Casual Gaming PC, need help to decide!

[MasterRinswind]

Hey all, so I'm here wanting to build my very first pc. I want it to be a casual gaming PC, so not very hardcore, as I'll only be using 1 graphics card. But the PC has to have excellent cooling, be quiet, easy cable managment, and also look somewhat cool as well. So these are the parts I picked out for the gaming PC, can you all let me know if these pieces are all compatible with each other and all fit in the case good? It would be a great help, thanks! Also if you recommend a different product than the parts I choose, that is either of the same price range or slightly higher, would be cool too.

MB= Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 iX58, SATA2 RAID, 8CH
RAM= Corsair 4x2GB DDR3 PC12800 CL8.0 Dominator
CPU= Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz 4.8GT/s
Video Card= XFX GeForce GTX 285 XXX (Already aquired)
OS= Windows 7 (not sure on 32 or 64 bit, so help on this would be great)
PSU= Corsair HX850w
Cooling= Corsair H50 CPU Cooler (I'm wanting to OC the core i7 to 3.5 or so)
Tower= Thermaltake ArmorPlus(Armor+) VH6000SWA Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
HDD= Not decided, something with around 500gb-1TB in size, and between 80-150 euros. Best option?
DVD Drive= Just going to steal the one I already have from this PC and perhaps purchase one another time.
Moniter=Undecided but wanting resolution of 1920x1200.

So that's the jiff of it =) The graphics card I have listed is the one I'll be using, so I'm sort of building the PC around that. Also I am definitely going with the Core i7 920. So do these parts work well together for casual gaming PC, and can run games smoothly and nicely at 1920x1200? I'll also be playing a lot of online games (mmorpgs). Will it be able to run games like Sacred 2, Oblivion, Far Cry 2, Dark Mesiah, and future games at highest quality with no problems?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I need answers fast as well because I'm wanting to go out and buy them for Christmas or a bit later. Thanks in advance!

 

[MasterRinswind]

Here are some of the links for the products. Couldn't find my exact video card so I linked the closest thing to it.

MB= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128413&Tpk=Gigabyte%20ud7

Ram= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145267&Tpk=corsair%20dominator%208gb

CPU= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202&cm_re=core_i7_920-_-19-115-202-_-Product

Video Card= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130480&cm_re=gtx_285-_-14-130-480-_-Product

PSU= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=corsair%20HX850w

Cooling= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181010&Tpk=corsair%20h50

Tower= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133055&cm_re=Thermaltake_ArmorPlus%28Armor%2b%29_VH6000SWA_Silver-_-11-133-055-_-Product

 

[tarquinbiscuitbarrel]

i think you need a triple-channel DDR3 kit for that motherboard.

PSU a bit big? 650-750 would be very generous.

HDD - get a 500gb samsung spinpoint f3.

the weak link is the graphics card, but it's still a good card for the price - good 'place holder' until the monster ati 5xxx cards are cheaper and you need your pc to perk up a bit.

other than that it's great, and should be total overkill on the games you listed - old games.

 

[MasterRinswind]

Yea the PSU I chose that large just incase I add more components in the future. Good to have some back-up power. The graphics card I already have so that's why it's in the build, I'm not going to upgrade to a DX11 card till probably 2011 or so, when it's more needed.

I'll do some research on the HDD. Thanks for the info

 

[DZeroENT]

GTX 285 seems far from "casual". It's almost an angry computer. New Corsair CPU cooler seems a bit overkill for a 920 i7.

 

[MasterRinswind]

I guess this is a better choice for RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145235&cm_re=ddr3_triple_channel_12gb-_-20-145-235-_-Product

 

[MasterRinswind]

GTX 285 seems far from "casual". It's almost an angry computer. New Corsair CPU cooler seems a bit overkill for a 920 i7.

