~$6500 for Gaming PC -- Suggestions & Improvements Needed

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andronimus2002

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Hi everyone -- I'm looking to build my second home system and wanted to get the advice of the community on the following:

1) is everything I've selected compatible with each other?
2) any suggestions/changes/improvements to make the system better or just as good with reduced cost?

I've built one system (using help from this community) before so I have some experience, but I'm happy to hear any advice people have.

The budget is roughly $6,000 - $7,000 all in. Absolutely don't want to exceed that and if there's a way to save money without compromising the performance I'm all ears.

Proposed Specs:

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Mobo: ASUS Rampage III Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131642 $380

CPU: Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition Gulftown 3.33GHz 6 x 256KB L2 Cache 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80613I7980X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115223 $1000

GPU: 2 x ASUS GeForce GTX580 1536 MB GDDR5 Graphics Card ENGTX580/2DI/1536MD5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121409 $1050

Memory: Patriot Gamer Series 24GB (6 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PGS324G1600ELHK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-220-478 $550

PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower W0133RU 1200W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply GeForce GTX 480 Certified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153054 $350

Case: SILVERSTONE TJ07-BW Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163067 $350

Hard Drive #1 (SSD, for O/S): Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1CCA 2.5ʺ 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148362 $300

Hard Drive #2 (storage): Western Digital Caviar Black WD2001FASS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5ʺ Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136456 $180

Optical Drive #1 (Blu-Ray Burner): ASUS Internal Blu-ray Burner Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1LT LightScribe Support - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135234 $120

Optical Drive #2 (DVD/CD Burner): LITE-ON Black DVD Writer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334 $22

Monitor: 8ms Height,Swivel Adjustable WideScreen LCD Monitor w/USB hub & Card Reader 300 cd/m2 1000:1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260024 $1270

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional 70SB088600002 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102019 $150

Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Digital Speaker System
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121120 $400

O/S: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116762 $180

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Total as Configured: $6300

I'm also planning to water cool the system, and was planning to go with Danger Den unless someone has a superior suggestion. I don't know if using them means I need to get a case from them or if I'm fine using the case I picked...please advise!

Like I said, any changes or improvements or cost-saving measures are very welcome. Thanks in advance for the help.

 
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J

jKron

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this is a silly setup... you are spending way to much and you havent even stated what you are going to be using the computer for... are you really that rich or just have no concept of budget?...
 
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andronimus2002

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It's a gaming PC, as explicitly stated in the title of the post.

Also, let's try to keep it to constructive, helpful comments. If you think something is a waste of money and there's a similar part at a better value, please suggest it. If your only goal is to try and throw out one-liners, take it elsewhere. I've never had anyone make snide comments at this forum before. I've been saving for 4yrs to build this machine and want to get something worth the effort.
 
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F1RST

F1RST

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First off, do you wanna spend 6K$ on a computer ? You could max every single title out there without having to, but it's basically your choice. Verdict ?
 
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andronimus2002

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I generally only build a new machine every 5 years, so I'd like to have something that will handle stuff at max into the future. With that said, I've tried to be clear that I don't want to spend money only for the sake of spending money. If there's a part that I could replace and get 85% of the speed with 30% of the cost, I definitely want to look at those options. I just don't want to build a "mid-range" system. But I'm willing to look at anything if someone more experienced than me has a good idea.
 
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gkay09

gkay09

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^ Frankly I was taken back seeing the budget, but it is your money and you know better what to do with it,...

As for the build, you should know that Intel is going to launch the LGA 1366 replacement - LGA 2011 in few months time,... As you have waited this long, IMO it would be wise to wait and see what those offer,...

Rest of the build -
PSU - I would suggest this one -
Corsair AX1200W 80+ Gold
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014

CASE - USB 3.0 in the front panel, also these are very good for watercooling
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139001

Monitor -
I would suggest the newer revision
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=224-9949&dgc=BA&cid=58996&lid=1496016
OR even the 27" looks very good
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=224-8284&~ck=dellSearch&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=84

SSD - Instead of a single 128GB, buy 2x 64GB, costs less and in RAID 0, would be a lot faster,...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148357

Speakers - ~$60 cheaper at amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-THX-Certified-Digital-Surround-Speaker/dp/B0002WPSBC
 
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F1RST

F1RST

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Ok great, at least you know what you want !

