[New Build] $1250 Gaming Rig, Need help

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drunkenmonkey98

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Mar 10, 2012
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Hi I'm looking at building my own system I'd like to keep it relatively future-proof if possible mostly going to play SC2 and Diablo 3 when it comes out and other future titles; that and I just kinda wanted a new system.

My biggest concerns are which videocard to pick, which motherboard, will my RAM fit?
I also would like my GPU to run quieter and cooler (if possible) and is the wireless adapter ok? Or should I go with the ASUS PCI-E version for $8 more?

I'll be building it in the next week and don't need a mouse keyboard monitor, etc. just the computer.

Being assembled in the U.S.; built for gaming. Overclocking might happen later on but definitely not needed for my intents so far.

Anyhow my preferred parts site is newegg and here's all the parts (Price came to $1267 with shipping before $85 in rebates)

Case:
NZXT Phantom 410

Motherboard:
ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68

CPU:
Intel Core i5-2550K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost)

RAM:
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

GPU:
EVGA 01G-P3-1561-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

PS:
Thermaltake TR2 RX 750W Bronze W0382RU ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular

HD1:
OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

HD2:
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s

Wireless Adapter:
Rosewill RNX-N300 Wireless N Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n PCI

OS:
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Optical Drive:
LG 22x DVD/RW Drive
 
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donlev
Looks good to me maybe a couple of critiques.

First, why did you pick the 2550k cpu? Do you realise that it does not have a graphics processor on board the chip? This is fine since you will have a discrete gpu ,however, it renders the z68 chipset basicly useless as its most usefull function is virtu graphics which allows switcheable graphics.Something you will not be able to do.
If you picked it because of the slightly higher core clock, and don't really want the on die graphics , well that is fine, but maybe you would be suited better to a board that is p67 instead!
However, it would be my suggestion to back up to the 2500k and keep the z68 as virtu graphics is really quite a plus. For 1 thing, it gives your discrete gpu a break...
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sosofm

sosofm

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RAM with low profile heatsink CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233198 89$
SSD : Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR60GB 2.5" 60GB SATA III http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226247 80$
MOBO : ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 130$
With these changes you drop the price with almost 70$ and you can buy a CPU cooler COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 35$ , or a Nvidia 570.
For a gaming build 8GB is more than enough G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416 48$
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186 50$



 
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drunkenmonkey98

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Thanks, I read reviews that said it was pretty decent and it comes with a 5 year warranty, I'm going with the 16gb memory because RAM is pretty cheap and its only another $45 for double the RAM which should last for a long time, combine that with the 1155 socket and if later on I need to upgrade the CPU I can get an i7 down the road that will fit for cheap. My biggest concern is just picking a strong mid-priced graphics card that will run things like Diabo 3 on ultra (obviously not BF3) that I can always upgrade later, and is the mobo ok? are there any benefits to the ones priced just slightly higher?
 
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donlev

donlev

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Mar 2, 2012
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Looks good to me maybe a couple of critiques.

First, why did you pick the 2550k cpu? Do you realise that it does not have a graphics processor on board the chip? This is fine since you will have a discrete gpu ,however, it renders the z68 chipset basicly useless as its most usefull function is virtu graphics which allows switcheable graphics.Something you will not be able to do.
If you picked it because of the slightly higher core clock, and don't really want the on die graphics , well that is fine, but maybe you would be suited better to a board that is p67 instead!
However, it would be my suggestion to back up to the 2500k and keep the z68 as virtu graphics is really quite a plus. For 1 thing, it gives your discrete gpu a break between gaming and uses the on die graphics for lesser tasks when possible, It does this on its own if you have it set to "on". It will extend the life of your graphics card and most folks would not think of it but, if your discrete gpu ever dies, you will have a blank screen until you replace it, but with on die graphics, you would still be able to use your pc while gpu was down.
As far as the 3.4g with the 2550k vs. the 3.3 of the 2500k you will never notice it, and you will prob. not be able to overclock one higher than the other anyway.

I would not waste extra on 16 g ram. You will not even use all of 8g get 2x4g dimms and save the other two slots for later.

