Help deciding on CPU and VidCard

Whoosah

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Mar 14, 2011
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Hi y'all!!!

Thanks to a friend, i'm gonna attempt to build my 1st pc w/his help of course, I was gonna go down the alienware route, b/c I have no idea what i'm doing, but a guildie set me on the path and will help me build it.

My guildie knows how to build a pc, but is outdated when it comes to what is currently out. So I need help deciding whether to go down the sandy bridge route i5 2500k or i7 2600k? Is the i7 950 overkill? I currently am going to use this rig just to game, and right now I play Age Of Conan, and been playing on a macbook pro w/no problems until the new dreamworld engine launch. Yea i know a mac, but my parents bought it for me school. So can't complain about that =)

I'm pretty new to all this stuff, so I have no idea how to choose? Only thing I got from google was most people would pick i5 2500K b/c the 2600k uses hyperthreading? no clue what that is.

Also, do you suggest dual or single vid cards? I'm currently looking at HD 6850 and was wondering if a single card would be all I would need for gaming, I only play AoC and looking forward to GW2, and would like a system to run these games @ max, i might try crysis b/c it looks money. I know I could go single then upgrade to dual in the future if need be.

I've got everything sorted out w/the motherboard looking at a MoBo (depending on which processor i get)and 8g of ram, 8g enough or anything past that is overkill? I know windows 7 64-bit requires 4 but everyone tells me more ram the better.

Thanks for the help y'all!!!! Any suggestions or improvements would be much appreciated. I'm actually getting excited on building a pc from scratch!

 
Solution
Hows $1552 ? This is a big case (air filters, swappable SSD and HD bays, CPX form factor), "untouchable" PSU per jonnyguru. RAM is low profile so wont cause any issues w/ CPU heat sink. MoBo capable of adding 2nd GFX card in SLI in future.

Substitute a 560 Ti factory OC'd and save $100

MoBo isn't on newegg yet but as I have seen on other sites, should be only a day or 2

Case - $160 - Antec DF-85 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.591259
PSU - $110 - Antec CP-850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024
Case Fans - Later - Antec 120 mm Fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209006
MoBo - $390 - ASUS P8P67 Pro...

bavman

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May 19, 2010
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No need for an i7 for gaming. The i5-2500k is a perfect solution. 4gb is enough for gaming, it will handle any game perfectly. Save some money and get a better vid card.

Also to better help, whats your budget and gaming resolution?
 

christop

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I would go with the I7 2600k. It overclocks like a champ and is cheaper to build than a 1366 build. I would start out with one GPU unless money is no issue. 8 gigs is good for memory. Don't cheap out on a PSU get a good name brand.
 

Whoosah

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Mar 14, 2011
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My budget is around 1500, that more than enough? lol And I plan to play any game in max resolution, though I was told by my friend i need to look up the refresh rate on my sony bravia to see if I can use that as my monitor, how would one do that?

Sweet looks like i'll look into either the i5 or i7 sandy bridge. Still undecided on dual cards though. to be safe i could do 1 then upgrade to a 2nd?
 
Hows $1552 ? This is a big case (air filters, swappable SSD and HD bays, CPX form factor), "untouchable" PSU per jonnyguru. RAM is low profile so wont cause any issues w/ CPU heat sink. MoBo capable of adding 2nd GFX card in SLI in future.

Substitute a 560 Ti factory OC'd and save $100

MoBo isn't on newegg yet but as I have seen on other sites, should be only a day or 2

Case - $160 - Antec DF-85 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.591259
PSU - $110 - Antec CP-850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024
Case Fans - Later - Antec 120 mm Fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209006
MoBo - $390 - ASUS P8P67 Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.575884
CPU - incl above - Intel Core i5-2500K
Cooler - $40 - Scythe SCMG 2100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142
TIM - $6 - Shin Etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080
RAM - $99 - (2 x 4GB) Mushkin CAS 9 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226099
GFX Card - $320 - Asus GTX 570 factory OC'd http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121412
GFX - Later Same
HD - $160 - Spinpoint F3 1 TB + Win 7 64 Home http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.591429
SSD - $245 - Crucial RealSSD C300 2.5" 128GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148348
DVD Writer - $22 - Asus 24X DRW-24B3L w/ LS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135221
OS - inc - Win 7-64 Home Premium Included w/ HD

The C300 SSD is just a "place holder" till the Vertex 3 comes out (any day now)
 
Solution

Whoosah

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Mar 14, 2011
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Wow thanks y'all!!! Been really helpful and thank you for your write up on things I should get will def make it easier for me!!!

In regards to the 2500k and 2600k what is the main difference? Is the 2600k just overkill for gaming? Or is the 2500k better b/c it OC's better?
 

bavman

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The only difference between the 2 is that the i7 has hyper threading while the i5 doesn't. In gaming this translates to no gain in frames per second. The only reason you would need the i7 is if you planned on doing heavy video editing.