Gaming Computer, what do you think?

[supersonic159]

Hello, thanks for taking the time to check things out!

This is my build, all of the parts will be from Newegg. I have checked around and they are giving the cheapest price on all the parts bundled.

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor $220

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-G1 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler $27

Motherboard: ASRock P67 Extreme 4 (B3) ATX LGA1155 Motherboard $160

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $59

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $80

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card $170, $150 with mail in rebate

Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case, $50

Power Supply: Corsair 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $135

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer $21

Monitor: Asus VH238H 23.0" LED Monitor, 1080p, 2ms $180

Speakers: Logitech S-220 17 Watts 2.1 Multimedia Speaker System $28

The total comes to about $1164 with shipping.

I was aiming for a very powerful computer, with breathing room for the future 3-5 years, but without going into crazy amounts of money for just 5 extra fps. Basically looking at best value. The only thing that will really need to be replaced will be the Graphics card. Will OC the cpu to about 4.0. All of the parts had great reviews on Newegg from the people that bought them, feel free to look it up.

Questions? Comments? What do you think about my build?

 

[Onus]

Nice build, although the PSU is overkill. For even a pair of HD6870 video cards, a good 650W PSU should be sufficient; http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine shows only 485W (based on my assumptions about fans and other devices).
The only thing I'd change is the CPU Cooler.
[rant]
This has nothing to do with the quality (or lack thereof) of that particular cooler. Some of Coolermaster's PSUs have liar labels on them, and/or claim protections that they actually lack (this is fact, not opinion; reviews at HardwareSecrets). This is dishonest, and a dishonest company does not deserve ANY business, or to have any of its products recommended. Fortunately, there is nothing CM makes that does not have equal or better competition, so you lose nothing by taking the moral high road. [/rant]

 

[pacioli]

Save yourself $30 with the Samsung Spinpoint F3. It is faster and just as reliable.

$10 off w/ promo code EMCKAGK22, ends 10/6 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB $49.99 after discount
Free Shipping

Also maybe upgrade the mobo for $15 to the Z68 Extreme4 from Asrock. The Z68 has a few advantages over the p67 like SSD caching and the ability to use the GPU in the 2500K for video playback. The HD 3000 intel GPU is terrible for gaming graphics but is better than most discrete cards at video rendering at 1080P.

Overall these are minor tweaks and your build looks great. Don't be afraid to OC the i5 2500k to 4.5 Ghz. It can easily handle it.

 

[samuelspark]

Microcenter is cheaper for CPU and mobo. i5 ($180) with a Z68 mobo is $40 more off

 

[supersonic159]

After some build Modifications this is what i've come up with:

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor $220

CPU Cooler: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler $33 ***Changed

Motherboard: ASRock P67 Extreme 4 (B3) ATX LGA1155 Motherboard $160

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $59

Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $50 ***Changed

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card $170, $150 with mail in rebate

Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case, $50

Power Supply: Antec 550W ATX12V Power Supply $65 ***Changed

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer $21

Monitor: Asus VH238H 23.0" LED Monitor, 1080p, 2ms $180

Speakers: Logitech S-220 17 Watts 2.1 Multimedia Speaker System $28

New Total with shipping: $1050

Niiiice! tyvm!!

Paciloli, would I really notice that big of a change if i upped the board? I don't really do any video play back, is that the only place I would notice it?

There is no Micro Center around for me to be able to pick it up =[ it's in store pick up only.

 

[AstroTC]

No No No on the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7, everything else looks great though

 

[pacioli]

No No No on the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7, everything else looks great though

+1

Try the Scythe Mugen 2 or 3... whatever generation is currently out. It cools better than the CM Hyper 212+ and is in the same price range.

 

[supersonic159]

+1

Try the Scythe Mugen 2 or 3... whatever generation is currently out. It cools better than the CM Hyper 212+ and is in the same price range.

What's wrong with the Arctic cooler?

Would the Mugen even fit in that mid tower case?

 

[Onus]

I would recommend a 120mm cooler. I had a Freezer 7 Pro, and found the 92mm fan to be whiny. The Xigmatek Gaia is a good choice for around $30.

