Is this a good build for gaming?

[DidHeDied]

Hello,


Approximate Purchase Date: 2-3 weeks

Budget Range: $2700

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Surfing the net

Parts Not Required: Mouse, Keyboard and Software

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Australian sites, preferably pccasegear.com

Country of Origin: Australia

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1280

Additional Comments: For software, do i need anymore than Antivirus, Windows 7 and Office?



The build i have so far is:

i5 2500k CPU ($259)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=187_346_1184&products_id=16531

ASUS P67 Sabertooth ($315)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_1183&products_id=16815

G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL8D (2x4GB) 8GB ($129)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=186_912&products_id=16934

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB ($69)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=210_344&products_id=12711

Samsung SH-S223C DVD Player ($55) No idea why it's so expensive
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=658_667&products_id=13068

ASUS GeForce GTX 580 1536MB DirectCUii ($619)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1170&products_id=16871

NZXT Phantom Case Black ($189)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_238&products_id=15089

AOC Black Razor E2343F2k Monitor ($209)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=558_1089&products_id=16823

Corsair HX-850 Power Supply ($225) Will the cords be long enough?
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_354&products_id=12111

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks


PS. I know the prices are high but thats how things go here.

 

[geekapproved]

Looks pretty good, but gawd, why you need a $315 mobo? Get a $200 mobo and get a better cpu (2600K).

 

[XXF]

2600k won't improve gaming experience hardly at all if any. There's an oft quoted benchmark test floating around that shows some games perform better on a 2500 than 2600, so if he is planning on gaming and surfing then there is absolutely no reason to move to the 2600.

The mobo is expensive (you poor aussies) you might want to check if the ASUS P8P67 Pro motherboard would suffice for you, it still supports SLI.

If you want to save some of that money you could easily drop down on the GPU to a 570 or a factory OCed 560Ti and still play just about any current game at max settings without any difficulty, plus still have the option to SLI two years down the road when more games come out that really push the 570/560Ti. Obviously you'd lose a bit on Crysis' enthusiast settings right now, so that's a value decision for you.

I assume with the 2500K on there you're intending on OCing at least somewhat and although you probably don't need it for a mild OC if you intend on over volting (for higher OCs) you'll definitely want to pick up an aftermarket heatsink for the CPU. The Hyper 212 Plus by CoolerMaster is a great value, people have taken 2500ks to 5ghz air cooling with one of those (which I personally wouldn't recommended if you're working with a budget as you begin to get into a grey risky area up that far).

Good luck with your build.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

On top of the heatsink I would also be looking at a SSD. If you set the SSDs up at a boot drive it can make a big difference on boot time and access times. If you have room within your budget take a look at the Intel® Solid-State Drive 510 SATA III (6Gbit) 120GB drive or if the budget is smaller look at one of the newer Intel SSD 320 SATA II 80GB would also be an improvement over your HDD for a boot drive.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[geekapproved]

2600k won't improve gaming experience hardly at all if any. There's an oft quoted benchmark test floating around that shows some games perform better on a 2500 than 2600, so if he is planning on gaming and surfing then there is absolutely no reason to move to the 2600.

The mobo is expensive (you poor aussies) you might want to check if the ASUS P8P67 Pro motherboard would suffice for you, it still supports SLI.

If you want to save some of that money you could easily drop down on the GPU to a 570 or a factory OCed 560Ti and still play just about any current game at max settings without any difficulty, plus still have the option to SLI two years down the road when more games come out that really push the 570/560Ti. Obviously you'd lose a bit on Crysis' enthusiast settings right now, so that's a value decision for you.

I assume with the 2500K on there you're intending on OCing at least somewhat and although you probably don't need it for a mild OC if you intend on over volting (for higher OCs) you'll definitely want to pick up an aftermarket heatsink for the CPU. The Hyper 212 Plus by CoolerMaster is a great value, people have taken 2500ks to 5ghz air cooling with one of those (which I personally wouldn't recommended if you're working with a budget as you begin to get into a grey risky area up that far).

Good luck with your build.

He asked for suggestions. I gave mine. You gave yours.

I never said it would improve gaming did I? I said use the savings from that outrageous mobo for a better cpu. Please learn to read. Thanks

 

[XXF]

You seem to be upset with me, which is odd, since we're both trying to help this fella. I didn't mean to attack you, but I did want to point out the flaw in your suggestion based on the original poster's needs. Good luck out there.

 

[dalauder]

I'd get a cheaper large Mid ATX case (Azza Solano is a good size, but too ostentatious for most people), TX850, $30 DVD drive from Amazon or another site, consider slower RAM since it doesn't help overclocking the K series, cheaper mobo that runs 8x/8x (from Asus, Gigabyte, ASRock, or MSI), and a two Radeon 6950 2GB flashed to unlocked 6950.

This build is $100 cheaper and much better gaming performance (check crossfired 6970's versus a single GTX 580). AND it has a 2GB frame buffer, which makes sure that you've got enough memory for that resolution, even two years from now.

 

[DidHeDied]

Best answer selected by DidHeDied.

 

[DidHeDied]

What if i change my motherboard to a Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4 B3? I feel better about getting 1 580 rather than a 570 or 560 ti as it will last longer and i can just SLI them when they start to lack in performance.

 

[majin ssj eric]

Hey, if you feel better about spending $619 rather than $250 then go for it. Its your money....

 

[dalauder]

I didn't realize you were considering SLI'ing GTX 580's. I figured you'd get a 950W PSU if that was the case. An 850W could probably handle it, but I wouldn't want to do that since I'd like to leave room for capacitor aging.

 

[mdd1963]

2600k won't improve gaming experience hardly at all if any. There's an oft quoted benchmark test floating around that shows some games perform better on a 2500 than 2600, so if he is planning on gaming and surfing then there is absolutely no reason to move to the 2600.

.

I would not recommend a 2600k over a 2500k, given the miniscule performance differences between them, and the $100 more that the 2600k costs,

*However*, to claim a 2500k outperforms the 2600k is....well, just short of ludicrous, IMO...

I would certainly like to see you post a link to even a single gaming benchmark where a 2600k is outperformed by a 2500k, given an 'apples to apples' comparison (systems identically configured, other than cpus at stock clockspeeds.