have read. The website/store i would but most of my parts reduced the price of the cpu and motherboard today so the difference between a 1156 build and 1366 build is reduced. 930 is @ 322.73 and P6t V2 @ 280.91, savings of about another $60au.

But how is this for a 1156 combo? Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz + Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P for a $430au total compared with $603.64au total for the 1366.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for the advice, i was only reading the other thread because he is in Australia like me. I wanted a price comparison/guideline for a similar build. I'm quite hestitant with GTX470 & 480's because of the higher temps from what i have read. The website/store i would but most of my parts reduced the price of the cpu and motherboard today so the difference between a 1156 build and 1366 build is reduced. 930 is @ 322.73 and P6t V2 @ 280.91, savings of about another $60au.

But how is this for a 1156 combo? Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz + Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P for a $430au total compared with $603.64au total for the 1366.

Well, remember that with SLI, you have two cards and thus twice the heat output. A GTX 460 1GB is 160W, so two will put out 320W. By comparison, a single GTX 480 is 250W.

I would definitely take the i5 760 combo over the 930 combo.

 

[35553]

Well, remember that with SLI, you have two cards and thus twice the heat output. A GTX 460 1GB is 160W, so two will put out 320W. By comparison, a single GTX 480 is 250W.

I would definitely take the i5 760 combo over the 930 combo.

I changed my mind and i think i will go the 1156 route. One last question is the 1156 socket is dual memory channel correct? so it will only need 4gb of ram? (I don't know about the 1156 as much as the 1366.)

 

[Murloc]

multigpu is a waste of money and a hassle, you will lose hours of your freetime because games are not compatible, there's stuttering, drivers aren't good, computer is not reading the 2 cards and shit like that.

Get 1 better card and upgrade it when a game that you can't play everything@max with no filters (because you can forget them at high resolutions) comes out.

 

[mfenn]

I changed my mind and i think i will go the 1156 route. One last question is the 1156 socket is dual memory channel correct? so it will only need 4gb of ram? (I don't know about the 1156 as much as the 1366.)

Yeah, while 6GB will work in an 1156 platform, you'll really want to install the DIMMS in sets of 2.