Input on gaming build

[Mark Heath]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Unknown, hopefully within the next 10 years

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, word processing and other homework, music, possibly internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: ..idk

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I'm in Aussie and will be purchasing my components from cpl (local brick'n'mortar shop for those who've never heard of it.)

PARTS PREFERENCES: Not really any

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe in the future

MONITOR RESOLUTION: preferably 1920x1080 but it doesn't really matter

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: It's going to need to last a while without upgrading and it will be moving around now and then. The games being played will not be the most taxing of the latest games, but there will be some newer games on it as well as some older games



So far these are the parts I'm thinking of using:
(sorry, I haven't linked the parts, but I think they should be known pretty well)

Intel i7 930
G.Skill 6GB 1600 C8
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
2x Western Digital 1TB Black in RAID 1
Gigabyte 5850OC
Cooler master Storm Sniper (I know about the Lian-Li/Lancool K62, but cpl doesn't sell it)
Corsair HX-850
Sony OEM SATA Optical Drive
Cooler master Hyper 212 Plus

For K/B, Mouse, Monitor and speakers:

Logitech Media 600
Logitech MX518
Asus 24" VW246H
Logitech Z-523

with the k/b and mouse, I'm pretty much limited to Logitech and MS
with the speakers I can only use a 2.1 or 2.0 system (due to size) and I'm limited to Logitech and a limited range from Altec Lansing and Creative

As I said before, the system's gotta last for a while, but won't be taxed to the limit in gaming or anything (I think)

I think that's everything..
Thanks in advance for any help/advice

 

[MadAdmiral]

Here are my changes to the build as is:

The UD7 is a waste of money. Drop that to the Asus PX58D-E and save a boat load.

The WD HDDs are either slower (SATA II models) or much more expensive (SATA III) or slower AND more expensive. Pick up some Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TBs or Seagate 7200.12 1 TBs to get the same thing at a lower price.

Drop the 850W Corsair to a 750W. That's enough to Crossfire 5870s or below.

I am not a fan of the Storm series of cases. I think they're expensive and don't give you anything special. Drop that to the HAF 922, get the best case out there and save some moeny at the same time.

With the money saved above, pick up a 5870 (or if possible, a 5970). The 5850 is a good card, but can be overwhelmed by some games out right now (mainly Crysis). This indicates that it won't be good for long.

Here's some more drastic changes:

Drop the i7-930 in favor of an i5-750. You'll save a TON of money and lose nothing in terms of performance. Pair that with the Asus P7P55D-E Pro board and 4 GB of RAM.

With the savings in switching to the i5, you will definitely be able to grab a 5970. This beast will be excellent for many, many years. I doubt you'll need to replace it before you need to rebuild. If you can't afford it, check out the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 for your board. That'll cut the cost down a little, and you won't lose anything as Crossfiring 5970s would just be a waste of money.

 

[Mark Heath]

The UD7 is a waste of money. Drop that to the Asus PX58D-E and save a boat load.

There's a review on the UD7, the D-E and 2 other boards here at TH:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/x58-usb-3.0-sata-6-gbps,2614-2.html

The D-E doesn't have eSATA and with the amount of money spent on the build, I'd rather have a mobo with it

The WD HDDs are either slower (SATA II models) or much more expensive (SATA III) or slower AND more expensive. Pick up some Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TBs or Seagate 7200.12 1 TBs to get the same thing at a lower price.

I considered the cheaper seagate model, but doesn't the caviar black version have significantly better read/write access times and overall better performance?

Drop the 850W Corsair to a 750W. That's enough to Crossfire 5870s or below.

heheh.. probably should've checked on the power usage of everything first. thanks

I am not a fan of the Storm series of cases. I think they're expensive and don't give you anything special. Drop that to the HAF 922, get the best case out there and save some moeny at the same time.

I personally like the look of the case and while it's cooling isn't the best I've seen, it's definitely acceptable. The HAF 922 was something I checked out, but it doesn't seem quite as robust as the sniper and I think the sniper looks sweet as

And regards to the "drastic changes", the 930'll perform a fair bit better after o'c, a higher clock rate plus hyper threading makes a worth the extra

Sorry about the bad link

 

[MadAdmiral]

The CPU actually won't improve gaming performance that much. Especially if it means you can get a bigger GPU. It's just how it works. CPU benchmarks are created using artificial handicaps to other components to create a difference that can be seen. I'd look into the i5 if you can then afford the 5970. If not, don't bother with it.

With the review out, I really can't recommend the UD7. The review states that the UD3R (the recommended buy) is better at $150 less. The Asus even out performed it at less.

The WD SATA III (WD1002FAEX) drives perform about the same and cost $30 more than the Seagate. The SATA II ones (WD1001FALS) are lower performers. The reason for this is that the older SATA II model used 333 GB platters (not positive on the size, but it's less than 500 GB) while the newer SATA III model uses 500 GB platters. The Seagate has used 500 GB platters all along. The SATA III part doesn't actually add anything to performance.

 

[Mark Heath]

with the graphics, I doubt I'll be using the 5850 to its fullest for a few years, since I don't have much in the way of graphics hungry games. And I wish i could afford a 5970


sorry, didn't read the full review (the UD3R bit)
based on value vs performance, the UD3R is the best buy, so I'll switch to that

k, Seagate it is

thanks for the input so far

 

[MadAdmiral]

If you've got a 1900x monitor, you'll be using the 5850 to it's fullest right away. Of course, that's only if you turn the details up to their maximum and the games aren't really old. You'd be surprised what it takes to get the best possible details.

As far as not having the budget for the 5970, you'd be surprised. I can generally fit it into any build with a budget of around $1,400. Judging from the parts list, I'm guessing you have a budget of around $1,700...

 

[elel]

But how much is he paying in a brick&mortar store?

