Advice/Review $1500 Gaming PC

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Lionblade

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Nov 14, 2007
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TEMPLATE:
Approximate Purchase Date: This time next week if not sooner.

Budget Range: $1500 (maybe a little more if performance gain justifies)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, watching movies, web browsing, some light video converting for device codec issues when streaming.

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, speakers are optional. got a vh23h asus 23" and recycling hdd

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: NewEgg/Amazon

Country: United States

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, Quality brand PSU like Corsair,

Overclocking: Will want to get a stable 24/7 4.5ghz overclock

SLI or Crossfire: Yes likely in a few months if needed

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (kinda want to game at this native ratio too)

Additional Comments: Want this system to last me at least 4 years with some minor upgrades (CPU OC/SLI GPU) The parts I've put together below I feel are the best for performance vs longevity. I plan to SLI 2 570 (or whatever GPU) when the need arises or in a couple months. Plan to do a 24/7 OC of CPU to 4.5ghz. I believe the PSU would be able to support the OC and SLI.. Uncertain of the MOBO (First time Asrock buyer). Plan to install OS to SSD use HDD as data storage.

LINKS:

Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097

MSI N580GTX Lightning GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127579

CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 (CMPSU-850HX) 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

ASUS Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135247
 
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Anthoss

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If your using it mainly for gaming you should go with a 2500k, the i7 just has the better hyper threading which is good for editing and rendering videos.
But has not affect on games.

If you want it to last 4 years you may want a bigger hard drive unless you are good about not downloading tons of extra crap.

I believe the hyper 12 comes with the thermal paste so you should not need to buy extra. The PSU should support even an SLI set up with 2 x 570

Ive seen constant arguing about what is better ASUS, Giga, or ASrock MOBOs but overall that will be a good board.
 
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mrwhit30ut

mrwhit30ut

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You should try and get a Non-ref GPU, the 570s stock pcb have had memory issues, Go with an MSI, or any other non ref card, I said MSI because their afterburner software kicks ass, and so does the twin frozr 3.
 
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Lionblade

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So I decided to downgrade to 2500k.. Should I shoot for a 580 with the extra cash or get a 570 and spend elsewhere? I don't know what cards.. They all have mixed reviews on newegg between both card types.
 
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Swolern

Swolern

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I built my i5 2500k/ GTX 590 gaming PC a few months ago and only spent $1380. But i waited for a few great deals. I play @1920x1080 and it blows away any game @ 60 fps. Metro 2033, Witcher 2, and Crysis 2 all maxed out are the only games where the framerate drops below 60fps.

i7 2600k=i5 2500k in gaming performance
 
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Lionblade

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I see, Any suggestion's for a 580 to go with? Would the Extreme4 support 580's in sli in the future?

Heres the two 580's Im looking at:

MSI N580GTX Lightning GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127579

ASUS MATRIX GTX580 P/2DIS/1536MD5 GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121467
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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Jump to the 902 V3 for front USB 3 support
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097

The build is a bit "unbalanced....went budget on the MoBo, hi end on everything else....at $1500, I'd want an industry standard 3 year warranty.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

Unless you doing substantial video editing, Id save the $100 and drop tot he 2500k

RAM - Vengeance 8GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

SSD - Don't recommend anything smaller than 120 GB

HD - If budget a concern, consider hybrid SSD/HD - Seagate Momentus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148837

Corsair Force 3 is Tier 8....that's 5 levels below (60% slower) the tier 3's like the Chronos Deluxe

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-price-ssd,3070-6.html

HD - Blue = slow...black = performance....Momentus rocks
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=806&Itemid=60&limit=1&limitstart=9

Optical - Consider if ya wanna be able to watch BR
Asus Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135247

Cooler - Budget will allow better cooler...Scythe Mugen 3 gets 7C better temps

TIM - AS5 has curing issues.....see AS5 home page....says takes 200 hours of thermal cycling. So if ya run for 8 hours, thats 5 minutes warm up, 5 minutes cool down...or 10 minutes of cycling ....after 6 days of use, ya managed an hour. Shin Etsu has same thermal properties, no curing issues.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080
 
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Swolern

Swolern

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EVGA has the best support and warranty. If you want the most out of a overclock go with the new 580 Classified.

Extreme 4 would support 580 sli fine and would be a good board. And the Asus Z68 Pro is a great board and only get it if u want the extra bells and whistles.

Microcenter is having a sale on i5 2500k for $179 and $60 off any compatible motherboard. Best price I've seen.

 
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Lionblade

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I've decided on using the MSI Lightning 580, sticking with the extreme4 board and going with the 2500k

Torn on a SSD.

A 60-90gb will do me fine but I want good performance. Force Series 3 has good max read/write speeds but someone suggested the Samsung 830? Not looking to raid or anything, Just OS and most played games on SSD, videos and other games on HDD.
 
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EpicLord

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I saw the great microcenter processor deals, but didn't hear anything about the $60 off thing. I am thinking about building a computer (quite similar to the OP's build actually), and $60 is well... nice :) Is this is an offer that they are giving online or in their stores?
 
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Lionblade

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It's a good deal but in store only and I'm a bit far from any Microcenter :(
 
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phenom90

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