22 replies to this topic

[Vecna6667]

So this would be my first time building a computer, but my laptop right now is on the low end of the spectrum for gaming and I need something new. I got the idea from some people on the chatroom to build by own desktop, so here it is:

The First Planned Build:
Case : Antec 1200 or HAF 932
Video Card : GeForce GTX 580
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
Motherboard: Not sure yet
RAM : Depends on motherboard whether I get dual or triple channel slots but at least 8 MB of DDR3 RAM
Power Unit: Will determine after all other parts are decided
HDD : 1 TB HDD and an SSD card for my OS and games
OS: Windows 7 64 bit
Optical Drive : Asus Black Internal Blu-Ray Drive Model http://www.newegg.co...5-244-_-Product
Sound Card : Would I need one?

The Second Planned Build:
Case : Antec 1200 - $160 Amazon
Video Card - ATI Radeon HD 6790 - $370 Newegg
CPU - Intel Core i7 2600K - $340 Amazon
Motherboard - Unknown due to the error with p67/h67 chipsets
RAM - Depends on Motherboard
HDD - Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB HDD - $90 Newegg
SSD- OCZ Vertex 2 90GB SATA II SSD - $180 Newegg
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit - $200 Microsoft
Optical Drive - Asus Black Internal Blu-Ray Drive - $40 Newegg
Sound Card - Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio - $50 TigerDirect
Cooler Fan - Scythe Mugen II - $47 Amazon

For a Grand Total of $1477 without the motherboard or RAM... Wow, if you find a cheaper version of these products please tell me.
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I think that's everything, what do you guys think?
I want to be able to play games on it for at least 4-6 more years, could I do it on this build?
Which case would you recommend for good airflow and easy to access parts?
What motherboard should I get?
Would I notice any real difference between an i5 CPU and an i7 CPU?
Are any of those components unnecessarily pricey? Could I bet getting more for less with a different product?
And lastly, is my Blu-Ray Drive good? I will be hooking this up to my HDTV and watching Blu-ray movies as well as playing games. Will I need another optical drive for game disks?

Thanks for all your help, as I said this is my first build and I'm really excited about it.

PS: Some of the games I want to play are:
Fallout New Vegas
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Fallout 3
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Crysis and Crysis 2
and whatever fancy new games come out for the holidays this year.

The i5-2500k doesn't have hyper threading if i recall. It isn't a big issue if you are only playing games and occasionally transcoding video files. Someone like me on the other hand would benefit from the i7-2600k's hyper threading because I record video game footage, edit, and encode the video before uploading to youtube.

For the graphics card, Asus has a slightly overclocked model 6970 out now, but I wait for a DirectCU or DirectCU2 version from them. Also consider the GTX 570 graphics cards.

As long as the optical drive can read DVD's as well, there should be no problem with game disks.

For power supply units, you're going to want at least a 750w one to give you an upgrade path. This is the one spot where you're at a complete disadvantage in terms of price (kind of like tires for a car, just none of the extras.)

For the motherboard, what is the error with P67/H67 chipsets?

What laptop model do you have? I have the Asus G72GX. As for the price, anything under $2000 dollars is considered a budget/midrange build for gaming. Your build should be able to match up to $3000-$4000 retail builds easily based on your overclocking.

[Nadimos]

The HD6970 will play any game on the market.

And if you get a good powersupply and big case you can always put in another.

When the socket 1155 motherboards are available again in April there will also be 6970s available with good non standard coolers.

As for a case you can also consider the Coolermaster HAF X

I can reccomend this case too. Very nice.

And make sure you have silent components. Imho nothing fails more then having your pc scream.

And my take on intel? Seriously?
Hahaha!

This is gonna be a consumer model for gaming and stuff, yes? You can get amd architecture at a much cheaper price, while still performing the same way or even better in some instances.

So i reccomend you take a closer look at the popular benchmarks and generally read something about what you are buying.

Edited by Nadimos, 04 February 2011 - 07:27 PM.

[Death01]

Hey Yoba! Parts is Parts...I love looking at parts!

Here's a build list. BTW, I have heard that current opinions on the i5/i7 debate is that you will not see much of a performance boost in one over the other in gaming.

---(~ 1500 USD, without the HD)---

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost)
LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
( the "k" means it's unlocked and ready to overclock!)
(and it's Sandy Bridge MB chipsets that currently are the above mentioned problem child)

GIGABYTE GA-H67A-UD3H LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s
USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (ATI CrossfireX ready)

CORSAIR Hydro H70 CWCH70 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler
(liquid cooler with 2 fan radiator)

VisionTek 900338 Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity (times 2 in crossfire mode)

Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
-----------------------------------------------

WD VelociRaptor 10,000rpm 16mb cache SATA Hard Drive(s)
(but i don't think you will really need a 1 Tb HD, and faster/more cache is always better.)


There's a review of the CPU cooler at HardwareSecrets.com; i haven't read it yet,
and an article on the Antec 1200.

Happy building!

[yoba333]

Thank you very much! As you can see I'm still learning all this as I go.
What does Windows 7 Ultimate actually do for you?
And is overclocking safe?

Also, as there seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions on this. Should I go with one 6970, or Crossfire 6870's?

Edited by yoba333, 04 February 2011 - 10:29 PM.

[Erik005]

The overclocking on the new Intel models is very safe, although you should read a overclocking guide.

The gtx570 is also a good option especially this one:
http://www.gainward....apro.php?id=449

Also available as gtx580:
http://www.gainward....apro.php?id=454

As for windows 7 ultimate 2 questions:

1 Do you need windows in more than one language?

2 Do you use programs that under no circumstance will work under windows 7?

This is the main difference with regular home premium. This Wikipedia page is also useful.
http://en.wikipedia....dows_7_editions

Edited by Erik005, 04 February 2011 - 10:41 PM.

[yoba333]

I'll probably just stick with home premium.
There's so many conflicting opinions on graphics cards right now, it makes buying one a really tough decision.

[urbex]

And is overclocking safe?

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but not over clocking hardware as nice as that is silly. Drop $50 on an aftermarket cooler and you'll be able to hit 5ghz on your processor.

[Vecna6667]

And is overclocking safe?

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but not over clocking hardware as nice as that is silly. Drop $50 on an aftermarket cooler and you'll be able to hit 5ghz on your processor.

I'd go with a liquid cooler to create a more stable overclock at that speed. I don't trust air cooling to go that far. Corsair's H50 and H70 do well. As for the safety of overclocking, it's more about stability by keeping the processors cool. If you can keep your cpu's and gpu's cool under load, then their lifespans shouldn't be shortened by a whole lot so a program like GPU-Z and HWMonitor come in real handy in monitoring temperatures. The cooler the temp, the better the overclocking. Most cpu's and gpu's should be able to handle 5 to 10 percent boost in speed but each individual product performs differently and you should only stay in your comfort zone when it comes to overclocking.

Edited by Vecna6667, 05 February 2011 - 05:14 AM.

[yoba333]

Ok, thank you. You have all given me a lot to think about, and I appreciate it. Thanks again!

[urbex]

Most air-coolers are a better choice than an H70.