The gpu is good and should give you high to ultimate settings on the games you mentioned on a single monitor up to 23" or a dual setup of lesser sized monitors.
Just make sure you use dvi cable and not vga. Evga has like a ten yr. warrantee or the like and that is about the best there is. Asus and galaxy,as well as msi and pilat are also good brands for nvidea cards.

Your psu is the right size to prepare you for sli later but I would suggest a brand like corsair,Seasonic,Antec, if possible. There are other brands that will do good, and the one you picked may be fine, but the three I mentioned have the highest ratings and are considered the golden three. They tend to actually guage closer to the voltage that they claim with less fluctuation and are just high quality to begin with. It is usually worth the extra that you might spend.

The wireless adaptor is ok but for gaming online I am sure you realize that a hardwire connection would be best. I understand that is not always possible so I am not necessarilly suggesting one way or the other. I usually just buy a cheaper belkin usb reciever if I have to have it, so I am not that familiar with internal wifi so as to know the best one to get.
 
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drunkenmonkey98

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Thanks for all your input guys I think I'll drop down to the 2500k, as far as RAM I should definitely get the low profile then? The case I'm getting is 6x120mm fans so I'm not too worried about heat issues but I'll probably end up getting that cooler master CPU cooler just to be on the safe side, I'm fairly certain about getting a 560 ti I just want to make sure I get a good brand and as far as the motherboard goes are there any more suggestions that would pair nicely with the 2500k? I most likely won't ever run SLI but in the event that I do it might be nice to have it but I'll take suggestions for with and without gratefully. I don't want to just squander money on a $190 mobo when there's a $130 one that will do the same thing but I just get lost looking at mobo's focusing too much on price and associating it with quality.
 
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drunkenmonkey98

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Awesome, thanks again, any suggestions on mobos? You guys are super-friendly, informative and fast responding, I check Tom's for reviews on stuff a lot but never experienced the forums, thanks again to all of you, you really have been helpful and it's much appreciated.
 
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donlev

donlev

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Personnally I would stick with the mobo you have or consider the asus maximus iv gene -z

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131806

The maximus is a republic of gamers edition and besides being micro atx it is every bit as good as the more expensive versions. I have one in my computer and it is a very stable board and is made to support higher overclocking should you choose.

The Asrock boards mentioned earlier can be good to, but the problem is they have been having some issues with bad slots, either dimm slots or psi.e slots. I have heard both. You can read the reviews on newegg to confirm, but I have heard it right here in these forums from at least 3 verified owners. They work great when you get one that works, and I am sure that more do than don't, butI just hate to suggest them when they do have more rma's than they should. If you want to see another besides asus, I have recently bought a couple of MSI boards for builds and they are great Here are the two I bought. You get a mfg rebate of $30 amer express card with them so it saves you some

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1125284&CatId=7212

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1125280&CatId=13

Also consider this ram It is low profile and has heatsinks for looks mostly and is very good ram. I usually use 1600 for about the same price but the comment earlier was right, you wont tell the diff

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148543

Here are a couple of links to a sight where you can see the msi board in a build and also the maximus board in a build

http://www.ebay.com/itm/220970951681?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/220972511829?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Both systems rock BF3 on ultimate settings
 
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phenom90

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one question for you.... do you intend to go for sli/crossfire in the near future? otherwise you do not need that much....

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
Intel Core i5-2500K - $225

mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157230
ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) - $100

ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231546
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB F3-1600C9D-8GAB - $45

hsf: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181011
CORSAIR CAFA70 - $30 after rebate

odd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136236
LG DVD Burner 24X GH24NS70 - $19

hdd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB - $115

ssd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 120GB - $130

psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341051
OCZ ZT Series 650W Fully-Modular - $85 after rebate

case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147107
Rosewill BLACKHAWK - $90

gpu: whatever amd or nvidia... should just wait for kepler to hit the shelves as it may affect market prices....

os: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM - $100


total: $939 after rebate excluding shipping...


but.... if you intend to go for sli/crossfire in the future... these parts i would suggest...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130572
MSI P67A-GD53 (B3) - $110 after rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341044
OCZ ZX Series 850W Fully-Modular - $140 after rebate
 
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drunkenmonkey98

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One last thing to choose was the PSU, I was going to get the thermaltake one but i heard it was just a cheap brand that got rebranded with thermaltakes name on it anyhow I was looking at this Antec CP-850W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024), it's 850w, modular, and it specifically designed for my case (Antec 1200 V3), my question is this thing overkill for my single GPU build? And are 4-12V rails a good or bad thing?
 
