Prospective Gaming Rig

[twshal]

Updated: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gx9l (9/4/2012)

Downgraded to 8GB rRAM, since that should be more than enough to power most any game. Also reverted back to the nVidia GTX 660ti, since I decided durability and cooling was more important than OC'ing the card. Stability is a big issue to me.

ASrock was the choses mobo, if only to keep me below a thousand. Chosen over Asus Z77.

PSU needs to be at least partly modular, and efficient, went with the OCZ, down from the full modular Seagate previously on there.

Case changed to the HAF 912, based on a video I saw done on it by one of my favorite Youtubers, Monster Mawd, owner of mnpctech.com, and PC case mod hero.

Everything is about the same. Let me know if there's any advice you have on CPU, hard drives, cooling systems, etc. Video card and case is pretty much static, I won't be giving up the CPU or motherboard easily either.

If it runs above a grand that's ok, I think I can manage it down based on research of reviews, etc.


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Updated: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ghXQ 9-2-2012

This pushed me over 1100, which I'm not too pleased with, but it looks like I'll have to make do in some form or fashion. Any other ways I could squeeze this build into a 1000$ budget would be appreciated!
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[strike]Updated build AGAIN: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/g9MW[/strike]

Will be gaming on a 24" TV, 1920x1080 resolution. I do have a secondary monitor, 19", plan on upgrading it within a year to another 24".

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Hey, I am looking to spend ~1000$ on a new gaming rig.

First one I built was about 2 years ago, looking to upgrade everything, including the case. Essentially building a new computer to keep up with industry standards.

So here are my parts I was looking at, total came out to around a grand, was hoping I could get some advice/opinions.

Note: I do want the high end graphics card, and a relatively cheap SSD to load the OS and a few games.

[strike]Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115233

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220638

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148022

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211596

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127697[/strike]

[strike]http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fZLt is the new build, you can see the parts there, along with links. Changed up TheBigTrolls build to fit my scenario. Also discovered an awesome tool for PC building. Thanks![/strike]
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I do have extra SATA hard drives to use for storage. However, if you can fit a TB or 500GB SATA in there somewhere, keeping it under a 1000, that would be great.

I also have a few optical drives I can scrounge around for (have a friend in the PC repair business I worked for, for a few years). Monitor, mouse, keyboard, all accounted for. Though if you can fit a nice gaming keyboard in there as well, it would be extremely nice.

Opinions? Advice? Keeper? Overhaul? Let me know!

 

[TheBigTroll]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fZrY

assuming you are not overclocking. take out the optical drive and the hard drive if you dont need it. the SSD is a good buy

as for the keyboard, i use the quickfire rapid with blue switches from coolermaster. there is no numpad but that doesnt really matter to me as i never use it.if you need the numpad, you will have to pay 20 more dollars

 

[arzbhatia]

3 things need to change -

Processor - You chose the 3570 and not the 3570K. DO NOT GET THE NON K VERSION.

Processor Link - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

RAM - Get the G.Skill RipJaws X 1600Mhz instead. It's amazing. I'm not too sure about Patriot.

RAM Link - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231489

Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129205 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102989 (This one is AMAZING)

The 7950 beats the 660Ti EASILY. It's EPIC. 3GB + 384Bit. The 660Ti is 2GB + 192Bit.

My 2 year old Graphic Card is 192 Bit -.-

Have fun! Best of luck!

 

[twshal]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fZrY

assuming you are not overclocking. take out the optical drive and the hard drive if you dont need it. the SSD is a good buy

as for the keyboard, i use the quickfire rapid with blue switches from coolermaster. there is no numpad but that doesnt really matter to me as i never use it.if you need the numpad, you will have to pay 20 more dollars

I really liked the system you picked out. Upgraded the 3570 you picked to the 3570k. Saw that you were able to squeeze in, not only a GTX 670 (full upgrade over 660 Ti or Radeon 7950) but you also got in a 1TB SATA hard drive as well. Optical drive is miniscule, I just might leave that one in there.

Question: What do you mean by, "assuming you are not overclocking"?

arzbhatia,

Took your advice with the upgrade to 3570k. RAm was already picked in the build above, gonna trust his judgement on it. Could you get me some OC'd and non-OC benchmarks for both those cards? A link to these benchmarks would be sufficient.

Thanks for the awesome advice! Keep em coming. Updating my post.

Edit: 1TB SATA drive, not 500 GB.

Edit #2: Question to BigTroll.

 

[arzbhatia]

Check this - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/367378-33-7950

 

[TheBigTroll]

I really liked the system you picked out. Upgraded the 3570 you picked to the 3570k. Saw that you were able to squeeze in, not only a GTX 670 (full upgrade over 660 Ti or Radeon 7950) but you also got in a 1TB SATA hard drive as well. Optical drive is miniscule, I just might leave that one in there.

Question: What do you mean by, "assuming you are not overclocking"?

arzbhatia,

Took your advice with the upgrade to 3570k. RAm was already picked in the build above, gonna trust his judgement on it. Could you get me some OC'd and non-OC benchmarks for both those cards? A link to these benchmarks would be sufficient.

