2 new Gaming computers being built

[Kaori Cpu]

My brother and I have some extra cash on hand so we decided we wanted to buy stuff for a new gaming rig. My total was $1150.00, his was $1230.00 due to his case choice. I also included our monitors in the pricing which were 23" LG LED LCD 1920x1200 (mine), and his was the 1920x1080 version. Same models, mine was just the slim model with the 1200 res. Both were 250 bucks at bestbuy and are quite nice. Anyway, our new build consists of:

CPU - Phenom II x4 955 BE

PSU - Corsair Enthusiast 650

GPU - MSI Twin Frozr 460

MOBO - Asus Pro

RAM - Corsair XMS3 2x2 4GB

Heatsink - ThermalTake FRIO

Thermal Paste - Tuniq TX-4

Hard drive - Spinpoint F3 1 TB

Dvd/Cd Burner - 2 of ASUS's Cd/dvd burners

Monitor - LG 23" E2360 (mine) His is E2350

Case - Mine is Coolermaster Scout, it was nice and cheap. His is the Newer version of Antec 1200 case.

We arnt Super hardcore gamers. We like WOW, Borderlands and other games and wanted decent to max settings so this is what we came up with for now. I already bought it. Im just waiting for our stuff to get to my house next week. I work during the week, but im going to make time to do a video with my brother of short unboxings of our products just to show what we bought and then we are going to show a video of our completed Rigs. If anyone would like any benchmarks then feel free to ask. I was going to wait.............EVEN LONGER................ for 1155, but I got tired of waiting. I make alot of money so I figured If im not satisfied then I will just sell it this summer and do a rebuild of everything I actually wanted... I honestly didnt want any of these components, but im doing a mediocre build and I am sick of waiting. I know I will be happy with my build and I might even be quite satisfied. If anyone has any comments or questions, please ask. I also might be needing some help during my build if I run into problems be aware

 

[batuchka]

$652AR for tower?

HD 6870 + Crossfire capable


HD6K Barts: single/CF review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/amds-radeon-6870-6850-renewing-competition-in-the-midrange-market/8

 

[dalauder]

Could you make this a little clearer--how much do you want to spend on parts? I'm assuming $800 total? I'd have bought different cases and $130 22" monitor's, but that's done with I suppose.

CPU: $140 Phenom II x2 955BE
Mobo: $90 ASRock 870 Extreme 3
RAM: $90 Any 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz CL9 or faster DDR3
HDD: $55 Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB (cheaper on Amazon or Google Shopping)
DVD: $17 Any DVD Burner from Newegg (dual is a waste of SATA ports and money)
PSU: $90 Antec 750W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371025&cm_re=antec_750-_-17-371-025-_-Product)

That leaves $320 for graphics. In my book, that means upgrade to a $110 850W PSU (Corsair, Seasonic, Silverstone, Antec, or XFX), get a $250 Radeon HD 6950 2GB, and spend $40 on a CPU cooler.

EDIT: Oops, I didn't really read your post. In that case--the great thing about building computers together is that you'll have graphics ready for SLI when it comes up down the line (although your motherboards are AMD, so that won't work with Crossfire--Sandy Bridge?)

 

[Kaori Cpu]

My parts not including the monitor was $890.00. If it ever comes down to me needing to do SLI, Im just going to sell this rig. I am building this because i needed an upgrade pretty bad and i wanted to build another system. Odds are, Im going to be building another system this summer or fall. Probably going to spend around 1600 or so on that system. I really like the sandy bridge CPUs for the price so I will probably go that route.

 

[dalauder]

Alright--well have fun building a bunch of computers. I mess around with everyone I know's computers so that I get a chance to build them all.

I hope you come back before your $1600 build so we get to have fun throwing together a build for you (obviously, you could do that yourself. But why deny us the fun?).

Also--come back to Tom's Forums, Classifieds, to sell that rig on the cheap when you're done with it. You'll get better money on ebay/craigslist--but it's kinda like philanthropy here, except that nobody NEEDS good hardware.

 

[Kaori Cpu]

Yeah, I will come back here for sure when it comes time to build my newer rig this summer. I am going to be on here quite a bit until then anyway. Half the fun is coming up with a new build and discussing the components with others that share my same enthusiasm for computers and electronics. I love the people here

 

[joelmartinez]

decent choices I won't sadden you with ways to improve since this is finalized

Have fun!!

