Gaming build

sync_nine

January 4, 2011 12:56:17 PM

Approximate Purchase Date: End of January

Budget Range: ~$1200 (However i don't live live in the US)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 90% for gaming, watching movies and using Photoshop

Parts Not Required: Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse (and OS)

Preferred Website: www.techshop.in

Country of Origin: India

Parts Preferences: Nvidia ( no real preference over Intel & AMD)

Overclocking: Yes ( Processor and GPU)

SLI or Crossfire: Nope

Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024

Additional Comments: After market Heat sink and USB WiFi card.

Note: Prices are about 20% more than US in this side of the world, so make your estimates close to $1000 which will fit in my budget.

I'd like to keep this PC for about 4 years ( I hope) so the parts/components should be a little future proof

Here's what i think, correct me if you think i'm making a mistake in the build

Motherboard :Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 Motherboard
http://techshop.in/store/gigabyte-ga880gmusb3-motherboa...

CPU:AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Processor
http://techshop.in/store/phenom-1055t-processor-buy-onl...

GPU: Zotac GeForce GTX 470
http://techshop.in/store/zotac-nvidia-geforce-1280mb-gd...

PSU:Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 700W RS-700-PCAA-E3
http://techshop.in/store/cooler-master-extreme-power-pl...

GSKILL Ripjaws Series 2x2GB DDR3 1600MHz
http://techshop.in/store/gskill-ripjaws-series-2x2gb-dd...

Heat Sink: Cooler Master Hyper 212
http://techshop.in/store/cooler-master-hyper-plus-rrb10...

HDD, DVD Burner, Wifi card
http://techshop.in/store/seagate-barracuda-st3500418as-...

http://techshop.in/store/sony-ad7240szr-sata-writer-buy...

http://techshop.in/store/712wusbg-wifi-54mbps-wireless-...

Total comes to about $1111( Rs.50,000) so i have close a $100 leverage.

I preferred the AMD Phenom X6 because it seemed to be a little more future proof compared to the Quad i5-760.
So what do you guys think?
Or should i wait for the new line of Intel processors to come and wait for prices to drop?

More about : gaming build

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simon12

January 4, 2011 1:26:05 PM

The build looks OK you will get better performance in gaming with the sandy bridge i5 2500 (processor cheaper but worse value motherboards) and the GTX470 gets very hot which may be an issue in india. If you want to lower the price and stick with amd the 955BE performs just as well in gaming.

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sync_nine

January 4, 2011 2:03:32 PM

simon12 said:

The build looks OK you will get better performance in gaming with the sandy bridge i5 2500 (processor cheaper but worse value motherboards) and the GTX470 gets very hot which may be an issue in india. If you want to lower the price and stick with amd the 955BE performs just as well in gaming.

Yes, i read a few charts saying that 470 goes up to 90 degrees Celsius under full load, but zotac seems to have a better Heat sink than the other brands. But the leap in graphics processing power from the 460 to the 470 i quite big ( and 460 has a 256 bit bus and the 470 has a 320 bit bus) for a small price change.
However some users still say that their cards run at 70 degrees even after overclock, so reviews are quite mixed.

pinaklonkar said:

You can always wait for the next family of intel processors and then look at i7-9xx prices.

At that low a monitor resolution, you can always buy ATI HD 6850. No need for GTX470. This is my opinion. It will save you a lot of money. If you plan on buying a bigger screen, you can always go with GTX470. Make sure the card has at least 2 years warranty. I know warranty service in India can be painful.

No need for a 700W power supply. Go with 650W Corsair with a full five year warranty or Antec. Cooler master is not bad either.

4GB RAM should be enough but not great. If you end up building a three channel setup, go with a 2gb x 3 setup. But again, I tend to believe at that resolution, 4GB should be good.

If you are NOT going to over clock your hardware (you should not), you do not need an after-market cooler/heat sink. Use the stock.

I am not sure how you arrived at the "future proof" conclusion. No CPU is really "future proof". There is always going to be the next best thing in about a few months that makes your build look trashy.

Rest all looks fine.

Yes i could wait for a few weeks and see the price changes, but the market here isn't so dynamic, so i doubt the prices will change much.
My first intention was to buy a i7 930 and the cpu was in my range, but the mobo is plainly too expensive.
making my cpu+ mobo = $520 which didn't workout

the 2nd gen processors are just launched so it will take a few weeks before some in dept reviews and tests are published.
and YES, i want to over clock my cpu so i adding a separate heat sink to my list.
I think my system should be ok for 2years at least , unless they come up with 12 core cpu next month

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pinaklonkar

January 4, 2011 6:29:21 PM

I meant once the new family arrives, the i7-9xx family will go cheaper. Maybe you were saying the same. Yes, I noticed at the time of my build that some motherboards were just too expensive. I ended up building a system with CPU + Mobo and RAM bought off a person from Craigslist website, saving me some money. But In India you may not be able to do that. You can always wait or have someone buy the components in USA and bring them along. At least the basic ones like CPU and Motherboard and Graphics card.

Don't over clock. Plain and simple. Just don't. Get a slightly better system. It will go a long way.

Your system should be okay for some years, sure. You may want to choose ATI cards as I was suggesting for the same reason of heat. They are much cooler and in general great cards. I love nVidia cards for many games are optimized for them. I use ATI and I do see in about 10% games that the brand hurts.