$1500 +/- gaming pc suggestions

[Vangaurd]

Ok so I need a good Gaming PC, and I don't know too much about building my own so I need your help. The kinda games I want to play are like Call Of Duty 4, Modern Warfare 2, ect.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Around this summer, I can wait BUDGET RANGE: $1500 or less, however if I need to I may can bring that up a few hundred

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Speakers, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse. I don't a real fancy 100$ case either what ever will be good enough

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: honestly don't know, I heard newegg was pretty good? COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: I suppose whatever is the best

OVERCLOCKING: What exactly is overclocking?If its something that can kill my PC then no SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No clue what this is either

MONITOR RESOLUTION: I have a 40' samsung thats 1080p 120Hz and it can be used as a monitor so Im all good.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: A quiet PC, however with my turtle beaches I can drown out all that sound but nothing to loud

 

[MadAdmiral]

Overclocking is just making the CPU run faster. It won't kill the computer, but it may decrease the life slightly, but when was the last time you had a CPU that only lasted a few years? It's a cheap way to get more out of your computer.

Crossfire/SLI is using two cards together as one. It's generally reserved as a cheap upgrade option to improve performance later in the build's life.

Do you need an OS in the budget?

If you don't need an OS:

CPU/HSF: i5-750 and Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $222
Mobo/PSU: Asus P7P55D-E Pro and Corsair 750W $265 after rebate
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $120
GPU: HD 5970 $700
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 500 GB $55
Case: HAF 922 $100. I know you said you didn't need a $100 case, but this is literally the cheapest high quality case that will fit the HD 5970. It also helps that it's possibly the best case on the market, even better than many that cost a lot more than it.
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $19

Total: $1,481

If you do:

CPU/HSF: X4 955 and Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $182
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 $125 after rebate
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $120
GPU: HD 5970 $700
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 500 GB $55
PSU: Corsair 750W $90 after rebate
Case: HAF 922 $100
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $19
OS: Windows 7 Home 64-bit OEM $100

Total: $1,496

 

[Vangaurd]

Oh yeah and I want to be able to play CoD4, MW2, ect. and have like 90+fps

 

[Vangaurd]

Overclocking is just making the CPU run faster. It won't kill the computer, but it may decrease the life slightly, but when was the last time you had a CPU that only lasted a few years? It's a cheap way to get more out of your computer.

Crossfire/SLI is using two cards together as one. It's generally reserved as a cheap upgrade option to improve performance later in the build's life.

Do you need an OS in the budget?

If you don't need an OS:

CPU/HSF: i5-750 and Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $222
Mobo/PSU: Asus P7P55D-E Pro and Corsair 750W $265 after rebate
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $120
GPU: HD 5970 $700
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 500 GB $55
Case: HAF 922 $100
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $19

Total: $1,481

If you do:

CPU/HSF: X4 955 and Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $182
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 $125 after rebate
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $120
GPU: HD 5970 $700
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 500 GB $55
PSU: Corsair 750W $90 after rebate
Case: HAF 922 $100
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $19
OS: Windows 7 Home 64-bit OEM $100

Total: $1,496

Yeah I'll need an OS.

This Vista thing is wack, its starting to mess up on my pc.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Oh yeah and I want to be able to play CoD4, MW2, ect. and have like 90+fps

90 FPS is unrealistic, but the above builds will get as close to that as possible right now.

 

[Vangaurd]

What exactly do you mean by unrealistic? I mean Ive been playing CoD4 on the PS3 since release date and it runs at 60fps so I guess if this cp could do at least 60fps it wouldn't be that bad correct?

 

[MadAdmiral]

PC gaming and console gaming are different. Most console games are toned down and have the FPS locked. After all, the programmers know exactly what hardware your using. PC games have a multitude of settings that the game can run at and a variable FPS. That means the FPS you're used to seeing on the PS3 simply won't happen on the PC. This will be caused by a combination of different hardware and different settings. Generally, 30 FPS minimum is considered playable. I say minimum because that's the slowest it should run. Average doesn't mean a whole lot.

