First Gaming PC Build Questions??

[blakkoctober]

Hello everyone!

First let me say i have looked around the forums and wow this place is awesome! While i have read a few different "Cheap" gaming builds, I didn't find a build identical to mine (chances are i wont). Because of that i have a few questions if anyone is willing to help me out!

I have been a "Mac" guy for a while, however i find myself wanting to build a PC..

I will use this PC for,

Gaming (Battlefield 3, Skyrim)
Surfing the Web
Typing some Grad school papers. (Microsoft office)
-- regular stuff but mainly Gaming..

I want to hook this machine up to my 1080p LG 42" flat screen TV.. This will be its monitor (assuming its possible?)



Here is what i have picked out.. (keep in mind i want best performance for the smallest dollar (like most people )

CASE / PSU: RAIDMAX Altas ATX-295WBP Black / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Case 500W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129042

HD: Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148767

Board: ASRock 870 Extreme3 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157272

AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HD96ZTWFGRBOX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.782517

PNY Optima 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model MD8192KD3-1333 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.782517

GPU: XFX HD-679X-ZRFC Radeon HD 6790 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150564 (Is there a cheaper alternative because i have NO Use for CrossFire Support)

CD Drive: LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDS118-04 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827106276


Total: 516.93

Would all these parts work together nicely?

Thank you!

 

[Emelth]

I am glad you are coming back to the PC side, you will find that it much more awarding compared to those crappy macs that can bearly play games. I hearby claim you no long a "Mac Guy" you are a "PC guy who hates Mac's".


Build looks decent, dont like how your getting a PSU with the case cause its probably gonna be a crappy one.

(Also almost all GPUs have Crossfire/SLI support lol)

 

[inzone]

I understand that with the components that you selected you are on a low budget and if you want to play BF3 then you need to know that it is a very demanding game and the video card you selected is not going to cut it. You will be lucky to even get playable fps on the lowest settings. It will be good for surfing the web and some MS Office for your school papers.

 

[blakkoctober]

@Emelth - Thank you for the reply!

@Inzone - I was under the impression that the video card i have chosen was a well rounded one. However i wouldn't be asking for help if i new what the heck i was talking about haha.. What card would you suggest that would be decent with the other equipment?

Thanks.


EDIT** My other choice for GPU was

SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908

Would i see much improvement with the 6850 over the 6790?

 

[Emelth]

To play BF3 on medium setting would be the 6950 depending on your monitor resolution

 

[blakkoctober]

I may end up getting "Flamed" or laughed at for this reply but,

I was planning on hooking this machine up to one of my 1080p flat screen tv's via HDMI is that not possible? or how would it effect the resolution?

 

[inzone]

ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$249.99 and a $20 rebate makes it $229.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II OC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
$269.99 and a $30 rebate makes it $239.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127562

I don't know how your budget is but if you can fit either of these cards in your budget you will be a lot happier with the performance in BF3 and Skyrim. The MSI is a great deal in that it has a $30 rebate and is a very good card.
If neither one makes it into your budget then a 460 and a 6850 would be ok. This chart will give you an idea where cards fall in the list.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fastest-graphics-card-radeon-geforce,3085-7.html

 

[inzone]

I may end up getting "Flamed" or laughed at for this reply but,

I was planning on hooking this machine up to one of my 1080p flat screen tv's via HDMI is that not possible? or how would it effect the resolution?

A lot of people do that if they want to just have one monitor/tv screen and I have not done it myself but have heard that it works fine.

 

[Guest]

Your links are broken...

 

[tlmck]

Raidmax cases are OK but their PSUs are not. Here is a deal on a better PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

Your vid card should be fine, although due to the large monitor, you might have to reduce some settings on more demanding games.

You also might save a few dollars on Corsair memory.

 

[Guest]

I may end up getting "Flamed" or laughed at for this reply but,

I was planning on hooking this machine up to one of my 1080p flat screen tv's via HDMI is that not possible? or how would it effect the resolution?