 

[Kaori Cpu]

decent choices I won't sadden you with ways to improve since this is finalized

Have fun!!

What would have you recommended instead of the products I chose? Mind you, I chose due to price, preference and the fact that this is just a baseline machine. I built it for mid gaming. Im building a new rig in the summer. I chose the 955 BE due to the fact of its price, quad core, unlocked and its Cache. The GPU is decent and cheap. Motherboard is good. Power supply is a Single Rail non modular CORSAIR Case is decent looking at a nice and low price. Thermaltake frio is a Great Cooler and I read reviews of the Tuniq Tx4 being amazing thermal paste. What would you have changed? I also chose my GPU because Nvidia performs better for world of warcraft.

 

[dalauder]

I'd have minor changes--mostly the ones shown in my suggested build. But yours will be very good for its purpose.

 

[Kaori Cpu]

I'd have minor changes--mostly the ones shown in my suggested build. But yours will be very good for its purpose.

The ram was in a combo...that wasnt a first choice for myself. The Powersupply is good, but I am going with an 850 this summer. I am also getting a 570 or 580 Gpu. I wont go with AMD cards due to the fact that the games that I play benefit more from Nvidia. The Dvd/CD really dont matter. The hard drive I chose was part of a deal, but its still a great hard drive. Most of my picks are from bundles and preference for a mid end build. It will still do its job and for the most part, I received really good deals for combos and still obtained very good items.

 

[Kaori Cpu]

My build would have consisted of a 2600k, Asus Maximus IV, Corsair 850, G. Skill (4x4) 8 GB, Corsair H70, HAF X or Lanboy Air case, Same optical drives, WD Caviar Black 1 TB hard drive, MSI Twin Frozr 570, 580 or 590 depending on benchmarks. That will most likely happen this summer unless something else comes out that catches my eye.

 

[Wish I Was Wealthy]

My brother and I have some extra cash on hand so we decided we wanted to buy stuff for a new gaming rig. My total was $1150.00, his was $1230.00 due to his case choice. I also included our monitors in the pricing which were 23" LG LED LCD 1920x1200 (mine), and his was the 1920x1080 version. Same models, mine was just the slim model with the 1200 res. Both were 250 bucks at bestbuy and are quite nice. Anyway, our new build consists of:

CPU - Phenom II x4 955 BE

PSU - Corsair Enthusiast 650

GPU - MSI Twin Frozr 460

MOBO - Asus Pro

RAM - Corsair XMS3 2x2 4GB

Heatsink - ThermalTake FRIO

Thermal Paste - Tuniq TX-4

Hard drive - Spinpoint F3 1 TB

Dvd/Cd Burner - 2 of ASUS's Cd/dvd burners

Monitor - LG 23" E2360 (mine) His is E2350

Case - Mine is Coolermaster Scout, it was nice and cheap. His is the Newer version of Antec 1200 case.

We arnt Super hardcore gamers. We like WOW, Borderlands and other games and wanted decent to max settings so this is what we came up with for now. I already bought it. Im just waiting for our stuff to get to my house next week. I work during the week, but im going to make time to do a video with my brother of short unboxings of our products just to show what we bought and then we are going to show a video of our completed Rigs. If anyone would like any benchmarks then feel free to ask. I was going to wait.............EVEN LONGER................ for 1155, but I got tired of waiting. I make alot of money so I figured If im not satisfied then I will just sell it this summer and do a rebuild of everything I actually wanted... I honestly didnt want any of these components, but im doing a mediocre build and I am sick of waiting. I know I will be happy with my build and I might even be quite satisfied. If anyone has any comments or questions, please ask. I also might be needing some help during my build if I run into problems be aware

Hi Kaori cpu ...Good one & I hope it works well for you both...When the faulty cougar chipsets are repaired you should get one of those fairly quickly...I have a core i7 2600k & had a Asus P8P67 Deluxe,but returned this mainboard due to the faulty chipset issue ...I did go back to return the Asus & I got some LGA 1156 hardware instead to play with from my refunded cash ...I got an Asus P7H55-M/USB3 & also online through eBay I am planning on buying a core i7 875k also ...Due to the shortage of LGA 1156 mainboards in stock,because of the faulty cougar chipset issue all I could get was that Asus P7H55-M/USB3...I live in Sydney,Australia & it's so far out on it's own that we often get scarce of hardware parts when something goes wrong ...Although I was even thinking of buying a core i5 760 & overclocking it instead for gaming ...

