SB 2500K Gaming Build Advice

[Cyndre]

Hi,

I'm hoping to get some advice on a gaming ig I want to put together:

PC Usage
Heavy Gaming especially BFBC2

Budget
£1900

Buying Parts in
UK

Brand Preference
Nvidia definately and Intel. I also really like Asus

Re Use Current Parts
Lol no, my current system is a 1st Gen Dell XPS700 need I say more!

Searched Forums
I've been reading up on the topic for a few months now across Hexus, Bit-tech and Anandtech as well as looking at PSU advice on Johnnyguru. I've already adjusted my build a few times based on other peoples build but I'm at the stage I need some direct advice as I still just can't quite decide

Overclocking
Yes I'd like to get it to 4.7 - 4.8 on air stable

Resolution
1920 x 1080 using an LG W2261VP Monitor

Build Time
Immediately, no more waiting as waited a year already

So with all that I've currently spec'ed the following off of Scan a UK supplier. What I really want is the best possible performance for gaming with maxed out settings and no local lag or stutter.
I'm also looking to use this pc for at least 4 years so want to optimise it for upcoming games with the same requirements for top of the line game play.

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K £184.26
Mainboard: Asus Maximus IV Extreme, Intel P67 Express £312
Case: Silverstone Fortress FT02B v1.4 £200.71
Cooler: Cogage Arrow + 120mm Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850 RPM Cooling Fan £52.76
PSU: 850W Corsair Pro Gold AX850 £147.58
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) £94.94
GPU: 1536MB EVGA GTX 580, 40nm, 4008MHz GDDR5 £449.99
Storage 1: 120GB OCZ Technology Vertex 2E, 2.5" Sandforce SSD £175.62
Storage 2: Samsung 1Tb Spinpoint F3 (Already own this)
Optical: LG CH10LS20.AUAR 10x Blu-Ray Reader £50.99
Soundcard: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional £102.71
OS: Window 7 Home 64bit OEM £78.08

Total: £1876.71

Only other thing I'd like is for it to be relatively quiet as well and also wondering about the feasability of wireless networking for gaming to avoid having to run long network cables from my phone socket (ADSL) to the PC.

Anyway would love peoples advice on this. Cheers in advance.

 

[mfenn]

Did you just go out of your way to pick the most expensive components in each category?

Comments:
- CPU: Good
- Mobo: No motherboard is worth that much, you're getting fleeced. Something (relatively) more reasonable like the P8P67 Pro. Less than 1/2 the cost and 99.9% as good.
- Case: Waste of money IMHO, but its fine if you really like it
- Cooler: Good
- PSU: Waste of money. Get something like the 750TX for 1/2 the cost.
- Memory: Scan's prices on memory suck, so the Vengeance isn't actually that bad of a deal. I still wouldn't get them because the heatspreaders are too tall
- GPU: Good
- Storage: Good
- Optical: Good
- Sound: Waste of money, use the onboard and spend the savings on an outboard DAC if you want good quality
- OS: Good

Also, as a general note: it's simply not possible to build a system today that will be able to run games 4 years from now at maximum details and with acceptable framerates. Take my advice to save some money on parts, and put that money away for a GPU upgrade in 2 years.

 

[Cyndre]

Lol yeah it does seem that way doesn't it!

I think another thing I've considered is the aesthetics of the machine, I've seen these awesome colour co ordinated pc's in modding forums and they look fantastic so my logic with the Maximus is the colour scheme more than anything as I detest the blue of the P8P67 model's.

The case was chosen partly because it received the highest rating for air cooling on bit-tech and also because again it is very aesthetically pleasing. I also like the TJ07 but it lacks the same robust air cooling to make it a worthwhile choice.
I remember seeing a murdermod case as well which was simply perfection!!

Thing is though I need the very top gaming performance so I'm trying to also factor this into the build. The irony is Sandybridge has actually made this 10x harder to do as an X58 was so easy to pick and put together.

 

[mnewsham]

Lol yeah it does seem that way doesn't it!

I think another thing I've considered is the aesthetics of the machine, I've seen these awesome colour co ordinated pc's in modding forums and they look fantastic so my logic with the Maximus is the colour scheme more than anything as I detest the blue of the P8P67 model's.

The case was chosen partly because it received the highest rating for air cooling on bit-tech and also because again it is very aesthetically pleasing. I also like the TJ07 but it lacks the same robust air cooling to make it a worthwhile choice.
I remember seeing a murdermod case as well which was simply perfection!!

