Planning a new build for gaming

silentstepper

Junior Member
Jan 9, 2012
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1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
I currently play Dark Age of Camelot and some Halo and will probably be playing some BF3 and MW3 in the near future

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
I would like to keep it around $1500-$1700 if it goes up to $1900 and I like it I wouldn't be too upset

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
US...most likely newegg

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 have typically used intel and nvidia but I'm not opposed to AMD and I'm very intrigued by the eyefinity setups I've been hearing alot about

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I will be reusing my Antec 900 Mid ATX Case, Silverstone 850W Modular PSU and Zalman 9700 CPU Cooler

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
I have read many articles from many different forums but mostly are bias one way or the other toward intel/nvidia or amd/amd so I'm just trying to find the best possible setup for my budget without necessarily breaking the bank...I have built multiple computers but its just been awhile and I've never ran SLI or Crossfire before

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

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
1920x1080 or 5760X1080(if eyefinity)

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
In the next couple weeks

I will need include Windows 7 Pro 64bit in the price because I'm currently running XP but other than that I'm pretty open to any all suggestions...I would like to run either SLI or Crossfire and if Crossfire I'd like to give eyefinity a shot I will need a new monitor as well either a 27" or 3x21.5" for eyefinity

The parts I am currently looking at are the intel i5 2500k Asrock P67 Extreme 6 Mobo and Sapphire 6950 2GB Video Cards x2 and I would also like include a smaller SSD for a boot drive but again I'm open to any all suggestions
 
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Nov 26, 2005
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Hi, and welcome to the Anandtech forums :)

If you have a Micro Center near by you can get a better deal on the 2500K i5 than most online eTailers.

If you are hardcore about gaming, look on Craigslist for a CRT otherwise I suggest a 120Hz, 2ms, LCD

A mechanical keyboard with Black Cherry MX switches

A 1000Hz polling mouse.
 
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silentstepper

Junior Member
Jan 9, 2012
13
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I have a Logitech G11 Keyboard and Logitech G5 mouse that I will be reusing as well guess I should have mentioned that in the OP

Unfortunately I don't have a Micro Center near me but this is the config I was looking at getting

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072 ~ i5 2500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157271 ~ ASRock Z68 Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226184 ~ 2x4GB Mushkin DDR3 1600 RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102945 ~ 2xSapphire 6950 2GB Video Cards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148448 ~ Crucial 128GB SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148840 ~ 1TB Seagate HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824254058 ~ 3xHanns-G 21.5" 1080p Monitors
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116992 ~ Windows 7 Pro 64bit OEM
 
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silentstepper

Junior Member
Jan 9, 2012
13
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silentstepper

Junior Member
Jan 9, 2012
13
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0
Okay so I read some reviews and decided that the Sapphires were the best bet quality wise so my final systems specs will be as follows

Antec 900 Case
Silverstone 850W PSU
Intel i5 2500k
Zalman 9700 CPU Cooler
ASRock P67 Extreme 4 MOBO
2x4GB Mushkin DDR3 1600MHZ
1TB Seagate 6GB/s HHD
128GB Crucial SSD
2xSapphire 6950 2GB in Crossfire
3xHanns-G 21.5 1080p Monitors in Eyefinity (5760X1080 Resolution :))
Windows 7 Home 64bit
Logitech G11 Keyboard
Logitech G5 Mouse
Logitech ClearChat Headset

Grand total of build $1880

I will post pictures and benchmarks when I test and get everything set up next week
 
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Skott

Diamond Member
Oct 4, 2005
5,730
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Just had to ask the OP this... I thought DAoC went belly up? Or you play on a private server?
 

silentstepper

Junior Member
Jan 9, 2012
13
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No the player base is smaller only about 5k people playing now but its still active...you can actually just download the client for free and just pay the monthly fee now but its still up and running

http://darkageofcamelot.com/

I know there are more popular MMOs out there but nothing compares to DAoC when it comes to PVP
 
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silentstepper

Junior Member
Jan 9, 2012
13
0
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So any suggestions on build or does it look good?

Thinking I'm going to switch to NVidia for the graphics cars

Antec 900 Case
Silverstone 850W PSU
Intel i5 2500k
Zalman 9700 CPU Cooler
ASRock P67 Extreme 4 MOBO
2x4GB Mushkin DDR3 1600MHZ
1TB Seagate 6GB/s HHD
128GB Crucial SSD
2xEVGA GTX560 TI Classified 448Core
3xHanns-G 21.5 1080p Monitors in Eyefinity (5760X1080 Resolution )
Windows 7 Home 64bit
Logitech G11 Keyboard
Logitech G5 Mouse
Logitech ClearChat Headset
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
So any suggestions on build or does it look good?

Thinking I'm going to switch to NVidia for the graphics cars

Antec 900 Case
Silverstone 850W PSU
Intel i5 2500k
Zalman 9700 CPU Cooler
ASRock P67 Extreme 4 MOBO
2x4GB Mushkin DDR3 1600MHZ
1TB Seagate 6GB/s HHD
128GB Crucial SSD
2xEVGA GTX560 TI Classified 448Core
3xHanns-G 21.5 1080p Monitors in Eyefinity (5760X1080 Resolution )
Windows 7 Home 64bit
Logitech G11 Keyboard
Logitech G5 Mouse
Logitech ClearChat Headset

Not going to be doing Eyefinity with Nvidia ;) The 6950 2GB is a better value anyway. Also, why did you switch from the Z68 Extreme 3?
 

silentstepper

Junior Member
Jan 9, 2012
13
0
0
I'm really torn between the Z68 Mobo and the P67..I'm not sure what the benefit are between the two and I was told that DAOC has some compatibility issues with AMD/ATI drivers so that is why I was switching to the NVidia Cards...another reasonf or the switch is I've been readying about screen tearing that happens in eyefinity because of the different outputs that you have to use on the AMD cards

Antec 900 Case
Silverstone 850W PSU
Intel i5 2500k
Zalman 9700 CPU Cooler
ASRock P67 Extreme 4 MOBO
2x4GB Mushkin DDR3 1600MHZ
1TB Seagate 6GB/s HHD
128GB Crucial SSD
2xEVGA GTX560 TI Classified 448Core
3xHanns-G 21.5 1080p Monitors in 3D Surround (5760X1080 Resolution)
Windows 7 Home 64bit
Logitech G11 Keyboard
Logitech G5 Mouse
Logitech ClearChat Headset
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
The P67 Extreme 4 uses an older chipset and is more expensive than the Z68 Extreme 3, so the Z68 is a no brainer to me.

Also, with any super wide display (Eyefinity and 3D Surround), you need some level of support from the game itself to make it so that things don't look awful. With an old game like DAOC, you might need to be content with just playing on one monitor.
 

silentstepper

Junior Member
Jan 9, 2012
13
0
0
On the DAOC website it says that as long as your monitors drivers are up to date then whatever resolution the PC is running in should appear in the resolution choices for DAOC...if not I'll just duel boot and run in window mode and have one on each screen

And I switched it back to Z68
 

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
On the DAOC website it says that as long as your monitors drivers are up to date then whatever resolution the PC is running in should appear in the resolution choices for DAOC...if not I'll just duel boot and run in window mode and have one on each screen

It's not an issue of whether or not the game will be able to display in a given resolution. It's an issue of whether or not the game is coded to handle the super-wide aspect ratio than an Eyefinity/Nvidia Surround setup offers. Most games are not and will have really distorted graphics on the left and right monitors.

And I switched it back to Z68

Good choice.