Need help choosing parts for a gaming rig

[guitarjanitor]

Hey all! I'm back once again looking to narrow my parts list for my gaming rig. Without further ado, I'll set you up with what I've got planned so far:

Goals
*Play current/new games at max settings (with decent AA/AF) at 1920x1080 (I want to get on the Crysis 2/BF:BC 3 train with everybody else )
*Maintain steady high framerates without dipping below 40 fps
*Boot and load games/files/applications with a minimal amount of waiting
*Have components that will facilitate new upgrades (such as a mobo with room for more GPUs and a PSU that can handle said GPUs)

Parts already on "the list"
*Intel Core i5-2500K
*Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 (will add a second/third one when I need more power)

Budget
<$1500 (if there's genuine improvement of quality to be had, I'm willing to pay more, but if there's no noticeable increase in performance, I'd just as soon stay within the $1500 range)

Stuff that I need help choosing
*Motherboard
*Hard drive
*RAM
*PSU
*Case
*DVD drive (I don't use blu-ray)

So that's everything that's set in stone for now. I want a hard drive that'll let me load up games quickly (I play Steam games almost exclusively, so I figure the hard drive will need to be quick). Of less importance is boot time, but I'd like it if that would go by quickly as well

So, what do you guys think? Can it all be done below $1500? What parts would you recommend to flesh out this machine and make it ready for the latest games? I really appreciate all the help I've gotten on the TH forums these past few months. You guys are awesome

Side note: is there a version of Windows 7 that's best suited for high-power gaming, or should I just go for whatever's cheapest? Thanks again, all!

 

[dsM22]

Hi,

Iv'e recently put together a simular build for myself so im going to try and tweak it to get it down as close as $1500 as possible.

Graphics Card : EVGA GTX 580 @ $500 Newegg Link (I choose EVGA due to their rock solid warrenty amongst over benefits.

Processor : Intel Core i5-2500k @ $225 Newegg Link

Motherboard : ASUS P8P67-M PRO @ $150 Newegg Link (They do do a 3 way SLI version of the P8P67 but i cant remember what the model is (it will cost upwards of $200).

Memory : G-Skill Ripsaw 8GB DDR3 1600MHz @ $99 Newegg Link (You could get away with 4GB for a pure gaming machine, but i always prefer to have a little bit more incase photoshop / video editing become something you do.

Power Supply : XFX Black Edition 850W PSU @ $150 Newegg Link (This will be fine for dual GTX 580 but again for a 3x SLI rig your going to need to spend more. A 1200w PSU is what Nvidia recommends for such a setup)

Case : Cooler Master 690 II Advanced @ $90 Newegg Link (Epic case an an excellent price. brilliant airflow and solid as a rock)

SSD : OCZ Vertex 2 50GB SSD @ $110 Newegg Link (For Windows 7 and maybe 1 game)

HDD : Western Digital Caviar Green 1.5TB @ $60 Newegg Link


TOTAL : $1384

Leaving $116 for stuff like a cpu cooler, any dvd drive and some extra fans

If you want components that will facilitate 3x GTX 580 your going to have to spend over $1500 if you want quality products.

 

[guitarjanitor]

Sounds decent. I'm weary about the HDD though... A lot of those Newegg reviews said it was sluggish and many arrive DOA... Do you have any specific HDD that you know will load/save data quickly?

I'd already decided to go EVGA for the GPU because of that warranty sounds like a rock solid deal. Plus I've heard of some "step up" program or something, which I hear lets you upgrade to a new card if it drops into the price range of the one you just bought (sweet!!).

I've heard processor bottleneck becomes a real issue after two GPUs, so I guess I'll only be using two max. I'm really scared to deal with Asus because they game me a seriously raw deal on a laptop RMA just a while back (I don't think I can deal with Asus again).

So, could you point me in the direction of a different mobo, or am I stuck with Asus because it's the only manufacturer that'll fit my i5-2500K and GTX 580? Also, can you personally recommend the WK Caviar Green HDD? I'm really looking for something with raw speed that I can install all of my games on.

Thanks!!

EDIT: I'll be doing 2-way sli eventually, but I'd also like to know if this rig could support a GTX 590. Someday down the road I might want to pick up one or two, and I'd like to know if I could just swap out the two GTX 580s with two GTX 590s and be fine (I get the feeling that the PSU might be a problem here, but I might as well ask while I'm here). Thanks again

 

[dsM22]

Sorry i just linked any old storage drive.

Any 7500rpm drive should be good enough and if you wanted, 2 drives in raid 0 would really boost performance. HDD company all comes down to personal preference and price point. (And no i dont reccomend those HDD's)

As far as P67 mobo's are concerned there are many options, ASUS is just my personal preference. The GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 @ $190 Newegg Link is another good baord with great OC results and x8 x8 @ 2way SLI. (However it is more expensive than the ASUS)

The rig will be able to support a single GTX590 however the power supply will struggle to support them in SLI as according to guru3d they draw 890w at peak between them.

Hope this helps

 

[guitarjanitor]

Oh, it does help, dsM22! Thanks a lot for your input, I'm a super-noob, so I really appreciate you guys with the knowhow helping me out

Does anybody else have any input? I'm looking for all the advice I can get at this stage.

Thanks!!

 

[dsM22]

Oh, it does help, dsM22! Thanks a lot for your input, I'm a super-noob, so I really appreciate you guys with the knowhow helping me out

Does anybody else have any input? I'm looking for all the advice I can get at this stage.

Thanks!!

No problem, glad i could help.

Here are the HDD's i am currently using:

Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint 1TB Hard Drive Ebuyer Link They cost £40 so about $60. And i would personally recommend these. They are fantastic drives. I am using 2 in a raid 0 config and the read / write speeds are rather impressive for a disk drive.

Here you can find an independant review of the HDD and they describe it as "The Fastest HDD we have ever tested"
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/10/06/samsung-spinpoint-f3-1tb-review/1

 

[guitarjanitor]

Thanks, I'll check this out.

That Gigabyte board looks pretty sweet (I've never dealt with Gigabyte, but anything is better than a 4 month RMA from Asus >:L ). It's got some spectacular reviews, and it's only marginally more expensive.

I'll check out the reviews for the HDD you recommended. I have no idea how RAID works, so I'll probably have to do a good amount of research to figure that out Care to give me the layman's explanation of the benefits of RAID 0?

EDIT: With a price like that, I've gotta go with the Samsung HDD. It's dirt cheap and it's fast! Now I've just gotta figure out what the heck RAID is XD

 

[dsM22]

In basic terms raid 0 combines 2 HDD's in to one.

When the data is saved it saves half of the data to one drive and half to the over (in 128k stripes). This effectivly doubles the read / write speed of the drives as you are using 2 at once.

If needed i can give a detailed explination and how to do it using the intel controller found in the p67 baords, but you would proabably be better using youtube for a visual description.

EDIT - Typo's

 

[guitarjanitor]

Okay, I'll do my own research; I've taken enough of your time

So I'll definitely go with the Gigabyte mobo and the Samsung HDDs (I'll get those set up in RAID 0). Also, I can strike RAM and a case off of my list. You've really fleshed out this rig

I'll get my parts list and links in order and see if I can get all this stuff confirmed by any other TH members. Thanks so much, dsM22!

 

[guitarjanitor]

Best answer selected by guitarjanitor.