 

[Kaori Cpu]

Hi Kaori cpu ...Good one & I hope it works well for you both...When the faulty cougar chipsets are repaired you should get one of those fairly quickly...I have a core i7 2600k & had a Asus P8P67 Deluxe,but returned this mainboard due to the faulty chipset issue ...I did go back to return the Asus & I got some LGA 1156 hardware instead to play with from my refunded cash ...I got an Asus P7H55-M/USB3 & also online through eBay I am planning on buying a core i7 875k also ...Due to the shortage of LGA 1156 mainboards in stock,because of the faulty cougar chipset issue all I could get was that Asus P7H55-M/USB3...I live in Sydney,Australia & it's so far out on it's own that we often get scarce of hardware parts when something goes wrong ...Although I was even thinking of buying a core i5 760 & overclocking it instead for gaming ...

I thought about the i5 760, but I really didnt care too much since this is just a mid range build. I will probably sell it this summer or if im happy enough with it then I will just have a spare for my woman or kid. Shes not much of a gamer, but I got her hooked on Borderlands for xbox 360 when I owned one. I was a HUGE Halo 3 fan. Played since beta. As soon as Halo reach came out, I sold my 360 Halo reach blows and its designed for a wider range of KIDS and people who really just want to enjoy the game. Im was a HARDCORE halo 2 and 3 player and I was into MLG if anyone here knows what that is. Anyway, I am going to be getting xbox controllers for my computer so her and I can play borderlands, lego star wars , and other games together. I am either getting the 1155 chipset or I might wait for the 2011 chipset. I know its going to be really expensive for the "E" series chipsets, but I will just start saving now.... I make alot of money and dont pay too much for bills

 

[dalauder]

That build you're gonna do this summer will be great--but from a performance standpoint--get the GTX 580 or better before you get a $300 mobo--it's not worth much. Maybe the last 200MHz of HEAVY OC'ing. At least I think the Asus Maximus was going for a high price tag.

 

[Kaori Cpu]

That build you're gonna do this summer will be great--but from a performance standpoint--get the GTX 580 or better before you get a $300 mobo--it's not worth much. Maybe the last 200MHz of HEAVY OC'ing. At least I think the Asus Maximus was going for a high price tag.

Thats only if im going for 1155. I want to see what the 2011 "E" series has in store. If its not for me then yes, I will go 2500k or 2600k with a 580 or 590....when is the 590 coming out?

 

[dalauder]

I thought the dual NVidia and AMD GPUs were both coming out in February. Also, I'm guessing they'll have solid 2011 boards for well under $300 so that you should instead put some of that cash towards graphics. But I'm guessing your only limit is what parts they sell--not the price tag.

 

[Kaori Cpu]

I thought the dual NVidia and AMD GPUs were both coming out in February. Also, I'm guessing they'll have solid 2011 boards for well under $300 so that you should instead put some of that cash towards graphics. But I'm guessing your only limit is what parts they sell--not the price tag.

If the 2011 chipset comes out around summer or fall then I will look into a 6 core CPU. That should hold me for a long time. Im not sure when It will be available though. Some people say Q3 or Q4 of this year, some people say next year so im in the dark. I want to see the benchmarks of the Dual GPU 590 to see the performance on it. I might go that route or go dual 570s or 580s.

 

[joelmartinez]

would have gotten different monitor (asus 1920x1080, 23.6'')
650w antec tp or ea
gtx 560 ti
asrock mobo
wintec ampx 4gb
scmg-2100
shin etsu g751
HAF 922

 

[dalauder]

The thing about the GTX 580 is that it's ridiculous overkill for most games on most monitor setups. I game on 1680x1050 because I wanted to try out IZ3D's cheap 3D display--which is hit or miss, but very good sometimes. At my resolution my GTX 470 (read GTX 560 Ti) can handle just about anything at nearly maxed graphics. To use more than a single GTX 570--you'd need a very high resolution monitor or multiple screens.

