New Gaming/Streaming Build. $1500-$2000. Suggestions Welcome!

HMF

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-Will be used for gaming, primarily. Will be playing basically anything I can get my hands on. Ranging from FTL to Planetside 2 to End of Nations to World of Warplanes to GW2.
- Also would like to use to live stream.

-Looking to spend around $1500-$2000 taxes and shipping inc.

-Buying parts in Canada.

-Have no brand preference other than Intel and WD.

-Will be using Monitors, keyboard and mouse, optical drive, OS and sound card from current PC. Turning the current PC into a server, and will just use a KVM to switch between the two.

-I have been doing a lot of research. I have prepared a PC Part Picker list that I will link below. Have not picked a video card, but am debating between a GTX 670 and a 7970. Currently have the preferable GTX 670 in my list, but am still not decided on that or a 7970.

-Hoping to OC the i5 to around 4.4 - 4.5 Ghz. Also will overclock my video card as soon as possible. I am very comfortable overclocking. Don't plan on overclocking RAM, as it only costs roughly $10-$15 more to buy 16GB of DDR3 2133 over DDR3 1600.

-Will be buying/building end of November/early Dec.

-Run 1920x1080. No 3D. Run two monitors now, thinking of expanding to three monitors in 2013.

-Needs to have:
-USB 3.0
-SSD
-Quiet Case

Current rig:
Asus Rampage Formula Motherboard
Q9450 @ 3.4 Ghz
8GB DDR2 800
WD Caviar Black 500GB HDD
MSI GTX 570
Asus Xonar DX Sound Card(Using in new PC)

Here is what I have thus far:

http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/kr5h

The only thing I am dead set on is the case. I have always wanted a SilverStone case, and this one makes my tummy feel fuzzy and makes my beard grow quickly.

Was thinking about the Sapphire HD 7970 Ghz Vapor-X.. but those are never in stock, unfortunately.

Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome.

xoxo,

HMF

 

Nw333

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Go with the 7970 Ghz. Ed. Its faster than the 670 and 680 in most games. (Games like BF3 prefer Nvidia) If you run 120Hz monitors, get dual 7970 Ghz Editions for 120 frames woot. :D

You can get the Gigabyte Z77 UD3H for cheaper and still have most of the features with ability to SLI/Xfire in the future.

Edit: You should get 1600 RAM instead of 2133. You wont notice a difference and the 2133 RAM will be underclocked and have higher timings due to Ivy not supporting it. You would then have to OC it AGAIN in the BIOS to have proper settings. Doing this will void your warranty on the CPU if Intel finds out.
 

HMF

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Ahh. Thanks for the info. I'll make the change. Is the board you suggest this one?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544
 

HMF

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Also, since you are recommending the 7970 Ghz edition, if I am unable to find a Vapor-X version, are there any you would recommend? I am struggling to find reviews on non-reference 7970 ghz cards.
 

HMF

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No PCS+ for the 7970 Ghz yet it seems. Also, the XFX cards are apparently loud and hot, which is bad. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the Sapphire.. or see what else comes out in the ASUS DirectCUII or MSI Twin Frozr variety.

Thanks for the suggestions!
 

HMF

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Nice start but here are some solid improvements

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/kuoD
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/kuoD/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/kuoD/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($68.99 @ Computer Valley)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme6 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($179.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.97 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($224.70 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($379.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Corsair 600T ATX Mid Tower Case ($169.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: OCZ ZX 1250W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($167.69 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1581.30

Better mobo (quadfire capable)
2x8 on ram instead of 4x4 (less stress on processor, more upgrade room)
Much faster HDD
More powerful video card
Better Case
Better, higher wattage PSU to handle quadfire if you want in the future

All in all a cheaper, faster, more upgradable machine for less.

Interesting suggestions.

The Seagate Barracuda is a good find. I swapped that in.

The ram I had switched earlier for 2x8Gb. That was a mistake on my part.

I am sticking with my case. I am a big fan.

As far as PSU, I don't think that a 1250W is required. I am only running one card to begin with. I may add another in the future.. but if I do it will only be one more. An 850 is adequate for handling even two 7970 Ghz, which are power hogs anyway.

Also, I'll take a look at the motherboard. Thanks for the suggestion.
 

HMF

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Yea 750 watts is fine for 2 7970s but 1250 gives you the option for 4 way down the road without switchin in a new PSU for only a few dollars more. If you definately are going to stick with only 2 cards, stick with the 850 ( or as i said find a cheaper 750w model as that is plenty) however options are always nice ;D

Yeah. I'll only be rocking one to two(at the most) video cards in this rig, so I'll stick with the 850. I chose this one because it is very quiet, and has received fantastic reviews. And the price on it is great as well.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

Changed the HDD and RAM, and am curious about whether a smaller SSD would cause issue, as I will be installing several games, a couple of which are 20Gb +.

http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/kuDc


If that isn't an issue, then I'm fine dropping to a 128 Gb SSD and saving some bucks.

 

HMF

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Looks excellent but you should really go with a 7970 since youre running multiple monitors, the 7970 really kicks the 670/680's ass on high res and on multiple screens.

Stick with the 256gb SSD if you can, everything you fit on there will run ULTRA fast. Bye Bye load screens ;D

Also if you wanna save money on the PSU these are just as good and cheaper.

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=62223&vpn=P1850BNLG9
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=47755&vpn=ST75F-P <- same one you have but 750w
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC5235
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_441&item_id=035691 <- an absolute steal, gold cert and only 90 bucks

All of them are atleast silver cert, modular, highly rated and cheaper than what youve got.

I still haven't decided on a vid card. Probably won't really until I pull the trigger on the purchase in a month or so.

Also.. while I do have two monitors, I only game on one. I usually just watch hockey or something on the other. :) Don't know if that would still give the 7970 a performance edge or not.
 
I wouldn't wait a month ... and whether it is AMD or Intel, slash your budget $500-$600. The extra 30% in your budget does not come close to adding 30% in performance. $1,000 goes a long way in today's market.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb bundled with the Asus M5A99FX PRO AM3+ 990FX: $258

Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB: $322 before $20 rebate

Kingston 2x8GB KHX2133C11D3T1K2/16GX DDR32133 9-9-9-24 at 1.6v is qualified for 4 DIMMs on that motherboard and likely save some cash.

An 120GB SSD will be fine, as will a smaller, faster 1TB HDD (Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB ?) --- unless you really have some serious long-term storage needs. $120-$130 will snag a really nice cabinet, and there are some sweet $100 modular PSUs out there. You could even save $25 with a Hyper 212+

There is always faster, less expensive and more capable hardware 3 months from today. Now, you have $500 left over to buy some of it

[:lutfij:4]

Haswells and new chipsets and Piledrivers and Steamrollers and Sea Islands and Son of Kepler ... and that is just in the next 15 months .... Save up!





 

HMF

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Thanks for the input, but I don't think you read my post entirely.

I am dead set on an i5-3570K at this point. The 7950 is slower than I would like. It is primarily a gaming PC. No point in skimping on a video card. I have made that mistake before. Also, I could only find that RAM on a couple of sites, and it was roughly $200.00 for the kit. In addition, it is high profile RAM, and may not allow room for a decent heatsink.

1TB HDD's are not really that much cheaper than the Seagate in my list. It is about $10 less, but only half of the storage.

As mentioned earlier, I am dead set on the case already.

I looked at the Hyper 212+ earlier also, but the Noctua has far superior performance, and I plan on overclocking the chip significantly.

The only reason I would drop to a 120Gb SSD is if suddenly I encounter an unexpected budget crunch. That, however, is very unlikely.