I have been out of the loop for a couple of years on PCs and after mountains of research I think I’m close on the parts I want, but advice from people in know would be good. I’m looking to build a sandy bridge gaming PC and I’m still not sure whether I’ll build it myself or get scorptec to build it for me. I would like a quite PC with good cooling for minor overclocking and good gaming abilities
Approximate Purchase Date: around October so it will be ready for BF3
Budget Range: about $2000-3000 total
System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, video editing, & internet
Parts Not Required: speakers,
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: http://www.scorptec.com.au (Australia) happy to buy keyboard and monitor from another dealer if they’re cheaper
Country of Origin: Australia 2615
Parts Preferences:
CPU:
• i7 2600k
MB: any advice would be good the one I selected is mainly because I like ASUS overclocking setup design and there doesn’t seem to be many boards on the market yet.
• ASUS P8Z68-V PRO
Overclocking: yes hoping for a stable 4.5 for the CPU but its my first time overclocking
SLI or Crossfire: no, happy with single card at the moment, but may want to add another at a later date in SLI so needs to be available on the motherboard
COOLER/CPU Heatsink: Just want a quiet air cooler no water, I have no idea but obviously needs to fit in the case and be suitable for a 1155 board.
Question: is it worth getting a CPU heatsink? If so what would be a good value for money one?
RAM: Any advice on this would be appreciated as I don’t care what brand as long as its good ram and reasonably fast.
Question: Can I use triple channel ram on a z68 board? and can I get 6 gig or do I need to get 8 gig?
• Corsair 6GB Kit (3x2GB), PC-16000 (2000MHz) DDR3, Dominator GT+ Fan, 8-9-8-24 XMP, Triple Channel Kit
• Corsair 6GB Kit (3x2GB), PC-16000 (2000MHz) DDR3, Vengeance Series, 10-10-10-27, Triple Channel Kit
• Corsair 8GB Kit (2x4GB), PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3, Vengeance Series, 9-9-9-24, Dual Channel Kit
HDD: would like 2 TB of space & maybe a small SSD hard drive for operating system only (as I’ve heard lots of issues with data corruption). I have heard good reviews on the samsung below but any suggestions for a good relatively fast 2 TB drive would help.
• Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3, SATAII, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache x 2
CASE: Mid tower ATX – not keen for a full tower just want something that will fit everything with good cooling as I plan on just using air cooling to overclock, not keen on spending more than $200.
Question: Could someone explain the difference between the antec DF-30 and 35?
• CoolerMaster CM 690 II Advanced Black ATX Case, No PSU, 4x 5.25", 6x 3.5" Bays, I/O Panel with USB, eSATA, HD Audio, With Window Panel
• CoolerMaster HAF 922, Black, ATX, No PSU, 2 x USB2.0, 1 x eSATA, Extreme airflow
• Antec Dark Fleet DF-35 Gaming Case, ATX, No PSU, 2x USB, Staunch Front Bezel, 2.5" Fleet Swap drive on top
PSU: no idea just want something reliable with enough power to carry two GTX 580’s if I ever go down that path
• Antec 750W TruePower ATX Power Supply, 120mm fan, DUAL PCI-E Graphics Card Connector, 4 SATA Connectors
• Seasonic 650W Modular PSU, 80PLUS® Gold Certified, San Ace Silent Fan, Voltage Regulation Module, Solid Capacitors
• Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800W PSU, 80Plus Gold, ATX 12V v2.3
Video Card: any brand standard Nivida GTX580 or an overlocked version if there are any good ones. I know I can get better performance by have two smaller cards in SLI but at the moment I’d just prefer a single card to reduce heat until I’m sure my setup can handle it.
• Gigabyte GV-N580SO-15I Gigabyte Geforce GTX580 SuperOverclocked (855Mhz), 1536MB GDDR5 (4100hz), PCI-E 2.0, 2x Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMI (not sure if this is good or better to get standard card)
Monitor: mainly just want good gaming monitor 24inch , the one I’ve selected is probably a little more money than I’d like to spend however it is an IPS monitor and since I’ve only ever had bad monitors I’d like a good one for around $500.00 or under
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
• Dell Ultrasharp U2410 24inch IPS display
Operating system: obviously windows 7 64bit
Question: Is there any benefit of getting the professional edition over the home edition? and does anyone know why some versions are more expensive as shown below?
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium with Service Pack 1, 64bit DVD OEM $115.00
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium DVD Retail Pack $259.00
• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64bit with Service Pack 1 DVD OEM $159.00
CDROM: no idea just picked the cheapest, don’t really care about bluray as I don’t watch movies on my PC however this may change so any suggestions would be good.
• LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner x2
Keyboard: happy with this one any information from people that own one would be good
• Razer Blackwidow Ultimate Elite Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: happy with this one any information from people that own one would be good
• Thermaltake eSports Black ELEMENT Gaming Mouse
THanks everyone, while I'm a first time member I have used the site a lot over the last 2 months and have found good advice.