Yea as I said, the graphics card I already have, so I don't have to buy it or anything, which is why it's in the build 100% =P

The CPU cooler is not needed? I'll be overclocking the 920 to about 3.5 to 3.8, do you think the tower and motherboard will keep it cool enough to not need the corsair or? See cause I'm not good with this stuff or anything =P

 

[MasterRinswind]

Well I can't find these on Newegg but actually think this Ram is even better, Triple Channel 12gb. It's a bit expensive but probably worth it.

http://www.4launch.nl/shop/#p-4-productid-070666

 

[a4mula]

Yeah nothing really casual about this build.

Ram: G.SKill Trident 6gb DDR3 2000 From digging around this seems to be the sweet spot between price and performance.

12gb is overkill at it's max. 6gb is overkill, but hey, you gotta have triple channel.

As far as the OS goes, no-brainer. 64 bit all the way. 32 bit is still memory constricted to 4gb-VRAM like Vista.

Cooler:
H50 <cough> Gimmick <cough>. If you want a water solution, then go for it. Otherwise stick with a TRUE

 

[MasterRinswind]

Casual for me is playing all the new games with high to highest settings, and making sure I don't have too much lag and low fps in mmorpgs and such. I play alot of PS3 as well.

Sorry if anyone misunderstood me, I don't mean casual as in the occasional game of Sims 3 or something, lmao...

But you're right, 12gb I really don't need, 6gb is far more than enough as well I guess. But yes I need triple channel. The more I read about it though the more I'm thinking of just going for Windows 7 32 bit, less hassle with programs and such. And then I only need 4gb triple channel....can upgrade later if necassary or whatever.

But yea, I meant casual as I'm a regular PC and PS3 gamer, and want to play on best setting. But some people really go overboard hardcore with 3x GTX 285 cards and stuff, which to me is overkill =P Hence, the more casual gaming PC.

 

[DZeroENT]

Yea as I said, the graphics card I already have, so I don't have to buy it or anything, which is why it's in the build 100% =P

The CPU cooler is not needed? I'll be overclocking the 920 to about 3.5 to 3.8, do you think the tower and motherboard will keep it cool enough to not need the corsair or? See cause I'm not good with this stuff or anything =P

I really don't think you'll need to overclock the CPU soo far. I'm planning an AMD AM3 build that has even worse thermal qualities than your i7 and I've opted for Cooler Master's V8, it's 45 dollars right now on sale @ newegg. It comes w/ 1366 socket adapter. IDK, seems like a nice savings. That Corsair could potentially put you in IDK 4.0 territory, maybe better. I heard of one instance of 4.2, but then again, i7's aren't cheap.

 

[a4mula]

Casual for me is playing all the new games with high to highest settings, and making sure I don't have too much lag and low fps in mmorpgs and such. I play alot of PS3 as well.

Sorry if anyone misunderstood me, I don't mean casual as in the occasional game of Sims 3 or something, lmao...

But you're right, 12gb I really don't need, 6gb is far more than enough as well I guess. But yes I need triple channel. The more I read about it though the more I'm thinking of just going for Windows 7 32 bit, less hassle with programs and such. And then I only need 4gb triple channel....can upgrade later if necassary or whatever.

But yea, I meant casual as I'm a regular PC and PS3 gamer, and want to play on best setting. But some people really go overboard hardcore with 3x GTX 285 cards and stuff, which to me is overkill =P Hence, the more casual gaming PC.

Can't do 4gb triple channel unfortunately. Really, 64-bit is the way to go, not only is it going to unlock up to 2TB of memory it's also much more memory effecient.

