Need new gaming rig advice

[conclave]

So ive finally got some cash and want to upgrade my old gaming rig.

my frankenstein computer built with 5-10 year old parts with a new gfx card and recently upgraded RAM needs to evolve for some proper summer gaming.

I am looking to spend ~1 grand or less if possible, and would reuse my current gfx card and ram if possible, have cases and disk drives etc. Not at home now so i will have to reply later with the specs on those.

Im mainly curious how many processor cores+which brand/mobo people would recommend? i havent been keeping up on things since dual+higher cores have been created since i had no $$$ for a new comp til now.

not sure if im allowed to post this: but i would probably be buying a tested mobo+processor bundle from mwave to make this if someone could recommend one from there, or if you would recommend somewhere else?

if it helps: i dont play too many FPS, mainly Eve Online, Forsaken World, SC2 and as soon as theyre released Heroes 6 and diablo 3 and so im wondering if dual gfx cards is neccesary.

sorry for the ramble, im in class, I will update details about my current parts when im home in 3hrs

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Focus on the Intel® Core™ I5 2500K. Very few games will take advantage of more than 3 threads so going with anything more than a quad core doesn’t make a lot of sense unless you are also doing a lot of video, audio or very heavy multi-threaded work.

Christain Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Cut / Paste .... just answered anudder one of these :

Case - $105 - Antec 902 V3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097
PSU - $110 - XFX 750 WBlack Edition PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207003
MoBo - $395 - ASUS P8P67 Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.622007
CPU - incl above - Intel Core i5-2500K
Cooler - Later Option - Scythe SCMG 2100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142
TIM - Later Option - Shin Etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080
RAM - $84 - (2 x 4GB) Corsair CAS 9 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145324
GFX - $240 - Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti 900 Mhz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363
GFX - Later Option - Same
HD - $65 - Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 rpm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
SSD - Later Option - OCZ Vertex 3 2.5" 120GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706
DVD Writer - $22 - Asus 24X DRW-24B3L w/ LS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

That's $1,021....

Case is equipped with latest features like front USB ports, has excellent cooling, nice cable routing options and air inlet filters. Can cut $35 off ya build price with the Antec Illusion and get below ya $1k limit but I think the 902 V3 is worth the extra money.

PSU, per jonnyguru, "combines utterly amazing voltage regulation with outstanding efficiency and just about the best ripple and noise suppression I have ever seen. And it does it all silently, too, because I sure couldn't hear that fan at any time."

MoBo / CPU is an excellent value combo, board s THG's "best overclocker"

All three of the above are equipped to handle adding a 2nd GFX card in SLI

RAM is low profile so won't interfere w/ 3rd party CPU coolers

GFX card is a factory OC'd great performer with lowest cost per frame among performance boards

HD is one choice, WD Black and Seagate 7200.12 will also serve well.

Put a 2nd 560 on ya XMas List

 

[conclave]

thanks for the helpful information and speedy responses!
was going to re-use cases/disk drives and other parts that I have, but still useful info on that second post, nice links and explainations!

now that Im back home heres some details:

my recently bought gfx card is a : Radeon HD 5570

are those dual-able ? I was thinking id just see how it runs and add a second one later if i felt like i needed it, but if the card doesnt support that, i'm willing to get a newer one that does.

current RAM is 2x 1GB DDR PC2-6400 sticks.

should i get 2 more of them/faster RAM?

 

[mdd1963]

I would not dump any more money into the current rig.....; it would be helpful to know your MB chipset and existing CPUl as it is, all we know now is that is uses DDR2.

Most of the newest MBs dispense with the PATA port(s), and will not likely support your older drives.

 

[pelov]

how much are you looking to spend? what's the monitor resolution? what are you looking to save off the old PC? are you gonna salvage anything at all or go with a new build?

MUST...KNOW...!!!

 

[Cored17]

your monitor resolution will definately play a role with your 5770, I just bought one myself and was using a CRT monitor before and i had everything maxed at 1024x768 lol and now i just got a new monitor with a native 1600x900 and there is definately a decrease in framerates from my MSI R5770, so I am going to Crossfire them soon when i can find another good deal on one.

 

[Ayydre]

If you're going with a 2500k and a single GPU you shouldn't spend more than $140 on a mobo

 

[conclave]

more responses

mdd1963: Its my brothers old Dell Dimension 8400(standard build aside from harddrives in raid i think) that i bought off him, with that new gfx card and RAM added, also 1 of the 2 hard drives that were in RAID has failed so theres just 1, making it slower yet

it has a pentium 4 3.2ghz single chip and whatever mobo dell sent it with

pelov: the monitor is the one that shipped with it and I kind of did want a newer much larger one, i have about $1k but would rather not spend all of it if possible

I probably just would get a new proc/mobo , and new harddrive or2, and possibly a monitor and use cases/parts i have for the rest of it

 

[conclave]

i was looking at prices again now that school is winding down,
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUSearch.asp?scriteria=BA47496&pagetitle=Intel%20BX80623I52500K%20i5-2500K%20Sandy%20Bridge%203.3GHz%20%283.7G#aBundleOptionsBA47496

it says the I5 2500k comes with integrated graphics? im asumming my current graphics card is better and i should use it instead? or is the chip's one good enough for games etc?

 

[conclave]

and one of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167042

with that new mobo/proc and this SSD you think im set? or should i also bump the 2gb ram to 4 /8?