First thing first: You'll have to wait until Sandy Bridge is officially revealed which is during the CES later this week.
It's the next generation of Intel processor, and we've heard it's worth the wait. So for now, we'll try to work on the rest of your build:

Mobo: Sandy Bridge

CPU: Sandy Bridge

GPU: I guess we should wait to choose your Mobo first, but you'll pretty much go for HD6990 (Crossfire or not) when they are revealed which again should be soon (Q1 2011).

Memory: For gaming, more than 6-8GB is useless. So you'll want to get the best sticks available out there.

PSU: Corsair Pro Series AX1200 Gold
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014

Case: Personal choice. For now, I think nothing beats the Corsair 800D.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139001&cm_re=corsair_case-_-11-139-001-_-Product

Hard Drive #1 (SSD, for O/S): Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1CCA 2.5ʺ 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148362 $300

Great SSD, you could get more storage.

Hard Drive #2 (storage): http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152238

Optical Drive #1 (Blu-Ray Burner): ASUS Internal Blu-ray Burner Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1LT LightScribe Support - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135234 $120

Optical Drive #2 (DVD/CD Burner): LITE-ON Black DVD Writer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827106334 $22

Monitor: 8ms of response time is horrendous for gaming.

I love Samsung : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001380
Get 2 of those !

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional 70SB088600002 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102019 $150

Not necessary, you won't make the difference.

Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Digital Speaker System
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6836121120 $400

O/S: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116762 $180

Any questions ?
 
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A

andronimus2002

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Awesome feedback F1RST and gkay09. Much appreciated. It's getting a little late for me to check through all the links but I will do so tomorrow and get back with any questions or feedback.

Quick question on Sandy Bridge -- I've been vaguely following and if it's going to be a substantial improvement I might wait. When I built my last machine they were just coming out with the Core microarchitecture. So I have missed a couple generations. My recollection was that when the chips were first released though that they were both very rare (and thus very expensive) and ran very hot.

Granted my CPU is already slated to cost $1000; but like I said I'm at the top of my budget now and if it's going to be months for the new chips to be available or the Mobo companies to put out new boards, and I'm only going to be able to find something for $1600, it's probably too much for me [I really don't know if I can *raise* the price on any component from what I already wrote down].

So if you guys have any more ideas, maybe after CES, I'm happy to hear the advice.

As for the rest of the stuff, I'll get back to you tomorrow. Thanks again.
 
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V

vibhas

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The sandy bridge parts being released in a few days area are middle range Sandy bridge parts.
however, they are tauted as being equal to the i7 980X and the high end SB parts will be coming out in months.

However, the mid range parts that we are saying you should buy, will save you many hundreds of dollars - Probably around the $500 mark, for the same performance. It is also worthy to note, even if say, the SB processor is 10% faster than the i7 980X, the gaming performance wont increase by 10% as CPU generally isnt the bottleneck.

So basically, if you get Sandy Bridge mid range (The best middle ranger thats coming out) then youll be getting the same performance, newer technology AND lastly, save many hundreds of $$
 
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F1RST

F1RST

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2600K is Enthusiast. It is set to replace the i7 950. It's not mid range.

Intel Q1-Q4 Roadmap:

Extreme: i7 990x
Enthusiast: 2600-2600K
Mainstream: bla bla bla we don't care.
 
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gkay09

gkay09

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2600K is an enthusiast product but not i7 950 replacement.
It will replace i7 870

LGA 1156(i5 6xx, 7xx, i7 8xx CPUs) - replaced by LGA 1155(i5 and i7 2xxx CPUs)
LGA 1366(i7 9xx CPUs ) - replaced by LGA 2011 CPUs

Even though Intel will launch 990X, but it wont have the Best performance crown once the LGA 2011 CPUs launch - Q2 or early Q3
 
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F1RST

F1RST

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Yeah, I know your answer would be more logical, but I clearly read (If only I could find that article) that the 2600K was meant to replace the current 950.

