First Gaming Build

[Pillawl]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week. Probably in the next few days

BUDGET RANGE: $1500 Before Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Games, movies, internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: OS, Keyboard and Mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel and ATI

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes (future)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1080p

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: First build ever. I want to triple check making sure everything is compatible and will fit.

Case: Cooler Master Scout
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

Motherboard: EVGA Intel x58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049

CPU: i7-930
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225

GPU: XFX of Radeon HD5770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447

PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro 700w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171037

RAM: 6GB Corsair XMS3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145222

HDD: WD 7.2k RPM 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320

Monitor: 23" 1080p Asus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236079

DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

CPU Fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055

Case fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999072

Thanks a lot for your input.

 

[osu43130]

first of all if it is just for gaming go with an i5 because then you can get a 5870 in the mix. @19XX + resolution the 5770 will suffer.

Also stick with Spinpoint F3 or Seagate 7200.12 for the hard drive WD is falling behind currenlty. The 500gb platters that the samgsung and seagate use greatly improve the performance.

PSU do not get a cooler master PSU stick with Antec/Seasonic/Corsair/Silverstone. they are a lot better quality and you do not want to spend 1500 and then have a psu ruin the whole thing.

Honestly you can get a lot more out of a i5-750 then you will get out of the build you currently as far as gaming goes.

 

[Pillawl]

Alright thanks!

A question on the PSU, Should I still get a 700W?

If I get a 5870HD card it will push me over my limit.

 

[coldsleep]

No time for a detailed response, but OSU suggested switching to an i5-750, which should save about $200 between CPU/mobo/RAM, which should be about the amount you need to step up to a 5870.

 

[osu43130]

650-700 is plenty just stick with a quality PSU.

Im sure someone will put a build together or Ill do it when I get home (currently at work and want to get out of here).

5870 with an i5 is in the budget 5870 with an i7-930 is not.

 

[Pillawl]

I wasn't aware that I needed to switch out the Mobo and the RAM, like coldsleep said.

 

[osu43130]

Sorry for haveing to copy and paste this but here is a build I did earlier from the canada newegg. I update the MOBO to the U3S6 one so the price is about a little more cause you can actually find that mobo on the us site

Alright here you go.

All from Newegg.ca

Sata Optical

HAF922

Seagate 7200.12 500 GB

HD5870

Antec 650 watt PSU (Earthwatts)

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)

ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard


Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield

Win7 64 bit

Hyper 212 Plus Cooler

1370 before shipping tax's and rebates.

If you wanted to you could hit your mark of 1500 by adding a new monitor that supports 19XX resolution so that your graphics card will actually get a work out.

Like maybe this one.....

Monitor

NOTE*****

Remember this is Canadian so get the US prices and you should be good.

Again Sorry just running out of time.

 

[Pillawl]

Sweet! I'll post an updated version of the build in a bit with the things that were swapped out to make sure I have everything right.

 

[Pillawl]

Things that are new:

HD5870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

i5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

G-Skill RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303

Asus MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621

HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

CPU fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

 

[osu43130]

I think you did what I did the HD5870 is linked to the HDD. Just pick the xfx5870 or whatever is cheapest. XFX is usually close to being the cheapest and has double life time warranty not that you will ever need it but gues it could be nice to have.

 

[osu43130]

1 last note make sure the 5870 fits in the scout. I prefer the 922 because it is huge and fits anything you can think of. Possibly the best case in that price range.

 

[Pillawl]

Blagh sorry. I also forgot to add the PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

 

[beauchee]

Just my 2 cents... (i build around 10 systems each year...friends familly...) if gaming is your main pleasure the 5770 isn`t enough (like others already said) although from my point of view the 5850 is more then enough if you want to stick with ATI (witch you should at this moment since nvidia has nothing solid to offer until the end of march) and the I5 750 would be a great deal for saving (like the others already said). BTW the 5850 is about 9.5 inch instead of 11 inch like the 5870 witch would be great to make sure it fits your case. Going from a I7 to I5 those mean you will need to go to a new mobo with a LGA 1156 socket (i would recommend the MSI P55-GD55) overall great price performance mobo. Since you would save on the cpu, (with the I5) and save on the 5850 (less then 300$ cdn) and also save on the mobo...all those save brings me to one more point...could u afford a ssd intel x-25m hard drive ? if you could i am sure you would fall in love with your start up time and everything will feel sharper in and out of games. You asked if a 700w was enough...yes it is but a 850w wouldn`t be too much...(rosewill 850w 2x80mm ballbearing is only 110$ cdn) that is if you want to be on the xtra safe side for crossfiring later. Hope this helps you more then confuse you enjoy your new built !

