Thoughts on This $2,000 Gaming Rig

Guest · Jan 25, 2012

Again thanks g-unit. I just want to get as many opinion as much as possible.

inzone · Jan 25, 2012

ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
$179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

The motherboard you listed doesn't have the pci-e 3.0 for future upgrade and the Z-68 chipset is definitly better than the p67 , plus this motherboard has 8 channel sound so you do not need the seperate sound card.

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R
$49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233180

If you are just using the Pc for gaming you don't need over 8gb of ram

Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F120GBGT-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
$179.99 and a $30 rebate makes it $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233191

I prefer the Corsair over the OCZ Agility 3 and the Corsair is just a bit faster and has much better feedback.

wagass · Jan 25, 2012

I plan on going the same route as what you posted originally but add inzones input.

Mainly the only two differences i'm going with is:

Samsung 830 128gb SSD (I've seen they are highly rated and reviews show they are pretty fast)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147134

And I plan on going for the HX1050 Corsair PSU for the possibility of crossfiring 7970's in the future.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139034

Guest · Jan 25, 2012

Thank you! I'll make the switches. It is only just for gaming. Also, I might want to get another HD 5970, say in 6 months, am I okay with the power supply? You joined in 1970!?

Guest · Jan 25, 2012

wagass :

Looks like I need more power to as well since I'll eventually get two HD 5970. Thanks on the SSD recommendation.

dharmenparikh · Jan 25, 2012

For the case get the Nzxt phantom tower for under $110. Newegg has 15% off right now.

CPU is very good. The GPU is too old. If you're spending $2k you need to spend $700-$800 on the GPU and get SLI/CFX.

For the mobo get a Z68 or p67 board for under $150...anything over isn't going to add more performance..all it does it give you more features..so if you don't need them don't spend any more. Also gen 3 is 100% pointless right now..even the 7970 is not needing more than x8 pcei gen 2. People just get fascinated by new tech and fail to see its purpose.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265

Your PSU is good but you can get a better deal...and these aren't crappy brands either.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817553004

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028

Your cooler is very much an overkill and you can save a lot of money here without losing performance. Get a CM 212+ and get an extra 120mm fan for it and you are done...4.5ghz overclock at 1.35-1.38v...temps will not exceed 65-70c. There is no reason to get anything better...especially the h100 because its not the quietest cooler.

For the SSD get the Corsair Force GT 120gb for $150 on newegg...its much faster than agility 3..even faster than vertex 3..non max iops.

For the HDD do you really need 2tb right now? Prices are too high..wait a few months.

Optical drive is good.

For Ram get the cheapest 8gb kit 1600mhz cas 9 or 8...you should not spend more than $40 on this because it will add no value whatsoever...8gb is overkill too for gaming but its not that much expensive so its fine.

Rest if your choice.

My main suggestion is to take your $560 budget for GPU..add 70$ from the savings in cooling, add $45 in savings from Ram, $50 from Mobo, and $30 from case. You are now at $750 ish....The radeon 7950 is coming out for $400 ish ....get 2 of them for CFX...or get GTX 580 X 2 in SLI...I think prices will hit $400 soon...You might even want to wait 2 months for Kepler GTX 680/780 and see whats best...but the main point is to invest $800 on the GPU and get 2 of them for SLI/CFX because it really helps gaming a lot more than spending extra on other parts.

Guest · Jan 25, 2012

dharmenparikh :

For the case get the Nzxt phantom tower for under $110. Newegg has 15% off right now.

CPU is very good. The GPU is too old. If you're spending $2k you need to spend $700-$800 on the GPU and get SLI/CFX.

For the mobo get a Z68 or p67 board for under $150...anything over isn't going to add more performance..all it does it give you more features..so if you don't need them don't spend any more. Also gen 3 is 100% pointless right now..even the 7970 is not needing more than x8 pcei gen 2. People just get fascinated by new tech and fail to see its purpose.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265

Your PSU is good but you can get a better deal...and these aren't crappy brands either.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817553004

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028

Your cooler is very much an overkill and you can save a lot of money here without losing performance. Get a CM 212+ and get an extra 120mm fan for it and you are done...4.5ghz overclock at 1.35-1.38v...temps will not exceed 65-70c. There is no reason to get anything better...especially the h100 because its not the quietest cooler.

For the SSD get the Corsair Force GT 120gb for $150 on newegg...its much faster than agility 3..even faster than vertex 3..non max iops.

For the HDD do you really need 2tb right now? Prices are too high..wait a few months.

Optical drive is good.

