Hi! New here, Would love some help on which gaming PC I should get.

[HeavyToolbox]

Hi. I have been looking for a Gaming PC for quite some time now. I prefer to custom build them online rather than myself. My budget is no more than $1850 and the PC I want is intended for 100% Gaming use. Would love some feedback / help to which one is better or to improve on one. Thank you. The first one is custom built.

1 x Case ( NZXT Guardian 921 RB Gaming Case - Black w/ Red Light )
1 x Case Lighting ( Cold Cathode Neon Light - Red )
0 x iBUYPOWER Labs - Noise Reduction ( None )
0 x iBUYPOWER Labs - Internal Expansion ( None )
1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i5-2500 Processor (4x 3.30GHz/6MB L3 Cache) )
0 x iBUYPOWER PowerDrive ( None )
1 x Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )
1 x Memory ( 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair Vengeance )
1 x Video Card ( AMD Radeon HD 7970 - 3GB - Single Card )
1 x Video Card Brand ( Major Brand Powered by AMD or NVIDIA )
1 x Motherboard ( [SLI] ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 -- 2x PCI-E 3.0 x16 )
0 x Intel Smart Response Technology ( None )
1 x Power Supply ( 850 Watt - Corsair CMPSU-850TXV2 )
1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 2 TB HARD DRIVE -- 64M Cache, 7200rpm, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive )
1 x Data Hard Drive ( 64 GB Kingston SSDNow V200 SSD - Single Drive )
1 x Optical Drive ( 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Red )
0 x 2nd Optical Drive ( None )
0 x Flash Media Reader / Writer ( None )
0 x Meter Display ( None )
0 x USB Expansion ( None )
1 x Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
1 x Network Card ( Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) )
1 x Operating System ( Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit )
1 x Keyboard ( iBUYPOWER USB Keyboard )
1 x Mouse ( iBUYPOWER Internet Mouse )
0 x Monitor ( None )
0 x 2nd Monitor ( None )
0 x Speaker System ( None )
0 x Video Camera ( None )
1 x Advanced Build Options ( Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Achieve exceptional airflow in your chassis )
1 x Advanced Build Options ( Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Basic Pro Wiring )
1 x Advanced Build Options ( Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound - The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks )
0 x Case Engraving Service ( None )
1 x Warranty ( 3 Year Standard Warranty Service )
1 x Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) - No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )


EDITED

 

[CDdude55]

You could build an awesome system for $1,850. I'd recommend building a similar system to the first one and instead grab a 7970.

 

[HeavyToolbox]

Thank you for your input. Is the 7950 a good option? That puts me nearer to my budget rather than the 7970 sadly.

 

[computernewb]

i5- 2500k or 2500 (if you dont overclock) is the best gaming cpu for the price. no need to get the i7

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-4.html

"CPUs priced over $220 offer rapidly diminishing returns when it comes to game performance. As such, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than the Core i5-2500K, especially since this multiplier-unlocked processor can be tuned to great effect if more performance is desired. Even at stock clocks, it meets or beats the $1000 Core i7-990X Extreme Edition when it comes to gaming."

 

[Guest]

1 x Power Supply ( 800 Watt - Standard )

WTH is "standard"? with an investment like that to rely on something labeled as "standard" well . . . is scary!

 

[computernewb]

1 x Power Supply ( 800 Watt - Standard )

WTH is "standard"? with an investment like that to rely on something labeled as "standard" well . . . is scary!

+1 yes do NOT get a cheap power supply. I bought a cheap power supply and it blew up in a year and a half talking out everything except my hard drive. Lesson learned the hardway. Well worth the extra money buying a good reputable power supply.

 

[whatsthatnoise]

A 7950 is a very good choice. You can push it a little to reach the 7970's power.

And as it has been stated, an i5 2500(k) is very sufficient.

 

[HeavyToolbox]

1 x Power Supply ( 800 Watt - Standard )

WTH is "standard"? with an investment like that to rely on something labeled as "standard" well . . . is scary!

Thank you! I can upgrade to a 850 Watt - Corsair CMPSU-850TXV2 or 1000 Watt - Extreme Gaming Series. Suggestions?