Thanks for the awesome advice! Keep em coming. Updating my post.

Edit: 1TB SATA drive, not 500 GB.

Edit #2: Question to BigTroll.

you said you wouldnt do overclocking so i dont give you the option to do so. that is why i chose a h77 motherboard and a i5 3450.

 

[twshal]

you said you wouldnt do overclocking so i dont give you the option to do so. that is why i chose a h77 motherboard and a i5 3450.

Where did I say that? Though I never explicitly mentioned overclocking, I do expect to have some form of OC capability in case I choose to go that route. Your post was still very helpful, giving me a base to start on and going from there, and introducing me to a really neat site I can use for future builds.

 

[TheBigTroll]

oh sorry. mixing up with my other posts

 

[arzbhatia]

I still recommend you get a Z77 board. And a normal ATX one.

 

[twshal]

Ah did not see that had been changed, switched it back to the ASROCK Z77 Extreme-4 ATX motherboard, will be getting the intel version.

This brings me to closer to 1100, so I might go down to the Radeon 7950 in order to bring the cost closer to a grand. Thanks for your link on that subject!

 

[arzbhatia]

Great

Have fun mate!

 

[twshal]

Updated my build again, went with the 7950, added liquid cooling and switched up the mobo to bring it under a 100, added 8GB of RAM to bring me up to 16 total, while keeping it around 1100. Mobo was switched due to this review:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1998/15/

And RAM was switched due to this one:

http://www.squidoo.com/best-gaming-ram

Here is my new build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/g9MW

Thoughts?

 

[TheBigTroll]

1: id get a better motherboard like the asus z77-v LK. more features and just a overall better board
2;id get a hyper 212 evo. its better than the h60
3:id get a xfx 7870. its about 80 dollars cheaper after MIR. the 7950 isnt worth the performance gain

 

[twshal]

Should probably mention I'm gaming on a 24" TV, running 1920x1080 resolution, max settings for most of my games, with a secondary 19" gimp monitor for internet browsing and system temp and resource monitoring, with the expectation of upgrading it to two or possibly 3 24" monitors within the next year or two. Don't know if this makes a difference in what kind of performance will be needed from the card.

 

[twshal]

Ok so I checked out the features you posted, TheBigTroll, and on Newegg it seems like the 7870 is about the same price as the 660Ti and/or the 7950, for a little less performance. Could you post some benchmarks on that card, if you have a link to any? The dispute between the 660Ti and 7950 is fairly well documented but I haven't seen any feedback about it on Newegg.

The hyper 212 evo is not liquid cooled, as far as I can tell, and reviews has it at temps higher than what I feel comfortable at, especially with some intense gaming going on. I do intend to utilize liquid cooling in some form or fashion.

The Asus Z77 is a full 50$ higher than the motherboard I originally intended on using, but it has relatively positive reviews, once you get past the "bent pins" reviews, which is a chance you take with any motherboard. Not fully convinced to switch yet.

 

[twshal]

After reading a bit on the different aspects of liquid cooling, and discovering the grey area between high end air cooling systems and closed loop liquid cooling systems, I'm taking a second look at air cooling. Just an update.

 

[TheBigTroll]

you do know that the h60 is 60-70 bucks. with that i can get a noctua nh-d14 and utterly destroy the h60 and h80. i wouldnt bother with liquid cooling unless its custom

the asus motherboard is much better. i have one myself. bent pins can be on any motherboard no matter the calibre. just some people are unlucky enough to get them damaged in shipping.

heres the cheapest price for the motherboard
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=71114&vpn=P8Z77-V%20LK&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1088

660ti s 7950
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/550?vs=647

7870 vs 7950
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/550?vs=548

 

[twshal]

I'm really reluctant to give up the space saving characteristics of the H60, but not very pleased with the notion of leaking pumps. I believe I can save my liquid cooling adventures for when I can actually obtain a Rasa kit or something similar, to give me a basic idea of what to expect when I implement a liquid cooled system.

Either way, the 212 is what I am most likely rolling with. My only concern is how much space will it take up, and how heavy is it? From the videos it seems like it will break off the motherboard if the tower is standing up, with the heatsink + fans sticking out parallel to the floor.

7950 is what I would like to get, but I am concerned about length of the card, and cable management issues that may arise with a non-eATX case.

Cable management, cooling, longevity, with powerful performance and flexibility to increase performance to play some of the more advanced games is what I'm looking for. I expect to be able to have my system perform for the next 2-3 years without needing replacement unless desired.

 

[TheBigTroll]

dude, if you think that the hyper 212 might break off your motherboard, you have yet to see my 2 pound nh-d14 heatsink on my mobo. the mounting hardware is very secure

most cases support long cards easily. if you are going with a eatx case, you would be looking at a 12inch beast from asus or the radeon 6990

 

[twshal]

Updated. See above for details.