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Out of touch Hardware junkie needs advice on gaming computer

H

HOOfan 1

Platinum Member
3 years ago I read anandtech and hardocp every day, I followed future trends and I was a go to guy for hardware advice on non-hardware intensive forums. I've completely lost touch over the past few years....I even had to go look up if the new Haswell motherboards supported dual or triple channel memory.

I am in desparate need of a new computer though, believe it or not my current gaming computer, which hasn't even been powered on in over a year is a Pentium 4 1.9Ghz Willamette with 256MB of RDRAM and a Geforce 3 Ti 200, running WIndows ME. To say it is behind the times is an understatement.

Here are some components I am currently looking at.

Case- Corsair Obsidian 550D ~$120
PSU-I already have a Corsair HX620 I bought 6 years ago when CompUSA was going OOB
Mobo-Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H ~$230
This is the area I am probably picking wrong. I don't need bells and whistles for overclocking, I just want a stable fiddle free board for stock clocks, but ability for mild overclocking
CPU-Core i5 4670k ~$250 not sure the extra $100 for a 4770k would be useful to me at all
Cooler-I have an old Zlaman 9700...might have to see if I can find a 1150 bracket for it
RAM-????? need suggestion here...I was just looking at Crucial and Corsair stuff, again don't need super overclockable stuff. I was thinking 8GB....not sure I need more than that.
GPU-EVGA GTX 770 Superclocked with ACX cooling ~$420
Storage-I am not well versed on SSDs....
SSD-Samsung 840 Pro 128GB ~$145
HDD-I bought a couple of 150GB WD Raptors about 7 years ago...might put 1 in there and a
WD Black 1TB or 2TB
I also have a Creative X-Fi PCI card I bought about 7 years ago (yeah....CompUSA clearance sucked me)
 
http://promotions.newegg.com/intel/13-2602/index.html
^ There you go. The GB is a nice one, coming to a net cost of $100, with the MSI one OOS.

Just get a new cooler, if you plan to overclock. A CM Hyper212+ Evo will should handle a 20%+ OC without any problems.

You want RAM that is rated for 1.5V or lower, dual-channel (2x4GB for 8GB). 1600MHz and CAS 9 or lower would be nice, but are not worth paying much extra for.

A new 1TB/platter 7200 RPM drive, like the run of the mill WD and Seagates, will be faster than your Raptor, in actual usage, with a modern SATA controller. It can do some nice IOPS, with the fast platters, but looking at reviews from back then, wow, 7200 RPM drives have come a long way! For 1TB, make it a known 1TB/platter 7200RPM drive, which will cost $70 for a 1TB.

And...

What do you have for a monitor?

Are you near a Microcenter?
 
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Cerb said:
What do you have for a monitor?

Are you near a Microcenter?
Click to expand...

Planning on a 24" Monitor...1920x1200 Probably one of the Dell IPS models.

I am in Central Virginia...we have no computer stores in my area..not since CompUSA went out of business and they were way overpriced anyway.
I'll be shopping Amazon and Newegg....maybe Tigerdirect and NCIX
 
OK. Microcenter generally has unreal deals on Intel CPUs+mobos, but they are in-store only. Without one nearby, that Newegg promo is about as good as it gets--nice overclocking boards for the cost of minimal no-OC B-series boards (well, with an i7...more like decent H board with an i5, to split hairs).
 
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I would recommend getting a new power supply. While your HX620 was excellent when you purchased it, it may not be as reliable now after years of use (assuming it was actually in use). Also, there is some indication that older power supplies will not work correctly with Haswell's ultra-low-voltage sleep states, meaning the system will crash during sleep.

Everything else - I agree with Cerb, especially on hard drives. Ditch the Raptors! They have a unique combination of extreme noise and below-average speed compared to a typical hard drive today. Plus, the Samsung 840 Pro you selected will give you all the speed you need (although there are slightly cheaper options - look in the $100-120 range if you want to give up a bit of speed and save a few dollars).
 
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Termie said:
I would recommend getting a new power supply. While your HX620 was excellent when you purchased it, it may not be as reliable now after years of use (assuming it was actually in use). Also, there is some indication that older power supplies will not work correctly with Haswell's ultra-low-voltage sleep states, meaning the system will crash during sleep.

Everything else - I agree with Cerb, especially on hard drives. Ditch the Raptors! They have a unique combination of extreme noise and below-average speed compared to a typical hard drive today. Plus, the Samsung 840 Pro you selected will give you all the speed you need (although there are slightly cheaper options - look in the $100-120 range if you want to give up a bit of speed and save a few dollars).
Click to expand...

I haven't even broken the seal on the PSU, soundcard rapton hard drives or cooler. Everything I listed as already having are still shrink wrapped in their boxes

I am thinking I might build a cheaper computer and install XP....I have an unopened copy of that too....and then this computer will be Windows 7...so I might buy one of those new Seasonic Platinum or Gold PSUs
 
BTRY B 529th FA BN said:
A 1.9 Willamette? I thought they only went up to 1.5Ghz? then came 428 socket.. ?
Click to expand...

According to Wikipedia, they took Willamette all the way to 2.0GHz, and it was on the 478 socket. Then it got replaced by Northwood, which was a pretty decent chip for its time. Nothing on the Barton IMO, but still decent.
 