 

[whatsthatnoise]

I would pick some Enermax Modu 87+ PSU.

 

[Guest]

Thank you! I can upgrade to a 850 Watt - Corsair CMPSU-850TXV2 or 1000 Watt - Extreme Gaming Series. Suggestions?

NICE!

the 850 would suffice, even if you decide to toss in another 580 down the road . but if you do that AND put in another SSD and a few more hard drives, you might want to think about 1000W. (but that might be overkill)

but really a good PSU.

tmi: seeing a 70 amp 12 volt rail gave me a chubby.

 

[richboyliang]

i5- 2500k or 2500 (if you dont overclock) is the best gaming cpu for the price. no need to get the i7

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-4.html

"CPUs priced over $220 offer rapidly diminishing returns when it comes to game performance. As such, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than the Core i5-2500K, especially since this multiplier-unlocked processor can be tuned to great effect if more performance is desired. Even at stock clocks, it meets or beats the $1000 Core i7-990X Extreme Edition when it comes to gaming."

Forget about that, if you can spend anything more than $1000 then you deserve an i7-2600K to catch up with everything else. An i5 may just barely be sufficient enough to feed a single GTX 580, but if you want to do anything more than that or upgrade something later, you're definitely gonna need that i7.

 

[HeavyToolbox]

NICE!

the 850 would suffice, even if you decide to toss in another 580 down the road . but if you do that AND put in another SSD and a few more hard drives, you might want to think about 1000W. (but that might be overkill)

but really a good PSU.

tmi: seeing a 70 amp 12 volt rail gave me a chubby.

Phew, that makes me feel so much better. Last question before I post my updated version. I will go with a i5 2500, but I can get i5 2550 for no cost. I assume there isn't a big difference but just want to make sure. I used the money that I gained back from switching to an i5 and put it towards more SSD and can get that 7970.

Edit: Well the above poster has a good point. Now I'm a little confused on the processor.

 

[amuffin]

v-lx is crappy board. I suggest at least a p8z68-v pro/gen 3.

 

[Guest]

An i5 may just barely be sufficient enough to feed a single GTX 580, but if you want to do anything more than that or upgrade something later, you're definitely gonna need that i7.

do you have something to back up your personal wisdom please?

 

[HeavyToolbox]

v-lx is crappy board. I suggest at least a p8z68-v pro/gen 3.

Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3?

 

[Guest]

Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3?

that most likely be better, it allows you to "upgrade" to PCI-E 3.0, if you get an ivy bridge cpu later, which would improve the performance of your graphics card should you ever use the second X16 slot (which runs @ x4 speed)

also i have been looking around for something that gives empirical evidence that a 580 sli, let alone a single card solution, would bottle neck a i5 2500k.

it took a 580 tri sli to bottleneck a i7 965 @ 3750 MHz, which isn't THAT much better than an OC'd i5 2500k, so it should be fine.

btw, i hope you are having a pleasant experience with all the suggestions. please post your updated choices if you care to. i am sure there would be someone that noticed you really haven't addressed the cooling solution for your CPU, the heatsink and fan, other than "Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink "

 

[HeavyToolbox]

Here's the updated one. I had just a tad money extra so I decided to roll the i7 2700. If this choice is not the right one, please do inform =).