For Ram get the cheapest 8gb kit 1600mhz cas 9 or 8...you should not spend more than $40 on this because it will add no value whatsoever...8gb is overkill too for gaming but its not that much expensive so its fine.

Rest if your choice.

My main suggestion is to take your $560 budget for GPU..add 70$ from the savings in cooling, add $45 in savings from Ram, $50 from Mobo, and $30 from case. You are now at $750 ish....The radeon 7950 is coming out for $400 ish ....get 2 of them for CFX...or get GTX 580 X 2 in SLI...I think prices will hit $400 soon...You might even want to wait 2 months for Kepler GTX 680/780 and see whats best...but the main point is to invest $800 on the GPU and get 2 of them for SLI/CFX because it really helps gaming a lot more than spending extra on other parts.

Thanks a lot dharmenparikh. For a long while (1 yr.) I think my only interest, in order of importance, are Battlefield 3, Quake III, Skyrim, Morrowind, so it looks like I won't be needing 2 TB, perhaps I should drop down to 1 TB.

I agree with you, I should trim down on the other CPU parts and invest into two GPUs, but what did you mean that the HD 7970 is too old. Wasn't it released a few weeks ago?

joemehnert · Jan 26, 2012

wrong GPU in my opinion. 7970 if you buy today...no questions asked. Unless you need nvidia 3d tv play .. hence a nvidia card. paying 500 + for a 5970 is not the best investment.

inzone · Jan 26, 2012

If you look at the details tab on the two SSD's , the Samsung and the Corsair , you will see which one is fast. I don't know how you can say a SSD is fast when the write speeds are up to 320 mb/s on the Samsung , while on the Corsair the write speed is over 500 mb/s and the read speed is 555 mb/s.

inzone · Jan 26, 2012

I think the there is some confusion with model numbers aren't you refering to the 7970?

Guest · Jan 26, 2012

inzone :

Right. LOL.

inzone · Jan 27, 2012

I think that the psu you have chosen would be ok with two 7970's but in case you want to go with extra just in case;

SeaSonic X-SERIES X-1050 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
$219.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151110

You could also get a less expensive Corsair cooler;

CORSAIR H70 Core High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
$79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181019

Guest · Jan 27, 2012

inzone :

Okay, so now what do you think about this. I can't afford another HD 7970, but eventually I get it, perhaps less than 6 months. Plus, I don't know much, but seems Skyrim won't take advantage of dual PSU anyways.

1. Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

I have no clue as to how to choose a HDD. I dropped it to 1TB.

2. ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Seems like a lot of people have suggested this.

3. COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0, Black Interior and Four Fans-1x ...

I can't resist that there are a few thousand of people who liked this item at newegg.com (5/5 stars). I don't care about looks. I think I need a full-tower and it looks like it has huge fans in it (although I heard fans can actually create more heat in the case). Again, I am new and can only rely on people's opinion since I don't have much LOL.

4. Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000

This is only a gaming rig. Just wonder if I would like to learn Photoshop though?

5. ASUS Black Blu-ray Burner SATA BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS

$10 Mail in rebate recently added. I was wondering if I should just get a standard one ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 $18.99) just to cut the price.

6. SAPPHIRE 21197-00-40G Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

I want the latest and best, but I am wondering which is the better make of HD 7970?

7. G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

Dropped to 8GB.

8. COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ...

Did you say to get two of these?

9. Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

10. SeaSonic X-SERIES X-1050 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power ...

Pricey. But I will definitely save for another HD 7970.

I wonder if I can skip the SSD for awhile too. What will I be missing out on?

azeem40 · Jan 27, 2012

10 sec os loading time and faster access to data.

inzone · Jan 27, 2012

The SSD makes the overall performance of the computer much faster and apps will open faster. When it comes to gaming the maps will load faster. If you can keep it then you will be better off with it.
You only need one cpu cooler and I suggested getting the Corsair H-70 instead of your choice of the H-100 I didn't mention anything about the Cooler Master 212.
I have the Cooler Master Half-X and the fans are huge 1-230mm and 2-200mm and I don't notice any additional heat from them.

Guest · Jan 27, 2012

inzone :

Thanks for your advise, but I think I'm going to skip on the liquid cooler, maybe a for a few months. Could you see what the difference between these two monitors are? One is $60 off, 1/2 inch bigger, same make but has less reviews.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236174 $60 total savings.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236117 608 reviews (4/5 stars). Savings of $25. Several people recommended this here.

Guest · Feb 6, 2012

Best answer selected by Kanivakil.

Thoughts on This $2,000 Gaming Rig

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