 

[beauchee]

here are some link to the items:
Rosewill Xtreme Series RX850-D-B 850W Continuous @40°C ,80 PLUS Certified, ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91, SLI Ready CrossFire ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16817182070

Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV34G1333ELK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820220435

MSI P55-GD55 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813130248

Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2M080G2XXX 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115215

hope this helps...from newegg.ca (im sure you have the same for cheaper on the .com)

 

[Pillawl]

Thank you for your input. I swapped out the Scout for the Cooler Master CM II 690 because it allows the 5870. Overall I think this case is a slightly better one than the scout. Both are good IMO.

I thought about SSD, however they are pretty new and will probably fall in prrice and get larger. If I buy one now I will probably feel like I got a little bit ripped off. I know this applies to anything in the technology area, but these are like BRAND new. I could be wrong but oh well.

The current PSU I have in my cart is the Corsair CMPSU 650W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 Do you think think it will be enough? Personally, I have almost no idea.

My dad claims that 4GB of the G-Skill RipJaw is not enough. I don't think he has any idea what he is talking about but he is paying so I have to ask.

 

[darkjuggalo2000]

Just my 2 cents... (i build around 10 systems each year...friends familly...) if gaming is your main pleasure the 5770 isn`t enough (like others already said) although from my point of view the 5850 is more then enough if you want to stick with ATI (witch you should at this moment since nvidia has nothing solid to offer until the end of march) and the I5 750 would be a great deal for saving (like the others already said). BTW the 5850 is about 9.5 inch instead of 11 inch like the 5870 witch would be great to make sure it fits your case. Going from a I7 to I5 those mean you will need to go to a new mobo with a LGA 1156 socket (i would recommend the MSI P55-GD55) overall great price performance mobo. Since you would save on the cpu, (with the I5) and save on the 5850 (less then 300$ cdn) and also save on the mobo...all those save brings me to one more point...could u afford a ssd intel x-25m hard drive ? if you could i am sure you would fall in love with your start up time and everything will feel sharper in and out of games. You asked if a 700w was enough...yes it is but a 850w wouldn`t be too much...(rosewill 850w 2x80mm ballbearing is only 110$ cdn) that is if you want to be on the xtra safe side for crossfiring later. Hope this helps you more then confuse you enjoy your new built !

Ok First off you dont want a 50 series of any 5000 class you either want the 5770 or the 5870. As i have the 5770 it works fine for moderate gaming.. Crysis on all high settings aa on 4 x and the fps is 30+ at 1920x1080 res.... on Very high settings and aa off i get 20+ fps at 1920x1080 res... the 5850 will get close to the same.

(this is the 5770)

GPU Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT)
Core Clock 850MHz
Stream Processors 800 Stream Processing Units
Memory
Effective Memory Clock 1200MHz (4.8Gbps)
Memory Size 1GB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR5



(this is the 5850)

GPU Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro)
Core Clock 765MHz
Stream Processors 1440 Stream Processing Units
Memory
Effective Memory Clock 1125MHz (4.5Gbps)
Memory Size 1GB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type GDDR5



(this is the 5870)

GPU Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT)
Core Clock 850MHz
Stream Processors 1600 Stream Processing Units
Memory
Effective Memory Clock 1200MHz (4.8Gbps)
Memory Size 1GB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type GDDR5

the 50 series(the 5750 and the 5850) have a clock speed of 750-765 mhz (not enough for powerfull gaming)
The 70 series(the 5770 and the 5870) have a clock speed of 850+ mhz (plenty of speed)


The difference between the 5700 class and the 5800 class is that the memory interface is 128 bit for the 5700 class and 256 bit for the 5800 class.
Yes this will deffinatly improve performance but not if you suffer a loss of clock speed. and also the stream processing units(which what game utilizes 1600 processing units? that is insane...)


