Budget 1800 dollar gaming rig (first build ever)

Abdinho · Feb 24, 2012

Hello I am currently looking for a new computer:
What will be the uses?
70% gaming, 20% web browsing, and 10% HD video rendering and uploading
Parts not needed to be given tips on?
Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, and OS
Will I be overclocking?
YES everything I can as you will see below I picked a 2gb 6950 gpu and I will be flashing it to a 6970 if I can and I will be trying to overclock my cpu and probably my ram too.
Do I need a lot of space?
NO I only have 100 gb in the crappy laptop I am using right now and trust me I have not even filled up all of that!
Resolution games will be played on?
2560x1600 cause I have the dell 30 inch ultrasharp and maybe will connect a second apple cinema 27 inch display too

cody206 · Feb 24, 2012

I think those SSD drives may be lacking in performance compared to other products on the market. When I was shopping, I know there were plenty of SSDs with read/write ratings both above 500 MB/sec. These slower write times may be leaving something on the table. Here are the specs on your chosen drives:

SAMSUNG 830 Series
Max Sequential Read
Up to 520 MB/s
Max Sequential Write
Up to 320 MB/s

Crucial M4
Sustained Sequential Read
Up to 500 MB/s (SATA 6Gb/s)
Sustained Sequential Write
Up to 175 MB/s (SATA 6Gb/s)

I'm not saying those drives suck, but I would revisit the SSD market and see if there are better performance values out there. I'd check Tom's reviews & the benchmark charts too, if you haven't already.

Everything else looks great. I'm using a similar motherboard (ASUS P8Z68-V) with a 2500k & H70 cooler, and have had no issues. I'm surprised you didn't opt for a blu-ray writer with your interest in HD video editing, given that you shopped very high end in all other categories.

xtremegamer2da-max · Feb 24, 2012

a few minor changes

1 change cooler to cooler master hyper 212 evo
2 ur stuff will only use like 8gb of ram so change ram to 8gb
3 change psu to corsair ax650
4 you wouldnt need a sound card for those headphones
5 its a little bit cheaper and on sale right now so i reccomend this headset instead sound blaster tactic3d wrath wireless

Proximon · Feb 24, 2012

The SSDs are clearly chosen for quality and reliability and are good, but I think you are trying to cover your bases with the two different brands, and I don't see the need.

Get the 256GB version of either of those, and call it good. You won't have the hassles trying to move stuff to the non-boot drive as it can all be on one. Later on you can buy a cheap platter drive as backup.

If I didn't have other priorities in my computer budget right now I would swap out my 160GB Intel SSD for one of those. You really do need that much space.

Have you ever seen a Tt Level 10 in person? I don't really think much of it.. not when there are so many fine cases in that price range.

Cooler Master Storm Trooper
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119245
Go ahead and google up some of the glowing reviews

Corsair 800D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139001

Antec Lanboy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129093

I know several gamers that own these, I do myself as well, and they are phenomenal. They are CHEAP now, we paid far more. Sennheiser PC 350
http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PC-350-Collapsible-Microphone/dp/B0012XFDWO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330068152&sr=8-2

But you do need a soundcard for those.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132010

or for a bit less
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102042

You CAN save money with the Hyper 212 Evo cooler. I rather like the H100 though as it will outperform the air cooler and/or run quieter.

8GB is all you need for RAM, as mentioned.

The Corsair AX650 or the Seasonic X650, whichever happens to be the better deal. Unless you want to crossfire, then the 750W versions of those.

azeem40 · Feb 24, 2012

If you are getting two SSDs, please don't put them in RAID 0. Their lifespan will be cut short and you lose the TRIM feature.

dadof1hunter · Feb 24, 2012

Why 2 SSD's and Why 2 DIFFERENT SSD? I agree with a Samsung 830, Quality is nice. Get 1 SSD and 1 HDD.

hotthree · Feb 24, 2012

This is where you went wrong with your build.

