$2,000 Gaming Computer - FFXIV - New Build

crbr

June 20, 2010 8:01:15 AM

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 2-3 Months from now (depending on FFXIV release) BUDGET RANGE: $2000USD After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Surfing the Internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Monitor (I recently bought a 21.5in Samsung P2250 and am very pleased with it.)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg or Microcenter. Not limited to these though. Through much research recently...they do not carry everything.

PARTS PREFERENCES: I like the Big Bang Trinergy Motherboard by MSI. The Microcenter I live by has the Core i-7 930 for $200, if that would be a legit processor. Would like to get an SSD (my first). It just needs to store my OS(Windows 7) and ffxiv.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Whatever is best

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Basically, I want a new PC for FFXIV when it is released. I did a benchmark on my current PC at the 1920x1080 res and I only scored just above 2000. I need to get to the 8000 score. I originally wanted to run 3D but I think the monitors are too expensive, it is too new, and the glasses are too much of a pain to deal with. Also, the monitor I have is really nice, but Im not sure how well it would do if I had 3 for Eyefinity. Thanks for your help guys/girls.

More about : 000 gaming computer ffxiv

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Somebody_007

June 20, 2010 9:48:13 AM

Eyefinity Is a pretty good option. What monitor do you currently have?

I'm thinking somewhere in these lines:

930: 200
470gtx sli: 700
big bang: 300
80-120gb ssd: 200-250
nice full tower: 140
850w psu: 140
6gb cl6-cl8 1600: 200
dvd drive: 20
1tb hdd:100

That's round about 2000 what do you think?

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Somebody_007

June 20, 2010 1:08:33 PM

yeah thats bassically what I had in mind. Although I never liked the haf series I find them so cheap looking. But That's personal.

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crbr

June 20, 2010 4:48:24 PM

gpu: sapphire vapor-x hd5870 2gig ddr5 (great manufacturer and great cooling)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102893

This card you recommended only has a 67% on newegg. I know I saw a few cards on there that are in the 80s.

Also, I don't really need 1TB of harddrive space. All my music is on an external, and games dont take up too much space. Same with the SSD. I think the 80gig intel one might be better for my situation. I would just put my OS and FFXIV on it. I think with those cuts maybe I could get a better card or run 2 cards? Maybe I could get a really nice card and then buy a second a month from buying the first?

I really like that mobo you suggested, and I love Corsair power supplies. The cooler looks perfect as well, and I have never installed one that used a plate. I friggin hate the clips but somehow still buy processor coolers with them.

Thanks for the speedy replies.

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mrhoshos96

June 20, 2010 5:31:05 PM

crbr said:

gpu: sapphire vapor-x hd5870 2gig ddr5 (great manufacturer and great cooling)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102893

This card you recommended only has a 67% on newegg. I know I saw a few cards on there that are in the 80s.

Also, I don't really need 1TB of harddrive space. All my music is on an external, and games dont take up too much space. Same with the SSD. I think the 80gig intel one might be better for my situation. I would just put my OS and FFXIV on it. I think with those cuts maybe I could get a better card or run 2 cards? Maybe I could get a really nice card and then buy a second a month from buying the first?

I really like that mobo you suggested, and I love Corsair power supplies. The cooler looks perfect as well, and I have never installed one that used a plate. I friggin hate the clips but somehow still buy processor coolers with them.

Thanks for the speedy replies.

well ok go with that intel x25m 80gb ssd for 220$

and remove that hdd

and if you don't like that card get a gtx480 (personally i don't like it because of the power consumption and heat issues i mean it idles at about 60c)

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Somebody_007

June 20, 2010 5:59:12 PM

The intel ssd's aren't really intended as your only internal storage(they have very fast acces times but average read and slow write). OCZ and corsair make drives with faster read and more than double the write. I don't know about crucial.

Furthermore the fermi cards aren't hot at all if you ramp up the fan but then the noise becomes an issue.