 

[MasterRinswind]

Hmm really? See the thing I'm worried about is that I like to play a lot of the older games as well, like Quake 2, Quake 3 Arena, Dungeon Siege 2, you know, these types of games. So I'm worried that on 64 all my old games will become useless and unplayable, which is not fun =P

I really want to go for 64 bit with 8gb Ram, that's my ideal solution. But yea, I'm not sure the negative effect is worth it. Unless yea, maybe a dual-boot? One for 32bit for old games and the other 64. If that's even possible, think my friend said something about being able to do it for me, but I don't know =P

 

[a4mula]

Hmm really? See the thing I'm worried about is that I like to play a lot of the older games as well, like Quake 2, Quake 3 Arena, Dungeon Siege 2, you know, these types of games. So I'm worried that on 64 all my old games will become useless and unplayable, which is not fun =P

I really want to go for 64 bit with 8gb Ram, that's my ideal solution. But yea, I'm not sure the negative effect is worth it. Unless yea, maybe a dual-boot? One for 32bit for old games and the other 64. If that's even possible, think my friend said something about being able to do it for me, but I don't know =P

If you go with Win 7 Pro you'll get XP compatibility. It's not the cheap half-assed version that Vista shipped with but a full blown VM.

The deal with triple channel memory is that it requires 3x sticks to operate. So if you see kits that are not divisible by 3, they aren't triple channel. Right now the most common is 2gbx3 = 6gb. I wouldn't recommend filling your dimms to their capacity as many mobo's just don't seem to want to cooperate with that config. There are some 4gbx3 kits out there for 12gigs, but they tend to get pricey. The reality is that unless you plan on running a Ramdrive, 6 gb is plenty, more than enough, Win 7 is much more effecient than Vista was.

 

[tarquinbiscuitbarrel]

get 64bit...

there's really no reason to get 32bit anymore. the big problem with oooold games is faster/multicore cpu's and OS. but there's always a patch or something on the net to fix it.

 

[MasterRinswind]

Ah I see. So if I get Windows 7 Pro, that's 64 bit, and my older games will still work with XP compatibility right?

And good point, don't think I'd want to fill up the mobo with 6 rams either, maybe better to just go for the 3x2 gb triple channels then....6gb should be enough for my needs after all.

 

[a4mula]

Ah I see. So if I get Windows 7 Pro, that's 64 bit, and my older games will still work with XP compatibility right?

And good point, don't think I'd want to fill up the mobo with 6 rams either, maybe better to just go for the 3x2 gb triple channels then....6gb should be enough for my needs after all.

There is win 7 pro in both 32 bit and 64 bit configurations. You'd want x64. I understand being hesitant towards making the switch. I remember doing it with Vista and it was a nightmare. No driver support, half my games wouldn't work anymore. It was a real pain. Fortunately we've come a long ways since then and now 64 bit has become the defacto standard. Now the reverse is true. It's going to get tougher and tougher to find support for a 32 bit platform.

If you go with pro you can get XP Mode. It creates a virtual environment that will support older 32 bit applications that haven't been patched for 64 bit.

It should be noted that Ultimate also supports this feature.

 

[MasterRinswind]

Ah, alright thanks a lot =) I'll go for 64 bit then and hopefully can still get all my games to work. I'll also go for the 3x2gb triple channel ram. Do you recommend a really good 6gb RAM?

 

[MasterRinswind]

Oops, sorry I've seen you've already done so in some above posts,

 

[a4mula]

Ah, alright thanks a lot =) I'll go for 64 bit then and hopefully can still get all my games to work. I'll also go for the 3x2gb triple channel ram. Do you recommend a really good 6gb RAM?

G.Skill 6gb Trident DDR3 2000. Same kit as the popular DDR3 1600, but *supposedly* will take a little more voltage. At the end of the day Ram is Ram is Ram, as long as it's quality you're not going to notice a performance difference between 1033 and 2000 unless you're staring at an artificial environment (benchmarks). It still makes me laugh everytime I see someone that dropped 400+ on dominators.

 

[MasterRinswind]

Ah nice, that one seems pretty good =) So if I wanted CL 8 or something I can run it at 1600 to get as much performance as the other 1600's right? BUt other then that with that ram, combined with the i7 920, windows 7 pro 64bit and gtx 285, it should all work well together right?