Building a new Gaming PC, need Advice Please

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Conartist7

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Mar 20, 2013
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Hello ,

I have been a gamer for a long time(not too long, but been playing AAO for several years, Guild wars for 5 years,Dota, HoN and so on..) And ive been working in Afghanistan with the US Mil. for the past 2 years and its time to go back home ,and i am ready to build a new PC for gaming mostly.

My budget for building one is now 2500$ +-

And ive did A LOT reading on CPU's , GPU's and such to see what would be the best option and i have had something on paper to give me an idea if what i could build for the amount which is something like this:

ASUS sabertooth X79
i7 3930K 3.2 Ghz
16 GB RAM 2400 Mhz (Kingstonor Corsair Vengeance)
GTX680 680 FROZR III or AMD ATI 7970 (cant decide yet....)
850 WATT POWER
SSD 240 GB
3TB HDD

So , something like this i had in mind.. Now , If someone has a better suggestion for that value and all , i would greatly appreciate.

Now i have to NOTE this. I do mainly want to use this Build for Gaming, and i intend to use probably an 24 or 27 inch ultrasharp ips monitor for start.. Later on in a year or two i might upgrade another same video card that i already have and go SLI or Crossfire, but for now ill mainly use one monitor..


So, my wish as most gamers have is to run 99% of games on highest settings and enjoy it to the fullest. :)))

If you got any additional questions , please feel free to ask. THANK YOU !!!!
 
Solution
bigcyco1
The high end gaming PC is going to be something that can run everything at 1080P at high to ultra settings. This machine will burn through any game on the market, and will have plenty of room for expansion as well. The best building pc tutorial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea_bs5G1yYU


CPU – http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-i5-3570K-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B007SZ0E1K/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1_JFGA
Motherboard – http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-P8Z77-V-PRO-Intel-Motherboard/dp/B007G51UV0/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1_X37Y
Memory - http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CML8GX3M2A1866C9B/dp/B008HK4ZAG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1364023071&sr=1-1&keywords=Corsair+Vengeance+Blue+8GB+1866
Video Card –...
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bigcyco1

bigcyco1

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Feb 11, 2012
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Why not the i7 you may ask? Well the i7 merely adds Hyper-Threading and a higher clock speed to the equation. Though these two improvements are fantastic in CPU intensive tasks such as video encoding and 3D modeling, in gaming scenarios it doesn’t really do a whole lot. Games these days are much more graphics intensive than CPU intensive, so it’s a much better idea to invest the extra dough into the graphics card. Core i5 3570K. For those who know me and have me do their builds, you’ll know that it’s just about the best processor you can get for the money today. With plenty of performance, top notch overclocking capability and enough horsepower to run any game you throw at it, the choice is a no brainer.


That said, those of you out there looking to do live streaming or other tasks which require any sort of video encoding, feel free to pick up an Intel Core i7 instead.
 
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Conartist7

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Mar 20, 2013
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Sounds reasonable, so with the whole performance on a new Rig i had in mind of what i posted in the initial post , is OK except for the processor could go a bit less to improve to graphic card, so now i have to ask, the graphic card would be enough or ?

Other than that, what would be your opinion on the graphic card and which brand.. Nvidia or Ati? Kinda hard to decide, after i did hours of reading and the comparisons and personal opinions of people owning these.. I Really dont know what to go for now ...
 
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grantwooduk

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Sep 14, 2011
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There is a lot of speculation out there for GTX 680 vs 7970, and the main thing always comes down to what games you plan on playing? what resolution do you plan on playing at? do you plan on any overclocking at all?

In general the 7970GHz edition is one of the safest bets for high end gaming - provides great performance for a great price, and has enough bandwidth to cover higher resolution gaming, but you may also be playing mostly games which use PhysX, in which case the GTX 680 might be the better choice.

Alot of it is down to personal choice, both cards allow for expansions and growth, and depending on what you plan on playing then each card has it's pros and cons.

 
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Conartist7

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What i plan on playing 80% of the time would be Online games at most .. I do want max setting on higher resolutions as i like to enjoy the clarity and sweet looks to it.. And yes i think i will OC it once i get the chance to do so..
 
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grantwooduk

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Well that is great to know aswell, but when you say online games are we talking FPS, RTS, MOBA, Simulation?

In terms of it's over clocking abilities the 7970 is probably the better high end card for it, plus it's 3GB vRAM and high memeory bandwidth really help with the high res gaming at 2560x1600 or even multi-screen setups.

But similarly you like the visuals in a game so you might enjoy what PhysX and active-Vsync have to offer from Nvidia, which look great at 1080p resolutions, even better the higher you go, but that's where SLI becomes more important.

If you want to let us know which games you plan on playing most often and what resolution you plan on playing at, then we can help you choose.
 
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Conartist7

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Mar 20, 2013
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Heh, wish i could say what resolution i am gonna play on , last time i played games was 3 years back when i was not working overseas in a desert :p but anyway, back then i played on 1024x768 on a 21.5 inch , and it was ok , then i had a 4560 ati sapphire i think..