Thing is though I need the very top gaming performance so I'm trying to also factor this into the build. The irony is Sandybridge has actually made this 10x harder to do as an X58 was so easy to pick and put together.

you might want to look at the new sabertooth p67 board from asus, it is very "clean" looking.

 

[Cyndre]

Tbh I was originally going to get that based on the aesthetics and feature list but I've read concerns about potential dust build up under the shield and the requirement for a top down air cooler negating the use of a tower Archon.

It does look great and the price is good to just wondering about those points.

It's prob also worth noting I intend to go SLI GTX580's as soon as I can afford a second card so my build needs to be capable of running that as well.

 

[mnewsham]

Tbh I was originally going to get that based on the aesthetics and feature list but I've read concerns about potential dust build up under the shield and the requirement for a top down air cooler negating the use of a tower Archon.

It does look great and the price is good to just wondering about those points.

It's prob also worth noting I intend to go SLI GTX580's as soon as I can afford a second card so my build needs to be capable of running that as well.

At £1900 you could probably afford it now if you aren't worried about aesthetics, a simple HAF 932 or Antec 900 and a ud4 motherboard would do the job fine.

 

[Cyndre]

So could the AX850 PSU handle 2 x GTX580 in SLI and would I need to consider water cooling?

 

[mnewsham]

Yes, and sandy bridge runs cool already, unless you are doing heavy oc'ing (above 4.4) a hyper 212+ is fine.

 

[Cyndre]

That'd be awesome as I think an SLI GTX580 configuration would more or less meet my criteria for top of the line gaming performance. As I have read for most gaming with Sandybridge erspecially the 2500k and 2600k it is GPU rather than CPU / Mainboard limited.

So based on that would the following be a solid core spec:

Mainboard: Sabertooth P67 £172.80
CPU: i5 2500k £184.26
PSU: AX850 £147.58
GPU: 2 x EVGA GTX580 SLI £910.99
Cooler: Thermalright Archon + extra TY-140 £61.14
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance £94.94

Total cost: £1581.30

Just phoned the supplier to ask about the Archon and Sabertooth board to see if there might be a problem with overhang on the Dimms using the 2 Fans but they rather unhelpfully said they don't know and aren't setup to check it. Anyone else tried this combination or know if there might be a problem?

 

[mnewsham]

I wouldn't get ram with heat spreaders, it usually just looks neat but gets in the way.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Your build requirements look just like mine, bar the need for SLI/better GFX, extra internal storage and a new case. I have an NZXT Tempest case and that's a pretty great unit.

Check the thread, my build is looking at coming in at ~£1000 even with a new 23" Dell IPS monitor.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2135937

 

[dpodblood]

Your build requirements look just like mine, bar the need for SLI/better GFX, extra internal storage and a new case. I have an NZXT Tempest case and that's a pretty great unit.

Check the thread, my build is looking at coming in at ~£1000 even with a new 23" Dell IPS monitor.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2135937

Why an IPS monitor? Wouldn't it be better to get a larger TN panel for gaming? IPS is good for color accuracy, black levels, viewing angles, etc, but TN tend to be far cheaper and have better response times.

 

[DivideBYZero]

That's for my build. My requirements are not the same as the OP. OP is gaming centric, my requirements are not, hence I prefer image quality over size.

 

[dpodblood]

That's for my build. My requirements are not the same as the OP. OP is gaming centric, my requirements are not, hence I prefer image quality over size.

Ha I shoulda looked over your original post again. Every time I hear i2500k I think *gaming rig* lol.

 

[DivideBYZero]

That'd be awesome as I think an SLI GTX580 configuration would more or less meet my criteria for top of the line gaming performance. As I have read for most gaming with Sandybridge erspecially the 2500k and 2600k it is GPU rather than CPU / Mainboard limited.

So based on that would the following be a solid core spec:

Mainboard: Sabertooth P67 £172.80
CPU: i5 2500k £184.26
PSU: AX850 £147.58
GPU: 2 x EVGA GTX580 SLI £910.99
Cooler: Thermalright Archon + extra TY-140 £61.14
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance £94.94

Total cost: £1581.30

Just phoned the supplier to ask about the Archon and Sabertooth board to see if there might be a problem with overhang on the Dimms using the 2 Fans but they rather unhelpfully said they don't know and aren't setup to check it. Anyone else tried this combination or know if there might be a problem?

Christ, £900+ just on video cards. I'd rather take a holiday in Barbados.