1 x Case ( NZXT Guardian 921 RB Gaming Case - Black w/ Red Light )
1 x Case Lighting ( Cold Cathode Neon Light - Red )
0 x iBUYPOWER Labs - Noise Reduction ( None )
0 x iBUYPOWER Labs - Internal Expansion ( None )
1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i7-2700K Processor (4x 3.50GHz/8MB L3 Cache) )
0 x iBUYPOWER PowerDrive ( None )
1 x Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )
1 x Memory ( 16 GB [4 GB X4] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand - FREE Upgrade to Corsair XMS3 )
1 x Video Card ( AMD Radeon HD 7970 - 3GB - Single Card )
1 x Video Card Brand ( Major Brand Powered by AMD or NVIDIA )
1 x Motherboard ( Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 )
0 x Intel Smart Response Technology ( None )
1 x Power Supply ( 850 Watt - Corsair CMPSU-850TXV2 )
1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 2 TB HARD DRIVE -- 64M Cache, 7200rpm, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive )
1 x Data Hard Drive ( 64 GB Kingston SSDNow V200 SSD - Single Drive )
1 x Optical Drive ( [12X Blu-Ray] LG BLU-RAY Reader, DVD±R/±RW Burner Combo Drive - Black )
0 x 2nd Optical Drive ( None )
0 x Flash Media Reader / Writer ( None )
0 x Meter Display ( None )
0 x USB Expansion ( None )
1 x Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
1 x Network Card ( Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) )
1 x Operating System ( Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit )
1 x Keyboard ( iBUYPOWER USB Keyboard )
1 x Mouse ( iBUYPOWER Internet Mouse )
0 x Monitor ( None )
0 x 2nd Monitor ( None )
0 x Speaker System ( None )
0 x Video Camera ( None )
1 x Advanced Build Options ( Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Achieve exceptional airflow in your chassis )
1 x Advanced Build Options ( Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Basic Pro Wiring )
1 x Advanced Build Options ( Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound - The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks )
0 x Case Engraving Service ( None )
1 x Warranty ( 3 Year Standard Warranty Service )
1 x Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) - No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )

 

[Guest]

1 x Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )

what choices do you have for that?

with a i7-2700K, it begs to be overclocked, simply by raising the multiplier, it would be a good idea to get a cooling solution that would provided better than "certified" protection.

 

[amuffin]

Do not get any of those. What motherboard options do they have? I seriously suggest you get at least one of the z68x-ud boards or a p8z68-v pro/gen 3. The boards you have choosen are all low end.

 

[HeavyToolbox]

1 x Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )

what choices do you have for that?

with a i7-2700K, it begs to be overclocked, simply by raising the multiplier, it would be a good idea to get a cooling solution that would provided better than "certified" protection.

Asetek 550LC Liquid CPU Cooling System or Liquid CPU Cooling System [SOCKET-1155]

I have never attempted Liquid Cooling and fear that it may be too much for me to handle. But I am unaware if it's tougher or simpler than most people say.

 

[HeavyToolbox]

Do not get any of those. What motherboard options do they have? I seriously suggest you get at least one of the z68x-ud boards or a p8z68-v pro/gen 3. The boards you have choosen are all low end.

I can get [SLI] Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 -- 3x PCI-E 2.0 x16, Lucid Virtu Technology or [SLI] ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 -- 2x PCI-E 3.0 x16. Both would take me over my budget but if you think they're worth it, by all means say so.

 

[rossaw]

Asetek 550LC Liquid CPU Cooling System or Liquid CPU Cooling System [SOCKET-1155]

I have never attempted Liquid Cooling and fear that it may be too much for me to handle. But I am unaware if it's tougher or simpler than most people say.

depends.... if its an "all in one" solution such as the corsair h100 or h80 then it should be fine. if its a custom one then it will need maintence. by that i mean at the very least you will need to drain and replace the fluid once a year.

but like i say if its a corsair h100 or similar then go 4 it if u have the money to burn.

i take it you will be overclocking this pc? if not then you should say because you would be throwing a huge amount of money away......

 

[amuffin]

Please get the asrock board, I have that exact same one and it is awesome

 

[HeavyToolbox]

i take it you will be overclocking this pc? if not then you should say because you would be throwing a huge amount of money away......

Why would ya say that? Just out of curiosity.

 

[Guest]

depends.... if its an "all in one" solution such as the corsair h100 or h80 then it should be fine. if its a custom one then it will need maintence. by that i mean at the very least you will need to drain and replace the fluid once a year.

but like i say if its a corsair h100 or similar then go 4 it if u have the money to burn.

i take it you will be overclocking this pc? if not then you should say because you would be throwing a huge amount of money away......

+1 on the cash ouch!

no other "air" solution? it might be better to get a heatsink/fan from newegg and install it yourself.