I'll try to find where I saw it.

EDIT:

That's not it, but it says the same thing.
roadmap.png
 
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gkay09

gkay09

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^ There is not much concrete info about LGA 2011 or its CPUs, but it is sure that it is the replacement of the LGA 1366 socket though and these websites wont speculate with such less info which is the reason why they dont put these on the articles,...
 
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sixthseven

sixthseven

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990x comes in Q1 2011 and based on Gulftown 6 core. It's not on SB new 32nm architecture. The clock speed of 990x is 3.46GHz. It still has six cores, twelve hypertreaded cores as well as QPI at 6.4GT/s and doesn’t have any integrated graphics core. I don’t see many reasons to be excited about 990x.

 
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sixthseven

sixthseven

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What about Gigabyte mobo? Many reviews n forum talk about GA-X58A-UD7 vs RAMPAGE III EXTREME and it looks both get some score. In my opinion, UD7 is as good as R3X, but, UD7 is cheaper (about $30 at newegg.com)
 
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M

mdd1963

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The higher your resolution, the progressively less impact the cpu has in framerates, so much so that $200-$250 quad core processors frequently score/ produce results nearly identical to the i7/980....( if getting 63 fps with max settings compared to 61 fps is worth the extra $800 for a 980x, knock yourself out.)

Granted, $1200+ of the budget is monitor...; no getting around it. most 30" monitors are not cheap!

However, I'd look here for ways to cut a *few* corners, saving approximately $1500 in the process....

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4074/digitalstorm-blackops-almost-too-fast

Shaving the i7/980 down by $500-$700 to a 'mere' quad core is a nice start!
 
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J

jKron

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if you want your computer to last five years and you have $7000, then spend like $2000 now and $1000 each year to keep it up to specs... would be less wise to blow it all at once on parts that are hardly better than ones that cost a fraction of their price and in 5 years you will have had a much better computer the whole time other than at the very begging (but honestly even if u don't spend 6-7 g right away you will likely hardly notice a toll on your performance at that point)
 
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sixthseven

sixthseven

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It's a nice idea. But, $1k next year, $1k next 2 years, $1k next 3 years, $1k next 4 years. At the 5th, he'll have had another $7k. So, he can spend $3k now... (not $2k... ). Correct me, I'm not good at math.. :lol:

However, you're a lucky man andronimus... ;) (sounds like someone getting jealous here..)


 
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andronimus2002

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Thanks to all who have contributed so far. I'm at work so still haven't been able to take an extensive look at the suggestions made but I will do so when I arrive home tonight.

As a quick look, though, I'm not interested in waiting years and years to get the system built. Part of this is necessity (the mobo on my other system gave out a week ago) and part is just general impatience.

However, I definitely *do* agree with the suggestions that if there's something awesome right on the horizon, that I could wait a short while.

Also, the suggestions about downgrading the chip sound pretty reasonable to me and are exactly what I was talking about -- if the difference between the absolute best chip and the second or third best is going to be a 4% difference in frame rates and a $500 savings, that's definitely worth moving to. Despite everyone's apparant thoughts, I don't have unlimited money here!

The only reason I picked the top chip, actually, was because I had read that the processor was the bottleneck in most high-end setups these days because the 580's in SLI are already more than any game or application needs. I've seen setups with tri-linked 580s or even a quad, and it said it was a complete waste and nothing can make use of the power. So I figured that I would keep it to 2, but then I didn't want to get bottlenecked by my processor. Again, I'm not a huge expert, so any clarity on this point is appreciated.
 
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F1RST

F1RST

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Intel 2600K + Radeon HD 6990 is the way to go. You shouldn't have to wait too much and you'll have a top notch system.
 
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zooted

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They werent suggesting that you build the system slowly over the next couple of years, they were suggesting to build a system at a lower price, then when it starts to show some age upgrade it. Which is what I would recommended considering how fast tech becomes outdated.
 
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