Sub $1k Gaming PC, ordered, built

[mnewsham]

the 6950 2GB or 6970 would probably get you a good 60FPS on high at 1920x1080.

 

[Modeps]

Now I'm looking at the minimum specs for the PSU on some of these video cards (like the 6950 and 6970) and it looks like I need a minimum of 500W, which the case has but I'm concerned I'll get into stability issues. Thoughts?

 

[mnewsham]

It SHOULD be fine with an HD 6970, your PSU has two 17A 12v rails (204w each MAX) so i would guess you have about 380w total draw for your 12v rails (not that good but not too bad) Load power consumption (with an OC'd bloomfield i7) is 361w for the 6970 and 320w from the 6950 (using furmark) so you should be fine with your unit. (SHOULD be...slim chance it will have problems though as it isnt a fantastic PSU)

 

[Modeps]

i7 has more of a draw than the i5 sandy right? I'm back down to the 2500k in my build.

 

[mnewsham]

i7 has more of a draw than the i5 sandy right? I'm back down to the 2500k in my build.

yes, the i5 is all you need though.

 

[Modeps]

What if I threw something like this in there for the OS to be on? That'd make my machine like lightning, right?

Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

[mfenn]

What if I threw something like this in there for the OS to be on? That'd make my machine like lightning, right?

Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Pretty much. With 64GB, you'll have to do a few tweaks to recover some disk space, but other than that you should be good to go.

 

[Modeps]

Alright, the build has been ordered. Here's what I ended up with. Decided to skip the SSD and grab a new case because I was just about at a whole new system in the first place.

- EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
- COOLER MASTER GX Series RS650-ACAAE3-US 650W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
- Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium Grey ATX Mid Tower Silent PC Computer Case
- SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
- G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBNT
- Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
- GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
- ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

 

[mvbighead]

Pretty much. With 64GB, you'll have to do a few tweaks to recover some disk space, but other than that you should be good to go.

Well, if he uses it with Caching with the Z68, space shouldn't be an issue, no?

 

[Rvenger]

I know the BF3 specs haven't been released, but you think this'll rock it well enough?

Specs eh?

Here you go sir! http://www.shacknews.com/article/69210/battlefield-3-pc-specs-revealed

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Specs eh?

Here you go sir! http://www.shacknews.com/article/69210/battlefield-3-pc-specs-revealed

LOL

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Well, if he uses it with Caching with the Z68, space shouldn't be an issue, no?

That's exactly what the OP should do. Just use it for caching.

 

[mfenn]

LOL

Uh, what? Since when are the developer's specs in touch with reality?

 

[mfenn]

Well, if he uses it with Caching with the Z68, space shouldn't be an issue, no?

Yeah, but then you are (IMHO) throwing away a lot of the benefit of an SSD. The algorithms are just not good enough to provide consistent fast performance. Consistency is important because humans aren't very good at perceiving averages. You don't notice it when it's fast, but you do notice it when it's slow.

 

[mfenn]

Alright, the build has been ordered. Here's what I ended up with. Decided to skip the SSD and grab a new case because I was just about at a whole new system in the first place.

- EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
- COOLER MASTER GX Series RS650-ACAAE3-US 650W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
- Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium Grey ATX Mid Tower Silent PC Computer Case
- SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
- G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBNT
- Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
- GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
- ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

Looks pretty good except for the PSU. The Cooler Master GX V1 (built by Seventeam) isn't known for it's outstanding quality.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Uh, what? Since when are the developer's specs in touch with reality?

Well it could be true. you never know

 

[mnewsham]

I am running uhhh the thing..of that thing...with that thing... *cough*

Spoiler

NDA

*cough* right now on my laptop looks good to me (check sig for specs)

 

[Modeps]

Well it could be true. you never know

I guess it's close enough to being true that you had to respond with a hilarious meme. Great job.

For the record, the official specs have yet to be announced, despite the listing on GameStop. They're likely close, as the specs in the Alpha were leaked (below) for a recommended system, but stating non-official stuff as fact puts a bee in my bonnet. It's how stupid ass rumors get started.

OS: Windows 7 or Vista (SP1)
Installed: Origin
CPU: Quadcore @ 2.0 GHz or faster
RAM: 4GB or more
Hard Drive: 7.25GB free
Video: 512 MB or greater DirectX 10 or 11 compatible card with latest drivers (AMD 11.5 or later, nVidia 275.33 or later)
Sound: DirectX 10 or 11 compatible card
Internet: broadband connection

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I love my memes

 

[Modeps]

Got all the parts and did the build last night. Took about 2.5 hours to get everything nice and neat and pretty. Here are some pics:

http://twitpic.com/60k1mg - Parts

http://twitpic.com/60lkz2 - Mounted Motherboard

http://twitpic.com/60maoc - Everything hooked up

Was able to get a POST on the first power on, so that's a success! Now I just need to setup the OS and everything.

When I get Win 7 - 64bit up to date, what's the first on the agenda for a clean PC?

 

[mfenn]

Very nice job with the cables!

After I install the OS, the first thing that I do is download the GPU drivers (Nvidia in your case). With Windows 7, that and Windows updates are pretty much all that you need to do before you can rock n' roll.

 

[Modeps]

Very nice job with the cables!

After I install the OS, the first thing that I do is download the GPU drivers (Nvidia in your case). With Windows 7, that and Windows updates are pretty much all that you need to do before you can rock n' roll.

Thanks! Compared to my other machine, this is pristine. The routing of cables behind the motherboard tray is key.

I'm now typing this from my new build. One weird thing so far is that my Windows experience score is a 5.9... Everything is high 7's except my primary disk for some reason. I'm wondering if I was doing something while the test was running that it didn't like.

 

[mfenn]

You have the F3 as your primary disk right? 5.9 is a pretty reasonable for a fast HDD. You really have to have an SSD to get into the 7's.

 

[mnewsham]

Yeah my WEI is 7.0 total


CPU: 7
RAM: 7.4
Graphics: 7.2
Gaming graphics: 7.2
Primary hard drive: 7.4

Without the SSD in my laptop i would be at 5.9 or so.

 

[Modeps]

Oh ok. In that case I guess I'm alright then:

CPU 7.5
RAM 7.7
Graphics 7.8
Gaming Graphics 7.8
HDD 5.9