 

[dpodblood]

No question this is an expensive build, however for the budget the OP is working with I believe he's made the right decisions.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Ha I shoulda looked over your original post again. Every time I hear i2500k I think *gaming rig* lol.

Understood! I'm going 2500k as I want it for 1080p video editing and to last me three years or so with overclocking. My current E6400 rig has done that and went up to 3.2Ghz+, so was epic value in the long run. I want this to be the same and it's a cracking price for a brand new platform, too. Gone are the days when the new Intel CPU's were $1000 and we all had to wait 6 months to get mainstream OC'able units.

 

[dpodblood]

I love how everyone though the sky was falling when intel announced that overclocking would not be possible on regular SB chips, and you would have to pay extra to have the "enthusiast models." Turns out that overclocking is now easier than ever, and value for money is better than ever too.

 

[mnewsham]

I love how everyone though the sky was falling when intel announced that overclocking would not be possible on regular SB chips, and you would have to pay extra to have the "enthusiast models." Turns out that overclocking is now easier than ever, and value for money is better than ever too.

Our demon overlords are just buttering us up for when they finally bring the hammer down upon us.

 

[Cyndre]

Your build requirements look just like mine, bar the need for SLI/better GFX, extra internal storage and a new case. I have an NZXT Tempest case and that's a pretty great unit.

Check the thread, my build is looking at coming in at ~£1000 even with a new 23" Dell IPS monitor.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2135937

I've been watching that thread with interest amongst a dozen others as it was very close to what Im looking at. Got some good feedback as well.

I've prob spent almost a year researching components and build to get this pc exactly right. I cocked up whern I bought my current Dell PC off shelf as it is impossible to upgrade beyond a new GPU and some extra RAM and even then I was limited to PC6400 2GB as it has a duff Dimm socket and sticking in 3GB caused endless reboot cycling. I swore I'd never ever buy off shelf again.

I gotta say over 900 squid for a pair of GPU did make me gulp a bit and I had to promise the wife her trip home to the states wouldn't be sacrificed me thinks I've got alot of overtime to put in on this but it looks worth it to get the kind of gaming performance I want so bad.

If you look at the fact I have no intention of building again for 4 years it works out quite economical at £500 per year.

2500k I have seen time and again is the gamers choice as for an extra 100 all you get is hyperthreading and a bit more cache which will make 0 dif to gaming.

I'll prob swap in water OC eventually just for the fun of trying it out and wouldn't mind taking a dip into the OC scene and modding as I love computers (So love that Apogee GTZ and the sexy looking barbs and tubes!)

I did contact Scan about when they might be stocking the 3rd Gen SSD's but they said it could be a while and I'm fed up waiting so will def plump for the OCZ Vertex 2E despite all the hype over the Crucial C300.

Will prob get a nicer monitor eventually but the current LG W2261VP is pretty impressive and I see no need to replace it just yet, maybe even buy a second!

Only thing I wonder now is if I should buy the TJ07 instead of the FT02 as it is top notch and hardly more expensive than the FT02 might need an internal powder coat but it is HAWT! If the Heat isn't so bad from my build it might make a nice backdrop for all the gear.

Anyway really appreciate the advice you guys gave as it has resulted in some major alterations of my build and I think I've finally got down to exactly what I want (Turns out it is utterly dif to what I thought I wanted).

 

[dpodblood]

Hey better to come and check with your fellow builders than just turn your wallet upside down and dump all the money out.

 

[mnewsham]

My friend did that two weeks before SB came out, He bought all AMD (phenom II 945 and amd 6850) with a 1366 MB he then asked me to build it for him. I told him he was an idiot and i wouldnt and couldnt build it.

 

[dpodblood]

My friend did that two weeks before SB came out, He bought all AMD (phenom II 945 and amd 6850) with a 1366 MB he then asked me to build it for him. I told him he was an idiot and i wouldnt and couldnt build it.

LOL.

 

[Zargon]

LOL @mnewsham and nice job so far OP.

 

[Cyndre]

Did just have an interesting thought on the Sabertooth and cooling. The Thermal Vest basically directs air from the CPU cooler around the ducting to cool the Mosfets and bridges etc etc from what I can tell.

However if you are using something like the Archon for CPU cooling this won't actually direct air flow downwards this negating the effetiveness and core feature of the board. What I'm wondering is with the TF02 and its rotated MB would the 3 air penetrators air flow on the base of the case directing air upwards accomplish the same thing?

Else I'd have to try find a cooler as good as the Archon with a top down air flow to make use of the boards full potential.