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Help - HIGH END gaming pc - items to buy

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Hello again, I am looking to buy/make basically my own computer. This will be my first time doing so, but I have watched youtube/vids on how to put them together and whatnot so I'm sure I'll be fine. Anyways, I basically want some pointers on what items to get since I'm not to find of what runs best with what. Here's what I'm thinking so far (not sure of all items of course);

OS: Vista/7 - either one not sure which would be better ( i hear 7 uses less memory/ram.
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... (4gb 240pin ddr2 - 2x2gb)
PSU I already have one, which should be powerful enough for most video cards I want -> Antec Earthwatts 650W w/ 22A on each of the 3 rails.
Mobo Not sure, someone help me out with this please
Vid Card Not sure either, was thinking like a 4870 or gts 250, not sure what I can get for 200ish $$.
Harddrive Something with 500gb+ size not sure exact one.
Processor Along with this and the vid card/mobo im not sure which one to get :(  I was looking @ some kinda quad core obviously.

Basically I think I ranged the price to be around $1500ish, but im sure itll be a bit more ofcourse.

Please if you could give me any suggestions/links to vidcard/mobo/processor that would suite my needs.

e/ I'm wanting to play like Crysis or cod4MW2 or highest graphic settings without lag/delay.

THANKS!!!

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You have some of the information in there, but some of the items in the post are very helpful, especially monitor resolution.

For $1500, you should be avoiding DDR2 like the plague. Assuming this is primarily a gaming rig, you should spend more than $200 on the graphics card, unless you have a very low resolution monitor.

At that budget, assuming you don't need monitor, etc. you can probably afford the following:

i5-750 + decent 1156 mobo or Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition + AM3 mobo with USB3/SATA 6 Gb/s
ATI 5850 or 5870
4 GB 1333 MHz CAS 7 DDR3
500 GB or 1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 or Seagate 7200.12
decent case
cheapest SATA DVD-RW drive - $25
Windows 7 - $100

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Ok so a 2k $ build.

You could either make a i7 lga1366 build with a hd5850 or a gtx470 or

a Phenom II x6 core cpu am3 build.( realase date for those is april 26th and the highest model cost 300$ for a 3.2ghz 6 core phenom II cpu) with a hd5870 or a gtx480

both build with the rest of the rig could easily fit within your 2k$ budget.

You don't need much CPU for gaming, read:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i3-gaming,2588...

Basically the Phenom II X3 barely passes the Intel dual-core, which BEATS the Intel quad-core, and at the end it points to another article that shows an Athlon II games just as well as a Phenom II.

So, if you really want a quad core, you can probably get a great deal on an Athlon II X4, and anything from around 2.8 GHz or faster is fast enough for now.

I would go with the fallowing recommendations:

CPU & Motherboard: There is no reason no go beyond i5 750 for gaming, this is a fact, read here, so you can chose This
or you can go with this instead it will allow you to drop a six core thuban later on down the road.
IMO the AMD build allows for a more upgradeable path. Note: depending on when you are actually buying, you can simply wait to the end of the month, grab a six core and a 890FX series motherboard, although this isn't necessary at all as 6, 4, or any number of cores wont make a different in gaming, a i5 750 0verclocked to 4ghz is more than enough, these day money is better spend on a powerful GPU.

HTF: ZALMAN CNPS10X Performa 120mm Long life CPU Cooler - Retail you will need a good heatsink to overclock regardless of the cpu you decide one, and the cnps wont disappoint.

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM - Retail best deal on ram that you can get as of right now, imo.

SSD: Corsair Nova Series CSSD-V128GB2-BRKT 2.5" 128GB SATA II Honestly when we are talking High end, these solid states drive sure do make the different, if you have the money of course.

BHD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB The only downfall of an SSD would be space wise, so you definably need a backup hard drive.

GPU: XFX HD-597A-CNB9 Radeon HD 5970 Black Edition 2GB with a nice budget i wouldnt settle for less.

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail The 1 good thing about ATI cards is that there isn't the need for a small nuclear plant to power them, this 750 watt unit will suffice you, of course you wont be able to add another card, but you wont need another card in the life of this system, by that time you would be better of upgrading the whole system, or to a more efficient GPU.

CASE: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail its affordable, has quality, its big, and it fits you a 5970, what else do you need?

Drive: DVD burner

First, forget about DDR2 RAM -- you should be running DDR3.

I'd put down no more than $250 on the CPU + motherboard combined. Just make sure your motherboard and CPU are compatible -- usually, this means same socket. Gigabyte, ASUS, Intel, eVGA, and MSI make excellent motherboards.

The i3 5xx's and i5 6xx's are excellent for gaming -- they're dual-core quad-threaded, run cool, and run fast. They're also relatively easy on the wallet until you consider in the AMD Phenom IIs. However, clock-by-clock, the Intels beat out the AMDs significantly, and in either case, you're more likely to see performance gains with less cores and higher clocks than more cores and lower clocks.