 

[Why_Me]

Here's an alternative to look at. This build allows you to add another one of those gtx 560ti's later on in SLI.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-Case-RC-912-KKN1/dp/B003ZM7YTA $59.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower ATX Case (RC-912-KKN1)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341049 $99.99 - $74.99 after mail-in rebate card FREE SHIPPING
OCZ ZS Series OCZ-ZS750W 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Performance Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 $124.99
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 $26.99 FREE SHIPPING
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 $219.99 Free Shipping
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277 $27.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697 $54.99 FREE SHIPPING
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136236 $18.99
LG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model GH24NS70 - OEM

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004JLNZXU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER $224.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
MSI GeForce GTX560 1 GB DDR5 2DVI/Mini HDMI PCI-Express Video Card N560GTX TI TWIN FROZR II OC

http://www.amazon.com/ML228H-22-Inch-Ultra-Slim-Widescreen-Monitor/dp/B00413PHEQ $154.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Asus ML228H 21.5" 1920X1080 2ms Full HD LED BackLight LED Monitor Slim Design 250 cd/m2 10,000,000 :1 (ASCR)

Total: $1,013.90 *not including shipping and rebates

 

[supersonic159]

Alright! A good full day of more computer research and this is what I've got now!

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor $220

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard $125

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory $47

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $55

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card $170, $150 with Mail in rebate

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case $60

Power Supply: Antec 550W ATX12V Power Supply $65

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer $21

Monitor: Asus VH238H 23.0" Monitor $180

Speakers: Logitech S-220 17 Watts 2.1 Multimedia Speaker System $28

Total: $995, With shipping

I will OC the ram to 1600. For now I'll use stock speed on the i5, and save the OCing for the future.

Thoughts?

 

[Why_Me]

Maybe I'm missing something here...but why not spend $3-$4 more and get 1600 RAM so you don't have to screw with o/c it? I mean sending more volts to your RAM and creating more heat doesn't seem like it would be worth the $4 saved...but that's just me.

 

[supersonic159]

Maybe I'm missing something here...but why not spend $3-$4 more and get 1600 RAM so you don't have to screw with o/c it? I mean sending more volts to your RAM and creating more heat doesn't seem like it would be worth the $4 saved...but that's just me.

My thought is the ram is essentially the same, the Volts and all, so your paying the $4 to have it upped to 1600. I could just put that to a CPU cooler down the line, or 4 hamburgers at McD /shrug. Am I right in thinking that?

 

[Why_Me]

My thought is the ram is essentially the same, the Volts and all, so your paying the $4 to have it upped to 1600. I could just put that to a CPU cooler down the line, or 4 hamburgers at McD /shrug. Am I right in thinking that?

Skip the 4 hamburgers for a week or two, and make sandwiches and get the 1600 RAM. Patriot is running really cheap atm on that RAM and it's solid. 1.5v just like the G.Skill. The only difference is the color of the heat spreaders...blue instead of red and black.

 

[supersonic159]

Is it on Newegg? I don't see Patriot ram that is 8gb on the site, granted I could buy 4x2gbs, but it would come to the same price anyways, and it doesn't look nearly as good as the G skill.

 

[elyo]

I am also trying to build a gaming pc in the same budget, but i dont need as many components as you. Could any of you guys take a look at my post, and tell me what you think of that?

For some reason my build is about 500bucks more expensive than yours, (but i do SLI 2x 560ti's) instead of a 6870.

my post: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/322859-13-1500-gaming-need-advice

 

[Onus]

I'd still skip the Coolermaster products in favor of equivalent alternates, but having stated why I don't need to harp on it. Just be aware that there are competitors (e.g. Rosewill and Xigmatek) with functionally equivalent (or better) products. For more objective analysis of CPU coolers, go to www.frostytech.com. Hardware Secrets has also been reviewing coolers lately, and have some charts showing their relative ranking.
When choosing RAM, stick to 1.5V sticks for safest results with Intel processors. Here's some G.Skill for $40 today on a Shellshocker: http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?cm_sp=ShellShocker-_-20-231-416-_-10042011_2

 

[Why_Me]

Is it on Newegg? I don't see Patriot ram that is 8gb on the site, granted I could buy 4x2gbs, but it would come to the same price anyways, and it doesn't look nearly as good as the G skill.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%20600006050%20600006069%20600006157%20600000261%20600006127&IsNodeId=1&name=DDR3%201600%20%28PC3%2012800%29 <----- That's all the 2x4GB 1.5v 1600 RAM on newegg. They have that S.Skill Sniper going for $40 and free shipping today...shell shocker deal.

 

[supersonic159]

Best answer selected by supersonic159.

 

[Onus]

Thanks. Have fun with your build.