Hmm. I don't remember that. My first rig was a 423 socket system. Then I thought 428 brought on Northwood? I was never a DDR guy in those days, for some odd reason I opted for the RDR Rambus systems.
 
HOOfan1, what is the usage of this system going to be? I can't help but notice you seem to be "future proofing" this system a bit, and that might be a waste of money for you.

Have you considered an AMD APU system, rather than a higher-end Haswell and discrete NV card rig? If it's for games, what games do you want to play, and at what resolution?

Edit: Oh, yes, forget about XP. It might be a step up from what you used to be running, but it's horribly obsolete these days. Windows 7 (or, ugh, 8) is where it's at. (64-bit too.)
 
Sadly, I've never used a Willamette-based processor, although I have used an Pentium II and Pentium III.

Ok, just what do you need this computer for? If it is gaming, which games?
 
Sadly, I've never used a Willamette-based processor, although I have used an Pentium II and Pentium III.

Ok, just what do you need this computer for? If it is gaming, which games?
 
HOOfan 1 said:
Here are some components I am currently looking at.

Case- Corsair Obsidian 550D ~$120
PSU-I already have a Corsair HX620 I bought 6 years ago when CompUSA was going OOB
Mobo-Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H ~$230
This is the area I am probably picking wrong. I don't need bells and whistles for overclocking, I just want a stable fiddle free board for stock clocks, but ability for mild overclocking
CPU-Core i5 4670k ~$250 not sure the extra $100 for a 4770k would be useful to me at all
Cooler-I have an old Zlaman 9700...might have to see if I can find a 1150 bracket for it
RAM-????? need suggestion here...I was just looking at Crucial and Corsair stuff, again don't need super overclockable stuff. I was thinking 8GB....not sure I need more than that.
GPU-EVGA GTX 770 Superclocked with ACX cooling ~$420
Storage-I am not well versed on SSDs....
SSD-Samsung 840 Pro 128GB ~$145
HDD-I bought a couple of 150GB WD Raptors about 7 years ago...might put 1 in there and a
WD Black 1TB or 2TB
I also have a Creative X-Fi PCI card I bought about 7 years ago (yeah....CompUSA clearance sucked me)
Click to expand...

- Case: Good
- PSU: Good
- Mobo+CPU: Grab the Z87-G45 or GA-Z87X-UD3H in the combo promo that Cerb pointed out.
- HSF: The 9700 is pretty old at this point, I would grab a Thermalright True Spirit 140 if you want to do some mild overclocking (or just keep the noise down).
- RAM: You're correct that 8GB is really all you need for gaming. This Team DDR3 1600 kit is a good deal for $45 AP.
- GPU: The GTX 770 is basically a rebadged GTX 680, not a whole new chip. Given that, I would rather go with a 7970 GHz which performs comparably for $350 AR
- SSD : Good, but kind of pricy. I'm a big fan of performance consistency in SSDs, so I would grab a Neutron GTX 120GB instead.
- HDD : Forget the Raptors, they are completely eclipsed by SSDs at this point. I wouldn't pay a premium for WD Black drives either. The WD Blue 1TB is only $70.
- Sound card: I would probably skip the X-Fi just because of the driver situation. You can use it if you want though.
 
VirtualLarry said:
HOOfan1, what is the usage of this system going to be? I can't help but notice you seem to be "future proofing" this system a bit, and that might be a waste of money for you.

Have you considered an AMD APU system, rather than a higher-end Haswell and discrete NV card rig? If it's for games, what games do you want to play, and at what resolution?

Edit: Oh, yes, forget about XP. It might be a step up from what you used to be running, but it's horribly obsolete these days. Windows 7 (or, ugh, 8) is where it's at. (64-bit too.)
Click to expand...

It is for games. Crysis, Battlefield etc. type games 1920x1200 resolution at least, so a fairly heafty discrete GPU is a must.

The computer I am talking about in the OP will be loaded with Windows 7. I was thinking of doing a dual boot with XP for those older games that might not work as well in Windows 7 (Diablo works....but not very well). But instead I might just build a cheaper AMD based PC just for Windows XP
 
mfenn said:
-
- SSD : Good, but kind of pricy. I'm a big fan of performance consistency in SSDs, so I would grab a Neutron GTX 120GB instead.
%2Fwww.newegg.com%2FProduct%2FProduct.aspx%3FItem%3DN82E16822236339&user=u00000687"]WD Blue 1TB[/URL] is only $70.
- Sound card: I would probably skip the X-Fi just because of the driver situation. You can use it if you want though.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking about the Corsair Neutrons as well

What is the driver issue with the X-Fi, is that for only older cards or does it extend to the newest generation as well? Is there a discrete audio card you would recommend?
 
HOOfan 1 said:
Yeah I was thinking about the Corsair Neutrons as well

What is the driver issue with the X-Fi, is that for only older cards or does it extend to the newest generation as well? Is there a discrete audio card you would recommend?
Click to expand...

Your X-Fi is an old card, and Creative is notoriously bad at carrying support forward to new OS's. Actually, their drivers are just notoriously bad, period.

If I were in your shoes, I'd try out the onboard first.
 
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