Although this card has none of the usual fermi issues( noise, heat) exept power consumption.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

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mrhoshos96

June 20, 2010 6:31:04 PM

Somebody_007 said:

The intel ssd's aren't really intended as your only internal storage(they have very fast acces times but average read and slow write). OCZ and corsair make drives with faster read and more than double the write. I don't know about crucial.

Furthermore the fermi cards aren't hot at all if you ramp up the fan but then the noise becomes an issue.

Although this card has none of the usual fermi issues( noise, heat) exept power consumption.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

i was just going to give him the link to that card :sol:

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Somebody_007

June 20, 2010 7:00:42 PM

I was first nah

.

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crbr

June 20, 2010 7:12:24 PM

Quote:

The intel ssd's aren't really intended as your only internal storage(they have very fast acces times but average read and slow write). OCZ and corsair make drives with faster read and more than double the write. I don't know about crucial.

Furthermore the fermi cards aren't hot at all if you ramp up the fan but then the noise becomes an issue.

Although this card has none of the usual fermi issues( noise, heat) exept power consumption.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

Yea I do want a HDD with the SSD, but I do not need big sizes on either one. Something less than 500gigs on the HDD and probably around 80 for the SSD.

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mrhoshos96

June 20, 2010 7:22:46 PM

there is a $7 difference between 500gig hdd and a 320gig hdd
so get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

and an ssd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... (much better reads and writes than the intel one and has more space and the difference is 20 bucks)

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Somebody_007

June 20, 2010 7:27:42 PM

it's old though I don't know if it will compete with the intel for random read and random write.

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mrhoshos96

June 20, 2010 7:49:16 PM

Somebody_007 said:

it's old though I don't know if it will compete with the intel for random read and random write.

i think the intel is the winner

Tom's Hardware - Benchmark Write Throughput: h2benchw 3.12

i know that this is the 120gb version but it's actually faster than the 96gb one

sorry for the confusion in that last post i thought that they where average reads and writes

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crbr

June 20, 2010 7:53:09 PM

Well I like the build thus far. I think it is solid. However, the video card...I might have to wait for beta to start to see what I want to get. I want to get the cheapest possible (since they price dropped very fast) while maintaining the 8000 score on the FFXIV benchmark. $500 for a card that is $400 a month later kinda sucks. Maybe I could x2 a $300 card?

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Somebody_007

June 20, 2010 8:07:33 PM

I kind a doubt that the 480gtx will drop in price. It's new, pretty reasonable price/performance and there is no foreseeable competition coming up.

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mrhoshos96

June 20, 2010 8:10:21 PM

crbr said:

Well I like the build thus far. I think it is solid. However, the video card...I might have to wait for beta to start to see what I want to get. I want to get the cheapest possible (since they price dropped very fast) while maintaining the 8000 score on the FFXIV benchmark. $500 for a card that is $400 a month later kinda sucks. Maybe I could x2 a $300 card?

it's a good idea to wait prices change very fast and don't get 2 $300 cards get a powerful single card so you can sli/crossfire in the future

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Somebody_007

June 20, 2010 8:13:51 PM

I really doubt prices will drop. People are paying for the cards so why decrease price? There is no upcoming competition to push the prices down either so I really think cards will kind of maintain their price until the next gen GPU's come out.

Then again who knows what the tide will bring?

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nuke123

June 20, 2010 9:11:34 PM

Just wait a while and im sure the prices will drop just natural economic of supply and demand.

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avatar_raq

June 20, 2010 10:18:01 PM

I suggest this SSD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

And really there's no need for the 2GB version of 5870, 1GB is enough, performance should be the same and without the price premium. Get 1 card and be ready to pair it with another if the need arises!

Get this ram: (I have it, great so far, with a good price)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

And this mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
(For more info: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/x58-usb-3.0-sata-6-... )

Get the Megahalems linked earlier with 2 of:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
and :
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8418/cab-150/FrozenCP...

Get the i7 930 from microcenter.

And get this PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Get the 1TB Samsung drive, I know you said you didn't need it but who knows what the near future hides? Besides, the price of 1 GB is cheaper in large HDDs.

