Hello good folks at Tom's, been looking forward to making this thread for some time, so here goes.
Approximate Purchase Date: Within the month, hoping to be able to last till black friday/cyber monday
Budget Range: soft cap of $1k
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Internet and gaming, mostly MMO's, SWToR in the near future, will prolly go back to Age of Conan to try max graphics, maybe Rift. As well as occasional RTS games
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, speakers
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg, also have a microcenter within range
Country of Origin: NYC, US
Parts Preferences: Intel/Nvidia please
Overclocking: Not right away, but down the road when the build starts getting outdated I'll definitely give it a shot as practice for future builds with OC in mind.
SLI or Crossfire: No, not at all.
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 or 1920x1200, not sure which one to aim for
Additional Comments: Still trying to figure out what specs of parts I will have no use for. But in general, would like a reliable PC that I can put together and not worry about for at least 2-3 years, aside from general dusting/driver upgrades maintenance.
And most importantly, would very much like a silent system, which I hope can be accomplished with adequate cooling since I'm not OC'ing.
Parts
CPU: intel i5-2500k from microcenter
GPU: Set on the GTX560ti, need input on which brand/model. Like what I read about MSI Twin Frozr II, does it stand out or do most 2 fan designs do pretty much the same job with the cooling/noise ratio of performance?
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197 I do love that Cooler Master HAF 922 with the look, plenty of size and huge fans. Couple of things here
- Is it true that larger fans make less noise since they have to spin slower to push the same amount of air?
- Would I need more than 1in/2out fans to adequately cool single vid card and no OC? As in are there cheaper cases I could go with? (skipping Antec 300 due to absence of cable management)
- Looking for a steel case with power supply mount on the bottom, 2-3 max bays for optical drives/hdd, dust filters
PSU: Read enogh to know not to skimp here, will be getting an 80 silver/bronze certified unit from top brand like Antek, Corsair, Seasonic or CM, modular and everything, just need to know what Wattage I should be aiming for. Would like to futureproff a bit here, so what range should I look at for the single 560ti with i2500k and to make sure it would be enough for a higher end card such as 580, 590 or even a 6xx if I upgrade 2-3 years? Online calculators indicate at least 650W for the 590, so looking for advise here.
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
RAM: Will get a set of 2x4gig sticks of 1600 with lowest latency to price ratio, right now it's http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445
- Question - how much does latency matter in the lower end? Is it worth it to go from 9 to 8 or is it all the same when 10 and below?
Motherboard: Every newegg search I run I end up with the same Asrock Z68 Pro3 board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157251
- search includes just 1 PCIe2, 4 memory slots, Z68, LG1155 and 1600 memory standard
- have read positive things about Asrock, but nobody seems to be too sure, so looking for confirmation on this selection
- the micro version costs $5 more, worh the smaller size? would it be less sturdy? i have no use for the extra pci1 slots and can't find any differences other than the actual board dimensions
Optical drive: will get a samsung/asus 20 dollar one when loading the cart, just need to read a cd/dvd every once in a while
Monitor: Was set on getting a Samsung 23inch widescreen at Costco nearby untill I saw that it was touchless/buttonless so looking for advise on reliable 23-24inch monitors for gaming. Probably <2ms response, not over the top contrast ratio and most of all actual buttons for power/options.
I think that about covers it. Basically need input on PSU wattage, case/vid card/monitor suggestions, mobo approval and 1900X1200 vs 1900X1080 breakdown. If anybody has thoughts like "not all 20 dollar optical drives are equal" i would very much like to hear them. Aside from that, thanks in advance.
Approximate Purchase Date: Within the month, hoping to be able to last till black friday/cyber monday
Budget Range: soft cap of $1k
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Internet and gaming, mostly MMO's, SWToR in the near future, will prolly go back to Age of Conan to try max graphics, maybe Rift. As well as occasional RTS games
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, speakers
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg, also have a microcenter within range
Country of Origin: NYC, US
Parts Preferences: Intel/Nvidia please
Overclocking: Not right away, but down the road when the build starts getting outdated I'll definitely give it a shot as practice for future builds with OC in mind.
SLI or Crossfire: No, not at all.
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 or 1920x1200, not sure which one to aim for
Additional Comments: Still trying to figure out what specs of parts I will have no use for. But in general, would like a reliable PC that I can put together and not worry about for at least 2-3 years, aside from general dusting/driver upgrades maintenance.
And most importantly, would very much like a silent system, which I hope can be accomplished with adequate cooling since I'm not OC'ing.
Parts
CPU: intel i5-2500k from microcenter
GPU: Set on the GTX560ti, need input on which brand/model. Like what I read about MSI Twin Frozr II, does it stand out or do most 2 fan designs do pretty much the same job with the cooling/noise ratio of performance?
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197 I do love that Cooler Master HAF 922 with the look, plenty of size and huge fans. Couple of things here
- Is it true that larger fans make less noise since they have to spin slower to push the same amount of air?
- Would I need more than 1in/2out fans to adequately cool single vid card and no OC? As in are there cheaper cases I could go with? (skipping Antec 300 due to absence of cable management)
- Looking for a steel case with power supply mount on the bottom, 2-3 max bays for optical drives/hdd, dust filters
PSU: Read enogh to know not to skimp here, will be getting an 80 silver/bronze certified unit from top brand like Antek, Corsair, Seasonic or CM, modular and everything, just need to know what Wattage I should be aiming for. Would like to futureproff a bit here, so what range should I look at for the single 560ti with i2500k and to make sure it would be enough for a higher end card such as 580, 590 or even a 6xx if I upgrade 2-3 years? Online calculators indicate at least 650W for the 590, so looking for advise here.
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
RAM: Will get a set of 2x4gig sticks of 1600 with lowest latency to price ratio, right now it's http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445
- Question - how much does latency matter in the lower end? Is it worth it to go from 9 to 8 or is it all the same when 10 and below?
Motherboard: Every newegg search I run I end up with the same Asrock Z68 Pro3 board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157251
- search includes just 1 PCIe2, 4 memory slots, Z68, LG1155 and 1600 memory standard
- have read positive things about Asrock, but nobody seems to be too sure, so looking for confirmation on this selection
- the micro version costs $5 more, worh the smaller size? would it be less sturdy? i have no use for the extra pci1 slots and can't find any differences other than the actual board dimensions
Optical drive: will get a samsung/asus 20 dollar one when loading the cart, just need to read a cd/dvd every once in a while
Monitor: Was set on getting a Samsung 23inch widescreen at Costco nearby untill I saw that it was touchless/buttonless so looking for advise on reliable 23-24inch monitors for gaming. Probably <2ms response, not over the top contrast ratio and most of all actual buttons for power/options.
I think that about covers it. Basically need input on PSU wattage, case/vid card/monitor suggestions, mobo approval and 1900X1200 vs 1900X1080 breakdown. If anybody has thoughts like "not all 20 dollar optical drives are equal" i would very much like to hear them. Aside from that, thanks in advance.