Gaming/Game Capture PC (1000-1200)

Trigolden

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Sep 8, 2012
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10,510
Hello Tomshardware,

First time poster here; Firstly I’d like to start off by saying, I knew practically nothing about computer hardware prior to a few of days ago, in which I spent approximately, a collective sixteen hours researching parts.

I stumbled across the site while researching for my rig, and fell in love with the site instantly. I used the sight for a lot of my general research, and really appreciate all the help the members have given in these forums.

With that said, let’s get down to it.

I’ve decided to build my first gaming PC, in the next week or so. I’m under a budget of about 1200 after shipping.
I mainly plan on using the rig for MMO gaming, game-capture, video editing, with Adobe Effects, Sony Vegas, maybe possibly some live streaming.
I already have a 1920 x 1080 monitor, gaming pad, keyboard, and gaming mouse.
I prefer to buy from Newegg, and Amazon, but I don’t mind using other trusted sites as-well.
Located in the US, Florida.
I’m not sure about over clocking, maybe at a later date.

So after a bit of research here’s what I came up with.

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.99 @ NCIX US)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ Amazon)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($144.98 @ Outlet PC)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.98 @ Newegg)

Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.98 @ Newegg)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2GB Video Card ($254.98 @ Newegg)

Sound Card: Asus Xonar DG 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($20.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.49 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: Antec 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.98 @ Outlet PC)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)

Total: $1067.33
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

Or you can just check it out here: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gVTb

So, my question is, will this set up work out? Is there anything that needs to be edit, or that I can do without?
 
Solution

Nw333

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Jun 24, 2012
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The 660Ti is also a good choice other than the 7950, you want the best video card you can afford. You can actually afford a GTX 670 and it will put you right on the budget of $1200. (Maybe a little over, since the 670 costs $400)
 


according to that article-
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and

It is the GPU overclock that provides the most performance on Radeon HD 7950 and it takes near 1.2GHz for the Radeon HD 7950 to shine in this comparison. Unless you have a high-end custom video card with voltage control and great cooling, you won't be able to get the HD 7950 up to these clock levels most likely. We've had some poor overclocks on HD 7950 cards in the past, so it takes a video card with enthusiast performance in mind to get this level of gameplay. Our HD 7950 overclock represents pretty much the best performance you can get out of a custom built Radeon HD 7950 and we just want everyone to be clear on this.

and-

Our overclocked GTX 670 based video card the ASUS GTX 670 DirectCU II TOP video card was also a top overclocker for us. We chose this video card because we were able to exceed a 1.3GHz GPU clock speed. The memory overclock wasn't the best, but the video card already has a lot of memory bandwidth and we did add to that with the overclock. The core exceeding 1.3GHz is a good overclocking frequency for a GTX 670, and again it takes a video card with voltage control and extreme cooling in order to get to 1.3GHz. So these two video cards represent the high-end of overclocking that we put up against the GALAXY GTX 660 Ti GC 3GB video card.
 

redeemer

Distinguished
May 30, 2004
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19,960



All cards can OC, but what matters is scaling. Overclocking a 7950 will bring higher performance vs overclocking a 670 which technically already has autoboost. It takes a 670 @ 1300mhz core to match a 7950 @ 1200mhz 1.28v in performance. When it comes donw to overclocking the 600 series no no match for the 7000 series. Only reason to pick up a 600 series if for 3D or cuda.
 


you see i am not a fanboy but 670 is better than a 7950 in almost every aspect except pricing.
 
Read this review of the 7950 vs 7970. 7970 is better than the 670, so keep that in mind. Even though the review doesn't compare the 670, based on other benchmarks, the correlation fits.
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/34761-amd-hd-7950-vs-hd-7970-clocks/
 
this is probably my last post on this thread because all you wanna do is proving me wrong.anyways-
stock 670>stock 7950 in almost every game and has proven to overclock better.
stock 7970>stock 670 but in some games like batman and bf3,670 takes the lead.
overclocking-each card has different overclocking potential so it is not necessary that you can buy a 7950,overclock it to 1.2-1.3GHz and beat a 670/7970.
note: most of the 670 are better overclockers than 7950s.for example,take a look at
msi power oc edition,asus dcii top etc.
 

Smeg45

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Mar 9, 2012
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So get a cheaper 7950 and OC it. Problem solved. With current drivers though the 670 is not better. Its a vicious tie mostly.
 

Smeg45

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Mar 9, 2012
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Take a look at Sapphire's Vapor X 7950 or Gigabytes Windforce 7950 - better overclocker? I don't think so. They are roughly even.
 

BTW, the 7950 also has a DC2T and an MSI card..