Optical drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

About the case: It's largely a personal preference, I'd wait for the CM HAFX:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/cool...

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avatar_raq

June 20, 2010 10:45:35 PM

crbr said:

... I did a benchmark on my current PC at the 1920x1080 res and I only scored just above 2000. I need to get to the 8000 score. ...

Why? I just ran the benchmark @ 1920x1080 on my rig ( see my signature) and the lowest frame rate was 75 !! And guess what, it only gave me a score of 4801, so I don't understand why do u want the 8000?

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crbr

June 20, 2010 10:53:57 PM

Quote:

Get this ram: (I have it, great so far, with a good price)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

This is the SSD. But, should I get the Corsair Dominator or the Mushkin linked earlier?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

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crbr

June 20, 2010 11:01:03 PM

avatar_raq can you link a 5870 that you like?

Also, that mobo has very poor reviews. Id rather pitch in a few more dollars and get the ASUS linked earlier.

What are your thoughts on this card?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

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avatar_raq

June 21, 2010 8:05:42 AM

crbr said:

Quote:

Get this ram: (I have it, great so far, with a good price)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

This is the SSD. But, should I get the Corsair Dominator or the Mushkin linked earlier?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Sorry about the link, here's the correct one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I prefer this kit over the Corsiar one coz it's cheaper and has better timings, besides I tried it and it's excellent so far.

Having GTX 480 over the 5870 is a personal choice but I believe it's only justified if you plan to go 3D. Even so, going GTX 470 SLI is better in my book, nVIDIA is bound to release drivers that'll support 3D vision surround (3D on 3 monitors and 2 4xx cards in SLI).

About the 5870: I really prefer the reference design, coz it has voltage regulation circuit to enhance the GPU overclockability, unfortunately newegg and amazon don't have reference design models anymore, so I believe this one is the best deal right now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

BTW I usually take newegg costumer reviews with a grain of sand!

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mrhoshos96

June 21, 2010 8:32:36 AM

the reason that i suggested him to go with the mushkin bec. i didn't think that the g.skill pi would fit with that megahalms also the haf x is in stock at newegg now
why would he get a non modular psu when he can afford a modular one
i also suggested a 5870 2g for future proof because if he went eyefinity in the future

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avatar_raq

June 21, 2010 11:24:03 AM

@ mrhoshos96:
The G.Skill Kit I suggested fits fine with the megahalems and 2x 120mm fans at my Rampage II extreme

, and at the P6X58D Premium (which I plan to RMA

) as well, thanks to the fact that x58 needs the ram to be installed at the slots far from the CPU socket (2,4,6).
If you noticed all my suggestions are based on one idea: If you can save some money up without sacrificing performance then why not? That's why I suggested the non-modular PSU, the mobo and the 1GB card..About the latter: Do you have an evidence suppporting that 2GB 5870 is better than 1GB for eyefinity? If yes then please post the link!
And thanks a million times for pointing that the HAF X is available, I've been waiting for it, but I didn't check newegg lately..I see the first costumer review got out at June 15, so it hasn't been long...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

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crbr

June 21, 2010 11:57:48 AM

Quote:

About the 5870: I really prefer the reference design, coz it has voltage regulation circuit to enhance the GPU overclockability, unfortunately newegg and amazon don't have reference design models anymore, so I believe this one is the best deal right now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

This XFX card doesnt state that it supports eyefinity. Does it?

That HAF X looks sick.

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avatar_raq

June 21, 2010 12:04:09 PM

It does support 3 monitors in eyefinity.
And yes the HAF X is sick!!

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avatar_raq

June 29, 2010 4:58:36 AM

Hey how's your build going? Keep us updated!

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crbr

July 2, 2010 2:01:02 PM

I might buy a bunch of stuff today. There are a ton of promos going on that newegg is sending me. I can get 10% off http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
and 10% off
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

They also have http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
for $220 with free shipping.

Should I buy now or wait it out for the FFXIV beta release?