First Timer - Gaming PC

2kainkaze1

Guest
Mar 12, 2012
15
0
10,510
Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as I figure out what parts I want

Budget Range: <$2000?

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, gaming, watching videos/movies in 1080p, browsing web

Parts Not Required: Mouse, Headset (Have a Logitech G35 7.1 Surround Sound)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: None. Whatever gets the job done. I've only ever had Intel and Nvidia though.

Overclocking: Maybe / Yes (If I ever figure out how to ...)

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe / Yes (I'm not well versed in this. Need more info to see if 2 cards is better than 1 or vice-versa)

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (Multi-monitor set up seems wicked but never tried it so I might try it down the line sometime)

Additional Comments: As for budget range, I was not sure on how much a High-End PC for gaming would be (I thought it would never be below $2500 but research has proved me wrong!) so I figure $2000 should get me what I want.

I was thinking of just playing off my 38" Samsung LED TV (I think it's 38, somewhere around there) but think I'd find it uncomfortable so I think I'll get a monitor. 23" or similar. I've actually never shopped for a monitor before ... is it the same as TV's?

I basically want to be able to play all my games the way they should be played; smoothly with stunning visuals! :D

As for components (this is where I need help with info :sweat: ):

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W $219.99

MOBO: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel $119.99

PSU: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series RS800-80GAD3-US 800W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC $159.99 (Combo w/ G.SKILL $199.98)

Cooler: EVGA M020-00-000234 Superclock CPU Cooler $49.99

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) $64.99 (Combo w/ PSU $199.98)

Graphics Card: Leaning towards Radeon 7870 as price/performance seems very attractive $329.99 (approximate)

Hard Drives: Patriot Pyro SE PPSE120GS25SSDR 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive $89.99

Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

DVD Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner $21.99

Monitor: Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1 $174.99

Case: NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Newegg Exclusive Black Finish w/Orange Trim Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case $129.99

~$1700-1720 (shipping & OS & Tax *gaaaaah tax!*)
 
Solution
I was thinking of just playing off my 38" Samsung LED TV (I think it's 38, somewhere around there) but think I'd find it uncomfortable so I think I'll get a monitor. 23" or similar. I've actually never shopped for a monitor before ... is it the same as TV's?

Gaming on an LCD/LED is sweet, I'm definitely not going to argue there, I have my PC hooked up to my 42" Vizio and it works great.

MOBO: Not sure what to look for here ... I've narrowed it down? to looking for a Z68 or a P67

They're both about the same.

Cooler: Do I need a liquid cooler or would a fan be fine?

Definitely air, I don't touch liquid cooling - even a closed block like an H100, air is always safer.

RAM: 8GB DDR3 (I saw these words a lot in...

quicksand10

Distinguished
Jan 23, 2012
530
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19,160
Well, you seem to have it pretty chosen!

Motherboard: For your budget, I would suggest the ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 (or, for a bit cheaper, P8Z68-V LX, but no internal USB3 header or integrated bluetooth)

CPU Cooler: A air cooling solution would be more than enough. Consider the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO.

RAM: G.Skill, Corsair, Kingston, Mushkin Enhanced... Whichever, as long as you go DDR3-1600MHz (preferably 1.5v, but whatever really)

Graphics: pretty high budget, consider an AMD Radeon HD7970. As for multi-gpu... I'll leave the other posters to that...

Hard Drive: Check for Crucial M4, OCZ Vertex 3, or Intel 520 (check for specials)

PSU: Corsair, XFX, ThermalTake... I would go 800W because you are considering upgrades like SLI or CrossfireX
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
I was thinking of just playing off my 38" Samsung LED TV (I think it's 38, somewhere around there) but think I'd find it uncomfortable so I think I'll get a monitor. 23" or similar. I've actually never shopped for a monitor before ... is it the same as TV's?

Gaming on an LCD/LED is sweet, I'm definitely not going to argue there, I have my PC hooked up to my 42" Vizio and it works great.

MOBO: Not sure what to look for here ... I've narrowed it down? to looking for a Z68 or a P67

They're both about the same.

Cooler: Do I need a liquid cooler or would a fan be fine?

Definitely air, I don't touch liquid cooling - even a closed block like an H100, air is always safer.

RAM: 8GB DDR3 (I saw these words a lot in other gaming rig builds) :p

That's because you won't use more than that on a gaming system.

Graphics Card: What will give me smooth and stunning visuals? I think single card is more stable and since this is a new rig ... 560ti, 570, or 580? As for AMD, I have no clue ...

The new AMD cards are kicking ass in like every single category, save for the lower end models. The mid range 7870, which I'm getting for my system when it's available - are producing numbers that are matching and in some cases beating the GTX 580, check it out: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7870-review-benchmark,3148.html

As for case and monitor ... will update once I look into it more though that Corsair case in that newegg "Build Your Own PC" video was pretty cool.

Corsair makes excellent cases - I have the Graphite 600T and it's amazing - one of the best cases I've ever owned.

PSU: Corsair, XFX, ThermalTake... I would go 800W because you are considering upgrades like SLI or CrossfireX

Thermaltake PSUs are crap for the most part, my general distaste for the brand aside.

