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$1500 Gaming & Dev PC (Australia)

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Approximate Purchase Date: 07/04/2011

Budget Range: $1500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Web Dev

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor x 3 (LG E2340V), OS (Ubuntu and Win7 x64)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: MSY, MWave

Country of Origin: Australia

Parts Preferences: Midi Tower,

Overclocking: Yes (first time)

SLI or Crossfire: Later (Will expand when needed in the future)

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (x3)

Additional Comments: This is my 4th build in 10 years. I hope to keep this machine for a while and aim to overclock and CrossFire down the road. Prices are in AUD$ (Parity with $USD). Input I'd love to get:

1. Will I need an active display port adaptor for Eyefinity? $60 seems expensive for an adaptor.
2. Overall impression of the selection and any obvious issues?
3. Is the upgrade to the 6970 worth $45?
4. Which of the 2 cases should I go for?
5. Anything else I've missed.



SELECTED BUILD - Google Docs Version

CPU i5 2500K - $269

GPU Radeon HD 6950 2 GB - $315 (Alt GPU Radeon HD 6970 2 GB - $360)

RAM G.Skill Ripjaws F3-16000 CL9D-8GB - $125

HDD Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200RPM - $57.99

DVD RW LG SATA DVD RW - $35

Mother Board MSI P67A-GD65 Motherboard B3 - $253.60

Case Fractal Design Define R3 Black - $145 (Case Alt Lian Li PC-7FNW Black - $200)

PSU Corsair TX-750 750W ATX - $145

Wireless TP-Link Wireless-N - $19

Speakers Logitech LS21 2.1 - $35

TOTAL $1399.59 ($1499.59 with alt GPU and case)

Thanks for any input!

Regards,
Denis

More about : 1500 gaming dev australia

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http://www.bttech.com.au/asrock-extreme4-motherboard-p-... $198.00
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 Motherboard B3

http://www.bttech.com.au/gskill-ripjaws-f312800cl9d8gbr... $111.50
G.Skill Ripjaws F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL 8GB DDR3 1600MHz

http://www.bttech.com.au/intel-core-2500k-32nm-p-232866... $249.00
Intel Core i5 2500K 32nm CPU

http://www.bttech.com.au/coolermaster-rc922m-case-p-506... $140.00
CoolerMaster HAF RC-922M Case

http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/article/1000116#axzz1... <---Review on that Asrock motherboard after the latest bios update

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1098/pg2/asrock-e... <---Review on that Asrock motherboard after the latest bios update

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4080/welcome-to-sandy-bri... <--- Review before the latest bios...and it still smoked the Asus and Gigabyte boards

http://www.asrock.com/news/events/201102ex/warranty.htm... <----- Asrock two year warranty

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=P67%20Extre... <----- ASRock P67 Extreme4 - this mobo even comes with a Front USB 3.0 Panel (2 x 3.0 USB ports and an SSD bracket)...it's on this link.

Thanks for that Why_Me. I haven't seen bttech.com before but they don't sound great according to this: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1582.... It's only one case but I was hoping to pick everything up as I'm Sydney based. If the price difference is enough I'll do delivery.

That case isn't for me thanks, as I'm after something that sleek like the two listed. Leaning towards the Lian Li.

As for the MoBo I had looked closely at the AsRock. On pccasegear.com where they are both $230 and picked the MSI based on better build quality and after reading a few posts here and elsewhere it seemed like the consensus was that they were very similar boards and that the front USB 3.0 was one feature that the AsRock had but overall people were voting for MSi as a brand. I've had them in my last 2 builds and like the look of the build quality.


The decisions that I can't make are between the GPUs and two listed cases (though I'm still open to similar).

Best solution

I haven't read a review of the MSI P67 boards yet, but I have definitely liked what I have heard about the Asrock, so it is a solid choice and what I would go for. You are probably right that there is little to choose between them. I don't think there will be any issues with build quality tho.

The Antec Truepower New TPN-750 is a more efficient than the Corsair 750TX, and it is modular, which the TX is not. So I think it is a better buy, especially if it is the same price or cheaper than the 750TX.

I also like Lian Li cases, I had my eye on the PC-9F recently, which has two front fans, maybe this would be helpful in a build with more than one hot and powerful graphics card.
The Lian Li PC-7FNB is the same as the 7FNW, it just doesn't have a window and has a blue LED fan in the front, which you could replace if you don't want. Would be one way to save money on the case if you don't mind not having a window.

5760x1080 is quite a large resolution, so I would think you'd need as much GPU horsepower as you can get, unless you don't mind turning down settings or having framerates be quite low, at least until you can get the second card. I haven't found anything which suggests that you can get away with not using an active adapter to get a third display with eyefinity.
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Thanks Silvune. Do you know the difference between the Blue and Std Antec Truepower?

I'm going for the 6970 on your input. The only thing with that is I'm now thinking I might need a bigger PSU?

On the case the cooling issues now have me worried. I think I'm being silly here but I want something that I really like. Hope to have this case for a while! Looking at SilverStone RV02-E or perhaps Lian-Li PC-7FNWX.

I'm finding it tough to get either MSI or ASRock Mobo in Sydney as I the one I listed is sold out now. Think I'll take either of these that I find.

Thanks again! I've moved my PSU upto 850W. Not sure if thats enough for Crossfire HD6970s as I've read different things.

My build currently stands as:

SELECTED BUILD - Google Docs Version

CPU i5 2500K - $269

GPU Radeon HD 6970 2 GB - $360

RAM G.Skill Ripjaws F3-16000 CL9D-8GB - $125

HDD Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200RPM - $57.99

DVD RW LG SATA DVD RW - $35

Mother Board MSI P67A-GD65 Motherboard B3 - $253.60
Case Lian-Li PC-7FNWX - $258
Case Alt SilverStone RV02-E Raven - $205

PSU Antec 850W TruePower Quattro - $189

Wireless TP-Link Wireless-N - $19

Speakers Logitech LS21 2.1 - $35


TOTAL $1594 ($1540 with alt case)
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