PC Gaming Rig - Feedback

[LS2GTO2006]

It's been a couple of years since I build a gaming rig. Last big game I played on a PC was Oblivion, as I have played Skyrim (for now), Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Mass Effect(s), Dragon Age(s), etc... all on Xbox 360. Wondering if I can get a little feedback since it's been a while since I've built one...

 

CPU > Intel i5-2500k Sandy Bridge Quad Core 3.3GHz LGA 1155

Motherboard > ASUS P8P67 Pro (Rev 3.1) LGA 1155

Video Card > EVGA GTX 560 Ti 1GB 256bit

RAM > Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3

Power Supply > Corsair Professional Services HX850 850W

Case > Corsair Obsidian 650D

 

I'm looking forward to getting back into PC gaming.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited February 19, 2012 by LS2GTO2006

[FMod]

Pretty standard.

* Use less RAM. Games barely need even 8GB. Use Samsung DDR3-1333 (or -1600) if available, otherwise Hynix.

* You need an aftermarket CPU heatsink (get OEM CPU if you can, BTW). Zalman CNPS-10X Performa, NZXT Havik, Thermalright Macho are all good.

* Might want a better GPU like HD6950 or GTX570. Anything more expensive isn't really worth it, short of HD7950. Get that one if you have enough money.

[RitualBlack]

The 570 is only mildly better than the 560ti. I am not sure of the pricing but I wouldn't bother going up to a 570 over it unless it was only $20 more.

 

You can see a chart here and here which show the 3d mark 11 and metro 2033 fps. The 560ti (448 core) was a huge upgrade over the regular 560. I agree with everything else FMod said though. The 560ti is actually a decent upgrade over the 6950. Just make sure you get the 448 core version of your card for a vast improvement or else the other cards will be better.

 

*edit*

There is only about a $30 price difference between the card you listed 560 Ti 1GB 256-bit and the 448 Cores 1280MB 320-bit which is significantly better. The 448 core still sits at around $50 less than a 570.

[Fonger]

if this is a gaming rig

 

the 3 most important items are missing

 

1 - display ---- yes it matters more than you can imagine

 

2 - mouse ---- who wants to game with a ball-mouse

 

3 - keyboard

 

 

the human interface can drag the game more than Windows ME

[RitualBlack]

I would assume he would use the peripherals from his last gaming rig, but you do have a good point. A nice monitor can make or break the feeling of a game.

[Fonger]

I would assume he would use the peripherals from his last gaming rig, but you do have a good point. A nice monitor can make or break the feeling of a game.

ROTFLMAO just imagine a current super video card on a 17" monitor (not even a flatscreen)

 

using ps-2 mouse - that needs the ball cleaned every 10 hours :wallbash:

[RitualBlack]

I would assume he would use the peripherals from his last gaming rig, but you do have a good point. A nice monitor can make or break the feeling of a game.

ROTFLMAO just imagine a current super video card on a 17" monitor (not even a flatscreen)

 

using ps-2 mouse - that needs the ball cleaned every 10 hours :wallbash:

 

:laugh:

 

I don't think I could even imagine it!

 

A little old tube monitor hooked up to a beast rig running crossfire 7970's and a track ball mouse. The though of that made me crack up. I have though about getting an older mouse for games like Wolfenstein and doom though. A High dpi computer mouse doesn't seem to feel quite right.

[FMod]

The 570 is only mildly better than the 560ti. I am not sure of the pricing but I wouldn't bother going up to a 570 over it unless it was only $20 more.

560Ti 448 Core actually is a GTX570 (with only a couple blocks disabled), that's why there is so little difference. No idea why they called it that, just marketing.

 

A regular 560Ti is considerably slower than GTX570 and slightly slower than HD6950 across the board; reference HD6950 2GB can also be unlocked into HD6970.

 

For this price GTX560-448 is of course the one worth getting. The next step up would only be HD6970, and it's not worth the price difference.

 

 

A word of caution - GTX560-448 can have either a 4+1 (stock) or 6+1 (custom) phase power system. 4+1 is worse than 5+1 which GTX570 has, and GTX570 have been known to frequently burn out when overclocked. These failures void the warranty, you can't RMA it.

Since an even weaker power supply is now powering the same chip, do not overclock it unless you're sure it has 6+1 or more phase power. I believe the EVGA card linked has 5+1 phase power, and it's overclocked already. As such, just don't overclock it any more than it already is, to be safe.

[hoofhearted4]

ive been looking at this card recently. seems to be pretty good. nice price. 2gb VRAM. Twin Frozr cooling. good reviews. slightly overclocked. yea :)

[blove]

ASUS mainboards are very picky about system memory. Even memory that is on the Qualified Vendor List for the mainboard may not run at the XMP settings listed in the SPD. Be sure to check the memory QVL for the mainboard on the ASUS website.

 

On a personal note, I would want more than 1GB of memory on my graphics card.