And if you're using dual GTX 570's, I'd have to say the $300 difference between that and dual 580's is worth it to score you two extra monitors. Although I'd have to look into that surround gaming setup (3 screens). But then again, if you use 3 screens, SLI'd GTX 580's have a purpose.

 

[Kaori Cpu]

would have gotten different monitor (asus 1920x1080, 23.6'')
650w antec tp or ea
gtx 560 ti
asrock mobo
wintec ampx 4gb
scmg-2100
shin etsu g751
HAF 922

I could have chosen the asus 24 inch. The one I got is actually better. Antec 650 has Multiple Rails, I wanted a single rail. Asrock mobo isnt as good as the asus. Wintec isnt a reputable Ram manufacturer. The gtx 560 is 100 more than the 460. I spent 890.00 dollars and didnt want to go higher because this isnt my top rig. Its my personal preference and quality. Your build is good, it just doesnt suite what I was willing to actually spend for this build. The haf 922 is a good case though

 

[joelmartinez]

so you wanna argue okay

you have to pay significantly more for that extra .4'' save money get 23.6'' yes your LG has a higher res, but this is cheaper and a great budget gaming monitor
better than the corsair, and the # of rails don't affect this units quality it is cheaper and as high quality if not higher than the 650tx
gtx 560 ti, the extra money is worth it and from these money saving changes you should be able to afford it, it overclocks to a gtx 570 easily and will handle every game at max 4x AA on 1920x1080
asrock, yes asus is better quality but the extra money isn't worth it
has proven to overclock very well
you agree on cooling?

 

[Kaori Cpu]

so you wanna argue okay

you have to pay significantly more for that extra .4'' save money get 23.6'' yes your LG has a higher res, but this is cheaper and a great budget gaming monitor
better than the corsair, and the # of rails don't affect this units quality it is cheaper and as high quality if not higher than the 650tx
gtx 560 ti, the extra money is worth it and from these money saving changes you should be able to afford it, it overclocks to a gtx 570 easily and will handle every game at max 4x AA on 1920x1080
asrock, yes asus is better quality but the extra money isn't worth it
has proven to overclock very well
you agree on cooling?

Not attempting to argue. Just trying to state that EVERY ITEM I bought was in a combo deal besides the monitor and case. I prefer Single Rail over Multiple so thats preference. Also, keep in mind, this is NOT a top end system. This is just a mid range system. Im building another system in a few more months and I wanted to see the performance of this rig. I bought the monitor at Best buy. I did NOT want to receive a monitor with dead pixels so I decided best buy. Its 23 inches, 250.00, anti glare, 1920x1200 and its just a very nice monitor. Bought it over the ASUS due to the fact that the asus 24" was also 250.00. I bought the Twin Frozr 460 over the 560 due to the fact that the 460 can be overclocked as well and will handle alot thrown at it. Mind you, I dont play alot of high end games. If in the future I start enjoying some other games, I will build the ACTUAL computer I was going to get in the first place. I will use this for my girlfriend so she doesnt have to play games on her laptop. She likes Sims 3, Lego star wars and Harry potter. The cooling I chose, ThermalTake Frio is an AMAZING cooler. I am going for the corsair H70 on my next build, but I decided to go FRIO instead of Hyper 212+ due to performance. I spent under 900 on this build and that also included Windows 7 64 OEM. I could have actually spend much less, but I decided this was a good range. I could have went even 200.00 over and got a better GPU, which would have been a Twin Frozr 560, but I didnt want to put more money into this when it will do just fine as is. Like I said before, This isnt a top end rig and Everything I bought was also in combos. I thought I obtained good deals on them while saving money.

 

[joelmartinez]

If everything was in a combo it seems like a good deal. okay. I know. I'm pretty sure newegg has a good return policy for stuff like that, there is no shipping you pay either and the asus 23.6'' @ newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052 ($270 AR). 560 ti overclocks better than 460. I don't either. Not very demanding games. given that the promilatech megahalems is only slightly more expensive (@svc.com) I wouldn't even consider the frio it should be hyper 212+ (low budget), scmg-2100 (mid budget), promilatech megahalems (high budget), I would choose the scmg-2100 at your budget.

 

[Kaori Cpu]

Best answer selected by Kaori Cpu.