I'm not saying you won't get that high, but it's unlikely once you turn up all the settings to the maximum. Even if you do get that high, you would have no idea unless you're running a program to measure it. Why worry about something you won't notice? If it is possible, you will get it with this build.

 

[coldsleep]

In both cases, the graphics card that MadAdmiral included is the biggest card out there right now. If that doesn't get the job done, nothing else will.

Google "5970 benchmark" for more ideas of what is realistic for the 5970 for each game. In some cases, it appears to be higher than 90 fps, for Crysis, it's lower.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Case / PSU - $260 Antec 1200 w/ CP-850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.387490
Why - Full Tower Case with great cooling, dust filters (LED's have OFF switches if you ain't into bling) and a PSU which get's a 10.0 performance rating on jonnyguru and is the quietest 750+ watt PSU ever tested. Alternates to consider:

- $240 Antec P183 w/ CP-850 .... bit less cooling, even more quiet
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.387037

-$310 CM HAF 932 w/ Corsair HX850
Great case, great PSU tho not as quiet as CP-850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=HX850

MoBo / CPU - $514 ASUS P6X58D-E w/ Intel i7-930
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.378938
Why - Both are the best price / performance alternatives at the moment.

RAM - $200 3 x 2GB Corsair DDR3-1600 CAS 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145286
Why - lower timings than similarly priced alternatives and low profile modules won't interfere with CPU cooler.

Hard Drive - $80 Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433
why - It's quieter and run cooler than comparable alternatives....1 TB gets you 100% more storage at 50% of the price increase ..... also check out the performance charts and pick whatever 500 GB per platter drive performs best under your usage patterns. The 2 TB WD Black and XT from Seagate are good choice but at smaller capacities, you are limited to the Seagate 7200.12 or the Spinpoint F3. The 7200.12 excels in gaming, multimedia and pictures whereas the F3 wins at music and movie maker. See the comparisons here (copy past link in manually, link won't work in forum):

(http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/compare,1006.html?prod[2371]=on&prod[2770]=on)

Look at the tests that reflect your usage and choose accordingly.

Heat Sink / TIM - $40 Scythe SCMG-2100 w/ OCZ Freeze
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835202006

GFX Card - Toss up .... if you are gonna stay with old DX10 favorites, I would lean ATI, if your gonna be playing more DX11 games at 1920 x 1080 and want to play at high settings, I'd do nVidia. Also wanna mention that not long ago, I would be strongly recommending twin GPU GFX cards so that you get to hold out longer before having to SLI or XFire to maintain performance w/ more demanding gaming requirements ..... however, given recent experience with not so distant 4870x2 and GTX 295 builds, I have changed my mind for two reasons:

1) I have either built or spec'd out several builds for people w/ the 295 or 4870x2 in the last 15 months, the most recent of which was just 6 months ago. Here just that many months later, I can't find matching 4870x2's or 295's.

2) $100 - $150 over MSRP .... they gotta be kidding me.

So I am left w/ two recommendations:

$350 Asus ENGTX470/2DI/1280MD5 GTX 470 (Fermi) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121372
.....or
$320 ASUS EAH5850 DIRECTCU/2DIS/1GD5 HD 5850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121375

Optical Drive - Any $25 DVD writer

OS - $100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

Total $1539 1569 ...... add a 2nd GFX card come XMas 2011.

 

[ubernoobie]

Jack naylor's build is better on long term while mad admiral's build is better for short term

 

[MadAdmiral]

Considering that Jack's build is overbudget (and isn't really a build), I'll have to disagree.

Also, an Intel build isn't good for the long term. After all, there won't be any more CPUs for their current sockets any more. Intel will be moving on the LGA1155 and LGA1365 in the next year.

As for the 5970, it's a great buy. It's two 5870 cores on a single card. That means you get $800 worth of graphics power for $700. I fail to see how that's not a good value...