snackeyg

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Hey everybody so I'm starting to get into PC gaming for the first time. I know enough about computers to understand what's good and how to build one if I try(which I'm going to), but I'm not sure on what I should get to be able to play anything I throw at it and have it be somewhat future proof. Anyway this is what I'm thinking right now. Any advice and opinions on any parts are greatly appreciated.

CASE: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D Full Tower Gaming Case
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS Rampage III Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930
CPU COOLING:Corsair H50
GRAPHICS CARD: ZOTAC AMP! ZT-40102-10P GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (2 of these)
HDD1:Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV425-S2BD/128GB
HDD2: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD6000HLHX 600GB 10000 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
MEMORY:Kingston HyperX T1 Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) XMP Tall HS Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3T1K3/6GX (2 of them + Kingston HyperX Fan)
Power Supply:SILVERSTONE ST1500 1500W ATX 12V 2.3 & EPS 12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Total:About $3400

Will 2 of the Zotac Amp fit on a Rampage III Extreme?

I'm trying to get an idea of what will last me longest without upgrading without wasting money. The computer
will be for gaming only. I have a MacBook for everything else. Since I'm new to building and gaming PC it's hard to figure out what the best options are. I think I did a pretty good job. Maybe not.
 
^ Well it looks like you can save a good amount from most of the parts that you have selected...

First off, I feel you should take a look at this article...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pcie-geforce-gtx-480-x16-x8-x4,2696.html

And IMO going with 2x GTX 480 doesnt seem to be a good idea...I would rather suggest 2x GTX 470s...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-460-radeon-hd-5570-gaming,2697.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500167
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127513

Will you be overclocking ?? IF Yes, then till what levels??

And 1500W ?? Any specific reasons?? More than 2 cards??

For air cooling, the Corasir 800D is not the best that you can get for the money...
For $80 less, you can get this case which IMO would perform at stock specs -
HAF X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

SSD - If you are planning for SSD, then this would be good--
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227608
 
1. Those 2 Zotacs will fit into your system nicely, both on the mobo and in the obsidian.
2. Kingston V series are slow compared to OCZ Vertex 2, Corsair F60, Crucial C300.
3. You already have an SSD, drop the Raptors, and get something big but cheaper like Samsung F3.
4. Care to get higher to Corsair H70?
5.
 

snackeyg

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1)1500 Watts because I'm too dumb to know what to pick so better safe then sorry? lol
2)I picked the 800D because I don't like the look of the HAF X.
3)Thanks for the advice on better SSD's and that the 10k RPM HD is not needed with an SSD.
4)Newegg doesn't have the H70 I didn't know that was an option.
5)I have a lot of learning to do just to build and get the PC running. So I'm iffy on overclocking right off the bat.
6)Why 470's over 480's? Is price the only reason? I know Nvidia cards run hot so I thought the Amps would be a really good idea.
7)What are good cases for air cooling besides the HAF X? I'm not smart enough for advanced water cooling. Just the cpu kit.

Also say I don't change anything on the build besides the SSD and HD, is it a good build or no? And if I leave the HD is that still good for performance? The money doesn't bother me.
 
^ PSU - 850W If 2x GTX 480s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

Mobo - You can take a look at this board too...Has very good slot placement
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130289

Graphics card - Yes, the main reason why GTX 470s over GTX 480s is because for the power consumption and heat...Though you might be able to tackle heat with that card, but power consumption is still very high...

CASE - That Corsair case just comes with 3 stock 120MM fans and is geared more towards water cooling...
Take a look at this case if you like plain looks like that of the Corsair...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112243

Well if you change the SSD, then it will improve the performance even more...though that Raptor will speed up data access a bit, but still commands high price premium though...
 

snackeyg

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I got my last question too late. lol

I'm not gonna be super picky on a case if the HAF X is my best option I'll pick it. Anyway.