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donlev

donlev

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Thanx for the best answer pick drunkenmonkey98. Have you made your final choices? If so post your components. Others are right about the smaller psu. If you will not sli I would not get much larger than 600 or 650w. That way you are prepared for a larger gpu if you choose a 580 down the road because the price drops when kepler comes out or something. Also, if you should decide to add a few more hdd's and peripherals you will know you have the power. I actually run sli 560 ti in one computer with a 650w corsair with no problem. So you should be able to run 1 580(if someday desired) along with 3 or 4 hdd's and do usb 3.0 charging and any thing else you want with 600 or 650w. Also just remember that the z68 chipset will be compatible with the ivy bridge processor down the road, but the p67 wont.
 
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drunkenmonkey98

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I decided to go with:
Antec 1200 V3 Case
ASRock Z68 Ext3 Gen3
Hyper 212+ CPU Cooler
G.Skill Ares 16GB Ram (Low profile)
GTX 560 Ti
i5 2500k
Mushkin 60GB SSD
Seagate 7200Rpm 1 TB

and for PS I went with the Antec CP-850, for a few reasons, $120 wasn't bad for 850w, modular, antec made specifically for my case, one of the good brand names.

Total came to $1275 which wash't too bad, all in all I think it's decently future proof and I really just want it to last me about 6 years (the amount of school I have left) without too much maintenance. Now I'm just gonna order some Clear Purple LED fans for the CM Hyper 212+ (just for looks), lol I think that clear purple will go nicely with the blue stock fans (which my brother actually has this case and he's never replaced one since he bought it in '08 and he runs his pc 24/7) But long story short I wish I could've given more best answers as everywhere here was really informative and really nice about suggestions, I'll be sure to come back in a week and post some pics of this thing built. Thanks again everyone.
 
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donlev

donlev

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That looks like a solid build. Just make sure that since you only got a 60g ssd that you only put windows and drivers and and a most used program or game on it and direct the rest of your programs to hdd, cause if you fill the ssd to full, it wont have room to use as cache, which is what makes it so fast.

Yeah let us know how it goes and post the pics if you will!!!
 
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drunkenmonkey98

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I will I'm gonna put win7 OS (64-bit) which is 20GB space and whatever current game I'm playing (diablo 3 in may = 8.4 GB) then leave the rest open maybe put iTunes (not the music files just the program itself)
 
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donlev

donlev

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Sounds good. Its good to save space there for win updates and its good to have all of mobo bios and other software and drivers for your mobo and graphics on there to. If you do that with only 1 game at a time you should still have a sizeable section left for cache.

You would still get a performance boost as far as boot times, by having your games on the hdd, cause as long as the ssd is your main boot drive , its cache will access programs on the hdd faster. Once you have opened them for the first time, the info will be saved in your cache on ssd. Good luck and I hope you enjoy the build!!!
 
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drunkenmonkey98

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One quick question... my parts get here on Tuesday and seeing as how I went with the G.skill Ares, is it going to degrade the life of my CPU and should I pick up the G.Skill Ripjaws X and return the Ares based on this guys post? He's saying Ares=Bad, Ripjaws=good, the voltages are rated the same, so is he just fear mongering or should I change my RAM to something else?

I got them for the low profile for use with aftermarket cpu coolers as I read that some people had fitment issues, some people didn't so I decided to go the safe route and try the low profile. Am i making a mistake here?

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/308402-30-skill-ripjaws-skill-ares
 
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donlev

donlev

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