Approximate Purchase Date: around October so it will be ready for BF3
Budget Range: about $2000-3000 total
System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, video editing, & internet
Parts Not Required: speakers,
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: http://www.scorptec.com.au (Australia) happy to buy keyboard and monitor from another dealer if they’re cheaper
Country of Origin: Australia 2615
Parts Preferences:
CPU:
• i7 2600k
MB: any advice would be good the one I selected is mainly because I like ASUS overclocking setup design and there doesn’t seem to be many boards on the market yet.
• ASUS P8Z68-V PRO
Overclocking: yes hoping for a stable 4.5 for the CPU but its my first time overclocking
SLI or Crossfire: no, happy with single card at the moment, but may want to add another at a later date in SLI so needs to be available on the motherboard
COOLER/CPU Heatsink: Just want a quiet air cooler no water, I have no idea but obviously needs to fit in the case and be suitable for a 1155 board.
Question: is it worth getting a CPU heatsink? If so what would be a good value for money one?
RAM: Any advice on this would be appreciated as I don’t care what brand as long as its good ram and reasonably fast.
Question: Can I use triple channel ram on a z68 board? and can I get 6 gig or do I need to get 8 gig?
• Corsair 6GB Kit (3x2GB), PC-16000 (2000MHz) DDR3, Dominator GT+ Fan, 8-9-8-24 XMP, Triple Channel Kit
• Corsair 6GB Kit (3x2GB), PC-16000 (2000MHz) DDR3, Vengeance Series, 10-10-10-27, Triple Channel Kit
• Corsair 8GB Kit (2x4GB), PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3, Vengeance Series, 9-9-9-24, Dual Channel Kit
HDD: would like 2 TB of space & maybe a small SSD hard drive for operating system only (as I’ve heard lots of issues with data corruption). I have heard good reviews on the samsung below but any suggestions for a good relatively fast 2 TB drive would help.
• Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3, SATAII, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache x 2
CASE: Mid tower ATX – not keen for a full tower just want something that will fit everything with good cooling as I plan on just using air cooling to overclock, not keen on spending more than $200.
Question: Could someone explain the difference between the antec DF-30 and 35?
• CoolerMaster CM 690 II Advanced Black ATX Case, No PSU, 4x 5.25", 6x 3.5" Bays, I/O Panel with USB, eSATA, HD Audio, With Window Panel
• CoolerMaster HAF 922, Black, ATX, No PSU, 2 x USB2.0, 1 x eSATA, Extreme airflow
• Antec Dark Fleet DF-35 Gaming Case, ATX, No PSU, 2x USB, Staunch Front Bezel, 2.5" Fleet Swap drive on top
PSU: no idea just want something reliable with enough power to carry two GTX 580’s if I ever go down that path
• Antec 750W TruePower ATX Power Supply, 120mm fan, DUAL PCI-E Graphics Card Connector, 4 SATA Connectors
• Seasonic 650W Modular PSU, 80PLUS® Gold Certified, San Ace Silent Fan, Voltage Regulation Module, Solid Capacitors
• Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800W PSU, 80Plus Gold, ATX 12V v2.3
Video Card: any brand standard Nivida GTX580 or an overlocked version if there are any good ones. I know I can get better performance by have two smaller cards in SLI but at the moment I’d just prefer a single card to reduce heat until I’m sure my setup can handle it.
• Gigabyte GV-N580SO-15I Gigabyte Geforce GTX580 SuperOverclocked (855Mhz), 1536MB GDDR5 (4100hz), PCI-E 2.0, 2x Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMI (not sure if this is good or better to get standard card)
Monitor: mainly just want good gaming monitor 24inch , the one I’ve selected is probably a little more money than I’d like to spend however it is an IPS monitor and since I’ve only ever had bad monitors I’d like a good one for around $500.00 or under
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
• Dell Ultrasharp U2410 24inch IPS display
Operating system: obviously windows 7 64bit
Question: Is there any benefit of getting the professional edition over the home edition? and does anyone know why some versions are more expensive as shown below?
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium with Service Pack 1, 64bit DVD OEM $115.00
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium DVD Retail Pack $259.00
• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64bit with Service Pack 1 DVD OEM $159.00
CDROM: no idea just picked the cheapest, don’t really care about bluray as I don’t watch movies on my PC however this may change so any suggestions would be good.
• LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner x2
Keyboard: happy with this one any information from people that own one would be good
• Razer Blackwidow Ultimate Elite Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: happy with this one any information from people that own one would be good
• Thermaltake eSports Black ELEMENT Gaming Mouse
THanks everyone, while I'm a first time member I have used the site a lot over the last 2 months and have found good advice.