naits360

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So it's been a almost a year since I built my last build (which I sold to a friend). Been using my HP Envy17 for a while now. Though I'm in need of a gaming rig, cheap one that is. Last build I built was overpriced and way to powerful for my needs and I ended up regretting the whole thing.
SO not to make the same mistake again I have come to ask the genius people at Tom's HW for advice. The Computer will constantly be hooked up to my LG 46" TV-monitor which has been working great so far with my HP Envy17.
The PC will be used for gaming in general like Skyrim, BF3, SC on high graphics without jitters and ofc the normal everyday use.

Ive got some parts left over from previous builds like Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor (LG 46"), speakers, Cosmos S Chassis, 250gb storage..
So all I rreally need are the internals

what I've come up with so far:

thinking Twin Frozr 560ti/CF 6850s/GTX 570 If I can stretch this far when it comes to the money.

4gb 1600mhz (no need for any more)

2500k (planning on overclocking it ofc)

corsair h60 ( I had the h50 in my previous build, which I was extrememly satisfied with)

Mobo? No idea really, a cheap one thats OC friendly, no need for SLI or CF support. If I'm not going with CF..as stated earlier

PSU..How powerful should it be? As long as its modular and a good quality Ill take it

SSD.. The 250 gb HDD I was mentioned is one that was pulled outta my old old laptop a few years ago ( I think) thats just been hanging around. It's an
Hitachi 2.5 it's probably not the best, but I think I'd survive. I don't need much storage I already got all my files on an external network drive. But a cheap SSD would be nice to install windows on...

WinHP 64-bit OEM has to be included in the price


btw, I live in Norway, so posting specific deals from newegg and stuff like that won't mean much. Things have a difference price here,so just wan't your opinion on what I should go for and what kinda hardware would be reasonable in regards to my budget.
 

g-unit1111

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btw, I live in Norway, so posting specific deals from newegg and stuff like that won't mean much. Things have a difference price here,so just wan't your opinion on what I should go for and what kinda hardware would be reasonable in regards to my budget.

Is there a store that you do use and maybe I can help recommend parts that way? What's your max budget?
 

suteck

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^ + 1 We can help put it together with you but if we name parts that we see, like a motherboard here for $100, it wouldn't do any good it they're $250 where you are. Same for other parts of course. So it you give us some shopping store choices we can be of help.
 

naits360

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Seems this would be kinda tricky, I don't want to burden you guys with navigating yourself around a norwegian sight, or having to calculate the currency in USD. So lets just say we can stick to a budget of 1200$ based off of american prices.
 
The P8P67 motherboard is very friendly to overclocking. No worries there...

The Hyper 212+ simply for performance-per-dollar... Water cooling adds to the "cool factor" and might be slightly more quiet, but it won't keep your temps any lower.
 

naits360

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Been looking around now, what about this

Corsair Hydro H60

Corsair vengeance 4gb (1x4gb) 1600mhz

MS W7 HomePremium OEM

Corsair TX Modular 650w

EVGA Gtx 570

Intel CPU 2500k

ASUS P8P67 EVO B3 mobo (I get this cheap from a friend)

This costs around 1120 USD +/- over here. I think this is what I'm going to buy, just double checking with you guys of you think I should change something..No need for HDD, Optical,Case,mouse & Keyboard, monitor.
 

g-unit1111

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Looks pretty good. Only thing is I'd consider getting a 750W power supply (the Corsair TX750 is the next model up) - especially if you're going to be using the 570 and have future SLI expansion plans - trust me it will be worth it in the long run.

And maybe up the RAM to 8GB instead of 4GB - most games now 4GB is the bare minimum requirement, having 8 will also help in the long run.

You also might want to read the article that was posted yesterday about liquid coolers before deciding to go with the H60:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/h2o-h80-h100-benchmark-overclocking,3084.html
 

naits360

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And maybe up the RAM to 8GB instead of 4GB - most games now 4GB is the bare minimum requirement, having 8 will also help in the long run.

8GB is overrated, so is anything over 4GB actually. Never ever witnessed my computer struggle in the memory department. My HP Envy which im using now has 6GB and i've never seen the usage surpass 3GB whilst gaming and thats while simultaneously running running skype,mozilla, itunes you name it. As far as the money stretches now I'm going to stick with 1 stick of 4gb, though, yes I will probs upgrade when I see it necessary.
 

jackofhearts495

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Go with Sadam's build. But if you want, you can easily subtract the $140 for the mechanical hard drive and give yourself plenty of money for a nice SSD (definitely make sure it's SATA III).

Also, why wouldn't you want 8gb? In the states, I've seen 8gb drop regularly to $30-35. RAM is so obscenely cheap that it'd be foolish NOT to buy the 8gb.
 

naits360

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I got the CM Cosmos S chassis, I don't think the hyper 212 would fit in it due to the side fan, and I don't really remove it 'cause I lack exhaust fans in my case from before.
 

naits360

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Another thing I'm wondering is the difference between low end boards like the gigabytes p67a xxx xxx and the Asus EVOs and those for a bit more $. I know they have more PCI slots, USB slots, and expansions in general but do they in any way offer better performance over the lower ends?
Or do they just cost more cause of the expansion slots they offer?
 

g-unit1111

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I'm not a big fan of the Asus EVO boards. I have had a couple of them completely fail and BSOD me on numerous occasions and just gave up after a while.

The way Gigabyte's model numbers work is that the higher up you go with the model numbers, the different features it will add. Say for instance the UD3P adds HDMI and extra eSATA ports, where the UD3H doesn't have the HDMI port. Or the UD7 has four-way SLI capabilities and the ability to charge your USB-based devices with the PC turned off, where the UD5 only has three way SLI.
 

naits360

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Okay last evaluation when it comes to the motherbaord. What are guys' take on the GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3? Seems like it's the cheapest I could find that satisfies my needs. SLI support, and 1600mhz support.
 

g-unit1111

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I think the D2H has built in video which could be a problem if you're using a GPU. Try the UD3 - it's a step up but for not a whole lot of extra money.