Planning a gaming PC- thoughts?

[natebot88]

Hey!

I've been planning to make a gaming computer for a while and you guys have helped me out before! I just sat down for an hour with my Dad and we planned alot of this stuff out. He has built a gaming computer and it's awesome and still is! (GTX 260, yikes that's old)

Anyway, I'd like to hear your thoughts on my specs and if you could reccomend a reliable WD HD of around 1tb that would be nice also.

Gaming Computer Specs
CPU- Core i5 2500k

Motherboard- Asus Maximus Gene-Z Z68

GPU- EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 TI

RAM- G.Skill Ripjaws X Series Model # F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL (8gb)

CD Drive- ASUS DRW-24B1ST (black to match case)

PSU- Thermaltake Model # XT TPX-755M

Case- Antec 900 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower

The GPU may be SLI'd in the future if I need some more power.

All of which are going to be bought on Newegg.


Thanks!
Nate

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Systems by Mousemonkey

 

[Emelth]

Whats your budget and where are you getting your parts from?

 

[geofelt]

Here are some thoughts for you:

1) The 2500K is as good as it gets.

2) The motherboard looks good, I like the M-atx format. But, do not count on sli to improve your graphics. Because there are only 4 slots, the two cards must be next to each other, and the top card will get very hot.

3) GTX560ti is a very good card, but be aware that an new version is imminent which will take it closer to the GTX570, probably at a similar price. For gaming, your graphics card will be the limiting factor in performance. With a 2500K, a single GTX570 or GTX580 would be more appropriate. Your plan for graphics card upgrade would be to sell and replace with a 28nm kepler, due 1Q next year.

4) Thermaltake is not on my short list of quality psu's. That would include Seasonic, XFX, Antec, Corsair, and PC P&C.
A better unit would be the Seasonic X750 gold @$110:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087
Such a psu would be capable of running even a GTX590. Follow on kepler will likely require even less.
A GTX580 only needs a good 600w unit.

5) Do you need such a large case? I have a GTX580 in a Silverstone m-atx case. It is quiet, and cool for $99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182

 

[natebot88]

Whats your budget and where are you getting your parts from?

As mentioned all parts will be bought from Newegg. My budget? Somewhere in the 1,000-1,500 range. I'm 13 so getting money is sort of hard, though Christmas will help a boatload.

 

[natebot88]

Here are some thoughts for you:

1) The 2500K is as good as it gets.

2) The motherboard looks good, I like the M-atx format. But, do not count on sli to improve your graphics. Because there are only 4 slots, the two cards must be next to each other, and the top card will get very hot.

3) GTX560ti is a very good card, but be aware that an new version is imminent which will take it closer to the GTX570, probably at a similar price. For gaming, your graphics card will be the limiting factor in performance. With a 2500K, a single GTX570 or GTX580 would be more appropriate. Your plan for graphics card upgrade would be to sell and replace with a 28nm kepler, due 1Q next year.

4) Thermaltake is not on my short list of quality psu's. That would include Seasonic, XFX, Antec, Corsair, and PC P&C.
A better unit would be the Seasonic X750 gold @$110:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087
Such a psu would be capable of running even a GTX590. Follow on kepler will likely require even less.
A GTX580 only needs a good 600w unit.

5) Do you need such a large case? I have a GTX580 in a Silverstone m-atx case. It is quiet, and cool for $99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182

Trust me the 580 was my origional card, I mean that card is KICK AS**. But as a 13 year old money is hard to get, even with Christmas coming up. The EVGA 560 TI is half the price and I just figured SLI would be possible. After crunching numbers using your PSU and and a GTX580 the price actually goes to 1113$, instead of 864$ with the 560 TI. This, however is still rough because there is still shipping and other misc. products.
Ah yes and for the case- To be honest my dad has this case- AMAZING. And as for the size of it I'd prefer to have it bigger because you have room for upgrades and it provides more airflow space to vent out the heat.

 

[geofelt]

What kind of upgrades do you envision? For gaming, most of us might want only a ssd which takes no room, and a lafge storage drive.

If you can save on the case and psu, you can add the difference to the graphics card where it counts.

Start with the Antec 300. It is only $35 with free shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
Or the NZXT gamma @$36 + $6 shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061&Tpk=GAMA-001BK

On a case, size does not equate to airflow. It is the intake/outflow area that matters. Actually, a smaller case will cool better because the airflow is more concentrated. If you have two 120mm intake or exit fans, then you will get sufficient cooling airflow for any sane graphics configuration.

Do you have a cpu cooler? The Xigmatek gaia is on sale $5!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233082

You can get a 650w psu from my quality short ist of psu's for $60-70.

Do you really need to spend $170 on a motherboard?
You should be able to get a good one for <$100.
Perhaps this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128520

My point, is to look more carefully at what you are spending on, and put your dollars where they count the most. In this case, the graphics card.

With the changes I suggested, you should be able to do better on the graphics card.

 

[natebot88]

What kind of upgrades do you envision? For gaming, most of us might want only a ssd which takes no room, and a lafge storage drive.

If you can save on the case and psu, you can add the difference to the graphics card where it counts.

Start with the Antec 300. It is only $35 with free shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
Or the NZXT gamma @$36 + $6 shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061&Tpk=GAMA-001BK

On a case, size does not equate to airflow. It is the intake/outflow area that matters. Actually, a smaller case will cool better because the airflow is more concentrated. If you have two 120mm intake or exit fans, then you will get sufficient cooling airflow for any sane graphics configuration.

