Help building budget gaming system

[solodolo]

Hello i am trying to build a gaming system to play some of the latest computer games on a high performance like final fantasy xiv but mostly guild war 2 when it comes out, I know there is no requirement for gw2 out yet but at the moment i only have a laptop which will not do at all.
my budget is 900 - 1000 pound (UK)
for now this is what i have in mind could you give some advice on graphics card and processor mainly, or any other things you think would be better for me. Thank you in advance.

Buying list

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner

MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W

OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply

1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3e

titan TTC-NK85TZ/CS2(RB) Fenrir EVO CPU Cooler

OCZ Vertex 2E Sandforce 60GB

Antec 300 Tower Case or CoolerMaster NV-690 Black nVidia ATX Case

Creative Labs SB0570L4 Sound Blaster Audigy SE Sound Card

 

[geofelt]

1) The graphics card is the most important component for gaming. Spend a bit more from your budget if you will be gaming at 1080P or better. Think of a 6870 or GTX470.

2) 6 core processors are not so good for gaming. look for a good X4 unit clocked at 3.0 or better.

3) I think there are better psu's than OCZ. My short list would be Seasonic, Corsair, Antec, PC P&C, and XFX.
500w is about right unless you might try dual cards later(which I don't like unless necessary).

4) Discrete sound cards are no longer a necessity. Motherboard HD sound is very good. Defer that purchase until you try onboard first.

5) I like the Antec 300 case. Can you get the illusion model that newegg sells?

6) SSD is a good idea for the OS and apps.

But..... Unless your need is urgent, consider waiting to Jan 5 when Intel "sandy bridge" launches. Today's buyers will risk suffering buyer's remorse if they don't. Read more here:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3871/the-sandy-bridge-preview-three-wins-in-a-row

 

[solodolo]

Hello Geofelt thanks for your reply, i put down the wrong graphics card i was not supposed to put the 6850 but indeed the 6870, do you know roughly when the 69xx will come out ? and around what price?.

2) could you explain why the 6 core processors are not so good for gaming ? i will be overclocking it to 4ghz? and i though for like future gaming the 1050tt would be good at least that is what i have been told.

and for the antec 300 case would CoolerMaster NV-690 Black nVidia ATX Case not be better and no i cant get the illusion at least i cant find any UK sellers.

thanks again

 

[rza]

Hey solodolo,

From what I've picked up regarding multi core CPUs and gaming is that games (at this time) do not take advantage of the extra cores. There is an article that Toms did just a bit ago that talks about CPU bottlenecks. They found that games run just fine with 2 cored CPUs, that's not to say that a 4core or 6core CPUs don't help, it just that games don't utilize them like they due with GPUs. I sure someone will post to that article and explain it better then I.

As for your case dilemma, I would NOT get that CoolerMaster. I own the CM690 Basic black which is pretty much the nVidia you are looking at. At first I thought the case was great, but then when I started to put things together all I could think about was how cheap everything felt, and I mean everything! Pretty much any plastic part that is supposed to hold something down or in place has broken off or is just waiting to brake off. The side panels are flimsy thin and cable management...sigh. I have cut a few holes and used many zip ties to get things in line. Only positive is that it was a good beginners case, it was cheap and I don't fell to bad when I have to cut into it.

Cheers!

p.s. you a Kid Cudi fan?

 

[solodolo]

Hey rza i think i will stick with the 1050TT for the future i guess when games do start using 6 core's, as for the case i am going to take your word for it but i do not like the antec 300 truth be told, instead i will be going for the RaidMax blackstorm i have just fallen in love wit hthe case. And yeh i am kid cudi fan he is awesome xD

 

[geofelt]

Hello Geofelt thanks for your reply, i put down the wrong graphics card i was not supposed to put the 6850 but indeed the 6870, do you know roughly when the 69xx will come out ? and around what price?.