Now, just plunk down some money on a Radeon HD5870 and you should be set. Not enough performance? Get another HD5870 and run it in Crossfire.

I like snakej's suggestions, just the videocard, not really looking to spend that much on a card :p  I'd go about 300-400 max, im sure there is a card that'll perform a bit less then that but it saves the 300$.. =) anyone go any suggestions ? anywhere from 200-350ish ?

tim_tank said:
I like snakej's suggestions, just the videocard, not really looking to spend that much on a card :p  I'd go about 300-400 max, im sure there is a card that'll perform a bit less then that but it saves the 300$.. =) anyone go any suggestions ? anywhere from 200-350ish ?


If you're looking for top gaming, take $50 out of the CPU budget and add it to the video card budget. Really. You might not like that advice, you might not take that advice, but it's the best advice anyone here can give.

Hey Tim Tank I'm putting together PC parts for an upgrade/nearly all new system and trying not to spend too much. Essentially I'm only reusing the HDD and case. You already have a power source tho so here's what I recommend for a pretty good gaming rig at a decent price (and totally over-clockable for max performance):

MSI P55-GD65 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard ($168)
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor ($209)
G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) ($119)
HIS H585FN1GD Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity ($320)
Note that there's several makes of this card available for different prices. Some are pre-overclocked

Total price for these components is a little over $800 plus tax, S&H (Canadian, btw)
All these are from newegg.ca if you're american, newegg.com has slightly better prices I hear. Also about the vid card, I'll be getting an ASUS 5850 from a local retailer for $308 and OC it myself so you can save a bit of cash there.

You may need a tower, DVD drive, HDD/SSHD etc but these are the main parts and not too pricey for a really good set up

wolfram23 said:
Hey Tim Tank I'm putting together PC parts for an upgrade/nearly all new system and trying not to spend too much. Essentially I'm only reusing the HDD and case. You already have a power source tho so here's what I recommend for a pretty good gaming rig at a decent price (and totally over-clockable for max performance):

MSI P55-GD65 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard ($168)
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor ($209)
G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) ($119)
HIS H585FN1GD Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity ($320)
Note that there's several makes of this card available for different prices. Some are pre-overclocked

Total price for these components is a little over $800 plus tax, S&H (Canadian, btw)
All these are from newegg.ca if you're american, newegg.com has slightly better prices I hear. Also about the vid card, I'll be getting an ASUS 5850 from a local retailer for $308 and OC it myself so you can save a bit of cash there.

You may need a tower, DVD drive, HDD/SSHD etc but these are the main parts and not too pricey for a really good set up


He could save $90 by getting a Core i3-530 and get the same gaming performance.

Maybe even better gaming performance.

IN other words, for gamers the i5-750 is a waste of money

Then again, he could get even better gaming performance from an AMD Athlon II X3 processor and save even more money. Since AMD is both cheaper and a slightly better performer in games, any Intel processor is a waste of money in games

Now about the motherboard: The P55 chipset cost more than the AMD 790FX. 790FX boards have twice as many PCIe 2.0 lanes. Therefore, AMD motherboards offer superior gaming value

Of course, some people do more with their gaming PC. Some like to use photoshop, or transcode movies. Those are the tasks where Intel has a performance advantage. For most performance enthusiasts, Intel is a better choice, but those interested only in gaming performance will get higher FPS and lower cost with AMD

BTW, I'm the guy that everyone says is in Intel's pocket...

@Crashman... It seems like you are getting no love in this thread (everyone passes over your comments) :(  I do agree with you on spending less on the CPU and more on the GPU for a strickly gaming rig (includes Internet surfing of course). Really, the Athlon II X3 435 cannot be beaten in price to performance in a gaming alone system... IMO

I do have to say that the i5 750 is the best bang for the buck CPU you can buy for an all around balance system... IMO. I will defer to your opinion on this matter as YOU are the EXPERT here at TOM's... I just build / game for the love (though my wife wishes I was being paid for my hobby:)  )

haha @ tecmo yeah my girlfriend thinks that same thing -.- lol but i just enjoy it, tho i want to be able to see the games in alot better view graphics wise. I have an 8800gt at the moment which really isnt doing it anymore. I get like 20fps on battlefield badcompany 2 at lowest settings :(  and it's suposed to be an amazing game.

@ other posts, I looked into the AMD Athlon II x3 and it seems to be getting good reviews for it's price. I'm not sure if going with a AMD quadcore would be that much more helpful in gaming experience then the 3 core for a bit more money for the quad.

I think my biggest thing right now is basically
- Videocard = #1
- Processor
- RAM

I no those 3 would help it alot, and other things would just maximize the output.
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