So in end if you choose to go with the 5800 class gpu you need to go with the 5870 otherwise save your money and get the 5770! Dont waste your money on that stupid 5850!

 

[Pillawl]

Switched to the Rosewill Xtreme Series RX850-D-B 850W Continuous. Thanks for all of the input, I think I will stick with this current build unless there are major flaws (I dont think there are any).

 

[darkjuggalo2000]

looks great good luck!!

 

[beauchee]

4 gig is more then enough...if i run on my machine wow, unreal 2003, sto and Mass Effect 2 all at once (on win7) i use about 3.2 gig of ram....and that was just for testing...i only open one at a time normally. maybe unless you have multi-screen setting and doing lots at the same time.
back for the video card choice...i base my answer on how many FPS you would get for your money. If you are going with a 23 inch asus monitor im guessing you are going to run your games at a res of 19xx by 12xx or something close...
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality-update-3/Sum-of-FPS-Benchmarks-1920x1200,1701.html
if you look at this link witch is from toms hard ware...for a sum of fps at 1920x1200 with AA at 4x the 5850 is WAY above the 5770 (witch is mid range - 311.20 score) compare to the 5850 (witch is HIGH end - 449.20 score)
If you want to look over a more specif game like FEAR... look here
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality-update-3/F.E.A.R.-2,1682.html
and you can see the 5850 being 41.1 fps over the 5770... so please darkjuggalo...tell me how the 5850 would be stupid...really please tell me since it looks from my point a view a great card for dollars vs fps point a view ... hope this helps you pillawl.

 

[beauchee]

oh and of course if you can afford...YES go with the 5870

 

[darkjuggalo2000]

however corsair is a way better and more renowned company than roswill and the psu is everything... roswill actually kind off has a bad reputation when it comes to power supplies. The top brands are Thermaltake, corsair, Ocz, and the Antec Earthwatts. those are good psu's!!

 

[darkjuggalo2000]

Roswill should just stick to fans and cases! they need to stay away from power supplies!

 

[Pillawl]

Oh yea man, you helped me. I just like the idea of having the top of the line card so I am buying the 5870. I am within $2 of my cap so I don't think I will mess with anything.

Again, thanks a lot for the input.

 

[beauchee]

Darkjuggalo has a point has for brand name PS...i do prefer Thermaltake has well, antec is great for PS has well...but i won`t put aside rosewill since i never had a bad experience with them...only good. But maybe Dark juggalo bought more rosewill then me and has something bad that happen to him... (i only bought 3 of them within the last 2 years)

 

[darkjuggalo2000]

4 gig is more then enough...if i run on my machine wow, unreal 2003, sto and Mass Effect 2 all at once (on win7) i use about 3.2 gig of ram....and that was just for testing...i only open one at a time normally. maybe unless you have multi-screen setting and doing lots at the same time.
back for the video card choice...i base my answer on how many FPS you would get for your money. If you are going with a 23 inch asus monitor im guessing you are going to run your games at a res of 19xx by 12xx or something close...
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality-update-3/Sum-of-FPS-Benchmarks-1920x1200,1701.html
if you look at this link witch is from toms hard ware...for a sum of fps at 1920x1200 with AA at 4x the 5850 is WAY above the 5770 (witch is mid range - 311.20 score) compare to the 5850 (witch is HIGH end - 449.20 score)
If you want to look over a more specif game like FEAR... look here
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality-update-3/F.E.A.R.-2,1682.html
and you can see the 5850 being 41.1 fps over the 5770... so please darkjuggalo...tell me how the 5850 would be stupid...really please tell me since it looks from my point a view a great card for dollars vs fps point a view ... hope this helps you pillawl.

ok going further on the benchmark....

click the side and click compare between the 5770 and the 5850 and you will see that most games gain like 2-3 fps and some gain nothing with the 5850 compared to the 5770.. This is not worth the price gap. if you go better go way better.. the 5870 is worth it! the 5850 is not.. The reason i went with the 5770 is becaus i plan to crossfire it and for it's 150 dollar price tag you cant beat the performance gain in crossfire. your paying an extra 150 dollars per card for what 2-3 fps ? in some instances maybe 10. in crossfire you are talking a 300 dollar price difference! In my opinion the 5850 is not worth it (again that is my opinion and i am intitled to it)