2) could you explain why the 6 core processors are not so good for gaming ? i will be overclocking it to 4ghz? and i though for like future gaming the 1050tt would be good at least that is what i have been told.

and for the antec 300 case would CoolerMaster NV-690 Black nVidia ATX Case not be better and no i cant get the illusion at least i cant find any UK sellers.

thanks again

1) Very few games use more than two cores today, let alone 4. A good quad is more than enough. It is difficult to program games to use more than two cores. Game developers will not develop games that require 6 cores to run well. That would limit their market.
The market for a 6 core cpu is for applications that can utilize many cores, or have a very high level of cpu bound multitasking.
2) You should be able to OC a quad to higher levels than a 6 core because there will be less total heat generated.
3) Even a good duo @ 3.0 or better will run most games well. There is not a lot of value in a 4.0 overclock.
4) Read this tom's article on the best gaming cpu's for the money:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i3-athlon-ii-x4,2791.html
5) Check out some cpu comparisons with YOUR games on Anandtech bench:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2

Get the case you love. Anything with the equivalent of two 120mm intake fans will cool well enough.

 

[solodolo]

Hey geofelt thanks for your reply. I followed the link you send and made a little rebuilt.

Motherboard: MSI H55M-E33 (intel) - £68.51
CPU: Intel i5-760 - £135.11 aria.co.uk
RAM: Memory: 4GB Corsair XMS3 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory Kit - £62.97
Graphics Card: Nvidia gtx470 (Asus) or SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB but i am not sure if i use the graphic card with the intel motherboard? if i cant would you have any alternative?
HDD: 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ Hard Disk Drive - £40.95 @ aria.co.uk
Power Supply: 600W OCZ stealthXsteam II- £51.69 aria.co.uk
Optical drive: Liteon IHAS124-19 DVD-RW 24x £13.45 aria.co.uk
Case: RaidMax blackstorm

I am not sure of buying this i think i might overclock my processor unless you say it is not necessary ? if i do however would this cooler still fit and be sufficient enough?
titan TTC-NK85TZ/CS2(RB) Fenrir EVO CPU Cooler.

I am not sure if i can use the 6870 on the motherboard i am not that good with computer hardware but i think you can tell me if im wrong or if you have an alternative card in mind. also would overclocking this cpu be a good idea or pointless? i want to play most new mmo games like ffxiv on max settings and the Samsung P2450H, thanks in advance.

 

[geofelt]

You can use either a AMD or Nvidia graphics card on any motherboard that has a pci-e X16 slot.

Only if you are considering dual cards is there a need to know if the motherboard supports SLI(nvidia) or crossfire(amd) or both. Either the GTX470 or 6850 would do fine; they are somewhat equivalent in performance.

The motherboard you picked has a H55 chipset which activates the on chip graphics of the clarkdale processors. It should work with the i5-760, but you won't get any onboard graphics. I think a motherboard based on the P55 chipset would be better. Most any will do. The motherboard is also in mini-ATX format which I like, just be certain that you only need 4 expansion slots vs. the 7 available on a full ATX motherboard.

 

[solodolo]

ive had a look at some p55 motherboards but i cannot decide between these

MSI P55-GD65
Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2

Micro-ATX Motherboards
ASRock P55M Pro
Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4
ASUS Maximus III GENE

 

[geofelt]

As a rule, I like Gigabyte and ASUS better.
Pick the least expensive unless there is one with a feature that you need.

If your gaming might include lan parties, pick the micro-atx board because it can be put into a smaller, more portable case.

 

[solodolo]

after doing some research i have narrowed it down to the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4

so this is how my current build looks like

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD - £100.00
CPU: Intel i5-760 - £135.11 aria.co.uk
RAM: Memory: 4GB Corsair XMS3 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory Kit - £62.97
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5
HDD: 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ Hard Disk Drive - £40.95 @ aria.co.uk
Power Supply: 600W OCZ stealthXsteam II- £51.69 aria.co.uk
Optical drive: Liteon IHAS124-19 DVD-RW 24x £13.45 aria.co.uk
Case: RaidMax blackstorm

what do you think?

and for the cpu cooler should i stick with titan TTC-NK85TZ/CS2(RB) Fenrir EVO CPU Cooler or do i have to get something better?