Do you have a cpu cooler? The Xigmatek gaia is on sale $5!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233082

You can get a 650w psu from my quality short ist of psu's for $60-70.

Do you really need to spend $170 on a motherboard?
You should be able to get a good one for <$100.
Perhaps this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128520

My point, is to look more carefully at what you are spending on, and put your dollars where they count the most. In this case, the graphics card.

With the changes I suggested, you should be able to do better on the graphics card.

Have you seen the reviews on that Gigabyte you suggested? Fairly bad- I'm going to be stubborn here and go with a more expensive mobo. I've seen bad reviews on both cases as well, but they tend to be the less- expensive ones that get the bad reviews. It's with this I will also stick with the Antec 900 because I'm POSITIVE it works well (As I said my dad has had it for 4-5 years and hasn't had a problem) I will however add the CPU cooling to the list, you really can't go wrong with more cooling, unless it's too space consuming, of course .
Also, the $1113 price tag is still without a 500gb> HDD along with my 120GB SSD in my laptop now, which I also have an external drive for it when I build my PC. Also with that I actually used the PSU on your list- the Seasonic X750.
And lastly with that cooler you suggested people are saying it's big and you will need a big case for it- Antec 900 is big isn't it?

 

[geofelt]

Have you seen the reviews on that Gigabyte you suggested? Fairly bad- I'm going to be stubborn here and go with a more expensive mobo. I've seen bad reviews on both cases as well, but they tend to be the less- expensive ones that get the bad reviews. It's with this I will also stick with the Antec 900 because I'm POSITIVE it works well (As I said my dad has had it for 4-5 years and hasn't had a problem) I will however add the CPU cooling to the list, you really can't go wrong with more cooling, unless it's too space consuming, of course .
Also, the $1113 price tag is still without a 500gb> HDD along with my 120GB SSD in my laptop now, which I also have an external drive for it when I build my PC. Also with that I actually used the PSU on your list- the Seasonic X750.
And lastly with that cooler you suggested people are saying it's big and you will need a big case for it- Antec 900 is big isn't it?

The cooler is 160mm tall, as I recall. A typical height for a tower type cooler. In the past, I used a Antec 900, and a Thermalright 120 which is similar. It fit but you will not be able to add a side fan, not that that is any great loss. The fan brackets did not have to be removed, but with a slightly different motherboard and cooler who knows?

Regarding motherboard newegg reviews. Read them carefully. Many negative reviews come from those who did not look carefully at the features they needed such as sli, or made user mistakes. DOA is bad, but you will always get more such comments. Who posts when everything went without incident? DOA's will happen, even to the best. Newegg is very good about exchanging, so I would not worry about that. On a new board, you can expect some bios updates to correct unusual errors. Most Z68 boards have been out for a while, so I would not worry much about that. I have used ASUS, Gigabyte and ASROCK in recent years, and have been well satisfied.
For what it is worth, the maximus shows 65% 4 or 5 stars, the gigabyte shows 73% 4/5 stars.
I only pointed to the gigabyte as an example of a <$100 motherboard. Look at others and see if a less expensive one will serve. Remember, that they all are using the Z68 chip from the same company.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Case - I'd normally suggest the Antec 902 V3 with front USB 3 ports. Low price on the 900 is because its a closeout.....but this Corsair at $80 is simply a steal at almost 50% off.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&Itemid=61
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=100006519&isNodeId=1&Description=500R+Corsair&x=0&y=0


PSU - XFX Core Edition....850 ($90) for SLI, 650 ($60) if single card ..... nothing else comes close on a price performance basis....9.5 jonnyguru performance rating.

MoBo - Suggest a full size MoBo.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

GFX - Asus 560 Ti TOP (900MHz) or wait till Tuesday for new 560-488. The Asus model in SLI gets 40% more fps in SLI than a single 580......two 580's get just 10% more than two 560 Ti's.

RAM - Corsair Vengeance 2 x 4GB low profile

 

[natebot88]

The cooler is 160mm tall, as I recall. A typical height for a tower type cooler. In the past, I used a Antec 900, and a Thermalright 120 which is similar. It fit but you will not be able to add a side fan, not that that is any great loss. The fan brackets did not have to be removed, but with a slightly different motherboard and cooler who knows?

Regarding motherboard newegg reviews. Read them carefully. Many negative reviews come from those who did not look carefully at the features they needed such as sli, or made user mistakes. DOA is bad, but you will always get more such comments. Who posts when everything went without incident? DOA's will happen, even to the best. Newegg is very good about exchanging, so I would not worry about that. On a new board, you can expect some bios updates to correct unusual errors. Most Z68 boards have been out for a while, so I would not worry much about that. I have used ASUS, Gigabyte and ASROCK in recent years, and have been well satisfied.
For what it is worth, the maximus shows 65% 4 or 5 stars, the gigabyte shows 73% 4/5 stars.
I only pointed to the gigabyte as an example of a <$100 motherboard. Look at others and see if a less expensive one will serve. Remember, that they all are using the Z68 chip from the same company.

Glad to know it fits. I will stick with the stock cooler and moniter the temp and if it gets high I'll order the CPU cooler. And I won't take any chances with the mobo so I'll get a Maximus. Also do you have a HDD reccomendation? 500gb> paired with a 120gb SSD by Kingston. (Does not have to be SSD, game files can be stored there or however I'll set it up, not RAID though.)-