Try this build that I posted in another thread:

Try this:

Case: Corsair Carbide 400R - $99.99 ($10.00 MIR)
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 - $104.99 ($10.00 MIR)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3H - $149.99
CPU: 3.30GHz Intel Core i5-2500K - $219.99
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo - $34.99
RAM: 8GB Crucial Ballistix Sport 1600MHz 1.5V - $36.99
SSD: 64GB Crucial M4 - $93.99
HD: Samsung Ecogreen F4 2TB - $149.99
Optical: Lite On DVD Burner - $17.99
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 - $329.99 (approximate)
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - $99.99
Monitor: ASUS VS Series VS238H-P Black 23" 2ms HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor - $174.99

Total: $1,523.88 - $20.00 MIR = $1,503.88
 
Solution

wasupmike

Distinguished
Oct 13, 2010
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18,910
with a <$2000 budget - you should be able to get a real nice system with the best single GPU, water cooling, SSD, etc...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139006
- Corsair Obsidian Series 650D: $190

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139031
- CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650M 650W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular: $110

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244
- SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner: $16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840
- Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache: $115

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167095
- Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW120A310 2.5" 120GB SATA III: $180

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131806
- ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0: $190

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148544
- Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600: $37

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
- Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz: $220

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181016
- CORSAIR H80 (CWCH80) High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler: $92

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125413
- GIGABYTE GV-R797OC-3GD Radeon HD 7970 3GB: $600 (factory overclocked to 1000MHz)

TOTAL: $1,850
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


I like that build for the most part, but ugh... why get a GENE-Z? Get a full ATX board.

I don't like closed liquid loops either - I would stay away from them if I could possibly help it, I know Intel brands their own but even still, I'm a skeptic when it comes to experimental hardware and I generally try not to use it if I can possibly help it.

The CF 7850 is also beating the hell out of the 580 and even the 7970!

I cannot wait to get my hands on one.
 

xtremegamer2da-max

Distinguished
Jan 13, 2012
539
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18,990
case: cooler master haf x
(awesome air flow and great 4 gaming!!!)
mobo: asrock z68 extreme4
cpu: intel i5 2500k
cpu cooler: cooler master hyper 212 evo
video card: amd radeon hd 7970
(or wait for kepler)
ram: g.skill rpjaws x series 8gb
hhd: western digital caviar black 500gb
(you could also get 1tb, 1.5tb or 2tb)
ssd: crucial m4 64gb
(i dont see why anyone whos just putting their os on an ssd would need more than 60gb???)
psu: corsair ax850
optical drive: lg black 12x bd-rom
(sony 24x multi if you dont care 'bout blu-ray)
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


I wonder how 2 x 7870/ 7850 will stack up on a 42" monitor running games on max at 1900 x 1200? I bet that will be sweet.

Wait for the new wave of ivy bridge and kepler since you are investing so much money up in this biatch

I'm incredibly skeptical about both until the actual products are out and benchmarked. Right now it's all Apple-esque PR noise and they can say anything they want about the new products, but like we learned with AMD FX, newer isn't always better. The AMD Radeons are out and they're solid across the board, which is why I'm recommending them over Keppler / Ivy. Until I see the numbers, I'm not buying the PR hype.
 

Sprinx

Distinguished
Mar 26, 2009
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18,530
Regarding the SSD, I have this one, and it's on sale for $129 at newegg:

Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236

I bought it about two months back for $150, and it's been solid. I'm not an SSD expert, but just from looking at the details on the two items' newegg pages, it seems that they match up pretty well, with the Mushkin having a slight advantage. Intel does have a 5 yr. warranty vs. Mushkin's 3 year.

Just an idea - somebody correct me if it's a bad one :)
 

2kainkaze1

Guest
Mar 12, 2012
15
0
10,510
Thank you for all your replies! I updated my list and I think I might have my computer *fingers crossed*! Anything you think I can improve on?

I was wondering on warranties. What are your opinions on extended warranties?
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


They're pretty worthless, IMO - all manufacturers have their own warranties and they have to honor them, most are usually pretty good about it.
 

2kainkaze1

Guest
Mar 12, 2012
15
0
10,510
Thanks for all the help! For now, I will wait for 2 weeks before ordering since I am currently out of country. Maybe there will even be better deals out :D

Oh do I need to buy thermal paste?
 



only if you are getting a xigmatek cooler.... :lol:
most of the stock thermal pastes are fine.
 

2kainkaze1

Guest
Mar 12, 2012
15
0
10,510
I think I am pretty much set in my choices, the only things that might change will be SSD/HDD ... size/price/speed is killing me :pt1cable:

Also, does anyone know if the HD 7870 will be available online at launch or does it take some time to get up there? Will I need to overclock to get the most out of games or would it be better if I did overclock?
 

2kainkaze1

Guest
Mar 12, 2012
15
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10,510
I am also curious about multi-monitor set up (eyefinity?)

Does this require some special monitors or will the one I have listed be fine to add on to? Might as well ask but does anybody play in 3D or tried it? Wondering if it adds to the experience or just plain weird :p
 

2kainkaze1

Guest
Mar 12, 2012
15
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10,510


Haha, that's what I thought.

Just making sure, everything on my list will fit and be compatible with each other right? I think since I picked a full tower, fitting will be easy. Compatibility ... I do not know.