7)What are good cases for air cooling besides the HAF X? I'm not smart enough for advanced water cooling. Just the cpu kit.
 

rainvie1

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850W should be plenty, unless you plan to overclock a lot. Generally, you don't want to start with a SLI or Crossfire because the market changes fast and its much easier/cheaper to add a second card than to replace two. A single 480, 5870, or 5970 will be more than enough, and you can use the saved money to buy a second a year or two from now (at a much lower price point). A P6X58D Premium or P6X58D-E will work fine, cost a lot less than the rampage, and you can overclock a bit in the future if you feel like. Besides that, just lose the raptor and get a caviar black or spinpoint F3. Looks good! Oh, and DVD/Bluray drive?
 

snackeyg

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Dual drives. One DVD burner one Blu-Ray Reader. Thanks for the case links. I'm going to go with the HAF X. Newegg has a combo deal with the HAF X with a 1200 watt PSU for 419. So I think I'll go with that. I'm gonna post up a new build on this thread in a minute.
 

snackeyg

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CASE:COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
MOTHERBOARD: MSI Big Bang-XPower LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
PSU:CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
CPU:Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930
CPU COOLER:CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50-1 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler
GRAPHICS CARD:ZOTAC AMP! ZT-40202-10P GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (x2)
HDD1: OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE90G 2.5" 90GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
HDD2:Western Digital AV-GP WD10EVDS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal AV Hard Drive -Bare Drive
RAM:Kingston HyperX T1 Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) XMP Tall HS Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3T1K3/6GX (x2)
RAM FAN:Kingston HyperX KHX-FAN
DISC DRIVE 1:LG Black Blu-ray Disc Combo SATA Model CH10LS20 R LightScribe Support
DISC DRIVE 2:LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS-324-98

New Total:$2700

I don't think I missed anything. Leaves me with a lot more money for extras.
 

snackeyg

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I know you said one is a better idea but for the price I'm fine with SLI. It's 320 dollars less and dual 480's. Dual 470's will perform way better than a single 480 right? Also thanks for the help everyone. I'm really new to this. I won't be getting the computer for awhile (black friday-christmas time) so I'm sure by then I can improve even more while keeping the same price. Still helped a lot to know what's good.
 

snoshy

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where are you getting this from =/ the 950 is priced at 600+ currently. i somehow doubt they will slash 50% off the price in 2 weeks


@ the build, everything looks good to go.
just some questions, i assume this is primarily for gaming? no heavy video editing and photoshop right. if so, you really dont need 12 gb of ram. 4gb is more than enough for gaming. 6gb is more than enough for gaming + multitasking in teh background, whatever that may be. the only apps that can saturate 12gb of ram are apps that acutally need to actively write data into memory, ie 3d modeling, rendering, photoshop filters, raw camera image processing.

having more ram doesnt increase fps, load times, or overall performance otherwise. save some money and.... buy a nice cooling system for your gpus? mroe case fans? or just save more money in general.

you should also really change the hdd to this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

even if it wasnt 60 bucks for a 1tb drive, its the fastest non ssd drive. it has wicked fast read/write speeds, just behind raid 0, which is faster than WD Black drives. its low noise and temperature too compared to black drives.

regarding ati vs nvidia, sli scales better, but ati has the single fastest card right now. but it costs ridiculous amounts. and dual 470's can handle anything pretty friggin well, unless you wanna play on 3 monitors. then go ati for eyefinity.
 

snackeyg

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Nope I'll be going with one monitor around 24". Which will be big to me since I've had this tiny 13" macbook screen for two years.

Yeah it will be 100% for gaming actually. Unless my macbook dies. lol

I was just thinking it's only $150 more why not fill all 6 slots for RAM. I'll just go with 6 then.(Can always add more later anyway. Ram is the easiest upgrade.) I still want the hyper x fan just because it looks sweet. Better than just ram in my opinion.

I guess for now I'll just be learning as the months go buy what's good an what's not. I'm all over this site and google looking stuff up.

I don't know how PC parts are for sales around the holidays but since it's August I figure why not wait a few more months and get more savings.
 

snoshy

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i think by the end of the year you might want to reconsider as there may be faster options than the i7 out (eg amd's bulldozer). or you could stick with this build and save lots more because socket 1366 is done by the end of this year.

in 5 months, a loooott can change
 

snackeyg

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I know it's not needed but for general future proofing I'd like a better PSU when I get the build. I read that 850 watts with dual 480's is pushing it. Especially with overclocked cards. The Amps are overclocked slightly stock. So I guess my question what's the best PSU for around 1200 watts?
 

snackeyg

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Just thought I'd ask. Are people on these forums willing to help you with builds? I figure I can get it all together(maybe not :p) but drivers and software I'm sure is gonna be where I get stuck going ugh how do I do this.