 

[MadAdmiral]

Totally forgot that part about not being in the US. The budgets I listed were for US prices...

 

[Mark Heath]

Judging from the parts list, I'm guessing you have a budget of around $1,700...

lol, I wish

Aussie dollars is ~$2400 using all parts (including monitor, k/b etc) and with your recommendations

With the graphics / resolution thing.. The CHEAPEST model for 5970 is more than $900 Aussie.. If only newegg was in australia

Total budget for aussie dollars is around $2500, but I'm willing to put in up to $3000 if it's worth it.. But like I said, the 5970 are not exactly cheap down here. Still, it would be nice to have some serious graphics muscle in there

 

[asteldian]

With a monitor res of 1920 x 1080 the 5970 seems like unnecessary indulgance. The 5870 is more than powerful enough to deal with it, especially if most your games are not even that taxing.

As gaming is your main priority, the GPU is more important than your CPU, the i7 930 will not provide much boost over the i5 750 which is regularly considered by most as the best gaming CPU out there for its performance, OC potential and price.

The Hyperthreading is not that beneficial for gaming especially compared to a better GPU

 

[asteldian]

Also, if you are wanting it to last awhile then definately get a 5870 and sacrifice the i7, the 5850 is a good card and will be good enough for a year but the 5870 will last you longer. Meanwhile you won't have a CPU issue with an i5 570 until 2-3 years, at that point the extra juice you would get from the i7 won't be making much difference anyway

 

[blackjellognomes]

If you're not a hardcore gamer, the 5850 will be more than enough for the next few years. I can't recommend a 5870, though, because IMO it is as overpriced as any Nvidia card ATM. Forget the 5970; other than that, MadAdmiral's recommendations are good. I definitely suggest considering the i5-750, because the cheaper i5/P55/4GB route will save you quite a bit, and I'm sure there are other things that you, being a student, could better spend your money on. (This is assuming you plan a full CPU/mobo/RAM/--- upgrade in, say, 4-6 years, because by then your four non-HT cores will probably hold you back.)
And personally, I find the Storm series rather attractive, for more than just aesthetics. The HAF series seems unpolished compared to it, lacking fan filters, the black interior, etc. I do admit that the Sniper is a bit overpriced though, but the same goes for the HAF 932. The Scout would be my choice.

 

[MadAdmiral]

The problem with sticking with the 5850 in a high end gaming build is that it can't play every game out there at max details right now. It'll likely need to be upgraded in under 3 years. The 5870 will be great for around 4 years.

The HAF 922 has dust filters (the 932 doesn't). Also, the 922 doesn't have a window, so the non-black interior really doesn't matter. I agree that the 932 is overpriced, but so is the Scout when you consider that it can't fit the biggest cards out there.

 

[Mark Heath]

yay, replies!

EDIT: posted just after..

with regards to those saying use the i5 750, Your arguments have persuaded me
what mobo then?

with regards to sniper/scout, storm does indeed have some other nice stuff as well. And I agree with the HAF seeming unpolished (although I'll take the recommendations into consideration). The main concern for me with the scout has less cooling than the sniper. I'd think (note: think not know) that the extra cooling of the 200mm fans would be pretty good (as far as case fans go anyway). Anybody who has anything bout sniper and storm feel free to chime in.

and about graphics, I'll probably be getting some decent games (doubt crysis) because the main reason I don't have any is a less than capable computer. The 5850 seems good enough to last me the next few years, so that'll probably be what I'll use (unless there's another suggestion naturally)

For those with the knowledge (that means everybody)
My dad's going to get a build which is sort of similar.. and it's here for those who want to help out on it
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/285720-31-rounder-build

 

[MadAdmiral]

The Asus P7P55D-E Pro (combo with i5) is a good board for the i5. It's really future proof and is very high quality.

You'll also need different RAM. Here's some good sticks: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7.

One last thing to say about the 5850 vs. 5870. Right now, the cheapest 5850s are $318 (w/ shipping). The cheapest 5870 is $395 (w/ shipping). That's a much better price increase for performance increase. The "5870 isn't worth it" argument was valid when the prices were $300/$400 (a 33% increase) for a 15-20% performance increase. Now the price increase is only 24%.

To compare that price/performance increase, most people recommend to step up to the 5770 over the 5750 because the price increase is only 23%, and the performance gain is about 15-20%. Look familiar?

 

[Mark Heath]

In regards to pricing down here..

Regardless of whether it's Gigabyte, Asus etc, the 5850s are all a bit under $400 aussie
The cheapest 5870 is $499 and the average (for 1GB) is just over $500

if that helps

 

[MadAdmiral]

So its a 25% price increase for you. Basically the same though.

I'm just pointing out the reasoning for the recommendations. It's your money, so it's really up to you what you want to buy.

 

[elel]

To respond to the case thing, I have a scout an I really like it. The biggest sellers for me were the handle and the front e-sata (versus an antec I was thinking about). High points are the tool-less hard drive mounts and long front panel cables. Lows are the tool-less mounts for the expansion cards (won't hold anything, but at least they give you extra screws) and the spacing between the top fan and back plate, making it barely possible to back-route a cpu power cable. At least in my build. I feel that cooling is perfectly adequate, but if you need more there is space for two 120mm intake fans on the case window. My full atx board has no problem fitting, just make sure that a 5870 will also fit.

 

[Mark Heath]

after looking a the scout a bit more..

ooo.. lights ohh.. handles.. good cooling? hmm.. decent savings? yay!
switching to the scout..

but I've decided to change where I'm buying from (still brick'n'mortar) and they don't sell any from the storm series
Fortunately, they sell the Lian Li/Lancool K62 at a good price, so I'll use that

 

[Mark Heath]

Best answer selected by Mark Heath.