Tom's Hardware > Forum > Homebuilt Systems > New System Build > New Higher end gaming rig: questions!

New Higher end gaming rig: questions!

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - New Higher end gaming rig: questions!

Tom's Hardware: Over 1.4 million members in 6 different countries available to answer all your high-tech questions. Sign up now! Its free!
Ask the community Add a reply
Word :    Username :           
 
supfresh   10-23-2009 at 08:39:06 PM

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE:
Ready to go now!
BUDGET RANGE: (e.g.: 600-800) Before / After Rebates
$1.5k

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT:
Gaming, net, movies

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: (e.g.: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS)
Monitor (hannsG28)
PowerSupply(corsair HX620)
Keyboard (G15)
Dont need speakers or mouse either

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS:
Newegg
PARTS PREFERENCES: by brand or type (e.g.: I would like to use an AMD CPU & Biostar mobo with a 24" LCD and full tower case)
I really prefer Corsair/Asus/Intel. Not an amd guy at all

OVERCLOCKING: Yes / No / Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE:
Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: (e.g.: 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: (e.g.: Need to have a window and lots of bling, I would like a quiet PC)
I'd like my pc to boot quickly. It's my thing. It annoys me to sit around for 4 minutes waiting on a pc to boot up :wahoo:
So i'm looking to build a new rig used primarily for gaming (mmos, FPS). Havent been keeping up lately (last build was 3 years ago) so i'm looking for some advice. I've done some research and this is what i've come up with so far:

Intel Core i5-750 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115215

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Computer Case With Side Panel ... - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119160

XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card ... - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

EVGA P55 LE 123-LF-E653-KR LGA1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145263

I'll be picking up W7 Home premium as well. Looking for thoughts on the MB and Ram. I believe the I5 is plenty for gaming but thoughts on going to the I7? Is there really a need for an after-market cooler?
ALso thoughts on video card brands? I can't seem to find the XFX and can only find saphire/diamond/Powercolor.
What about an SSD drive? Are they a pain to install/use? I'd put the cash down on one of it's user friendly as i'd quite the noob!

Thanks~

Add a reply
Sponsored Links
Register or log in to remove.
masterasia   10-23-2009 at 10:09:17 PM

All your parts look pretty good. I'd go for a hard drive with 32mb of cache. It would help with performance. WD Blacks or the Higher End F1 and F3 drives are good, but WD Blacks come with 5 year warranty. Samsung only has 3 years.

If you want your computer to boot quickly. Then get an SSD like the Intel X25-M.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820167016

From the time I press the power to the time when I can log onto Tom's Hardware is about 20 seconds. It's crazy fast. I have CS4 installed, a couple games, Office 2007, some movie programs, some music ripping/converting programs, some programming stuff, and some benchmarking programs and it still runs fast. Everything you click on opens instantly, especially Adobe CS4.

The Lynnfield chips run cool, so you probably don't need an aftermarket cooler if you don't plan on overclocking.
But if you care about aesthetics the CoolerMaster V8 would match your case perfectly http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103055
You can use the LGA 775 brackets to mount it because that motherboard has LGA 775 mounting holes.


Message edited by masterasia on 10-23-2009 at 10:14:58 PM
Reply to masterasia
supfresh   10-23-2009 at 10:13:25 PM

Are they fairly easy to work with? I guess that's my biggest concern.
Thanks!

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to supfresh
masterasia   10-23-2009 at 10:15:55 PM

supfresh wrote :

Are they fairly easy to work with? I guess that's my biggest concern.
Thanks!



Is what easy to work with? SSDs? Cooler? HDD?


Message edited by masterasia on 10-23-2009 at 10:16:18 PM
Reply to masterasia
masterasia   10-23-2009 at 10:54:43 PM

supfresh wrote :

Sorry, the SSD. Didnt catch your edit!




SSDs work just like a regular hard drive.
You will need to get a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter (I have the ICY DOCK one)

Writes and Deletes ware down the drive, so if you do get one, I would recommend
getting some extra hard drives to store your data or play games off.
Some people, including me, play the games off a RAID-0.

I have a network storage so I don't store anything importtant on my local hard drives.

One of the primary reasons I got a SSD is so I can boot up in 20 seconds.
You'll have to do some tweaks in your bios to get past to post faster, but once you get past
the post, it's like 10 seconds before you get a desktop.

Also, you'll need like 3 or 4 hdd in raid-0 to get similar performance. I'm getting bursts
read speed up to 290 mb/s with just one SSD. I still have my 300 gig Velociraptor drive
and the SSD puts it to shame. 2 VRaptors in raid-0 only get you average reads of 160 mb/s.
With the SSD its well over 200 mb/s. Also the average seek time on SSD is insane at .04~.05 ms.
Regular hard drives are around 8~9 ms

If you do choose a SSD, the Intel ones are the best and get the best reviews. They have a new line, X25-X, coming out soon
which are slower and cheaper, but I would really recommend the X25-M G2. The G2s will support TRIM in Windows 7 with a firmware update.
TRIM makes the drives last longer.

Reply to masterasia
admin123   10-23-2009 at 10:57:11 PM

go with a WD, i went with one and have never looked back http://tsutton.site90.net/imgs/signature_smiley1.jpg plus that 5 year warranty may come in handy.

------------------------------ Saving up for new ipod touch cant wait
Reply to admin123
Ask the community Add a reply
Tom's Hardware > Forum > Homebuilt Systems > New System Build > New Higher end gaming rig: questions!
Go to:

There are 458 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Forum map
Bestofmedia Forum ©
2000-2009 Bestofmedia Group
Page generated in 0.363 seconds
Sponsored links
  • Ask the community now
  • Publish
Ad
Related Topics
See all relatives topics
They won a badge
Join us in greeting them
How do I win badges?