Ok so , the games i will be playing will be mostly Guild Wars 2, HoN, Combat Arms (majority will be MMO online games) and i am planning on trying out Skyrim as for Online games, and then here and there try out something like COD BO2, BF3, Assassins creed and stuff.. but these i would play as they come out u know, play them , go trough them and go back to online gaming.. :) .. So , as for the resolution i really wouldnt know what to tell you .. other than id like higher resolutions for better graphics and clarity.

Thank you for the patience and the effort on helping me out,i really appreciate it :) Hope you get a better idea of what i want now..
 
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J_E_D_70

J_E_D_70

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Mar 21, 2012
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You want at least 1080p (or 1200). Seen a lot of folks saying you need 1440 or higher at 27" but I looked at one at a store running 1080 and still thought it looked incredible (Asus model).

Recommend a 3570K w/ Z77 over the 3930K/X79 for gaming and every day use. Just no tangible benefit for the extra money.

You really only need 8GB of RAM (plenty) but 16 won't harm it. There is no tangible benefit of paying for 2400MHz RAM over 1600Mhz (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2011/01/11/the-best-memory-for-sandy-bridge/10). Stick with 9-9-9-24, 1.5V. Corsair Vengeance Low Profile is good.

No point either in paying for top-end motherboards. A ~$150 board form ASUS, ASRock, Gigabyte, or MSI will perform withing a couple of frames of very expensive ones.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6697/asrock-fatal1ty-x79-champion-and-x79-professional-review-from-a-gamer-to-gamers/11

Stick with XFX, Seasonic, Corsair, etc for a good quality Bronze-certified PSU. Only step up to gold/platinum if you are in an area with very expensive electricity or plan to run it under load for the better part of the day most every day.

I'd go for a Gigabyte Windforce 7970 I think. Cool, quiet, plenty of VRAM.

The Samsung 840 Pro is the going high end SSD. 250GB should hold all of your online games and several others unless you never uninstall anything (I keep BF3 and LotRO installed all the time then rotate 1 or 2 games as needed on a 160GB model with room to spare). Unless you have a need for 3TB drive specifically, I think you'd be better off either getting two 250GB SSDs or one 500GB model depending on price. Then back that up to a USB external HDD.

Happy building and welcome back :)
 
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grantwooduk

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+1 to J_E_D for his recommendation.

If you do plan on going crossfire in the near future then the Windfoce 7970 GHz is a great card - quiet, cool and a great overclockable card. Or if you wan to stick with a single card for a while the the Sapphire 7970 ghz Vapor-X model is probably better in terms of its ability to overclock and its cooling, but does take up 2 1/2 slots which makes crossfire a little harder as you have to leave a single slot gap.

My brother was in the same boat as you, he joined the British Army and has been deployed abroad multiple times, but he never got back into gaming as it seems you have. I still have the odd co-op game with him when he's local from time to time though :D

Whatever you choose is going to be a noticeable stepup from 720p gaming and I hope you all the best with this build, assuming we have helped you decide that is!
 
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bigcyco1

bigcyco1

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Feb 11, 2012
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The high end gaming PC is going to be something that can run everything at 1080P at high to ultra settings. This machine will burn through any game on the market, and will have plenty of room for expansion as well. The best building pc tutorial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea_bs5G1yYU


CPU – http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-i5-3570K-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B007SZ0E1K/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1_JFGA
Motherboard – http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-P8Z77-V-PRO-Intel-Motherboard/dp/B007G51UV0/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1_X37Y
Memory - http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CML8GX3M2A1866C9B/dp/B008HK4ZAG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1364023071&sr=1-1&keywords=Corsair+Vengeance+Blue+8GB+1866
Video Card – http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL-DVI-I-SL-DVI-D-PCI-Express-11197-12-40G/dp/B008PQAE98/ref=pd_cp_pc_0
Boot Drive – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NB8WRU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009NB8WRU&linkCode=as2&tag=cupcre06-20
Storage Drive – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T3GRLY/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005T3GRLY&linkCode=as2&tag=cupcre06-20
Optical Drive - http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD-RW-Serial-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1_4VX3
PSU – http://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-ATX12V-EPS12V-Power-Supply/dp/B004ETEFTK/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1_2504
Case – http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Computer-CC-9011013-WW/dp/B005E97ZUU/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_2_4B88
CPU Cooler - http://pcpartpicker.com/mr/ncixus/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhu12pse2
Operating System – http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_cp_e_1
 
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Conartist7

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Mar 20, 2013
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10,510
Thx everyone on the support and time on this one. @grantwooduk yeah , this place makes u go to the woods and dont do anything at all for months just unplug ur self hhe , but games for me are way escape i guess :)

pretty much everyone tells me the same thing that i dont need all that extra juice i guess, with 16 gb of 2400 mhz, i7 , and all that .. could go lower i guess and save a few bucks which is cool. i think ill settle for this as you guys recommend me seems good for me .. Thank you very much on all of the support , time you have put into this :)))
 
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