$1800 and not even some of the best equipment.

Change gpu to amd 7970 (it will power the monitor you have much better) and what if you don't get a 6950 that doesn't flash to 6970.

PSU imo is bleh- You could easily drop to a 750/850 (650 with 1 card)

silverstone/seasonic/corsair/antec.

get one SSD to run programs ...256gb samsung 830 or Crucial m4

Case is junk imo but its personal preference here so your call. Could save a lot of money or get a better case for the same.

I'd reccomend silverstone ft02 / raven rv02-e /
corsair 650d 550d 700d 800d
fractal design arc midi (fits h100 easily and is actually designed to do it) any other cases are good
antec makes some good cases
cooler master as well.

photonboy · Feb 24, 2012

My tips:
1. Get a single, 120GB SSD for Windows and applications. The OCZ Vertex 3 is an excellent choice.

2. NCIX is a good reference for prices and is well organized.

3. Get a 2TB Western Digital GREEN hard drive as your second drive for games, downloads, media etc. as your SSD will fill up over time with Windows updates, Restore Points and applications.

4. SSD's don't greatly increase gaming load times. The average speed increase is about 25% over a hard drive (it's not just straight copying, there's CPU, GPU, and intro videos)

5. Steam games. I simply made the folder "STEAM" on my hard drive and pointed steam to use that folder. After that it's all automatic for downloading and installing.

6. I also recommend a good HEATSINK for the CPU instead of water cooling. Check out NCIX. Spend between $30 and $60 roughly.

7. PC Case. If USB3 to the front panel is important to you, make sure that you have:
a) a motherboard with USB3 onboard connections for the FRONT CASE.
b) a case which supports USB3

(hooking USB3 to a case which supports only USB2 front panel inputs may cause data corruption on high-speed USB3 drives if the wires can't reliably transfer the data.)

8. RAM
Get 2x4GB of 8GB in general. Some video editing can benefit from more than this, however there's absolutely no benefit if you're simply recoding video; that bottleneck is your CPU.

9. Graphics.
I strongly recommend the HD7950. It runs much cooler than the HD6xxx series. Here's a benchmark: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7950-overclock-crossfire-benchmark,3123-11.html

The HD7950 also supports Graphics Core Next which will eventually be supported by software so you can utilize BOTH the graphics card AND CPU for video editing.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4455/amds-graphics-core-next-preview-amd-architects-for-compute

10. POWER SUPPLY:
Aside from overall Wattage, you also need to ensure you have enough Amperage on the +12V rail. It's often very clear, such as "48Amps on combined rails" or similar.

To be clear:
#1. Find an online calculator and add up your parts. Your choice of graphics card will heavily affect this. If in doubt, get at least 750Watts but online calculators are pretty good. Make sure to put in the OVERCLOCKED CPU number such as 3.8GHz.

#2. The Amperage needs to be high enough on the +12V rail. I think the GTX570 required 38Amps for example. So you need to find the graphics card requirement and get HIGHER than this.

Abdinho · Feb 25, 2012

By the advice i was given I changed the ssd to:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148448
and a hdd:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136794
a heatsink:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106150
the ram (really do need 16 for future proofing and adobe premiere video editing)
and finally the gpu:
2 of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102968
psu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256067
case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139001&cm_sp=Cat_Computer_Cases-_-Spotlight-_-11-139-001

azeem40 · Feb 25, 2012

A single 7950 is faster and consumes less power.

justdoit · Feb 25, 2012

Abdinho :

For the RAM, you might want to consider 2 single 8gb sticks, future proof even more because you would only be using 2 slots. 2 of these, same price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145356

Hope it helps!

azeem40 · Feb 25, 2012

16GB is not gonna be even useful for the next 5 or more years, and by then, a new computer will be necessary to keep up with new games being released.

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Budget 1800 dollar gaming rig (first build ever)

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