It's possible. No effects on resolution.
I'm doing that and I HIGHLY recommend against doing it. Seriously think of getting a monitor. In order to do this I had to get a wireless mouse and keyboard and playing is just awkward. Its hard to get into a comfortable position without straining your wrist or neck and sacrificing playing performance. This was my B-I-G-G-E-S-T regret. I HIGHLY recommend against this. This is a no no. nonononononononononoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

 

[blakkoctober]

EDIT**

When it comes to video cards.. what "Number" is key? Or what says if card "Y" is better then Card "X"?

Core Clock?
Stream Processors?
Effective Memory Clock?


Once again i appreciate everyone's responses. I was just having a debate with my self between the;

XFX Radeon HD 6790 HD-679X-ZRFC Video Card
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6850 100315L Video Card with Eyefinity
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6870 100314-3L Video Card

Is the "SAPPHIRE" line better then the XFX line?

 

[blakkoctober]

Would the

AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition Deneb 3.5GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ970FBGMBOX

Be better then my currently selected

AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HD96ZTWFGRBOX

paired with the SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6850 100315L Video Card with Eyefinity

 

[inzone]

Persoally I would have gone with the Intel i5-2500k , it is better at games than any of the AMD cpu's , the only drawback vs the AMD processor is the price. Cheaper is definatly not better.
The main thing with video cards is the model number , the more recent the model the better the performance , and after that you have to look at the benchmarks of the different cards to get a feel for what they can do vs the competition. It might not be much but if your leaning towards the AMD video cards go with the 6870 , it would be a bit better than the 6850. It doesn't matter with card maker XFX or Saphire either one is fine.

 

[blakkoctober]

I really appreciate all your help Inzone! even though i am a complete "tight wad" and don't want to spend the money.. I am trying to steer away from Console gaming and venture into the PC world..

While i do want to make this a good experience.. I don't want to drop a large amount of money into a PC and never use it to its potential.

With that said and many thanks i think ill go with the:

AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition Deneb 3.5GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ970FBGMBOX

&

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6850 100315L Video Card with Eyefinity


Seems everyone really enjoys it, and being a semi android dev/themer/hacker i know i will venture into Overclocking and so forth.

I guess my next Noob question is do i need a sound card like back in the day? or do "now-a-day" technology include them on the video card or other card? lol

Also im going to stick with the POS case and PSU mainly because i have a backup PSU to toss in when it fails or opposite.. So my build will consist of.



- AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition Deneb 3.5GHz - $139.99

- GeIL Value PLUS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $24.99

- SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit - $144.99

- ASRock 870 Extreme3 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard - $79.99

- Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - $84.99

- LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDS118-04 - OEM - $17.99

- RAIDMAX Altas ATX-295WBP / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - $59.99

Total of: 552.93

My budget was about that so i feel good with what is listed..

Is that EVERYTHING i need other then "OS" to get my computer going? I am not missing anything am I?

Sound card?

 

[buu11235]

I have heard bad things about cases that come with power supplies. Do you know what kind of PSU it is (aside from 500W)?

 

[blakkoctober]

I have heard bad things about cases that come with power supplies. Do you know what kind of PSU it is (aside from 500W)?

I dont.. I have an extra PSU i plan on tossing in when this one blows up so im not to worried about it.. I dont imagine it could be to nice.

 

[tlmck]

If that Raidmax PSU blows up, which it likely will, it could take many if not all of your other components with it. Then you will have a very expensive door stop.

 

[blakkoctober]

If that Raidmax PSU blows up, which it likely will, it could take many if not all of your other components with it. Then you will have a very expensive door stop.

Point well taken..

I believe this will be my final build.

- Rosewill Smart One ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

- Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB

- ASRock 870 Extreme3 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

- SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850

- AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition Deneb 3.5GHz

- GeIL Value PLUS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM

- Rosewill Stallion Series RD500-2SB 500W ATX12V v2.2 Power Supply

- LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDS118-04 - OEM

total is almost 600$



Are there any MAJOR problems anyone sees with this build? The PSU will be temporary.

 

[tlmck]

Unfortunately the Rosewill PSU is only slightly better than the Raidmax. Did not know if you noticed, but the Corsair I suggested is the same price after rebate. Be aware though that the rebate comes in the form of an AMEX gift card.

Bottom line is, you need a PSU that is at least 80 plus certified. Anything less than that with your chosen components is asking for disaster.

Also, This recent Tom's article might help.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-specifications-atx-reference,3061.html